It's not necesary to be an elite athlete to train our psychological part. Have you ever thought about this?
Although there is a belief that sports psychology focuses on high performance athletes, the truth is that there are specific branches that are more dedicated to the recreational part, that is: we should all train the mind to have a healthier relationship with sports and also perform better. This is similar to what happens in the physical part: although we are recreational athletes, we still must have a coach, eat well, take care of the training load and rest, otherwise we can injure ourselves. The mental part is also an issue to consider so that the equation is complete.
What is training the mind?
“Coming from why, what and for whom am I doing sports to what is my motivation to move, what drives me to choose a sport and a race. It also has to do with the attitude with which we take training, the expectations we have and whether or not there is guilt when we do not comply with a training session. Training the mind also has to do with what I pay attention to when I'm training, what do I say to myself, if I push myself, if I'm thinking that I'm going to finish last ”. This is how Grettel Sanabria, psychologist, sociologist, yoga instructor and personal trainer explains what we talk about when we talk about sports psychology.
And how is the mind trained so that our relationship with sport and the achievement of goals improves? It depends. Because, like everything related to sports or nutrition, the ideal is to respect the principle of individualization and for each person to carry out a specific process according to their needs and objectives.
For those who are just starting out in sports, it may be necessary to start by defining the motivation for which they are doing sports, and determining whether it is extrinsic or intrinsic motivation.
“Many people start doing sports out of extrinsic motivation, which is not bad, what happens is that when there is only extrinsic motivation, it is easier for them to easily give up or not be consistent in sport. Two examples of extrinsic motivation are losing weight and improving health, that is, what motivates you to do sports is to obtain a result, ”says Sanabria.
On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is totally related to the pleasure itself of doing physical activity and not as a way to obtain something. "Even if we start half forced, or we start with extrinsic motivation, mentally we can begin to pay attention to what it is that gives us pleasure when we move, in order to find intrinsic motivation", says the psychologist.
Intrinsic motivation is what strengthens consistency and a healthy relationship with exercise. It is what allows us to get up to comply with the workouts without it being compensation, without feeling guilty if we do not finish an exercise and without the pressure to do it as a way to obtain something.
How to face an event?
Absolutely not like this, Grettel Sanabria recommends working hand in hand with a professional in psychology on mental training associated with sport. Especially when we are going to start a training process for a specific event. However, she explains that there are four stages that all of us could put into practice to better enjoy each training session and, above all, be better prepared for the big day. That big day could be running 100 meters, doing our first 5-kilometer race, a marathon or an ultramarathon. In all cases the mind plays a fundamental role.
The four stages are relaxation, visualization, goals, and focus.
In the first stage, everything that helps us relax to face a training or a race enters. It can be music, it can be concentration, it can be not talking to anyone. All these aspects must be put into practice during the training sessions and not arrive on race day to improvise.
In the visualization stage, the race is prepared, the route is reviewed, the time it will take to run and unforeseen events that may arise are analyzed. Ideally, in this part, the surprise factor is the least.
Goals. What do I want with the race? I can define a performance goal, which would be with myself, such as lowering my times. Or I can define an outcome goal, which would be to compete with someone else. Knowing what I want or what I expect is essential to face a test.
Finally, my attention and talking during the race come into play in focusing. It is about defining if I focus my attention on knee pain, on what everyone is happening to me, on my pace, on the environment, or on what my body tells me. All this is trained to know how to act when we reach a complex part of the journey and we begin to think that we can no longer do it.
“Analyzing my thoughts before, during and after my workouts is important. Negative or irrational thoughts cause many people to leave the sport. If we see that we are having negative thoughts, it is possible to start working on some more positive ones in order to have a better relationship with sports ”, concludes Sanabria.