Are You Getting In The Mental Weight Room - Part I

There is an increasing focus on sports psychology as we look for any edge to become more competitive, more focused, more confident. It is unclear how much of our minds we use, but we do know there are untapped resources. Stories of chips being inserted in to quadriplegics’ brains so they can navigate computers, and stories of the Backster Effect, where a persons emotional state can have an effect on their own cells even after they are removed from their bodies are just a couple of examples.
There is no doubt that emotions and mental strength can separate the good from the great. In the next few blogs, I will explore some of theories / methods that you can use to help you achieve a mental edge when competing.
Just as there are numerous overlapping training principles when building your body;
1. Individual differences
2. Overcompensation
3. Overload
4. Specific adaptations to imposed demands
5. Use/Disuse
6. Specificity
7. General adaptation syndrome
there are equally as many principles to consider when refining your mental edge

1. Drive Theory
2. Inverted U Hypothesis
3. Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning
4. Multidimensional anxiety theory
5. Catastrophe Model
6. Reversal Theory
7. Anxiety direction and intensity

The scope of the following Mental Weight Room Blogs will not go into too much detail of the above principles, but rather try to give some practical approaches to increasing your mental edge.

I think the most important principles to keep in mind are the Individual Differences Principal and Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning. Both of these principals take into account that we all have different genetic blueprints, and therefore we will have different response and adaptations to both exercise and levels of anxiety and arousal. The sports we play or even the position we play may also play a role.

Look for the next Mental Weight Room Blog: If Buddha Was A Baller (What we think, we become)