I recently had an old article I wrote (but don't think I ever posted on my blog) published on a running website. Given the time of the year, I thought it was timely and might be of interest to many of my followers.
A nice article in the New York Times describes research that confirmed what many of us already knew, namely, that listening to our favorite music during intense workouts increases our efforts. Surprisingly, the research reported that music didn't make the workouts any less unpleasant or bearable, just that people try harder. It was not clear [...]
Most sport psychologists work with athletes on the mental side of their sport in an office setting (usually one hour per week), providing them with mental tools that they can use during training and competitions. This approach makes about as much sense as a coach offering their athletes technical instruction and then telling them to go out onto the field, course, court, or what-have-you and work on it in practice. In either case, the transfer from inside to outside isn’t very good. I have found the most productive work I do with athletes is during their actual practice sessions. I’m able to go to training with athletes and show them how to incorporate mental skills, such as intensity, focus, imagery, and routines, while they’re actually practicing. But, over the last few years, I have discovered an even better setting in which athletes can begin to develop their mental skills: the gym. Yes, using mental skills as a part of your physical conditioning program is a great way to begin to ingrain those skills that will be of such benefit in the quality of your training and when you compete.