Mental Toughness

What is it? How would you define it?

I remember being out on the wrestling mat and sizing up my opponent. The second they tried to act tough or intimidate me I was licking my lips. I knew he was thinking of being tough – Not staying off his back. So is focus on the task at hand mental toughness?

Dr Kristen Barnes is a Mental Performance Consultant for the Canadian Sport Institute. In her article “What is Mental Toughness?” she discusses a study done earlier this century by Professor Graham Jones (Jones et al., 2001 Journal of Applied Sports Psychology). He did one on one interviews and focus groups to dig into this question. What did he come up with?

Mental toughness is “Having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to cope better than your opponents in the many demands (training, competition and life) that are placed on you as an athlete, and be more consistent and better than your opponents by remaining determined, focused, confident and in control under pressure”.

Last time I tried to get into a 12 foot wave I was definitely not mentally tough.

Six key components or attributes crucial to sustaining high performance in sport were identified:

1. Self-Belief
2. Motivation
3. Focus
4. Handling Pressure
5. Dealing with Physical and Emotional Pain
6. Lifestyle

I quite liked this approach.  Some real upstream strategies.  If you want to know more please give the article a read here.

Thanks to Jenn Schutzirillo for sending me this info.

Cheers!

Sheppy

Wednesday’s Workout:

Warm Up: with partner
40 Medball Sit-up
40 Sprawl Balls

Strength: Alternate
A1. 4×4 Back Squat (back down day – sub maximal – work on technique/breathing/depth)
(50,65,75,75%)
A2. 4×4 Shoulder Press (power clean from deck for these 4 presses) (60,75,90,100%)

Workout:    “Chips Ahoy” – 25 min limit
70 Hollow Rocks
60 D-Ball Slams
50 Weighted Jumping Squats (45/35) – slightly off ground
40 Hand Release Push-ups – keep em tight – hands chest level
30 Glute-Ham Sit-ups (or 60 Situps)
20 Forward Rolls
10 Ring Muscle-Ups

**scale as needed – Example: 35,30, 25, 20, 15…..