Tell
a friend!Psychology and fitness
Although the link between mind and fitness (or practically everything else)
has been corroborated by numerous research papers and scientific investigations,
most people who undergo a specific training programme tend to neglect the mental
aspect of their training routines. Research indicates (Raw & Fries, 2003) that
athletes who coupled regular
psychological "exercise" with their usual physical
routines, tend to significantly outperform their colleagues who would otherwise
stick to their conventional training methods, over the same periods of time.
These athletes, it has been found, had achieved better results for a given task,
compared to the other lot, and given that their physical routines were pretty
much the same, and they had all more or less similar potentials and physical
abilities, one can only conclude that it is the psychological factor which makes
all the difference. How does it work then?
Your body is nothing but a mass of sinew brought into motion by nerve impulses, most of which originate in your brain and travel via dedicated neural pathways towards systems like organs and muscles. These electrical impulses elicit the release of chemicals in your target cells which in turn result in the execution of a biochemically-driven action, like muscle contraction. Therefore one way of achieving say a better benchpress result would mean an increase in load, so the muscles will over time adapt to coping with bigger loads by increasing in size themselves, to handle the extra. Another way to achieve this would be definitely increasing weight, BUT also with having to actually "exercise" the process which leads to muscular exertion, because if say usually X amount of filaments are activated, then were I to train the activation pathway, perhaps Y number will become available? Yep. The two (physical & mental) components will result in a more effective workout. How can we achieve this?
Sports psychology has focused on many factors that lead to enhanced performance. Some of the more interesting ones include use of imagery (visualising a particular motion/exercise in detail before doing it), simulation (training in a setting most closely resembling that in which you would compete), stress management and relaxation routines, biofeedback and the use of positive imperative suggestions, to name a few. Malta Boot Camp will not only focus on your physical achievement, but will effectively introduce you to these and other techniques which will comprise your training programmes and will lead you to a better self.