The Mind Game
- Elisa Ma
- 7 minutes ago
- 2 min read
When You Plateau
When you no longer feel as if you are progressing, or feel as if your skills are declining, it is easy to feel discouraged and feel as if previous efforts were for nothing.
Plateaus occur due to your body getting used to the loads and movements you are demanding it to push through. Other lifestyle factors like rest and nutrition can impact progress, but plateauing often can be addressed by changing your routine.
Ways to get out of a plateau:
Changing the intensity and duration of your workouts. This can mean trying a new warm-up or adding extra reps at a lower weight.
Adding new workouts and types of movement. Cross-conditioning can mean using a new machine, taking a class, or taking on a new sport.
Track your progressive overloading to determine if you are actually pushing as hard as you safely can.
Seek a professional or an experienced friend’s guidance to determine if your form is a limiting factor.
Also, remember that numbers should not make you want to quit an activity. Even if you do not see the numbers changing, making time for an activity is a great reward in itself.
Intensive Focus
After developing physical fitness and technical skills, having strong concentration and intention becomes the filter for the best athletes.
Here are a few strategies to build up concentration for a game/event:
Pre-performance routines: listening to music, a specific warm-up, body scanning, meditation, positive self-talk, etc. AJ Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles, the Super Bowl LIX champions, has recently gained attention for his pre-game ritual of reading the book INNER EXCELLENCE: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life by Jim Murphy.
Building mental toughness with preparation and training in game-like settings.
Focusing on only what is happening in front of you.
Have incremental markers like being aware of each mile of a longer race of time left in the game. Focus on getting through that small increment first.
Visualization strategies to cultivate technique off the field. Intensely visualizing the best performance, like doing a specific lift, so competition day provides the trigger to access already built neural networks.
Activate the “Quiet Eye”. Hold your gaze longer on your target (ie, basketball hoop, sprint finish line) before executing the movement.
Conclusion
While training cannot be simplified to a one-size-fits-all approach, many techniques can be adapted to best serve individuals.
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