Mind Body - Free Fitness Library
Fatigue - all in the mind?
By Darren Ward
"If it's hurting, it's working" is the usual 'comforting' thought when gasping for air and the lactic acid in your muscles has just turned to sulphuric. There is truth in the saying, though. The real benefits of exercise can only be gained when the hard work is being done. So do you really need to stop? Or do you just think you do? There are various psychological tricks that you can use to make sure that your mind doesn't stop your training prematurely.
Distraction
When fatigue begins to set in, you might try a 'distraction' method
to allow you to train for that little bit longer.
One such method involves watching your body's reaction to fatigue. Give
yourself a running commentary: "My sides are aching", "My
legs feel heavy", and so forth. This may sound slightly mad, but
it is a proven distraction method. Alternatively, you can concentrate
on what your body is doing and that it is doing it correctly. For instance,
if jogging, concentrate on staying tall, keeping shoulders relaxed,
pushing your elbows back to this angle, etc.
An opposite distraction technique involves taking your mind away from
your body, e.g, by focusing on a landmark (even a mark on the ceiling);
counting down from 300 in 3's; or playing your favourite music/film
in your head. See how long you can concentrate on these before thoughts
of fatigue start creeping back. At the beginning, you may only be able
to do this for a matter of seconds, but should be able to improve to
a few minutes uninterrupted.
Self-Hypnosis
Sportspeople from all fields are getting in on the hypnosis act, from
boxers to footballers, cyclists to swimmers, and causing major upsets.
But what exactly is hypnosis? And how can it help you resist fatigue?
Well, we all have a conscious mind that is highly critical and responsible
for building mental barriers that stop us achieving things we might
otherwise be able to achieve. "I'll probably be whacked after 5
minutes", might be one such conscious thought regarding your workout.
Harmless, you may think, but your body will try it's best to do what
your mind tells it, so in this case you really will be whacked after
5 minutes! Hypnosis is a way of bypassing this conscious, critical mind
to put more positive ideas directly into the conscious mind - the part
you don't notice working but which ultimately controls your psychological
resistance to fatigue.
Hypnosis is not as drastic a measure as it sounds. In fact, the techniques are so simple that you wonder how they could possibly work.
Even if you are sceptical about whether it can make people regress to a past life, recall long forgotten memories, or make a grown man think he's Elvis (though you don't need hypnosis for that), it's use in sport as a performance-enhancer is less controversial. The results are seen time and again.
Hypnosis can also develop general personal traits that will be of help in lessening fatigue - improving your relaxation, motivation, confidence, etc. Contrary to popular opinion, you don't need a deep knowledge of the subject to hypnotise yourself. Obviously you need to learn the basic techniques, which can be done by consulting an introductory book or two on the subject. The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna* (Faber and Faber) is one of the best (he has helped some of the biggest names in sport). It also points you in the right direction to find out more.
Visualisation
Visualisation is another proven, simple technique used by many of the
elite in all sports. A visualisation to improve resistance to fatigue
whilst exercising would go something like this:
Make yourself comfortable somewhere you can be without interruptions,
and shut your eyes ...
Step 1 The first step is to tense then relax each part of your body,
first your feet, then your calves, your thighs, and so on up.
Step 2 Next, picture yourself training. Once you have been going for
some time, feel the fatigue a little, but not enough to make you slow
down or stop. Imagine that your muscles are still relaxed, and that
you are still full of energy and bounce. Stop here and replay this whole
sequence again, this time seeing, hearing, feeling everything from the
'inside' (if you weren't already).
Step 3 Keep going through this same sequence, noticing finer and finer
details about the experience each time. Take as long as you need.
Eventually you will have had so many mental workouts where you didn't get exhausted easily that this feeling will come naturally when you exercise for real. Every time you practice, the feeling will get clearer, and the technique will become more effective.
A variation is to imagine yourself working out, again full of energy and bounce. When completely focused on this (don't rush), say a short, relevant trigger word to yourself, such as "Energy". Do this once a day for a few weeks and you will have created an association whereby just saying the word "Energy" to yourself - before you start to exercise or when fatigue begins to set in - will quickly trigger the desired energetic state.
Other Psychological Tricks
1. Try to ensure you are not stressed before a workout.
2. Watch for a few minutes either a presenter or competent friend easily
training at around the intensity you want to.
3. Resolve to exercise for X minutes longer than you usually do.
4. Listen to upbeat music while you train.
5. Positive thinking - Many physical feats have been thought humanly
impossible - e.g. the four minute mile, climbing Everest - until one
person achieved it. Those who failed beforehand weren't less fit, they
just convinced themselves that at a certain point they must tire ...
and they did.
How often you make use of the techniques mentioned in this article obviously depends on your current fitness and natural drive, but at least one or two should be valuable, especially to those recently started out on the road to the perfect hard body.
Of course, eventually you will have to slow down or stop But at least from now on you will know that it was because of your body and not all in the mind.
* See our Mind Body Fit article on Paul McKenna's new book.