Improving Mental Skills to Crush the Open
In life and in competition, there are many things we cannot control. With the 2024 Open approaching, many athletes will be looking for ways to find an edge to get the best performance possible . At Training Think Tank, we will be helping all of our athletes set themselves up for success with thoughtful programming, nutrition tips, and data to help inform your strategy. Even with all of these available resources, there is another untapped resource that will help prepare you for your best performance and it’s located between the ears.
The structure of the “unknown and unknowable” format we’ve all become accustomed to, we will not know the workout movements, the weight of the barbells, the order of the workouts, or how we are going to feel the moment before starting the workout. Essentially, there are many things outside of our control. The one thing you want to be able to control when it comes to maximizing performance is yourself and how you respond to unpredictable situations. Control is the essence of mental skills and I am going to introduce you to a few tools you can master before tackling 24.1.
What is Mindset?
Mindset is the view you have about your qualities and characteristics, where they come from, and whether they can change. Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychologist and author of the book Mindset, popularized this topic by simplifying the idea into two categories:
Fixed mindset – the belief that your qualities are carved in stone – who you are is who you are, period. Characteristics such as intelligence, personality, and creativity are fixed traits, rather than something that can be developed.
Growth mindset – the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through effort. Yes, people differ greatly – in aptitude, talents, interests, or temperaments – but everyone can change and grow through application and experience.
As it pertains to approaching an open workout, below are examples of both mindsets.
Example 1: Has never done a bar muscle up before. Can do most gymnastics movements as RX’d, but is on the lower end of muscular endurance in repeatability tests.
Fixed mindset: “I can’t do a bar muscle up so I’m not going to try very hard on the other portions since I am not going to do well anyway.”
Growth mindset: “I’ve never done a bar muscle up before, but I have improved my strict pulling and dip strength recently. We’ve also been practicing the kipping technique a lot, so maybe I will warm up and consult with my coach about possibly making an attempt during the workout and using the energy of the environment.”
Example 2: Very proficient at bar muscle ups and is strong with cycling lighter barbell movements in training, but is easily stressed out by high-pressure situations in testing.
Fixed mindset: “All of these movements are right in my wheelhouse, so there’s a lot of pressure on me to do well. I need to be able to crush this one.”
Growth mindset: “All of these movements are right in my wheelhouse. I’ve struggled with performing in this scenario before, so I am going to create a game plan with my coach and work on some visualization and positive self-talk techniques to see if they help when it starts to get uncomfortable.”
In these two scenarios you can see the shift in thinking between the mindsets. Who do you think will perform better?
How to improve your mindset
There are a lot of available tools to improve mindset, but not all of them will work for everyone or every scenario. Like a muscle, improving mindset takes time to develop and grow with deliberate practice. Below are four techniques I’ve seen help improve performance with athletes in the past.
Visualization
Imagery, visualization, and mental rehearsal are all terms that refer to seeing with the mind’s eye - meaning, the ability to form a controlled mental image that can be manipulated to improve performance. Scientific studies have shown that when those who are skilled in visualization mentally rehearse a performance, the electrical signals between muscles and neurons are the same as when that performance is actually physically executed. Therefore, mental rehearsal can be used as a tool similar to physical practice. This is not intended to be used as a substitute for physical practice, but when combined with physical practice it can lead to better performance.
When practicing visualization there are three key components to making it effective.
It should be positive. Always visualize yourself performing correctly. If you replay a poor performance, always follow up with an image of yourself overcoming and error and correctly executing the skill
It should involve as many senses as possible. Visual, auditory (sounds), olfactory (smells), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), kinesthetic (the feel of the body as it moves), and the emotions associated with the experience (i.e. satisfaction, pride). Kinesthetic sense is critical above all others, and the more vivid the image the better
The perspective from which you “view” the image. An internal perspective means the athlete sees the image from behind their own eyes as if it were inside their bodies. An external perspective is one in which the athlete sees the image from outside of their bodies, as if they’re watching a video of themselves. When I ask athletes how they typically visualize themselves doing something, I more commonly hear it’s an external perspective. Practicing from an internal perspective helps athletes become more aware of how the body feels when executing a skill. External perspectives can be useful to enhance confidence if used to see oneself successfully performing in a tough situation.
Visualization should be practiced systematically and regularly for best effectiveness. You can incorporate a routine before, during, or after a performance or practice session. Athletes who commonly film their gymnastics skill work or olympic lifts may already practice visualization between sets. If you’re filming your workouts and not already utilizing this tool, I would highly recommend trying it and documenting your own feedback.
The benefits of visualization have also been proven to maintain a healthy immune system by reducing cortisol, engaging the parasympathetic nervous system to induce relaxation, increasing confidence, and lowering overall stress.
2. Self-Talk
Self talk is what we say to ourselves, whether it is aloud or silent thoughts. The two most common varieties of self-talk are: constructive and dysfunctional.
Constructive: thoughtful, substantive, motivational, insightful, and self-reflective. Constructive self-talk is characterized by accurate self-analysis, well-grounded beliefs, and an encouraging orientation. An individual can become motivated and develop the self-efficacy to act in ways that positively influence his or her future. In sum, how an individual constructs his or her reality is what enables behavior to be understood, predicted, and changed (Prussia et al., 1998).
Dysfunctional: a tendency to focus on and perseverate about the negative aspect of challenging situations. This type of thinking does not embrace change or challenge; instead, it shies away from it and focuses on the situation’s obstacles (Neck et al., 1999).
Examples of constructive self-talk with cognitive statements to enhance a skill or improve execution of a movement: “keep your head up,” “punch the bar,” “head through”
Examples of constructive self-talk with motivational statements: “I can do this!” “easy day!” “I’m a winner!”
Constructive self-talk using cognitive and motivational statements have been found to be effective for both strength and endurance events. In other studies, researchers have found that motivational self-talk can significantly increase time to exhaustion in athletes by as much as 18%. Motivational self-talk can also reduce the rate of perceived exertion in athletes, which can result in improved performance during both strength and endurance events.
Each of us has limited attentional space. In competition, it can become especially challenging to ignore negative thoughts especially if there are obstacles and disappointments involved. Rather than focusing on the negative ( i.e. what is wrong or undesirable), poor performance and errors can be viewed as an expectation to your typical good performance.
Exercise: Changing Negative Self-Talk to Positive Self-Talk
Below is an example of how you can transform negative self-talk into positive self-talk. This can also be called reframing. One of the big misconceptions I’ve found in developing positive self-talk in athletes during not so positive situations is that the positivity feels forced or inauthentic. As you can see from the examples below, some of the cueing is converting directly into positive, but some statements are changing the perspective out of the negative into something constructive, not necessarily disingenuously positive.
Negative Self-Talk
“I don’t want to fail this lift”
“I never do well when there is running”
“This is impossible. I’ll probably mess up.”
Positive Self-Talk
“I am going to nail this lift”
“I’ve been working on running and feel more confident in my ability to pace”
“Good form and technique, and I will execute”
Arousal Control
Arousal has somatic (physical) and cognitive (mental) components, which can affect increased heart rate, increased muscle activation, increased sweating, high adrenaline, etc. Arousal affects cognitive functioning (self-talk, concentration). Properly synching your physical and mental readiness can improve performance in high stress situations. Being aware of optimal arousal levels and the factors that increase or decrease arousal is first. You can do this by noticing past performances before specific workouts as there can be big differences depending on the type of workout, length of time, what energy system you are operating in, etc.
Techniques to control arousal would be practicing diaphragmatic breathing beforehand, controlling your warm up and surroundings, and managing nutrition dosage and timing (caffeine, pre-workout supplements, etc.).
Self-confidence
Have confidence to learn by not being afraid to fail or share those failures with others. When you adopt an open-mind and truly let yourself acknowledge the areas you are strong and areas you are weak, you create room to grow.
These techniques are not limited to performance in the gym, but also life. We’ve all encountered obstacles and challenges that can feel insurmountable in the moment, and then years later looking back on it they seem like a flash in the pan. Sometimes, the more time put between events and shifts in perspective can alter our memory of how we handled a certain situation. At the end of the day, mindset is everything. The more tuned in we are to how we see the world and ourselves, the better equipped we can be to see obstacles as stepping stones rather than roadblocks.
Where do we go from here?
To recap:
1. Goal Setting – Get clarity on what you want to achieve, break it down into manageable components and write it out clear goals
2. Visualization – Mentally rehearse skills you wish to master. Visualize yourself overcoming stressful environments
3. Self-Talk – Identify and replace negative self-talk with positive statements. Using self-talk to build confidence requires having perspective to recognize that errors are atypical and that letting go of errors and focusing on the positive will lead to success.
4. Arousal Control – Practice diaphragmatic breathing to mediate arousal levels before stressful events. Know your warm up plan to properly synch physical and mental readiness
5. Self-Confidence – Have confidence to fail and learn. “The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” Denis Waitley
Review and Reflection Worksheet
One of the best things that you can do to improve yourself as an athlete moving forward is to review and reflect. Below is an example of a reflection worksheet that you can adapt to suit your own needs.
Event:___________________________ (specific competition or practice)
Date: ________________
My personal goal for this event:
Performance evaluation relative to goal:
Lessons learned:
1.
2.
3.
Evaluate component skills key to my performance:
Skill 1:
Evaluation:
Skill 2:
Evaluation:
Skill 3:
Evaluation:
Additional Comments:
Conclusion
As we gear up for the open, it’s not too late to start taking notice of your mindset and putting some of these techniques and exercises into practice. A strong mindstate can enhance performance and improve the likelihood of walking away proud of the effort invested in not only the physical, but also the mental.
Corpus Animus Podcast
On this episode of the Corpus Animus Podcast, Coach Mike McGoldrick shares his talk during our 2024 Season Prep camp on “Practicing Pressure.” Mike uses examples from his own CrossFit career and other notable memories in sport to highlight how mental training can set you up for success.
References:
Van Raalte, Judy L.; Brewer, Britton W.; Rivera, Patricia M.; Petitpas, Albert J. The relationship between observable self-talk and competitive junior tennis players’ match performances. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, Vol 16(4), Dec 1994, 400-415
Theodorakis, Y.; Weinberg, R.; Natsis, P.; Douma, I.; Kazakas, P. The effects of motivational versus instruction self-talk on improving motor performance. Sport Psychologist 2000 Vol.14 No. 3 pp.253-271
Blanchfield AW, Hard J, De Morree HM, Staiano W, Marcora SM. Talking yourself out of exhaustion: the effects of self-talk on endurance performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014 May; 46(5):998-1007.
Prussia, G., Anderson, J. and Manz, C. (1998), “Self-leadership and performance outcomes: the mediating influence of self-efficacy”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 523-38.
Neck, C., Neck, H., Manz, C. and Godwin, J. (1999), “I think I can; I think I can”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 477-501.
