1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:05,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: I am Tom Holland, and this is bitness Disrupted Mental Practice. 3 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: There are two topics in sports psychology that I absolutely love, 4 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: and those are self talk and visualization. We'll throw out 5 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: a bunch of terms, visualization, also, imagery, mental practice. They're 6 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: all connected, but those two self talk and visualization, absolutely love, 7 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 1: absolutely love. I've done a podcast on self talk, and 8 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: now here's one on visualization mental practice. This is what 9 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: sports psychology is all about. This is why I went 10 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: to get that master's degree. Loved it, and after spending 11 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: so many years in the fitness industry, I realized how 12 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: powerful the brain is in so many different ways, and 13 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: that if I was truly going to help and separate 14 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: myself and make a true difference in this field, that 15 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: I needed to study that. And I loved it. You know, 16 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: I studied communications Boston College as an undergrad. It was 17 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: it was good. I enjoyed it. I love that as well. 18 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: But I loved, absolutely loved my sports psychology studies. And 19 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: there's just so much to it that you can apply 20 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: not just to sports, and I'm gonna talk about that. 21 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: This is everyday life, self talk and visualization and when 22 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: you learn these techniques. I just read an article you 23 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: used the term hacks, and I've talked about how I 24 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: just I don't like that term. I don't want to 25 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: say hate because I was taught not to say hate. 26 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: But visualization and self talk are two things that, when 27 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: you learn how to harness the power of them, truly 28 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: change your life. Truly change your life. So I'm going 29 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: to talk about mental practice and yes, how it applies 30 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,519 Speaker 1: to sports. And so if you are a an athlete, 31 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: a recreational athlete, a high level athlete, if you're a 32 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: high level athlete, most likely already doing this, whether you 33 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: know it or not. And let me say this, all 34 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: all high level athletes, and not just athletes, by the way, performers, 35 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: All performers engage in both of those things positive self 36 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: talk and mental practice rehearsal, and for good reason, because 37 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: it works. There are so many studies here. I could 38 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 1: do it seven hour show and you'd hate me for it, 39 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 1: aside for those freaks out there who loved the science 40 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: that much. But that's that's not what this show is about. 41 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 1: That's not how I do it. So yeah, I'll give 42 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,639 Speaker 1: you a couple but the takeaways from this show, my gosh, 43 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: are you gonna get your money's worth? It's just it's 44 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: it's it's such powerful stuff. So one quick break to start, 45 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: and when we come back, gonna jump right into it. 46 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about mental practice, visualization, imagery and how 47 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: you can use them to truly change your life. We'll 48 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: be right back, and we are back. I have lectured 49 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: extensively on this topic, and one of the power point 50 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: presentations I pulled up an old one for many years ago. 51 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: I gave a lecture so so much fun at the 52 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: New York City Marathon Expo. Was fortunate to do it 53 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: with Ambi Berfoot, guy who won the Boston Marathon went 54 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: on to become, you know, huge part of Runners World magazine. 55 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: I think he's still editor at large and who's it 56 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,359 Speaker 1: Nancy Clark a great sports nutritionists as well. But my 57 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:24,840 Speaker 1: lecture was on mental training for the marathon, and any 58 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: of you who have actually run the New York City Marathon, 59 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: it was so much fun to do this specific lecture 60 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: about this specific race because that race is truly designed, 61 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: in my opinion, to just torture you mentally. The marathon 62 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: is hard enough it's hard enough. I want to just 63 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 1: want to start with this example. You are in you know, 64 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: at the race start for the New York City Marathon, 65 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: fifty people people, whatever the number is, and you start 66 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: and it's the greatest thing ever. And you know, you're 67 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,719 Speaker 1: running through Brooklyn and you know people are talking. They're chatting. 68 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: At about the thirteen mile mark is the fifty ninth 69 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: Street bridge, and that's where I would argue the race 70 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: truly starts. And you run up a little hill and 71 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 1: it gets quieter and you can hear just footsteps, and 72 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: then you come down off that and you're on First 73 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: Avenue and it's the Wall of Sound, as they they 74 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 1: call it, one of the greatest experiences ever. Tens of 75 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,599 Speaker 1: thousands of people cheering you on, and you run your 76 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: fastest mile, most likely of the entire race. And then 77 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: you're in Harlem. You crossed the Willis Avenue bridge. You're 78 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: at about mile twenty, which is where that proverbial wall 79 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: resides lives, and now the crowds you're gone. So at 80 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: the toughest time physically, you're given the toughest time mentally 81 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: as well. It's just awesome. So mental training and self 82 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 1: talk are huge compo onents of dealing with those situations. 83 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 1: So what is it? What is imagery? What is visualization? 84 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: I used to start many of those lectures with just 85 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 1: giving an example of imagine cutting open a woman, cutting 86 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 1: it in half again, putting it in your mouth. And 87 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: what's the reaction if you think hard enough, if you 88 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: visualize it, close your eyes and do that quite often. 89 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: It's happening to me as I say it. You start 90 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: to salivate. You start to salivate. And it is the 91 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: simplest yet most profound, in my opinion, way of starting 92 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: this discussion, that the thoughts you have in your head 93 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: can elicit a physiological response in your body. Okay, so 94 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: we're gonna start there. So what's the definition of imagery? 95 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: And again, imagery visualization kind of kind of use them interchangeably. Uh, 96 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 1: and then we'll refine it as we go. But imagery, 97 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 1: it's basically a technique in which athletes and I throw 98 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: in performers prepare for a motor performance, both physiologically and psychologically. Okay, 99 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: so it's basically practiced without practicing. It's in your head. 100 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: It's all in your head. And you know, people like 101 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: to say when you you start to study sports psychology. 102 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: That the visualization was first applied to sports performance after 103 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: the Olympics, when Russian researchers studying Olympic athletes found that 104 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: those athletes that employed visualization techniques, well, they had a 105 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: better performance, they experienced a positive impact on their outcomes. 106 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: The research goes far back beyond that, So I think 107 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: this is where it was popularized, where you know, the 108 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: connection to sports and and major connection, that's where they 109 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: like to kind of push the pin in. But you know, 110 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: be going on a lot longer than that, all right, 111 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: So imagery it's used to help athletes focus on task 112 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: relevant cues to block out the noise, that irrelevant stimuli, 113 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: all the things that can distract from performance. Okay. It's 114 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: also used to help athletes be aware of their body, 115 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: their physiological state and improve their attention to those things, 116 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: to the cues for their responses. So I'm giving you 117 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: kind of the science first and then we're gonna break 118 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: it all down. And it's also utilized to help get 119 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: into the optimal state of arousal. So that's really important 120 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: where your peak performance is achieved. And I think I 121 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: talked about that a little bit in the self talk podcast, 122 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: optimal level of arousal. That is different for everybody. It's 123 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 1: an inverted you. You can be too relaxed and you 124 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: can be too hyped up, and it's different for everybody. 125 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: And that's where a great coach comes in. I've said 126 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: this on numerous shows. Typical coaches treat everyone the same way. 127 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 1: They yell or they don't yell, or or they have 128 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: one style. Great coaches figure out where you are on 129 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:22,559 Speaker 1: that inverted you spectrum that gets you to your optimal 130 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 1: state of arousal. All right, so we're gonna jump ahead 131 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,559 Speaker 1: a little bit, but we're gonna talk about three things 132 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: mental practice for three specific purposes. First, skill acquisition, to 133 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: get better at something. To learn a skill, you're gonna 134 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: imagine it, you're gonna see yourself doing it correctly, and 135 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 1: that is going to help. And then what I was 136 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: just talking about number two, to control your emotion to 137 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: get to your optimal state of arousal. And that goes 138 00:09:55,679 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: to practicing your responses to adverse tuations. So important, and 139 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: again that is for sports, and as I will talk about, 140 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: it is also for life. And number three connected to 141 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: the first one obviously, but it's to improve your performance 142 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: your overall performance. It is to get you to your 143 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:26,199 Speaker 1: best performance utilizing these mental tricks. And here's the thing. 144 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: The mind doesn't know that you're imagining it. The mind 145 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:37,680 Speaker 1: doesn't know the difference what the mind sees as the 146 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: saying goes the body believes. And that goes to the 147 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:46,959 Speaker 1: heart of mental training. Now here's where it gets fun 148 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: for me at least and hopefully for you. There's two 149 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: modalities of imagery, okay, and they supposedly there's the connection 150 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:57,600 Speaker 1: they connect to the brain in a very uniquely specific way. 151 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: There's kin aesthetic and there's visual imagery. Okay, And when 152 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,319 Speaker 1: I studied it, we've just basically called it first person 153 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: and third person. So imagery in and of itself, it's 154 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: a technique in the sports sciences that entails the mental 155 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 1: rehearsal of a given situation to improve. Again, you're learning 156 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 1: your performance and your motivation. Okay. But here's the thing. 157 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: Visual imagery. You're going to visually imagine yourself performing a 158 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:35,559 Speaker 1: task doing that thing from the third person. So it's 159 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 1: as if you're being filmed, as if you're filming it, right, 160 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: you are watching yourself do it. I love this stuff. 161 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: This is where it gets fun for me. kN aesthetic 162 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: imagery it's the process of uh doing it seeing yourself 163 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 1: from the first person imagery through your own eyes. So 164 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:59,199 Speaker 1: there's two ways to do it, either as if someone 165 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 1: was filming you and you're watching yourself do it, or 166 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:05,439 Speaker 1: you're seeing it through your eyes. And the quick takeaway 167 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 1: is the studies show you want to do both, And 168 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: I will do future podcasts. I know drive some people 169 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: nuts when I talk about future podcast but I don't 170 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: want you to think that I'm not gonna go deeper 171 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:20,839 Speaker 1: into this stuff because there's so much here. But this 172 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:22,959 Speaker 1: is the first show on it, first show to get 173 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: us started on visualization, because yes, there is so much 174 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:30,200 Speaker 1: more to it. And what they call the big term 175 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: for kinesthetic image imagery, it's the process of so matto 176 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:41,560 Speaker 1: sensorial simulations. Try saying that five times fast somatos sensorial 177 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: simulation of per forming a motor task. Again first person imagery, 178 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 1: and no, these are not replacements. It's not you know 179 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 1: my one of my professors used to say, you can't 180 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: just do mental rehearsal and expect to be really really good. 181 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: But it helps, it helps, and and you combine it 182 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: with the physical It helps exponentially depending on how consistent 183 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: and how good you are at it, just like everything else, 184 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: excessive moderation, excessive moderation. But I want to get away 185 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: from the sports because some of you listening, you're like, yeah, 186 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: I don't really care that much about sports. I know 187 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: many of you do recreational whatever, tennis, golf, whatever sport 188 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:31,679 Speaker 1: you do. This will help. But you can use this 189 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: for so much more than sports. If you're giving a speech, 190 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: if you have to give a presentation. I have utilized 191 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: mental training over and over for non sports specific tasks 192 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: with huge success TV appearances. I have done this mental 193 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: rehearsal for decades. If you have a job interview, if 194 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: you have a formants of any kind, and here's the thing, 195 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 1: if you just have a challenging situation upcoming, you have 196 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: a challenging situation upcoming, you engage in mental rehearsal, in 197 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: visualization and seeing yourself react in the right way, in 198 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 1: the way you want to to control all of those emotions. 199 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: And we're gonna talk about how you want to utilize 200 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: all five senses. I love this part two. All five senses. 201 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: When you're doing your visualization, you want to be in 202 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: it as much as you can to make it as 203 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: real as possible, because again, the body and the brain 204 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: are connected in such an incredible way, and when you 205 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: harness the power both together, the results are amazing. Let 206 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: me give you five specific kinds of imagery just to 207 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: kind of clarified even more, and I'm going to use 208 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: the sports references because it makes it a little easier. 209 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:09,160 Speaker 1: All right, there's motivational specific, Okay. I loved this back 210 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: when I was competing trying to, you know, qualify for 211 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: the Boston Marathon, break three hours in a marathon, break 212 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: ten hours, and iron Man achieved those things. And one 213 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: powerful tool was mental training, and motivational specific for me 214 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: was just that. So imagine yourself in a highly motivating situation, 215 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 1: and what I would do personally was envisioned the finish line. 216 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: And see the time when I was trying to break 217 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: three hours for the first time Chicago Marathon, I pictured 218 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: over and over in my mental practice to fifty ninety 219 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: four to fifty nine. fIF I didn't envisioned, by the way, 220 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: to fifty not to fifty five, not to fifty seven, 221 00:15:55,440 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: and guess what, almost to the second it happened. So 222 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 1: that is a motivational specific imagining yourself in a highly 223 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: motivating situation. All right, Then there's motivational general mastery. Okay, 224 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: that's where you're remaining focused. You're mastering what you are 225 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: doing that skill. And so back to running marathons, triathlons, 226 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: that's your pacing, so you're seeing yourself doing it well, 227 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: you're mastering that skill. I used to do this for 228 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: the bike all the time, and I'll talk about that 229 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: first person and third person, third type motivational general arousal. 230 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 1: This is huge, huge, and this is where I started 231 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 1: with mental training, by the way, without even really knowing it, 232 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,280 Speaker 1: but it came into play when I started traveling the 233 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: world and doing these crazy races. So this is about 234 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: controlling anxiety motivational general arousal. Back to what I was 235 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: talking about earlier, that inverted you end. The craziest time 236 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: in my favorite time, as I've said many times before, 237 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,440 Speaker 1: before race, especially an iron Man, is that minute or 238 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: two right before the gun goes off. And I vividly 239 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,399 Speaker 1: remember being on the beach at a right before race 240 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: and we're all lined up. It's a mass start the 241 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: way it used to be, and the national anthem is 242 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:23,880 Speaker 1: playing and it's just palpable. The tension is palpable. You've 243 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: trained forever, You're getting ready to spend an entire, you know, 244 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 1: half to full day almost racing. And there was a 245 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 1: guy next to me. We're all in wet suits, and 246 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 1: I could hear a beep, beep beep. I realized his 247 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:42,200 Speaker 1: heart rate monitor. You didn't have to see it to 248 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: know that he was almost redlining. So his motivational general 249 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: arousal at that point, and most people, by the way, 250 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: not so good. So I would picture myself walking around 251 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: a race star putting on my wet suit. Actually, let 252 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: me backtrack. I would start getting up in the morning. 253 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:10,719 Speaker 1: I would envision waking up, having breakfast, getting dressed, walking 254 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:15,160 Speaker 1: to the race, start, putting on my wet suit, standing 255 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: and waiting for that gun to go off. And because 256 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,919 Speaker 1: if any of you have ever done a triathlon, the 257 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 1: swim back when it was a mass start the craziest 258 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: thing ever, and you can't prepare for it by swimming 259 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: in a pool. So the motivational general arousal for me huge. 260 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: And then let me take it to again. I'm just 261 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,439 Speaker 1: giving you my personal experiences with it, and hopefully they 262 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: helped too. I did as much local TV as I could, 263 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: many many years ago in preparation for the bigger shows. 264 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 1: But I would envision myself on the bigger shows, and 265 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: I would envision being in the green room. I would 266 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,640 Speaker 1: envision walking out onto the set. I would envision being 267 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,239 Speaker 1: on the set, everything about it. And I would do 268 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: it from the first person, and I would do it 269 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,959 Speaker 1: from the third person. So I would see myself walking 270 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 1: out onto the set, and then I would see through 271 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:11,199 Speaker 1: my own eyes what I would see the camera the person. 272 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: So not only sports, but challenging situations that come up 273 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: in your life. More about that in a second cognitive 274 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: specific Number four, Now that's just correctly executing a skill. 275 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,399 Speaker 1: So the first three were about motivation, the final two cognitive. 276 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: So cognitive specific, you're correctly executing a skill. Again, keep 277 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,440 Speaker 1: giving you these sports and triathlons, just easy swim, bike run. 278 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: So you're swimming, you can you're picturing yourself from above. 279 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: I used to do because many of these mass swim 280 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 1: starts in New Zealand and incredible bodies of water, and 281 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 1: oftentimes there's a helicopter above filming, and so you picture 282 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:01,640 Speaker 1: yourself correctly executing that skill swimming seeing the hands come 283 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 1: up the glide and then switching to the first person. 284 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,360 Speaker 1: And that's the craziest and the most effective for me 285 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: because again the most stressful time of the race for me, 286 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: and most people swim during the swim, and so I 287 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: would use it to get the correct executing of the 288 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: skill as well as the motivational general arousal. And they 289 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: are connected, as I talked about in the self Talk podcast. 290 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:32,679 Speaker 1: If you haven't listened to that one and you're interested 291 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: in this stuff, you've got to listen to that one too, 292 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: all right, you could be you again, cognitive specific. You're 293 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: running up a hill with good form. You know, you 294 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: are watching yourself shift gears seamlessly, switch gears as you're 295 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:49,879 Speaker 1: going up a hill, down a hill, you know, seeing 296 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: yourself descend, seeing those things and seeing you execute them perfectly. 297 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 1: And then finally, and this one's interesting, it's cognitive general. 298 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: So it's just you're reviewing your strategies and this is 299 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:10,640 Speaker 1: super important. So running through a water station during a marathon, 300 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,160 Speaker 1: and you see yourself getting that water even though there's 301 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:18,439 Speaker 1: chaos and people around you, and there's you know, cups 302 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 1: all over the ground, and so you see yourself executing that. 303 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:25,959 Speaker 1: All right, we're gonna take one more break, and then 304 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,040 Speaker 1: I'm gonna talk about, because it's connected to this, what 305 00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:30,679 Speaker 1: happens when things go wrong. So you're going through that 306 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: aid station, and what inevitably happens, You drop the water 307 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:36,959 Speaker 1: or you miss, and all of a sudden you're out 308 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: of it. So when we come back to take all 309 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: these topics and say, okay, you're picturing yourself doing them perfectly, 310 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:49,199 Speaker 1: but then, especially for this final one reviewing strategies, what 311 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:54,879 Speaker 1: happens when things don't go as planned? Because they never do, 312 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:08,560 Speaker 1: We'll be right back talking about one of my favorite topics, 313 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:13,160 Speaker 1: mental practice, visualization, imagery, whatever you want to call it, 314 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 1: practicing without practicing, rehearsing, picturing a perfect performance, and then, 315 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: as I said before the break, picturing what you do 316 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:28,879 Speaker 1: when things go wrong? How do you react? I just 317 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: listened to a an athlete talk about how her coach 318 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: did this with her for her upcoming competition. That he 319 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:44,439 Speaker 1: literally took her through every scenario he could imagine of 320 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:51,120 Speaker 1: things going wrong, and they imagined and rehearsed mentally her 321 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: reaction to that. And that's life, and that's the that's 322 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:02,400 Speaker 1: the performer who executes when things go wrong, because they do. 323 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:05,919 Speaker 1: So you're going through that aide station. I've seen this 324 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,160 Speaker 1: so many Iron Man races. Fueling is everything. And you're 325 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,439 Speaker 1: in Malaysia and you go through a bike gid station 326 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:13,360 Speaker 1: and for those of you who don't know you, you're 327 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: just slowing down. You're sticking out your arm and you're 328 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: trying to get your fluids, your food, and it's crazy 329 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: and there's a lot of crashes and a lot of 330 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,879 Speaker 1: people who miss. So what do you do. Well, you 331 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 1: can go back, you know, make sure you're you're clear, 332 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: and and you know, slow down and go back and 333 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 1: pick it up. So you you review those things mentally. 334 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: You don't picture yourself just blowing through it and then 335 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,159 Speaker 1: you've got another twenty miles with nothing. So my point 336 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:49,399 Speaker 1: is with this final cognitive general reviewing your strategies, what 337 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 1: you're going to do, your your plan of action, and 338 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: then what you're going to do if and when things 339 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,920 Speaker 1: go wrong. And I would argue, and my personal philosophy 340 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,480 Speaker 1: this is you want to spend too much time envisioning 341 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: things going wrong, because I don't want that to be 342 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:12,160 Speaker 1: hardwired in. But you want to prepare mentally for those 343 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: things you can and see yourself reacting. So I'll leave 344 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 1: with this that swim start. Things are going crazy and 345 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:22,959 Speaker 1: you know, people are punching and kicking, and so you 346 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: picture yourself relaxing. And this goes to self talk and 347 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: why I said it was so connected. So when I 348 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:33,160 Speaker 1: would do the mental rehearsal, I would picture myself getting 349 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,400 Speaker 1: punched and kicked and just finding that water and navigating 350 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:44,719 Speaker 1: it seamlessly. And then those self talk statements, let it flow, 351 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 1: let yourself go slow and low. That is the tempo, 352 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: different song, lyrics, different things. So I would rehearse as 353 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,399 Speaker 1: well as rehearse the self talk statements that I was 354 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: going to use. All right, so much on and you 355 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: really want you to think to all the different ways 356 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 1: you can apply this to your life. You have to 357 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:11,160 Speaker 1: go have a discussion with someone that you're not excited about. 358 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,879 Speaker 1: It's going to be an argument potentially, and you use 359 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:19,400 Speaker 1: mental rehearsal. You picture yourself going in there and remaining 360 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 1: calm from the first person and the third person, and 361 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:30,919 Speaker 1: you envision and think up things that that person could say, 362 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 1: and then you see yourself reacting in the right way, 363 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: responding in the right way. So again you can use 364 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:42,760 Speaker 1: this for so many different situations. All Right, some quick studies. 365 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: I will go into this much deeper in a in 366 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,720 Speaker 1: another podcast, but just some quick kind of studies on 367 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,719 Speaker 1: what we're talking about here. This one was super recent, 368 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,439 Speaker 1: not the best study. You go, why you're bringing it up? 369 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,439 Speaker 1: Then it's it's not horrible. It was just small study, 370 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,119 Speaker 1: not done you know, are a very long period of 371 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,439 Speaker 1: time at all. But the gist is there, all right, 372 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:05,560 Speaker 1: and there are other studies that are very similar. But 373 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,879 Speaker 1: it was super recent April two nineteen, and it was 374 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: a study done at Transylvania University a hundred and thirty 375 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: three participants, and it was very simple. The purpose of 376 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 1: the study was to observe the effects of positive visualization 377 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,160 Speaker 1: on strength development. So they were gonna do a bunch 378 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 1: of different strength lifts and they wanted to see if 379 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: they got stronger. So they would do a one rep max, 380 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 1: see how much they could squat, bench press, clean, and jerk. 381 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: I think there was a bunch of Olympic lifts, and 382 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 1: so they had a pretest and a post test. And 383 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: there were people that that just lifted, there were people 384 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:40,200 Speaker 1: that just visualized. There were people that visualized and lifted 385 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: and then the people that did nothing. And not surprisingly, 386 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: it was found that the people, the athletes who did 387 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 1: the visualization with the strength training, they demonstrated a significantly 388 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:55,879 Speaker 1: greater increase in strength than those who only strength trained. 389 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 1: And that's pretty amazing because now we're talking about muscles, 390 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 1: but we're also talking about the brain and that is 391 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 1: what so much of this research is going into. And 392 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:11,560 Speaker 1: how you know, when we talk about strength training, when 393 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: you first start lifting weights, it's neuromuscular. Your brain is learning. 394 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: This is where it's all connected. Your brain is literally 395 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 1: learning how to recruit the muscle fibers. So it's not 396 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:25,879 Speaker 1: muscle hypertrophy. It's not that your muscle mass is getting bigger, 397 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 1: your muscle fiber size things like that. No, your brain 398 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,960 Speaker 1: is learning how to recruit more muscle fibers. So that 399 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:39,160 Speaker 1: is really interesting interesting study. Again, uh, not the most 400 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: perfect one, but you know, it gets to what we're 401 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:46,959 Speaker 1: talking about here, gets the conversation started. Visualization, mental rehearsal 402 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: along with lifting weights is going to have a better outcome, 403 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: all right. And second study, uh, this one quoted frequently 404 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: now two thousand four December, and this is the Journal 405 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:05,879 Speaker 1: of neurophysiology. Interesting study where here's the title, actually, the 406 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: power of the mind the cortex as a critical determinant 407 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,760 Speaker 1: of muscle strength and weakness. There were a group of 408 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,640 Speaker 1: healthy individuals who underwent four weeks of wrist hand immobilization 409 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 1: to induce weakness. Oh, this is kind of interesting, right, 410 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:24,080 Speaker 1: They purposely made them weaker to find a little strange, 411 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,400 Speaker 1: but hey, that's how you study these things. So four 412 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,880 Speaker 1: weeks of wrist hand immobilization to induce weakness. Another group 413 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,960 Speaker 1: also underwent four weeks of immobilization. But here's the difference. 414 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:40,320 Speaker 1: They also performed mental imagery of strong muscle contractions five 415 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:43,240 Speaker 1: days a week, so they were consistent five days a week. 416 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 1: I'm just going to condense the findings down really quickly. 417 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: Not surprisingly, the immobilization group decreased strength immeasurably, right, big 418 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 1: change in in in strength got weaker. And the mental 419 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 1: imagery group, however, they attenuated that law of strength significantly, 420 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 1: not completely, but significantly. Uh. And then there are a 421 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: bunch of other things I don't want to get into 422 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: right now along with the brain, but it's showed this 423 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 1: connection potentially and things that were going on in that 424 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: regard as well, but the bottom line is they attenuated 425 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:26,719 Speaker 1: the loss of strength significantly. So again, having done that 426 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 1: show on injuries and say it over and over again, 427 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:38,720 Speaker 1: injuries are inevitable and unfortunate and frustrating. But they forced 428 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:41,360 Speaker 1: us to do different things variation, which is great. They 429 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:43,760 Speaker 1: forced us to focus on things that we probably didn't before, 430 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: which is great, especially our weaknesses. And then it is 431 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: an optimal time to really get into the mental training. 432 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 1: Get into that mental training if you're in that situation 433 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 1: where you can't do what you were doing before. So 434 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 1: if you're going to the gym five days week and 435 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 1: and now you're doing PT or you're working at at home, 436 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 1: or or you can't do anything, well, yes you can. 437 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:12,239 Speaker 1: You can do your mental training all right. Finally, an 438 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: Analysis of Literature on Imagery used in Sports and its 439 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 1: Relation with Performance is the title, and this was this 440 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: is the first for me International Journal of Yogic how 441 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: you say it, Yogic, Human Movement and Sports Sciences two eighteen, 442 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,440 Speaker 1: and I grabbed this is unique, but it kind of 443 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: clarifies again for those of you who are just hearing 444 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 1: about this for the first time, what we're talking about. 445 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: And it's going to bring it all together. So the 446 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:41,840 Speaker 1: summary of this is imagery research has over time evolved 447 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: and advanced the field of sports psychology and it's applied practice. 448 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,400 Speaker 1: Since its early review by Felts and Landers, researchers have 449 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: not only focused on imagery as one aspect of mental 450 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 1: practice here's the important part, everybody, but also it's influence 451 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 1: on various mental skills for example, confidence, super important, arousal, 452 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 1: and concentration. And here's the kicker. Additionally, imagery has been 453 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: effectively used for rehearsing general strategies. Just talked about that, 454 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: learning sports specific skills, and facilitating effective responses to competitive 455 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:26,240 Speaker 1: scenarios and stressful emotions. Right there, facilitating effective responses to 456 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 1: competitive scenarios and stressful emotions. What do I end every 457 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 1: show by saying? We control three things? How much we move, 458 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 1: what we put into our mounts, and our attitudes. This 459 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:42,640 Speaker 1: is the attitude's part, people, This is controlling emotions. This 460 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 1: is self talk. This is not allowing external factors to 461 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: influence your internal factors, because we are in charge of that. 462 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 1: Stresses a choice. I know that makes some people angry, 463 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:02,760 Speaker 1: and that in and of itself should speak volumes. Stress 464 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:05,680 Speaker 1: is a choice. It is a process. If you missed 465 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:09,000 Speaker 1: that podcast, you need to listen to that one. But 466 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:11,479 Speaker 1: bringing it all home, that's how I started the show. 467 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,360 Speaker 1: Three things we're talking about with mental rehearsal, skill acquisition, 468 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 1: control your emotions, your state of arousal, practicing your responses again, 469 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:24,680 Speaker 1: and improving your performance as a whole. All right, finally 470 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: pull it all together here, what do you do? How 471 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 1: do you do it? How do you start today? It's 472 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: so simple, it's fun and it's relaxing. This is part 473 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 1: of your meditation of sorts. It's part of your meditation. 474 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,880 Speaker 1: So a couple of minutes can you take five? And 475 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:44,640 Speaker 1: that's a long time, by the way, And it's fun 476 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: to practice because once your focus really starts to go, 477 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 1: you're done. So see how quickly the mind wanders, Especially 478 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 1: in a world of constant bombardment with technology and all 479 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: of that stuff. It's it's more and more challenging. I 480 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 1: would argue, So five minutes to get to a quiet place. 481 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,520 Speaker 1: And I'm just gonna use a sports you know example, 482 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:14,000 Speaker 1: as always it's easier. So let's say you are a 483 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: tennis player and you are playing against your rival. Well, 484 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:25,360 Speaker 1: you're gonna picture that scenario and here's the thing again, 485 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:33,080 Speaker 1: what I love. You're gonna use all five senses, visual, kinesthetic, auditory, 486 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 1: old factory and yes, Gusta Torri. You're gonna see it, 487 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: you're gonna feel it, you're gonna hear it, you're gonna 488 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: smell it, and you're gonna taste it. And I want 489 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,760 Speaker 1: you to use first person and third person as well. 490 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 1: So you're gonna hear the sound of the ball. You're 491 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:58,800 Speaker 1: gonna hear your feet on the court. You're gonna see 492 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 1: your opponent. You're gonna taste your sweat, You're gonna taste 493 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:07,680 Speaker 1: that sports drink you have in between breaks. You're gonna 494 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:12,840 Speaker 1: see yourself getting to the net and making that perfect shot. 495 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 1: And if you know your competition really well and they 496 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:19,200 Speaker 1: know you, they know your weakness, you're going to see 497 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:28,919 Speaker 1: yourself executing your weakness unlike you normally do. You're going 498 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:34,440 Speaker 1: to picture yourself being successful in those situations. You're gonna 499 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:40,720 Speaker 1: smell the cut grass around the court. You're gonna feel 500 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 1: the racket in your hands. So you close your eyes 501 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:50,239 Speaker 1: five minutes, quiet place. Whatever that mental rehearsal is for you, 502 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 1: And maybe it is a job interview, Maybe it is 503 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:56,359 Speaker 1: going to have a discussion that's not going to be 504 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:01,120 Speaker 1: necessarily pleasant, but you can make it more so. So 505 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:07,480 Speaker 1: what do we learn first person, third person that mental 506 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,160 Speaker 1: rehearsal is for so many different things, And get your 507 00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 1: kids doing it. Just tell them about it and show 508 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:15,360 Speaker 1: them that you're doing it. Don't force him to do it. 509 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,759 Speaker 1: By the way, I was asked many years ago when 510 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 1: I was in the midst of my sports psychology to 511 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:26,160 Speaker 1: work with kids, and oh my gosh, topic for another day. 512 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:28,520 Speaker 1: But show him you're doing it, just like everything else, 513 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,600 Speaker 1: and tell them about it. You know, I love music. 514 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,759 Speaker 1: Music for me is huge, and it's helpful in the 515 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:40,400 Speaker 1: visualization and the mental practice for me. And again, I 516 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:43,880 Speaker 1: want you to use all your senses and use that 517 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:48,400 Speaker 1: first person, third person and know that mental rehearsal just 518 00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:50,560 Speaker 1: like everything else. Here's where we pull it all together. 519 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: Just like comedian bringing a joke back, it's about excessive moderation. 520 00:35:56,360 --> 00:36:00,160 Speaker 1: It's yet another tool in your arsenal. Two you the 521 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,120 Speaker 1: best you can be, to be the happiest you can 522 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:06,000 Speaker 1: be because you're controlling your emotions, you're having your best performances, 523 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 1: and it's about control. See how we brought that all 524 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:16,920 Speaker 1: back control, control, control, and you're practicing your reactions, and 525 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:19,880 Speaker 1: you're putting yourself in those situations and you're seeing yourself 526 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:24,560 Speaker 1: be successful. We'll leave you with one quick thing kind 527 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:27,920 Speaker 1: of connected. It's about visualization a little different though it's 528 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,960 Speaker 1: about things happening this it will be a separate show 529 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,719 Speaker 1: as well. But I've talked about for many years my goal, 530 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:37,040 Speaker 1: one of my major goals, was to compete in the 531 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:39,880 Speaker 1: Hawaii Iron Man, And so I put a picture of 532 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:42,680 Speaker 1: the swim start on my screen saver on my computer, 533 00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 1: and for ten years, every day I saw that image. 534 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:54,360 Speaker 1: And ten years later, ten years I was standing in 535 00:36:54,400 --> 00:37:00,600 Speaker 1: that exact spot, looking out at the exact picture that 536 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:04,080 Speaker 1: I had seen for ten years, and pictured myself being there, 537 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:08,120 Speaker 1: and I was there, and I felt like I had 538 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:12,240 Speaker 1: been there already. So there you have it, a little 539 00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:17,360 Speaker 1: different use of visualization topic for another show, But just 540 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:21,080 Speaker 1: know that, Hey, I've done a bunch of shows, lots 541 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:23,560 Speaker 1: of good information. But as I said at the start 542 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:28,719 Speaker 1: of the show, self talk and mental rehearsal anywhere, anytime 543 00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:34,719 Speaker 1: with significant significant results. It's not a matter of if 544 00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:37,560 Speaker 1: you're going to see results from doing it, but just 545 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:42,160 Speaker 1: how great? All right? Thank you for listening. Yet another topic. 546 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:45,160 Speaker 1: I could give you ten hours and torture you and 547 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:47,880 Speaker 1: more studies, but we'll do them in separate shows. That's 548 00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:50,720 Speaker 1: how it's gonna be. Thank you so much for listening. Please, 549 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:54,240 Speaker 1: if you haven't rated the show, give me two seconds 550 00:37:54,239 --> 00:37:56,839 Speaker 1: and do that when it's over. Comments, questions, you can 551 00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,000 Speaker 1: leave those if you are listening in a place that 552 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:02,319 Speaker 1: allows you to, and if not. Tom h Fit is 553 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:06,000 Speaker 1: my Twitter and my Instagram, Tom h Fit and Fitness 554 00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:08,879 Speaker 1: disrupted dot com. You can contact me right through there. 555 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening and any topics again 556 00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:14,719 Speaker 1: you want covered reach out. I love hearing from you 557 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:18,600 Speaker 1: and I love hearing all the feedback, so thank you again. 558 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:23,600 Speaker 1: I am Tom Holland. This is Fitness Disrupted, Believe in Yourself. 559 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:33,799 Speaker 1: Fitness Disrupted is a production of I Heart Radio. For 560 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart 561 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:40,200 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 562 00:38:40,239 --> 00:38:41,000 Speaker 1: favorite shows.