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Preparing for a fitness challenge is about getting your mind, as well as your body, into goal-getting shape. Because while meeting your targets might mean building muscle or increasing VO2 max, you’ll also need to set appropriate milestones, maintain motivation, and potentially manage anxiety, pain and injury. So, what’s the best way to flex your mental muscles?
One method gaining popularity with elite-level athletes is mindfulness meditation. Research published in the journal Neural Plasticity found athletes who did two 30-minute mindfulness sessions for five weeks showed greater endurance, a longer period before exhaustion and better cognitive functions (such as reaction time) compared to a control group. Studies also show mindfulness is beneficial for combatting the mental fatigue sometimes linked to sporting performance.
“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally,” says Jon Kabat-Zinn, the so-called ‘father of modern mindfulness’. It can be developed with breathing practices, body scans or simply focusing your attention on the sensations you experience in different parts of your body as you work out – the feeling of your feet striking the ground as you run, for example.