A message. A few words. Or even just a single word—that might be all you need to hit that goal you've always wanted or achieve your racing objective, whatever it may be. Because the mind is powerful, more powerful than we believe, and it controls the strings of our performance more than our heart or muscles do. And if you can convince it that you can, maybe you'll give yourself a big positive surprise.
We train our bodies like crazy in every session: long runs, intervals, extra kilometers, sweat and tears. All to achieve, sometimes, barely noticeable improvements. What if I told you that a few well-chosen words have the potential to improve your performance by almost 20%?
A study had 24 cyclists perform a test to exhaustion. Then, over two weeks, half of them were asked to choose four positive phrases or words to use during their training sessions. Two weeks later, the group that worked with positive phrases lasted 18% longer in the exhaustion test while the control group showed no improvement at all.
The phrases were very simple. They had to choose two to use in the early stages of training, like "I'm feeling good," and two more to use in the final stages, like "I can get through this." They practiced with several until they chose their four favorites, and they had to use them (tell themselves) during training and of course in the final test. That was enough to improve their performance substantially.
Why? One of the study's lead authors, physiologist Samuel Marcora, believes that the act of stopping—the point of "I can't go on anymore"—is more of a decision than a physiological obligation. In other words, when a person finally stops, it's not because they're physically unable to continue, but because the brain believes that it's enough and must stop.
Therefore, replacing common negative phrases like "this is too hard," "I have to stop," or "I can't take it anymore" with positive concepts like "I'm strong, I feel good," "I can push harder," and "I'm ready for more" can significantly improve performance, in part because it would send positive signals to the brain to keep pushing harder when you're near your limit.
Spend a few minutes writing some phrases you might like. The next time you go out to train, repeat them to yourself and choose your favorites. Then practice saying them during your workouts to build your confidence, both when training is easy and when you're in the critical moments. Science suggests that a strong, positive mind will take you further than you ever thought possible before.
