Mental Conditioning

If ever there was a poster boy for mental toughness, it''s Dan Jansen. When he slid up to the starting line for the 1,000-meter speed skating event at the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, the world cringed. We knew his story. He''d blown opportunities to win medals at both the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. He''d slipped again in the 500-meter at Lillehammer. He was an aging warrior, and this was his last chance to strike at the gold. Everyone knew he was physically capable of winning the event. But the baggage of personal tragedy and defeat stepped up to the line with him. The question was, would he carry the baggage into the event, where it would encumber and trip him up, or would he leave it behind and slash his way down the track unburdened?

Jansen''s answer to the global village of doubters watching his performance that day was to shatter a world record and win a gold medal. His victory lap holding his eight-month-old daughter, now a revered bit of Olympic iconography, brought "tears of joy" to the face of the man who trained Jansen to accomplish mentally what his body was already prepared to do, sports psychologist James Loehr, Ed.D.

According to Dr. Loehr, the mental and emotional discipline that made Jansen a champion can help any man trying to make the most of his physical potential. In fact, he says, fortitude of the mind is an essential part of peak conditioning. "Mental toughness is the ability to bring to life whatever talent and skills you have—on demand," says Dr. Loehr, president of LGE Sports Science in Orlando, Florida. "That may come down to an ability to fight sleepiness, or to stay relaxed and calm or to not surrender your spirit when the odds are against you."

Even in noncompetitive exercise, when you''re in the right frame of mind, you''ll keep focused, push harder—and be better able to cut yourself slack when that''s what your body demands. Bottom line, your physical efforts will count more if your mind is helping out. "Nothing happens in the brain that doesn''t affect the rest of the body," says Jonathan Robison, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist, nutritionist and executive co-director of the Michigan Center for Preventive Medicine in Lansing.

Dr. Loehr likens body and mind to hardware and software: You can have fast, powerful hardware, but it''s worth little if you lack equally powerful software to make it go.

Giving Yourself a Mental Edge

Sweating, groaning, gritting your teeth: There was a time when a man''s goal in life was—outside of sex—to avoid the kind of physical labor that produced these sorts of responses. Even today, beneath the surface, many of us are conflicted about working out. "For a lot of men, it''s just one more thing we have to do," says Dr. Robison.

What we tell ourselves and how we feel about exercise—even as we do it—can have a bearing on how successful we are at it. According to Richard Gordin, Ed.D., professor of health, education and recreation at Utah State University in Logan, here are some tricks of the trained for achieving a frame of mind in which you want to excel at exercise.

Hail what''s hard. The better you are at pushing yourself beyond your normal limits, the closer you''ll come to peak conditioning—a truth that''s easy to accept while reading it chair bound, but another matter when your muscles feel like they''re turning to jelly and you''re pushing to eke out one last lift. What''s to keep a sensible man from giving his muscles the relief they''re screaming for? An attitude that celebrates the struggle. Dan Jansen once feared and loathed the 1,000-meter because it was difficult for him. "It''s not the thing you can do that makes the difference, but the thing you can''t," says Dr. Robison. "When you''re working the hardest, think, ''This is the part that really counts.''"

Daydream for endurance. Some of the most effective performance-boosting mental techniques involve focus—but not necessarily concentration. When it comes to endurance training, a lack of focus actually has remarkable power, says Michael Sachs, Ph.D., associate professor of physical education at Temple University in Philadelphia. Psychologists call it dissociation, a kind of controlled daydreaming that takes your mind off what you''re doing, makes your workout more pleasant and prevents you from getting bored—all of which make it easier to continue a sustained effort.

In one study, exercisers who were asked to spend 15 minutes cycling were divided into two groups. One group was to concentrate on their exertion levels while pedaling; the other group was to try to remember the names of every teacher they''d had since kindergarten. The actual exertion levels of both groups were the same, but those whose minds were busy scouring their scholastic past rated their exertion levels significantly lower than the self-focused group. Other dissociation techniques might include writing letters in your head, doing math puzzles or counting telephone poles.

Concentrate for weights. The opposite of dissociation is association, which is more useful for weight lifting, an activity that requires presence of mind for both safety and effectiveness. "By concentrating on the specific muscle being exercised, you''re more likely to put more energy into your effort and execute your movements with better form," Dr. Sachs says.

Play a mental movie. Use of imagery, or visualization, has become a staple among athletes, and for good reason: Numerous studies find that mentally rehearsing movements before doing them can boost physical performance. It works on a couple of levels. First, research suggests that picturing an action has a direct impact on the nerves that make muscles move. Some scientists have measured a 30 percent contraction in the biceps of test subjects who merely envisioned flexing the muscles. It''s easy to see how this can have tangible benefits. In a grip-strength test, for example, subjects who imagined themselves squeezing a pressure-measuring meter could actually apply more force to it than subjects who mentally prepared by whipping up hostile feelings or counting backward out loud.

Beyond that, however, visualization seems to have an effect on motivation and interest. In one study, a group of men and women who had never golfed before were taught to putt and told they''d later be tested on their ability. Participants were divided into two groups: One got putting imagery training and the other didn''t. The imagery group spent significantly more time practicing, adhered better to a training program outside of the lab and set higher goals than the other group. Not surprisingly, the imagery group also performed better. Here are some tricks for making mental projections, according to Dr. Gordin.

* Remember a previous event when things went well and focus on it. Recall all the feelings and sensations you can remember, including details like the smell of the air, the feel of your clothes, the sweat on your back.

* Play the mental movie as you would experience it, from inside your head, not as some outside observer. Imagine events unfolding in real time, not in slow motion.

* Don''t put your vision on pause to revisit certain moments, but play it through, then repeat the whole thing from start to finish.

Know what you want. When you enter the gym or start a run, avoid open-ended objectives such as "Today, I''ll do my best." One study involving a sit-up endurance test found that exercisers who were challenged to do a precise, high number of crunches significantly outperformed those who were simply told to do the best they could. Yet preliminary screening had shown all the subjects to have roughly equal potential. "By limiting yourself to what you think your best is, you can shortchange your true abilities," says Dr. Sachs.

Further, your true abilities may surprise you, even when your goals are well-defined. One coach tells of waiting at the gym for another guy to finish with the 40-pound dumbbells. The coach started his workout, which felt tough, but he pushed through and finished. Only after he was through did he discover that he was mistakenly lifting 45-pounders— something he says he wouldn''t have been able to do if he had known.

Speak well of yourself. With specific goals come specific disappointments, backslides and failures. But it''s important to accept these moments for what they are: temporary setbacks and not indictments of your overall condition. "When expectations are not met, there''s a tendency to start using poor self-talk, which is important to recognize," says Dr. Gordin. Thoughts such as "What''s wrong with me?" or "I can''t do this" or "This isn''t working" can bog down your performance and poison your attitude toward your next workout. "Don''t dwell on what you can''t do, because it will get in the way of what you can," says Dr. Gordin. "Instead, say, ''I''m having a hard time, but I''ll do better on the next station or the next day.'' Say to yourself, ''This is not like me.''"

Control socializing. There''s a lot to be said for working out with partners. They can motivate you to show up for your workout, encourage you to push harder, give you new ideas and just make the time pass more pleasantly. But people around you can also be a distraction. "Gyms are the bars of the 1990s," says Dr. Robison. "I''ve seen people spend their whole time talking, which isn''t going to benefit anyone." When lifting, focus on what you''re doing. Keep conversation limited to what''s pertinent to your workout. If someone strikes up a conversation, tell him you''ll be happy to talk later—after you''re finished with the business at hand.

Sticking with an Exercise Program

When Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripkin broke Lou Gehrig''s phenomenal record for straight games played, he was characteristically modest. All he did, he explained, was show up all the time.

Strictly speaking, that''s all it takes for you to get into peak condition as well. Keep showing up at the gym, keep running or biking or rowing or jumping rope or whatever it is you do. Sounds easy. But Cal knows, and you know, that just showing up takes a discipline and mental fortitude all its own. It''s perhaps the most important part of mental conditioning because without the work there is no reward.

We''ve covered some of the essential ways to bolster your commitment in previous chapters, such as Setting Goals on page 6 and Getting Started on page 19. A brief review from our experts:

* Have fun. Who wants to do something he hates? Only a guy who''s getting paid for it, which you''re not. "Exercise should feel like an avocation, not a vocation," Dr. Sachs says.

* Mix it up. Take different routes, use different weight stations, learn new sports. Barring a Zen-like affection for repetition, variety is crucial to continued interest.

* Seek approval. The odds are stacked against you if your family or friends aren''t supporting your efforts. If their support is too passive, enlist some help by, say, having a friend regularly inquire about your progress: In a six-week study of walkers, those who got calls about their program every week stuck with their programs at a rate 17 times greater than those who received no calls.

* Get advice. Remember the importance of realistic goals? A trainer or coach will keep grandiose ambitions in check and help ensure you don''t sandbag yourself with an injury.

Beyond these guidelines, there are a number of other mental tricks for keeping up your motivation, inspiration and perspiration.

Lay your money down. A study at Michigan State University in East Lansing found that people who bet $40 that they could stick with their program had a 97 percent success rate, while less than 20 percent of exercisers who didn''t make a bet were able to stick with their routines.

Remember the big picture. Short-term goals are most effective at keeping you active from day to day, but long-term objectives are important, too. "When you meet your short-term goals, there needs to be something else moving you forward," Dr. Robison says. Examples:

* When I retire, I want to be fit enough to hike in the mountains.

* I''m not going to have a heart attack at age 50 like my dad.

* Exercise makes me confident and gives me energy. I''m not going to let anything take that away from me.

Get technical. The more you know about exercise and the equipment that goes along with it, the more confident you''ll be, says Dr. Gordin. Visit stores and look at cool gear, even if you''re not buying. Read magazines. Talk to people. Do anything that makes you feel less like a rank amateur and more like an old pro.

Don''t obsess. When you''re tyrannized by your exercise goals, you don''t find meeting them any fun. If you feel compelled to beat or match your previous time every day you run, fine. But if you want to stop to pet a dog or talk to a neighbor, that''s fine, too. "Most people hear a coach in their heads," says James Gavin, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Applied Social Science at Concordia University in Montreal and author of The Exercise Habit. Feel free to shut the coach up every now and then.

Fight disillusionment. About three weeks into an exercise program, men often find themselves saying, "Who am I kidding?" It''s the toxic by-product of a noxious stew of thoughts that arise from loss of initial excitement, creeping feelings of inadequacy around fitter men and the discouragement of not having an Adonis-like body after nine workouts. "Men often feel like outsiders who haven''t earned their stripes," Dr. Gavin says. You need faith that things will get easier as you get fitter. Studies find that how you feel in the gym is influenced by how much work you''ve done there. One group of researchers found that highly active people feel exercise is easier than sedentary people do, even when both work at 60 to 90 percent of their maximum capacity. With ease comes confidence and satisfaction.

Isn''t that what it''s about: confidence and satisfaction? Those are the marks of a champion, even among the nonelite. As Dr. Loehr says, "Everyone should think of themselves as an athlete."