Your Performance

Fatigue is a result of an accumulation of applied stress from one or more sources.

As fatigue accumulates, firstly the perceived effort to perform a task increases. Willingness rather than ability become a limiting factor.

Cognitive and emotional stress can effect us similar to physical fatigue but without the peripheral physiological factors, but primarily more central factors.

Being “stressed” or “drained” causes the perception of exertion to be heightened - feeling heavy or slow or a general lack of desire to partake.

To overcome this - without being considerate of contributing patterns or behaviours - people tend to rely on extrinsically motivating factors that make them “feel” good, such as stimulants like caffeine or energy drinks with guarana. These generally just suppress the signs and symptoms of fatigue and can be a means of TEMPORARILY working around experiences of physical, cognitive and emotional fatigue during peak periods of stress. However, it does not exclude or devalue the need to prioritise appropriate sleep, nutrition and other stress reduction practices which should amply reflect total workload/stress-load.

Self-preservation, our most basic instinct, is a ubiquitous experience that contributes to every decision.

We constantly weigh the risks of our actions against our ability to cope or thrive, and how it will affect ourselves and others.

Novel and challenging tasks may seem more “risky”. How we percive the risk, relative to our ability, will result in an assumed level of threat for emotional or physical discomfort, injury or trauma. So we approach with caution and without fully committing - like dipping your toe in the water. At a point, exposure allows us to gauge whether a task is within or outside our level of tolerance, however varied or ambiguous that tolerance may be.

The problem isn’t the challenge, it’s how we react to it. If we pull away due to our own feelings of inability or unworthiness we miss opportunities to grow. If we sit with the unease of the challenge — dip our toe in — we can eventually wade at our growing level of ability and capacity to cope until we thrive.

Recovery Hierachy

Training is arguably only as good as our recovery. The better and faster we can recover the more frequently and consistently we can train.

Our recovery rate is varied due to several governing, and potentially compounding, factors:

• How hard and often we train;
• Our nutritional and sleep habits;
• What our social environment consists of;
• The extent of emotional and cognitive load; and/or
• Use of what could be call “restorative practices” such as manual therapy, mobility training, cryotherapy, etc.

Recovery is the countermeasure to the applied stress of training. Too much work and insufficient recovery for extended periods of time can lead to decreased performance, injury or maladaptive responses. Inversely too much planned rest can mean training progress is slow or ineffective.

The recovery needed is relative to the relative-intensity of the work done - the closer to maximal output or to failure typically a greater duration and magnitude of recovery is required.

Recovery doesn’t inherently mean rest; being a cessation of all activity, however it is part of a recovery protocol.

Generally speaking we want to promote circulation (cardiovascular and lymphatic) through low threshold movement such as cycling or walking; nourishment through sound nutrition and hydration practices; healthy sleep habits and routine; and regulate our social, emotional and congestive stresses which are accumulated through our work and/or study load, and interactions with social media, our peers and family.

Many people over-rely on “restorative” practices whilst undervaluing the fundamentals and wonder why their performance slumps or stagnates. If this is you, experiment a little by shifting your focus to the lower rungs on this Hierachy.

How can placing contraints on a task lead to more freedom?

Through problem solving.

By deliberately placing constraints on movements we are forcing the need to problem solve to complete the task within the limitations set forth. Essentially, a constraint is a rudimentary rule placed upon a task which, if broken, the feedback is obviously and immediate. This elicits a self-organising response which means the learning then occurs through exploration, discovery and self-determination rather than relying on external validation from a coach or peers. In the long term this develops greater internal awareness, adaptability and autonomy.

In a gym setting, constraints based training may be performed as warm ups, primers or fillers; with the purpose of enhancing the movement quality of tasks they associate to used in the main sets of exercise or training.

In sport specific practice, constraints can be placed upon specific drills or scenarios to improve a skill, fitness quality or decision making.

The crucial point is to have the athlete draw the parallels from the drill of choice to the main task, and they have the ability to replicate the same sensation or outcome in broader or more dynamic settings.

Where were you 1 year ago?

I personally was closing one chapter and getting ready to embark on the next. COVID then slammed that one shut! But it opened another door also - one of personal and professional growth and development; one that consolidated the past and projected new opportunities.

Today is one year later from that idea you had, that goal you set, that personal best you wanted.

What has changed?

There has certainly been a few obstacles. How did you adapt and overcome? Or are you able to start fresh in 2021?

What is your next step?

What action will you take?

Who would you be July 10th 2021 if you took the first step today?

Don’t just set goals. Outline habits, determine attitudes and experiment with methods and processes to enhance your achievement.

Our performance balances on a tightrope of objectives, expectations and outcomes.

Objectives: what we want to have happen.

Expectations: what we believe will happen.

Outcomes: what actually happens.

How we value and reflect on each of these is important and is a demonstration of maturity.

Those who lack experienced and maturity are generally rigid in their expectations, can’t cope with adversity, and don’t take ownership of outcomes.

More experienced coaches/athletes anticipate adversity, develop contingencies, don’t rely on expectations and are flexible with what the outcome might be. Most importantly they seek learning and understanding from outcomes.

Finding areas that can be improved should be a constant practice as either a coach or an athlete. Introspection and reflection on processes moulds our principles and practices which makes us better humans, athletes or coaches.