Everybody knows that truly elite athletes have a spectacular genetic advantage over the rest of us weekend warriors. Whether it’s being over seven feet tall and or being born with an incredibly large and effective heart or an inordinate amount of fast twitch muscle fibers, genetics plays a crucial role in one’s ability to rise to the top of any sport. However, is there more, some undefinable yet crucial aspect of an elite athlete’s arsenal that separates them from the common milieu? A mental edge, an aspect oftheir personality that elevates their abilities beyond that which even their genetics allow? Are there personality traits that all elite athletes share, and that we can, in observing and understanding them, learn to adopt and use ourselves?
Interestingly enough, most personality research in sport and exercise psychology does not support the idea that elite personalities share a common set of personality traits. There does not seem to be a specific kind of personality profile that predicts success in any sport. However, when compared to less successful athletes, professionals seem to exude more vigor (i.e. physical and mental energy) and seem to have devised excellent coping strategies for dealing with setbacks by adopting more appropriate strategies for dealing with mental and physical pain.
The key is to be able to distinguish between the pain caused by genuine injuries, and that of mere physical discomfort inherent within any sport or source of continuous physical exercise. Elite athletes recognize that injury and physical pain are part of the territory and have learned to cope with such discomfort due to past pain and experience. They know when to stop and when to keep going, when to simply ease up for a bit or when to search for professional medical assistance. Most elite athletes have been educated about their injuries and know how to work and perform with them, and stick to physio therapy even when the pain has subsided. Quite often, it’s their ability to stay focused on their goals that assists their ability to overcome pain and injury related obstacles.
This is the most important part—elite athletes seem able to devise goals which they then revise as they progress, using them to spur and encourage them to keep going when others quit. Research has shown the overwhelmingly positive effect that goal setting has on improving physical performance, and goal setting is a technique that all athletes of all skill levels should use because it’s linked to crucial improvements in such mental conditions as anxiety, confidence and motivation.
Successful athletes set goals that are both long and short term and specific to their chosen sport. They have a refined ability to evaluate these goals, and modify them as needed as they progress, using their competitive plans as a framework on which to base their athletic career. By ensuring that they are always on target, modifying their goals to take injury into account and centering themselves regularly, they are able to take long term views and not take setbacks or injuries as permanent obstacles. Failure only makes them work harder.
What can you get from this? First, understand that personality has less to do with your accomplishments and genetics than one’s desire to fulfill and exceed performance expectations. Second, learn about your body, and how to deal with injuries. Adopt appropriate coping strategies and with them so as to overcome them. Finally, become a master of goal setting, and understand that setting goals is always a dynamic process that requires constant modulation, and not a static one that you should abandon if you fail to follow it exactly. Having a set of goals such as finishing a 60 day workout plan like Shaun T’s INSANITY or a 90 day workout like Brett Hoebel’s RevAbs can make all the difference when it comes to adhering to any workout schedule.
Author Resource:
Philip Tucker is a Fitness Product Review specialist for Miami based Get Moving Catalog. He enjoys challenging himself with structured workouts such as Shaun T's http://www.getmovingcatalog.com/shaun-t-insanity-workout.html INSANITY workout or Brett Hoebel's http://www.getmovingcatalog.com/rev-abs-workout.html RevAbs.
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