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We’ve all seen athletes who know how to get themselves pumped up for sporting events so that they perform at their best. One person who really sticks out in my mind is former Olympic 100m Champion Maurice Greene from the US. Just look at this clip at the 1 minute mark where he is introduced and see how he snarls, sticks his tongue out and paces as he charges himself up:

Further to my previous entry here, talking about dealing with overintensity, I now turn to underintensity. This is something maurice Greene is not likely to have suffered from in his heyday! It is whereby we have a degree of intensity that is lower than we require it to be for optimum running performance. Underinstensity is far less likely to occur than overintensity, but is worthy of our attention nonetheless as it can have a major impact on our running performance.

When cognitions and internal dialogue deflate our intensity levels, we can suffer from underintensity and not perform to our optimum level. For example, “this race is in the bag” or “I’ve as good as completed this marathon in sub 3 hours” or “I give up” are the kinds of internal dialogue that can lead to feelings of underintensity (Caudill, Weinberg, & Jackson, 1983; Williams & Harris, 1998).

Therefore, this type of internal dialogue needs to be spotted by the runner, and replaced with internal dialogue that inspires, energises and motivates so that the runner’s intensity levels rise to the optimal level. This can be done by affirming an energising mantra or self-hypnosis preparation for races, or by addressing the way you use your internal dialogue.

On a physiological level, the most obvious way to increase intensity is simply by engaging in vigorous physical activity. For runners, especially long distance runners, this could potentially be counter-productive as we may wish to conserve energy for our race. The usual types of warm-up would therefore suffice – I recommend the warm-up for runners is paired with affirmation, progressive uplifting self-talk and positive cognitions too.  You could also use high-energy body language such as that made famous by Maurice Greene and other sports stars as they get themselves into the optimal intensity levels for performance.

Additionally, mental imagery can be used just as well for heightening intensity as it can for calming us as previously written about here. High-energy imagery being played in the mind depicting intense effort, strength and successful outcomes, for example, can all be used to stimulate intensity levels (as opposed to relaxing, safe and peaceful imagery for managing overintensity).

Although there are no real controlled studies shown to support this, I have found that certain types of music prove useful in adjusting intensity levels prior to training and racing, regardless of what you think about the use of music during long running events.

Finding The Right Intensity Level For You:

When it comes to gauging intensity levels, there is no finite answer anyone can give; we are all individual. Plus, different conditions will effect us in different ways, we have to look at physiological and cognitive factors and we’ll all vary from time to time.

The key then, become knowing how to monitor and be aware of your own intensity level and how to then find and maintain the optimum intensity level to enhance performance.

Hanin (2000) recommends a couple of ways of assessing your ideal intensity: Runners can measure their own levels of intensity before each race or event (or major training runs) throughout a season or particular period of time. The personal best times run during that period of time can be examined to identify what the intensity levels were. This does present some problems however; Hanin and Syrja (1995) suggest that it might be a problem to wait for a personal best time or for what is deemed as a ‘great performance’ in order to determine the optimum intensity level, and this might take a very long time to settle upon. This kind of self-monitoring could also distract from focusing on the important preparations for a race or event too (Harger and Raglin, 1994).

As a result of this, Hanin (2000) went on to develop a process of measuring intensity levels by recalling how they were immediately prior to a personal best performance or a performance that the runner was really proud of and pleased with. I do this with my clients and with myself with mindfulness (being mindful and exposing oneself to the previous event to assess it) or with self-hypnosis (using evocative imagery to recall the conditions present during the event), for example.

Alternatively, a runner could have a coach or cognitive sports psychologist who could use a standardized form to ask questions of the runner in as objective a fashion as possible and elicit the information that way.

In addition to knowing what you do when you are at your optimum level of intensity, it makes sense to be able to use your cognitive skills, mental imagery and other psychological skills to manage your intensity levels for your running performance.

Being Prepared:

The cub scout motto – be prepared. That motto rules the day when it comes to managing intensity levels. The issue is that often when we are about to race or engage in the event we have trained hard for in the previous weeks and months, the event itself distracts us. It is potentially a new environment, with new people, new conditions and a vast array of variables and pressures that take our mind away from effective preparation. Elite athletes know how to prepare themselves mentally for the best performance.

At the most basic levels, getting your accommodation, sleeping preparation and food intake on the day organised is key in a number of ways. Turning up for London marathon expo the day before London marathon and deciding to buy a bunch of protein bars you have never used before is not the best way to prepare… I know, I speak from experience in this regard.

Knowing your own preferences, and routines and adhering to them on your long runs and races is going to serve you very well indeed. You may even construct a step-by-step guide for yourself or get a to-do list written up that you can work to.

These past two blog entries are far, far from exhaustive. They aim to give you some insight into how to go about managing your intensity levels when running, especially when racing. If we train for many months, working towards a big event, the magnitude of the event itself can sometimes cause us to respond in ways that create detrimental levels of intensity. These two entries here have aimed to help you get as much of a handle on it as possible. I’ll be back soon fellow runners…

References:

Caudill, D., Weinberg, R., & Jackson, A. (1983) Psyching-up and track athletes. A preliminary investigation. Journal of Sport Psychology, 5, 231-235.
Hanin, Y. L. (2000) Individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) model: Emotions-performance relationships in sport. In Y. L. Hanin (Ed.), Emotions in sport (pp. 65-89). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Hanin, Y. L., & Syrja, P. (1995) Performance affect in junior ice hockey players: An application of the individual zone of optimal functioning model. The Sport Psychologist, 9, 169-187.

Harger, G. J., & Raglin, J. S. (1994) Correspondence between actual and recalled precompetition anxiety in collegiate track and field athletes. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 16, 206-211.

Williams, J. M., & Harris, D. V. (1998) Relaxation and energizing techniques of regulation of arousal. In J. M. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (3rd ed., pp. 219-236). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.