The Power of the Mind in Sport
In my most recent blog, I talked about the evolving training process that is taking place inside the best performance facilities. The best coaches and athletes are looking beyond training just the body, and are developing the mind as well. Our muscles only know one function, to either shorten (contract) or lengthen (relax). The subsequent movement patterns that follow a muscle contraction or relaxation are controlled by the mind. Hence, the “Specific Adaption to Imposed Demands” principle. More commonly, you might hear a coach say, “Train slow, get slow, train fast, get fast.” Meaning in order to sprint faster, you have to focus on doing everything with a high intent. Why is that? Because the mind controls movement, and the intent of the mind is everything. We know this works anecdotally, but how can we see these methods applied in sport?
The most common form of mindful training happens often at the highest levels of sport, visualization. We know its effectiveness, but how powerful is it? One study done by the Institute of Sports Science at the University Giessen in Germany showed that you can actually replace up to 75% of a strength training program with visualization techniques, and still see the same, or slightly better results in maximum isometric contractile strength. As impressive as that might be, we can take that even a step further. We have seen, in a previous study, conclusive evidence that in an environment that requires visual processing of information and decision making (all sport), motor imagery (visualization) is actually superior to physical practice itself. There is a multitude of studies which show that motor imagery has a tremendous effect on strength, motor learning, and muscle activity. Most of these studies have been done on patients post stroke in an effort to regain movement in specific limbs, and it has worked. Just because these studies take place in the medical field, doesn’t mean we can’t apply these same concepts to performance training. So what does this mean? It means that the ability for greater performance in anything, lies just as much if not more in the mind as it does the body!
So we have seen it work, but just how does it work and how can we apply it? The exact mechanism of how motor imagery affects performance isn’t known, but we do know some of the contributing factors. First, there are two different types of motor imagery, and each of the two motor imagery techniques has their own specific benefits. Kinesthetic motor imagery (KMI) is thinking about what the movement feels like and has shown to have the greatest effect on EMG activity in the muscle. In fact, KMI produces the same EMG activity as would be produced by actually performing the movement itself. [F1] Visual motor imagery (VMI) is thinking about what it would look like to perform a movement and is specific to increasing the familiarity and skill of movement itself. When an athlete uses VMI, there are mirror neurons in the brain that fire, similar to the ones that activate when performing physical movement. Each of these is great on their own, but studies have shown when both motor imagery techniques are performed, not only do we get noticeable muscle activation, but we also see the brain actually change. Neuroplasticity is the concept of the brain changing throughout an individual's life. After repeated uses of motor imagery as a whole, we can see neuroplasticity manifest itself in the connection strength between nodes of the cortical motor network, and correlate with the motor outcome. Simply put, connections in the sections of the brain that command movement become stronger, which leads to quicker, more efficient movement.
This has tremendous implications on not just what we put in our programs, but more so HOW we coach our athletes. This is where my earlier blog, “The Changing Role of an S&C Coach”, comes into play. Athletes need to have an understanding of what a movement should look like (demonstrations), and most importantly, feel like (internal and external cues) when performed correctly. Workouts that get the athletes exhausted are great, but the education of our athletes can lead to a greater increase in performance than any combination of exercises ever could. What we do physically is important, but at the end of the day Yogi Berra was right, “90% of the game is half mental.”
Sources
Centre of Research and Innovation in Sport, Laboratory of Mental Processes and Motor Performance, and University Claude Bernard Lyon I, University of Lyon, Villeurbanne, France. “Benefits of Motor Imagery Training on Muscle Strength.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 24, no. 6, 2010, pp. 1680–1687., journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2010/06000/Benefits_of_Motor_Imagery_Training_on_Muscle.34.aspx.
Letswaart, Magdalena, et al. “Mental Practice with Motor Imagery In Stroke Recovery.” BRIAN A Journal of Neurology, vol. 134, no. 5, 1 May 2011, pp. 1373–1386., academic.oup.com/brain/article/134/5/1373/287066.
Picard, Nathalie, and Yoshiya Matsuzaka. “Practice Make Brain Motor Cortex More Efficient.” Www.upmc.com, University of Pittsburgh, 4 Aug. 2013, www.upmc.com/media/NewsReleases/2013/Pages/pitt-research-brain-motor-cortext.aspx.
Stinear, Cathy, et al. “Kinesthetic Motor Imagery Modulates Corticomotor Excitability.” Http://Www.es.auckland.ac.nz, University of Auckland, 2006, www.es.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/our-research/research-areas/movement-neuroscience/research-projects-2/kinesthetic-but-not-visual-motor-imagery-modulates-corticomotor-excitability.html.
[F1]I’m not quite clear here. Please review.