Tag Archive for 'stress'

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Training intensity and mental aspects

Published on May 2, 2014 in Allenatori, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

The mental component of a high-intensity workout is composed of at least three aspects.

  1. Includes mental skills that the athlete must show in that particular session and they must have already developed at high level, otherwise he will not be able to implement them on an ongoing basis in the training session that is starting.
  2. Includes those exercises or parts thereof in which the coach and the athlete are convinced that they can be performed in an optimal level (eg , for a sprinter who has to run 3x300m , probably it is expected that at least the first , albeit laborious , it will be run as planned. In trap shooting, a skilled athlete knows that she usually hits 20 out of 25 targets performing at the maximum. The same goes for the court, in which a tennis player knows how to play when he is totally focused on the game).
  3. Includes those exercises or parts that determine the quality of that single session. For example, it will be great if the sprinter will be able to run as scheduled on the third repeatition of 300m, or if the shooter will hit more than 20 plates that she usually hits; the same for the tennis player, he has to play well even if he feels tired or he has to maintain a high level of play quality in a training exercise longer and more challenging than usual.

These are the psychological aspects that come into play when training requires physical and mental strength and they are trained only in these moments.

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The calm workout

Published on April 19, 2014 in Stress. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

The calm workout  is a new holistic workout caring not only the body but the mind too. With an emphasis on mental wellness as well as physical.  Take Psycle, a new spinning gym, where classes take place in darkly lit rooms, with inspiring music, ballet moves and a meditative “free time” section in the middle of the session. Or Zen workouts including Cardiolates sessions, spinning + Pilates. In gyms like Third Space is possible to meet  ”wellness” experts,  ready to program individual sessions for their clients. The goal is gaining pace, with a calm workout, among them Spynga , spinning + yoga, and SoulCycle, holistic spinning class.

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We need to reduce our daily stress

Published on March 26, 2014 in Stress. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Arianna Huffington wrote on Republica.it of today emphasizing the need to reduce daily stress derived from the work as the need to improve the quality of life and maintain a health condition. At this regard, it is worth remembering what are the attitudes and behaviors that put at risk the people health and welfare:

  1. excessive competitiveness,
  2. accentuation of key words in everyday language, without it needs for this and tend to eat the last words of a sentence,
  3.  concern not to respect the terms of work delivery,
  4.  intolerance towards others and delay,
  5. eager to receive reinforcements from others and tangible rewards,
  6. constant state of physical and psychological alert  that may lead to aggressive behavior,
  7. be usually impatient with people and situations,
  8. sufficiently attuned to the identification of specific targets, because more action-oriented ,
  9. feeling of guilt while relaxing or resting,
  10. overly critical toward themselves and others.

They are individuals who usually live their life always with the foot on the accelerator and they do not ever hold back. Although with a lot of energy, always in a hurry, go to the floor and never stop. This is their problem: consider every opportunity to slow down as a waste of time, since they have always focused on the next obstacle. The acceleration of the communication that we are living thanks to the diffusion of the mobile phone, e-mail and social networks, it made them even more prisoners of thisway of life.
Specifically, what are the aspects that most disrupt their health? The ambition, impatience or hostility? Longitudinal studies have found that individuals with high hostility scores, after 20 years from this evaluation had a higher frequency of deaths due to cardiovascular problems than those who had received low scores of hostility.
In addition, it is the association between hostility and cynicism that seems to produce such negative effects on personal wellbeing. The cynicism is explained in terms of mistrust in human nature, in ideals and social conventions.
In confirmation of this interpretation it has been shown that it is possible to work in a highly stressful environment, showing behaviors such as those described but maintaing a good health. This positive condition can be achieved if the  people:

  1. are committed not only to work but also to themselves, family and other values ​, thus avoiding falling into cynical attitudes,
  2. believe to exert control over their professional and private life,
  3. have a tendency to consider the changes in life as a challenge to manage, and not just as problems and concerns.

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Special stress of football commanders-in-chief

Published on February 18, 2014 in Allenatori, Calcio and Stress. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

In football there is a growing generation of coaches commander-in-chief, always protagonists. The controversy between Conte (Juventus coach) and Capello (former Juventus coach and now Russia coach) is one example. The important thing is not to accept the criticism but attack. Coaches today are little Caesars, to the great power received by the clubs and the desire to be protagonists, even when it would not be the case. They play the role of the leader always at war, unsheathe aggression, not controlled anger, they want the center of the scene, Trapattoni, Liedholm and Boškov, with equal charisma, had the irony of which today the coaches lack. I think to always need enemies to recharge yourself  is a very expensive way to live,  role of the coach requires to be perfectionists without necessarily being against the world. In any case communication styles are personal and coach should feel free to express how he feels better.

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In football the parents stress too much their sons

Published on February 14, 2014 in Calcio, Generale, Giovani and Stress. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Cesare Prandelli, coach of the Italian football team, said in a conference dedicated to the activity in youth football, that ” the real problem is not the children but the parents … I ‘ve tried to train them for eight months, but then I left: they put too much pressure, when it must be the time to accept the mistakes. The child himself is careful to understand the future, with the worry of the family all becomes more difficult. It’s true that the difficulties will shape the character but it’s also true that in this way is harder emerge”. Unfortunately he’s right and the coaches of young people are harassed by parents, who accuse them of not develop the talent of their children. We know that the self-confidence is developed through the reactions that adults have errors. If the adult communicates ” okay, continues to commit ” the young boys will understand that mistakes are a normal and physiological occurrences during the  training and that the most important goal is to persevere in maintaining the commitment. This is the approach that we must have to learn everything from math to soccer. Parents should show this attitude at regards of every task of their children. Many parents , however, are prey to their own problems and then they magically would like to be realized through the success of their children, but without teaching what is the path to achieve it and without giving them the time to grow up. And when I say success, I mean the feeling of being involved in an activity for the pleasure of it and why you are having fun .

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Negative self-talk destroys the performance

Published on January 27, 2014 in Mental coaching, Stress and Tennis. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

During a tennis match it’s very easy to watch and listen one of the two opponents to talk against him/herself, with behaviors (sadly shake the head or move the racquet like a stick)  showing the presence of a negative emotional state, exasperated and that hurts the play in the next game. These scenes occur more rarely among professional players because they have been trained to deal effectively with stressful  competitive moments.  These errors are common among young people and are very frequent among the players maybe even technically gifted but who have not understood that playing a match is not just a matter of physical strength and good technique.

To play good tennis, whatever their level, needs to want and be able to think and this goal becomes very difficult if  are dominating moods of anger or devaluation of themselves. Everyone wants to win  and since the first moment of the match the emotional tension begins to grow and if  the player does not act to control it, since the first 15 – 0 for the opponent he/she will also start to worry. The court stresses the beliefs of the player: you cannot lay the blame on teammates, you cannot blame fate: the mistakes are yours mistakes. You must bear responsibility for how you are playing and thinking for doing something different right now .
The question is: to do something of different. Easy to say when you watch someone else play; it’s more difficult when you have to apply this simple rule to you. This positive attitude is built by first becoming the main supporter of yourself and not the main detractor. The tennis player after a fault must always do two things: encourage him/herself + give a simple technical instruction  that will permit to avoid repeating the previous error. The match is like a battle, in which to overwhelm the enemy you need to have confidence in the information received from their commander, which in this case is you. Therefore to encourage ourselves is required to maintain a high level of confidence and control of emotions.

If in the field the player does not show this attitude, the mind of tennis player will be like a sailboat without the skipper, prey of the opponent. I suggest to the players to establish a priori checklist of things to do when they are in trouble :
1 . What to do when the first service does not enter.
2 . What to do when I want to conclude too quickly the game .
3 . What to do to decrease  the anger or disappointment at that time.
4 . What I want to say to encourage me .
5 . Which are the technical information for me more important in the difficult moments.

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Learn the emotion management

Published on January 20, 2014 in Generale, Giovani, Stress and Tennis. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Tennis is a sport that requires a continuously high emotional control by the player. This request concerns not only the professionals but also the children. It’s unfortunately very common to see boys between 11-14 years that begin after an error a negative self-talk, expressing anger/frustration. Already so young people have difficulty accepting their mistakes! They ignore that learning is a function of their ability to manage their emotions. Parents are often pessimistic about the ability of their children to change, because they are convinced “that you are born like that” and then they have tried to tell not to react that way but he/she did not get any change because the character never change. Fortunately not everyone thinks in this way and around the world  programs are active to counteract this phenomenon starting from the school. The sport, and the court in this case, represent an important situation in which young people can learn how to effectively manage their emotions and it’s an indirect way to teach parents that it is a skill that can be improved as well as they learn the basics of tennis and then puts them together to build their own game. Of course, parents should support their children’s activity with no expectations about their future tennis but supporting their motivation to have fun through sport. It ‘s very difficult to play this role, however, because the personal vanity leads them to believe that their child can become a champion. How do you agree to take him/her to play tennis 3/4 times a week, to see him/her after the first  mistakes to start these negative behaviors and go on to say ” but he/she likes so much tennis.” You cannot ignore it, thinking that sooner or later passes. Rather not pass ! To those who think this way, I suggest you read the Edutopia, which aims to teach children and adolescents to improve the management of their emotions and social relations. In Italy I wrote some time ago of a similar program grew out of a research by Dove, which will promote in 10 secondary schools of Milan, a series of four meetings, reserved for girls and boys aged between 12 and 14 years.

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Delete dark mood

Published on December 20, 2013 in Generale, Mental coaching and Stress. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

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What does we do to control our daily stress?

Published on December 19, 2013 in Stress. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

We know that stress is something that creeps first within ourselves and then explodes taking hold of our emotions and our way of thinking. Stress is experienced by top samples and coaches but also by anyone of us who wants to improve and that every day cope with the stress of the daily competition. Today there is no time to relax, we are often angry, disappointed or tired. Relax is seen as another commitment, an extra effort or as impossible until we have not solved the problems of the moment, or as something that can be done by those who have time. It’s not clear that it is precisely in hard times that it is important to spend time to reduce stress. It’s not enough the past experience not be stressed out, we have to act actively to reduce it. This idea is rather diffuse and for this reason we are increasingly stressed.
The first step that anyone can do to reduce your stress is to walk half an hour every day and spend time during the week chatting with friendly people.

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