Terry Peloton

Tag: Mental Conditioning

  • HOW TO COMMUTE DURING THE DEEP FREEZE.

    There’s cold, and then there’s winter bike commuting. 

    SnowyDay
    On snowy days, take the time to stop and smell the frostbite.

     

    Coming from Montana, I thought I could handle any weather that Vermont blew my way – but when wind chill kicked the temperature down to almost 40 below zero last year, I was a bit out of my element.

    When you commute during this cripplingly cold season, you need more than great gear (my recommendations can be found here) you also need some serious mental discipline. As your wheels are spinning it’s easy for certain thought patterns to pop up in your head:

    • I wonder if I’ll still have fingers when I get to work…
    • At what temperature will my eyelids freeze together?
    • Has time – along with everything else – also frozen?

    And although there’s no way to completely kick those thoughts, here are some of my tricks for feeling the warmth of gratitude towards your icy trudge.

    • Remember all of the bugs you encounter during the summer? Well that isn’t a problem now.
    • What about the insane bike traffic, dogs on leashes and toddlers toddling – nope, none of that anymore either.
    • Nose continually running? That’s okay! There’s no one else on the bike path to interfere with your air-hanky.

    Winter commuting is a different beast. It’s slow going, so remember to stop (or just ride slowly, so as not to freeze) and appreciate that you have the opportunity to be here with crisp air in your lungs and wind in your hair.

    20150119_080859See you out there!

    Whitney McKiddy

  • EXERCISING YOUR CHANGE MUSCLE.

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    GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

     

    My job as your “Derailleur” is to remind you if you want to feel better, have more energy and perhaps even live longer – look no further than exercise. The health benefits of regular physical activity are hard to ignore.

    But let’s address the most forgotten and underdeveloped muscle in our bodies – my favorite one to use. This muscle is often our weakest muscle but one of the most important muscles we could strengthen. So while you are making resolutions to get into shape in 2014, don’t forget to include exercising your “Change Muscle”!

    Where exactly is your Change Muscle located? It actually covers every inch of your body and every inch of your mind. It’s the muscle we use for creating changes in our lives, and like our physical muscles, it becomes weak if we don’t train it. Ariane de Bonvoisin, introduced us to our Change Muscles in her book “The First 30 Days.” She suggests our Change Muscle develops from “all of the changes that we have been through – the big ones, small ones, unexpected ones and the ones we have initiated.” And if we learn to strengthen our Change Muscle, it can become the most useful muscle in our bodies! The stronger it is, the easier it is to navigate change. Increased comfort with change means increased comfort with anything that comes our way.

    Strengthening your Change Muscle is similar to strengthening your physical muscles…it means effort, a little sweat and incredible results if you stay dedicated. For the beginner it is important to build a base of core strength and flexibility before moving on to more complex workouts. The same can be said for strengthening your Change Muscle.

    Step 1: Assess your fitness level and your Change Muscle strength.

    You probably have some idea of how fit you are physically. Assessing and recording baseline fitness scores give you benchmarks against which to measure your progress. The same is true for assessing your level of strength of your Change Muscle. By determining how quickly you traditionally navigate change, how often you get stuck in change or how much change scares you; you will have a good sense of your Change Muscle fitness level. If your answers to these questions include “change is hard, change is paralyzing or change is terrible” then it requires a different level of strengthening that if your answers are “change is ok, I welcome it”. Assessing your comfort level with change is the first step to understanding the work that your Change Muscle needs to become strong and powerful.

    Step 2: Design your Change Muscle fitness program

    It’s easy to say that you’ll exercise every day. But you’ll need a plan. As you design your fitness program for your Change Muscle, keep these points in mind:

    • Consider your change fitness goals. Having clear goals can help you gauge your progress. Determine what success looks like and estimate how long it will take you to strengthen your Change Muscle to the level you desire. And be realistic. If you haven’t used your Change Muscle recently, like a muscle in your body, it won’t snap back into shape immediately. It will take time. But remember the rewards of putting in the effort.
    • Put it on paper. A written plan may encourage you to stay on track. What change are you focused on and how will you know when you are successful? By writing it down and logging your progress, you dramatically increase your odds for success.
    • Go at your own pace and load gradually. If you’re just beginning to exercise your Change Muscle, start cautiously and progress slowly. The goal is to gradually improve your range of motion, strength and endurance for your Change Muscle. Not to burn it out in the first workout. By increasing your load gradually the little changes that once seemed huge will appear tiny in the rear view mirror. By starting small in the beginning you will ensure sustainability in your workout. And your body gets used to the new challenges you introduce to it. With each day, you will build up your Change Muscle stamina.
    • Build activity into your daily routine. Finding time to exercise your Change Muscle can be as much of a challenge as finding the time to move your physical body. To make it easier, schedule time to exercise your Change Muscle as you would any other appointment. Plan to take 5 minutes a day to exercise your Change Muscle and focus on the change you wish to make.
    • Deliberate practice. Daily effort and deliberate practice will be key to your Change Muscle. Like anything you practice, if you “half attempt it” you will get “half success.” So practice the change with dedication, intention and mindfulness.
    • Allow time for rest and recovery. Many people start exercising with frenzied zeal — working out too long or too intensely — and give up when their muscles and joints become sore or injured. Plan time between sessions for your Change Muscle to rest and recover. Don’t try to change everything, all day long…remember that with 5 minutes of practice everyday, the Change Muscle will get the workout it needs and the recovery to continue the change the next day. There is a great deal of “under-recovering” in workout regimes as we seem to try and make up for all of the time we were not working out, but this creates burn out and is unsustainable.
    • Fuel your Change Muscle properly. Like with any workout, the body needs fuel to continue its effort. The same with your Change Muscle. No fuel, no energy to face changes. The fuel to provide your Change Muscle? Motivation and celebration! By charting your progress, celebrating small victories, or inviting a friend to join you in your “change-workout” will increase your success exponentially.

    Now you’re ready for action. Remember to monitor your progress and listen to what your Change Muscle is telling you. Too much too soon brings pain and decreases your chance for success. Not enough effort won’t give you the results you want and you’ll give up sooner. Picking the right “equipment” for your Change Muscle workout is also important to your success. Your equipment may mean exercising with a friend who may also be looking to make similar changes so you aren’t working out alone. And if you do lose motivation, set new goals or try a new activity. Stay creative and keep things fresh.

    Starting an exercise program to develop your Change Muscle is one of the most important decisions you can make. But it doesn’t have to be an overwhelming one. By planning carefully and pacing yourself, you can establish a healthy habit that lasts a lifetime. And like any good exercise program, small movements, gradual load increase, deliberate practice, and rest and recovery are key components to strengthening your Change Muscle.

    Now get out there and show off those “change muscles”!

     

    Amy Magyar is a Derailleur. She helps her clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction. She is the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power. As an industry veteran and a Certified Performance Coach, Amy works with individuals who are athletes, were athletes, or wish to be athletes, on navigating change.

  • OFF SEASON

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    FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN.

    My job as a Derailleur is to support you on your journey. Both your journey in-season and off-season. Your in-season journey may include becoming a stronger rider on hills. Your in-season journey may include mastering sneaking out of your house to get your ride in so you have “you time”. There is no judgment either way. There is an ebb and flow to your journey and that includes allowing yourself an off-season. For both your body AND mind. So what is your off-season journey made up of?

    For those of us who call New England home, the off-season is a forced break from the treacherous, icy roads when we instead spend countless hours on our indoor trainer. Off-season for some in more “more temperate” climates may mean that their competition schedule is over and they are just “riding to ride” – mileage gets lower and training less intense. Or in the example of my friend in Florida, her off-season is in the dead of summer when temperatures and humidity force a counter-seasonal off-season for her. She claims her best rides are in the winter. So be it.

    Either way, we all have to face the off-season. This means the foam roller may make its initial debut or that we head to the much needed Chiropractor or Functional Movement Screener. But this year, I challenge you to focus on what is and isn’t working during your off-season in your body AND mind.

    Some of us work all year so we can have an off-season, while others dread it; afraid of slowing down, losing strength, gaining weight, etc. But you don’t have to be an Olympian to feel the “off-season blues. It is normal to feel fear around “slowing down” or “throttling back” when we have been pushing ourselves to move forward. Perhaps another way to look at this time is as a “Transition Period”. This to me means we are transitioning from a yearlong season of races or hard training into something less taxing and less “traditional”. Much different than the usual thought that an Off-Season means that you just stop what you are doing.

    I prescribe off-season time for my athletes as a chance for them to reflect, recoup, recharge and regain. And to fall in love again. It benefits both their bodies and mind. An intentional well-executed transition period puts one in a better position to perform in the new season when it’s productive and enjoyable. A poorly planned/executed off-season leads to not being as fresh, or a potential dead battery far from recharged. So I ask my athletes to fall head over heals in love again during this transition period with their sport. As an athlete, you must rediscover why you fell in love with your sport in the first place. We often lose the “whys” during season. By taking a step back so that you can reflect will give you back that perspective. And one heck of a recharge.

    I have never claimed to be a trainer of the body, but more of a trainer of the mind. However, I would like to offer some examples of how my athletes use their “off-season” to recharge their body ultimately increasing their mental conditioning.

    For some of my athletes, they stay strong in the off-season by reducing volume, not intensity. Study after study reinforce the idea that it is possible to reduce the volume of training by more than two thirds without a drop in conditioning levels as long as the intensity level was sufficient. My athletes use general, not specific training during this time period. They do something different than being hunched over their bikes. These new activities invigorate them. Try a sport that makes you stand upright or an activity that is counter to the one you have been doing in-season. For some, that might mean developing the weaker muscles that gets underutilized during the season but when strengthened, adds to the overall conditioning of the athlete. My athletes find that “playing” in the off-season more than training is the key. Make it fun. But most importantly, make it different that what you would do “in-season”.

    Amy Magyar is a Derailleur.  She helps her clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction.  She is the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power.  As an industry veteran and a Certified Performance Coach, Amy works with individuals who are athletes, were athletes, or wish to be athletes, on navigating change.

     

  • What shape are you in (your mind, that is)?

    Testing your mental conditioning through awareness.

     

    In my introduction last week as The Derailleur at Terry Bicycles, I mentioned that I coach, among other types of clients, athletes of all shapes and sizes on their mental conditioning. Your body can be as fit as an elite athlete’s but if your mental conditioning is lacking, you may perform like you have “cement shoes” (as my friend from Jersey says.) So what is mental conditioning? I know you are about to click off this blog because the last thing you need to be told is to do more exercising. But listen up, this form of exercise is important. This isn’t about your athletic strengths; this is about how you show up on a day-to-day basis in your life. This is about how your mind performs.

    Ok, so how do you even know how “fit” your thoughts and beliefs are? Let’s break it down to this…mental conditioning is about training your mental fitness. Mental fitness is your own self-awareness around how your mind works (or doesn’t work) to support you and your physical conditioning. In other words, what you think is what you do…so what have you been thinking lately? Does it sound like “That was a really hard ride but I am proud of the effort I put on the last ascent.” Or does it sound like this, “Really? You were the slowest on that climb…you came in last. Last! Because that’s where losers come in…last. Nice job loser.”

    Your thoughts may not be that radical either way, but my guess is that there has been a time or two that you “trash talked” yourself after a ride that didn’t go as planned. Worse yet, you may have even “trash talked” yourself BEFORE you even got on the bike. Mental trash is not a source of motivation; it is exactly as it is named…trash. It clutters up the mind, keeping you from learning the lessons of the experience and definitely keeps you from being able to pat your self on the back for the effort you put in. All-important steps to increase your mental fitness level.

    So the first step to mental conditioning is awareness. You have to understand where you are first, before you know how much to train. One way to test your mental fitness level is to see how many times in a day you say the word “Should” or “Must” or “Gotta”…it might sound like “I should have done better” or “I must go faster.” Keep a list of how many times in a day you say words like “should” and its evil friends (Must and Gotta) and see how limiting the “should” often makes you feel. How heavy are the “Shoulds” that you carry with you on your ride each time?

    What would happen if instead of thinking about what you “should do”, you started to train yourself to think about “what is.” This is often called mindfulness and is a way to self-awareness. Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors – all are raw material for the growth of the mental side of your game. The mentally conditioned athlete makes self-awareness a priority and uses it to strengthen their core mental skills. And instead of “should do” they condition themselves to think “I am…” More on “I am” to come in future blogs.

    Once you become aware of how many times you use limiting self-talk or beliefs, you are able to get a clearer picture of how what your mental conditioning level is. Is it strong and designed to move you forward in a healthy, sustainable way or does it act as a defeating message keeping you in your place and preventing you from growing?

    The first steps to increased mental fitness include the most important…awareness. So I challenge you this week to become aware of condition level of your mental game. Keep track of the “shoulds” and share with us what you find! There is no judgment, only awareness. Once we know, then we can change them.

     

    Amy Magyar is a Derailleur.  She helps her clients across North America change their gears, their pace, and their direction.  She is the essential piece of equipment to get you where you need to move forward at a different pace and with a different power. As an industry veteran and a Certified Performance Coach, Amy works with individuals who are athletes, were athletes, or wish to be athletes, on navigating change.

    photo courtesy of Ronwuphoto.com