How bad do you want it? by Matt Fitzgerald

Review of How bad do you want it? Mastering the psychology of mind over muscle. (2015)

 

How bad do you want it? This is the question asked by Matt Fitzgerald, author, coach and nutritionist.

The inquiry begins from trying to understand how elite athletes are able to move beyond discomfort to maximise performance. Of course they work their arses off and work on all those other factors that effect performance (i.e. nutrition, rest etc) and there may well be some element of ‘natural’ talent, but what is it that moves a good athlete to a great one? And what can we all learn from them and apply to our own sporting lives as well as move generally?

Matt Ftizgerald sets out to articulate those methods, specifically the mental methods, that elite endurance athletes rely on to overcome common mental barriers. The aim is so we can become our own sports psychologist.

So you might be asking, what the hell does this have to do with me? For me, there is something about knowing I’ve done as well as I could have. I’m not there yet. This is about both doing the work (training, nutrition etc) and managing my headspace. On the physical side, I know what I need to do. On the headspace side, this needs some work – I’m great at the negative self-talk, especially in races. While I always get to the end, too often I know I could have done better.

There are lessons here that we can all learn.

The arguments in the book are framed around examples from the world of sport with a focus on world of running and triathlons. The author utilises the ‘psychobiological model’ where complete exhaustion occurs not that the point of hard physical limits such as glycogen depletion, but rather when the athlete experiences the maximum level of perceived effort (p. 25). So while obviously physical capacity is critical, so too, he argues, is mental fitness. This is about coping style.

To make clear, this isn’t a one-size fits all approach. What works for one person may not work for another. For instance, setting and pursuing time based goals, based on research demonstrating that finish times for marathons tend to cluster around specific times (3:30; 4:00; 4:30hrs), works for many and is influenced by the perception of attainability. Others advocate running by feel to achieve PBs. It’s what works for you.

There are lots of lessons to be taken from this book. The main ones for me are:

 

• Brace yourself – expect it to be tough.

I tend to be outcome focused rather than focusing and enjoying the experience in itself. While this gets me to the finish line in every race I’ve started, I’m rarely in that state of ‘flow’ – that sweet spot where everything comes together.

 

• Choking – self-consciousness can be a distraction. Sometimes we can be so focused on the outcome, we ‘choke’ when that looks like it won’t be achieved. The advice here is to focus on the task at hand.

Yep, once outcome I want seems out of reach, I slow down and the negative self-talk speeds up. I think I’d enjoy races a whole lot more if I allowed myself to be ‘present’.

 

• Resilience as the ability to respond to adversity. Another way to put this is being fed-up can fuel positive change – with finish times, our weight, our daily habits. This is about turning ‘sweet disgust’ into ‘simmering determination’.

Yep, this was me at last year’s 50k. Having hurt my arm, and having to effectively run/walk half of it with only able to use the non-injured arm, I could have DNF’d. Instead, I sobbed, I swore, and I got to that finish line. Let’s see if I can apply that more generally.

 

• What do you expect? This is the point that if you have the expectation of success, this can improve performance. Again, the focus here is on mindset. You still have to do the work!

Hmmm, I need to give this one further thought.

 

• And the final point I want to pick up on is: is it worth it? This is the fundamental question of motivation and one very personal to each person.

How much am I willing to put in? I’m certainly focused on this year’s 50k – let’s see where I get to by race day!

 

 

I know very little about sports psychology so can’t really comment on the theoretical framework but there are a lot of points here that ring true. Well worth a read!

 

If you want to find out more about Matt, go check out his website.