Ed Gibbins

Why Cognitive Training is the Next Big Development in Sports

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In recent decades, the application and development of science in sports has boomed. Elite teams and athletes have sports scientists working with them to push limits further than ever before.

Perhaps one of the most interesting recent examples of this is the concept of marginal gains, an idea championed by Sir Dave Brailsford, former Performance Director of British Cycling and GM of Team Ineos. Marginal gains is the concept that it is possible to increase performance by 1% in many specific areas and these tiny improvements add up to create significant overall improvement. This philosophy aided in the incredible development of Team GB’s cycling team, changing them from a laughing stock to a thriving team that won 16 Gold medals across Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Sir Dave Brailsford (left), the pioneer of the Marginal Gains Philosophy

Brailsford made changes across a wide array of areas previously thought unimportant in order to create these marginal gains. This included the team bus layout, introduction of antibacterial hand gel to reduce infection and illness and adaptations to the warm-up. These marginal gains accumulated and the significant improvement was indicated by the medal haul.

However, one seemingly neglected area of sports science so far has been cognitive training, despite how important mental toughness is perceived to be in sports. We are forever bombarded by quotes expanding on the idea of ‘mind over matter’ but little is done to actually train the mind. We need to train the mind to be more resilient to the mental fatigue that we will inevitably face in competition to improve decision making, reduce our perception of effort and enhance positive thinking and motivation.

Some athletes have already started on a journey of cognitive training. Tom Brady has used brain training to sharpen his mind, relax his brain post-game and to improve his sleep. He also uses it to build resilience to protect against future concussions.

Cognitive tasks like a Go/NoGo task can help athletes like Brady, who are tested under extreme pressure,to make smart split-second decisions. This has been shown in a study with fencers that showed that they had better reaction times in discriminative tests but not in simple reaction tests (Di Russo et al., 2006). This demonstrates that they have the ability to make good decisions consistently under pressure. 

Response inhibition tasks like the Stroop task can help to train our mental endurance and tolerance to mental fatigue. Mental Fatigue has been shown to significantly reduce endurance performance through an increase in RPE (Marcora et al., 2009). By performing cognitive training we can increase our tolerance to mental fatigue, reducing its negative effect. In fact, using Brain Endurance Training over a 12-week programme was shown to yield 3x the improvement in athletic performance in a time-to-exhaustion trial (Staiano et al., 2015).

Cognitive training creates huge improvements in performance. Its lack of adoption so far is somewhat nice to know as it shows that there are still boundaries to break in sport and I’m sure with adoption we will see records being broken even further. It also allows the introduction of new metrics. An objective mental stress test, yielding a mental stress score, will be able to assist with athlete monitoring above and beyond current subjective measures. Perception gap, a new metric that is part of the Rewire system, is a measure of the difference between Self-Rated RPE and objective work output with data from heart rate monitors and power meters. By tracking this you can measure your mental performance over time. The goal is to reduce the perception gap when under mentally fatiguing situations so that your mind is not a limiter to achieving your true athletic potential.

If we thought marginal gains were squeezing the last bit out of human performance, we were wrong. 10 years of science has already shown that cognitive training has the potential to yield huge improvements in athletic performance. 

Buckle up and get ready for the next wave of athletes to break records and achieve new heights in athletic performance powered by new brain training solutions hitting the market over the coming years.

Join our growing community on Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter to find out when Rewire will be available.

Studies Covered in Article for Further Reading

“Neural correlates of fast stimulus discrimination and response selection in top-level fencers”
by Francesco Di Russo, Francesco Taddei, Teresa Apnile and Donatella Spinelli
Neuroscience Letters, 2006

“Mental Fatigue impairs physical performance in humans”
by Samuele M Marcora, Walter Staiano and Victoria Manning
Journal of Applied Physiology, 2009

“A Randomized Controlled Trial of Brain Endurance Training (BET) to Reduce Fatigue During Endurance Exercise” 
by Walter Staiano, Michele Merlini and Samuele M Marcora
Conference: ACSM Annual Meeting, 2015

Sun Sachs

Rewire Fitness Product Updates (Nov 21)

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So many exciting things happening over at the Rewire HQ. Here’s a recap of new developments and opportunities from the last month.


REWIRE SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR, DR. WALTER STAIANO

We are very pleased and excited to announce that Dr. Walter Staiano has joined our team as our Rewire scientific advisor. As many of you already know, Walter is one of the leading researchers and experts in neurophysiology & brain endurance training (BET) and one of the founding researchers in the landmark study discovering BET back in 2009. Walter’s research has been featured in best selling sports performance books: Fitzgerald M. 2016,  How Bad Do You Want It?, Hutchinson A. 2018 Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance,  Zaichkowsky L.,Peterson D. 2018 The Playmaker’s Advantage. Most critically, Walter is also the leading expert in the practical application of the science working closing with olympic and world championship athletes and teams as well as the British Ministry of Defense. We are thrilled to be working with him closely on the Rewire product and can’t wait to share new developments over the coming months!

CES Unveiled Event in New York, NY

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to exhibit our product at an invite-only press event in New York City hosted by the CES organization called CES Unveiled. We had a great time sharing the product with the press, investors and industry leaders at the gala event. We’ve also been invited to be part of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this coming January. Some press from the event below…

https://www.cta.tech/Resources/i3-Magazine/i3-Issues/2019/September-October/Mark-Chisholm-and-Jeremy-Snow

Patent-pending Rewire Fitness Wireless Brain Training Hardware

We’ve finalized our mechanical and hardware manufacturing specifications and have a beautifully designed brain endurance product in the works. If all goes well we aim to make this product available for pre-order by early next year with a target release date of March 2020.

Many athletes and coaches have been asking us when Rewire will be available for their particular sport and we’ve seen a wide variety of interest from athletes across many disciplines including: Triathlon, Skiing, Sailing, Swimming, Mountain Biking, Road Biking, Marathon Running, Weight training, Crossfit, Obstacle Course Racing, Semi Professional Football, Ultra Cycling, Amateur Boxing, Soccer, Spin Cycling, Personal Training, Wrestling, Rugby & Rowing to name a few 😉 Thank you so much for those that have reached out to us it has been very inspiring and helpful as we think through our long term roadmap plans. Though there are some details that remain confidential with our plans due to our patent pending status what we can say is that in addition to supporting competitive triathletes and cyclists in our very first release we will have some features that all athletes will be able to use from day 1 to improve their athletic performance. We can’t wait to share these details and thanks again for your interest and patience and stay tuned for more news to come as we lead up to launch.

Thanks all!

Rewire Team

Ed Gibbins

INEOS 1:59 – A week on…

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2019, so far, has been an incredible year of sport. The heroics of Ben Stokes in both the World Cup and Headingley Test. Huge comebacks in the Champions League knockout stages. Japan’s unexpected dominance in the pool stages of their home World Cup. And most recently, a weekend to remember in the marathon…Brigid Kosgei breaking the women’s record, taking a staggering 81 seconds off a 16 year record, and Eliud Kipchoge breaking the 2-hour marathon barrier.

Eliud Kipchoge celebrates as he crosses finish line and makes history to become the first human being to run a marathon in under 2 hours. The INEOS 1:59 Challenge, Vienna, Austria. 12 October 2019. Photo: Thomas Lovelock for The INEOS 1:59 Challenge

I distinctly remember two years ago watching the Breaking2 attempt and being both amazed and upset about how close Kipchoge was to breaking 2 hours. It was incredible how much he actually knocked off the previous record, yet was only 1 second off the pace-per-mile to breaking 2 hours. However, this made the most recent attempt even more incredible. Kipchoge is relentless and with a goal in his sight he will never gave up. Almost uniquely, he is an athlete that is impossible not to like. A quiet man with a humble lifestyle and background, coupled with almost everything he says being a motivational quote makes him the ideal candidate for such a feat.

In life, the idea is to be happy. So, I believe in calm, simple, low-profile life. You live simple, you train hard and live an honest life. Then you are free.

Eliud Kipchoge

Following the record last weekend, a few things were thrown into controversy. The use of pacemakers, drafting and most notably: the shoes. Both Kipchoge and Kosgei were wearing models of Nike’s latest developments. Whilst Kosgei seemed to be wearing the commercially available Next% shoes (in accordance with IAAF rules), Kipchoge was wearing what Nike has called ‘A future version of Nike’s Next% marathon shoe’. The initial Vaporfly 4% were named due to the 4% improvement in running economy that they created on average. The Next% goes even further than this and Kipchoges mystery shoe, rumoured to be called alphaFLY, goes even further still. Some called the shoes a form of ‘Technical Doping’ giving athletes an unfair advantage due to the three individual carbon fibre plates and four individual cushioning pods to name just a few innovations each providing propulsion and economy to the runner’s stride.

Eliud Kipchoge (white vest) and his pacemaking team run through Vienna. The INEOS 1:59 Challenge, Vienna, Austria. 12 October 2019. Photo: Joe Toth for The INEOS 1:59 Challenge

For me, I have no problem with the development. In fact, I welcome it. Firstly as an unofficial record, the attempt is there to show that a sub-2-hour marathon is possible allowing other athletes to push to achieve and exceed this. Kipchoge said this himself: ‘I expect more people all over the world to run under two hours after today.’. Secondly, innovation in technology is a huge part of sport. Huge teams are behind every elite athlete. In 2018, the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team had around 950 employees working on the same goal of achieving the best car. Something they have just achieved for the sixth time on the trot, by winning their 6th Constructor’s title in a row after last weekend in Japan. Innovation allows this to be possible. Each of those employees is able to innovate and push technology further than ever – building on the idea of marginal gains. It allows creativity and competition between teams each pushing each other’s limits. This makes the races and season more interesting with teams like Mercedes being faster in the corners and teams like Ferrari being faster on the straights. Hopefully, companies like Adidas are able to catch up with Nike and start to compete with them. It would be great to see a ‘space race’ between companies like these to achieve new records. The technology used at an elite level also trickles down to the commercial consumer level improving lives for everyone.

The magnitude of this most recent record is huge. It sits alongside Roger Bannister’s 4 minute mile and the first sub-10 second 100m time recorded by Jim Hines with a time of 9.95 seconds. The interesting thing about both these records is that people once thought these barriers were unbreakable, and since then we’ve had Hicham El Guerrouj set a mile time of 3:43.13 and Bolt set a time of 9.58 seconds in the 100m – the barriers have been broken even further. Kipchoge’s record will be pushed further and hopefully in an official sense. I also hope Kipchoge takes the official record; he deserves it more than anyone right now, especially with his commitment and devotion to these unofficial records.

A lot has been said about the mindset of athletes like Kipchoge. Relentlessly devoted and focussed towards a goal. The mental aspect of performance is almost universally accepted as being a very important part, yet few people devote time to training their brain. Hopefully, as cognitive training comes more to the forefront of training, athletes will be able to reach higher heights than ever – pushing these records further than ever before. Evidence of the need for cognitive training in sports can be seen by the improvements in performance seen in studies where Brain Endurance Training is combined with regular training. Staiano et al., 2015 showed that those undergoing brain training at the same time as regular training had 3x the increase in performance in a time-to-exhaustion test over a 12-week period compared to a control group doing the same physical training without brain training. This shows that devotion to cognitive training is necessary if we want to push human performance to new levels and make the ‘impossible’ possible. 

Thank you, Eliud, for showing us that #NoHumanIsLimited

Eliud Kipchoge is lifted by his pacemaking team after becoming the first person to break the two hour barrier for the marathon distance. The INEOS 1:59 Challenge, Vienna, Austria. 12 October 2019. Photo: Bob Martin for The INEOS 1:59 Challenge

I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours and I can tell people that no human is limited.

Eliud Kipchoge

Study Covered in Article for Further Reading

“A Randomized Controlled Trial of Brain Endurance Training (BET) to Reduce Fatigue During Endurance Exercise” 
by Walter Staiano, Michele Merlini, Samuele M Marcora
Conference: ACSM Annual Meeting, 2015

Learn more about the importance of mindset behind Kipchoge’s record

Sun Sachs

The Power of the Mind

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Credit: The INEOS 1:59 Challenge

“The possession of anything begins in the mind”

BRUCE LEE

Perhaps no other athletic achievement in recent history has provided such a perfect example of the power of the mind to overcome perceived physical limits.   With the hashtag akin to a positive self-talk mantra of #NOHUMANISLIMITED, Eliud Kipchoge became the first human being to break the two-hour marathon.  The historical reference that Eliud made after achieving his goal by comparing himself to Roger Bannister who was the first athlete to break the 4 minute mile in 1954, is apt considering that Eliud followed many of the same strategies as Bannister by first using pacers, an optimized course and the latest technology to break the speed record unofficially before going after the official record.   By breaking the 4-minute mile, Roger Bannister also established a new expectation of what was possible and other athletes soon followed up with their own sub-4-minute mile records.

So when Eliud achieved this extraordinary goal this is why he said:


“It has taken 65 years for a human being to make history in the sport after Roger Bannister made history in 1954. It took another 63 years, I tried and I did not get it. Now it is 65 years later, I have tried and I got it. I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours and I can tell people that no human is limited. I expect more people all over the world to run under two hours after today.”

ELIUD KIPCHOGE, FIRST HUMAN TO BREAK THE 2 HOUR MARATHON BARRIER
Free for editorial use and archive. Eliud Kipchoge celebrates as he crosses finish line and makes history to become the first human being to run a marathon in under 2 hours. The INEOS 1:59 Challenge, Vienna, Austria. 12 October 2019. Photo: Thomas Lovelock for The INEOS 1:59 Challenge

The last line is telling and worth exploring as to why he would expect that suddenly people all over the world are now capable of running a marathon in under two hours.  Did his talent just spread wings and make hundreds of runners suddenly more physically capable of achieving the same goal? Of course not, what Eliud is saying is that these types of records are first achieved in the mind and then through the body and once the proof points are on the board others who are already physically capable begin to believe that they can do it as well.

“It’s not about the legs;

it’s about the heart and the mind.” 

Eliud Kipchoge
Free for editorial use and archive. Eliud Kipchoge celebrates with his pacemaking team, friends and supporters after crossing finish line to break the historic two hour barrier for a marathon. The INEOS 1:59 Challenge, Vienna, Austria. 12 October 2019. Photo: Thomas Lovelock for The INEOS 1:59 Challenge

Clearly, there is something at play that is far more powerful than physical training alone. In a recent study researchers examined a variety of mental toughness factors found in high performing endurance athletes (primarily triathletes and runners). The top 3 ranked factors contributing to mental toughness were:

  1. Self-Belief  
  2. Positive Cognition  
  3. Confidence 

So at the highest level what you believe about yourself and what you say to yourself matter most of all. 

Thank you Eliud, for showing us what can be done when the body and mind are aligned towards a single goal.   #NOHUMANISLIMITED

Learn More About the Science of Mental Toughness

Sun Sachs

Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Two-Hour Marathon Barrier in 1:59:40

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Press release pictures. Free for editorial use and archive. Eliud Kipchoge, current world record holder and winner of the London Marathon 2019, visits the course for the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna ahead of his attempt to become the first human being to run a sub-two hour marathon. The INEOS 1:59 Challenge. 9 October 2019. Photo: Jon Super for The INEOS 1:59 Challenge

Just like Roger Bannister who became the first man to break the four-minute mile barrier against all odds and in defiance of the experts who thought it impossible so to has Eliud Kipchoge become the first human being to break the two-hour marathon barrier coming in at 1:59:40 in Vienna today. In Eliud’s words….

Free for editorial use and archive. Eliud Kipchoge celebrates as he crosses finish line and makes history to become the first human being to run a marathon in under 2 hours. The INEOS 1:59 Challenge, Vienna, Austria. 12 October 2019. Photo: Thomas Lovelock for The INEOS 1:59 Challenge

“It has taken 65 years for a human being to make history in the sport after Roger Bannister made history in 1954. It took another 63 years, I tried and I did not get it. Now it is 65 years later, I have tried and I got it. I am the happiest man in the world to be the first human to run under two hours and I can tell people that no human is limited. I expect more people all over the world to run under two hours after today.”

ELIUD KIPCHOGE, FIRST HUMAN TO BREAK THE 2 HOUR MARATHON BARRIER

Watch Eliud’s Amazing Triumph to Make History

Congratulations to Eliud! Words cannot describe the physical and mental toughness that this man demonstrates.

Sun Sachs

How the Rewire Brain Training System Works

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The mental side of athletic training and competition is a critical component to all levels of performance from the amateur to the professional and yet very little time is dedicated to cognitive-based training. The current brain training solutions for athletes are ineffectual and do not translate to true athletic performance gains because they are performed out of context from real-world training and do not replicate the mental and emotional challenges normally faced during competition.

The Rewire product is the first mental endurance training solution for athletes that can be used during real-world training. The brain training protocol used by Rewire is based upon the findings of 10 years of scientific research around mental fatigue in endurance sports. Studies have shown that over time brain fatigue training can reduce an athlete’s level of perceived exertion (RPE) thereby increasing their athletic potential and mental toughness over time. By focusing on brain training that fatigues the mind during workouts,  athletes can reproduce real-world scenarios that they will face in competition without risking injury or over training.

THE SCIENCE

Screenshots of one of the Rewire brain training protocols called a Stroop Test

The brain training protocol used in the Rewire system is based on a series of simple neuropsychological tests displayed on a smartphone during indoor training. The tests activate the part of the brain responsible for the suppression of actions that are inappropriate to the goal-driven task at hand. In other words, the Rewire system creates situations very similar to competition where will power, self-control and focus are required in order to complete the workout successfully. This brain training protocol otherwise known as inhibitory control testing has been shown in studies, including Brownsberger et al., 2013, to influence an athlete’s perceived level of exertion (RPE) and, as a result, their endurance performance. So if you can add more mental load to every workout and adapt over time what the science has shown is that you can reduce your level of perceived exertion thereby improving both your physical performance and your mental toughness over time. For example:

Staiano et al., 2015 showed that brain training is highly effective in improving endurance performance when combined with traditional physical training. Those in the brain training group had three times the improvement in time to exhaustion (TTE) than the control group (+126% compared to +42%) over a 12 week training period. In this study, participants in the brain training group had a lower RPE than the control group. This indicates that that the increase in endurance performance was due to having a reduced perception of effort as a result of brain training.


The science has also shown that what you believe about your abilities and your level of self confidence goes a long way towards achieving your athletic potential and goals.   Self-talk is a psychological technique for improving self-belief, reducing the perception of effort during training and racing and keeping on task during challenging situations. Self-talk phrases, otherwise known as mantras, consist of simple phrases that your repeat in your mind whenever you need to stay on task.  For example, during a particularly difficult interval session you might repeat “calm and focused” or “strong and steady”. A study by Blachfield et al., 2013 showed that using self-talk significantly reduces an athletes RPE and increases their Time to Exhaustion (TTE). The improvement in endurance is likely due to the decrease in RPE.


‘I like to create mantras for different parts of the race because it brings my attention and focus back if it starts to wander.’

Laura Kline, Rewire Athlete and Former World Duathlon Champion
Screenshots of the Rewire mantra customize screen (left) and the screen that appears during training intervals with random mantras (right)

HOW IT WORKS

The Rewire app connects, via Bluetooth, with your power meter, heart rate monitor and the Rewire brain training straps designed for each sport so that you can add brain training easily to your traditional endurance workouts. For example, if you are a cyclist: simply pair your biometric devices with the Rewire app, mount your smartphone to your stem and attach the brain training straps to your handlebars to start your indoor training workout. For runners, it’s even easier: simply put your smartphone in front of you on your treadmill, attach the brain training straps to your hands and start your workout.

Diagram of the Rewire training system used for cycling

At specific intervals during each workout, the brain training tests will appear on your smartphone screen and you will be challenged to complete each question while also keeping up your target physical performance goals. The Rewire system will also automatically identify the most difficult parts of the workout and display your pre-programmed self-talk mantras just prior to each difficult effort so that you can utilize the benefits of self-talk. 

PERFORMANCE METRICS

Screenshots of workout metrics during training (left) and the workout metrics summary after your workout is complete (right)

In order to measure your performance the Rewire system records all of the traditional physiological metrics such as average heart rate, average and normalized power, intensity factor (IF), training stress score (TSS), cadence, interval time and total workout time.   Additionally, the system also tracks your mental performance including response time, accuracy, RPE, session RPE and a proprietary metric called your perception gap. Your Perception Gap is the difference between your self-rated RPE (how hard you felt like you worked) compared with your expected RPE based on how hard you actually worked under the conditions of mental fatigue, using data from the power meter and heart rate monitor. By measuring the difference between your perception vs. your actual physical performance the Rewire system establishes a methodology whereby you can measure your mental performance over time. The goal is to reduce the gap in your perception when training or competing under mentally fatiguing situations so that your mind is not a limiter to achieving your true athletic potential.

Screenshots of the Rewire performance metrics screens including summary of all workouts (left) and mental endurance chart explanation (right)

From within the Rewire app you can view the details of every workout as well as your performance by day, week, month or year and view your cumulative mental performance ranking and your best mental performance workouts.   

THE WORKOUTS

Screenshots of the Rewire workout categories (left) and a workout details screen with mental and physical performance goals (right)

We have created a library of workouts for all training intensities and durations. We also know that, as athletes, we are always time crunched between our training schedule and managing work, family and other priorities. That’s why we’ve created workout options that can be done during your regular training that require no additional time or if prefer you can do supplementary workouts called ‘double-ups’ taking only 15-20 minutes on either side of your planned workout.

WHAT COACHES AND ATHLETES ARE SAYING


‘It’s not letting your mind wander and your legs slow down as it keeps you focused the entire time.’

Laura Kline, Former World Duathlon Champion and Rewire beta athlete.


‘As triathletes, we often focus on just swimming, biking and running and don’t think about the mental aspect of things. Having this app has really helped me focus on that and sharpen my mind while I’m doing my training.’

Rebeccah Wassner, Three-Time Winner of the New York City Triathlon and Rewire beta athlete.


‘Most of us are looking for distractions while riding indoors, whereas Rewire provides something that commands absolute focus.’

Joe Holmes, Former Elite Road Racer for 20 years and Cycling Coach and Rewire beta athlete.

HOW TO GET THE REWIRE BRAIN TRAINING SYSTEM

We are currently in the final stages of manufacturing and will be offering pre-order discounts this Fall (2019) with the goal of making this product available for the 2020 winter training season.

Interested? Join our growing community on Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter.

Can’t wait until it is publicly available? Submit an application to become a Rewire beta athlete

Rewire Beta Athlete Application


Ed Gibbins

Rewire Beta Athlete: Rebeccah Wassner

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“As triathletes, we often focus on just swimming, biking and running and don’t think about the mental aspect of things” says Rebeccah Wassner, a professional triathlete and Rewire Athlete. “Having this app has really helped me focus on that and sharpen my mind while I’m doing my training.”

Rebeccah, who is a three time winner of the New York City Triathlon, finds benefit from using the app during easier workouts as a more productive distraction: “During easy workouts on the trainer when I would just usually tune out and watch a movie, I’ve been queuing up the app and really enjoying just getting that mental focus, it passes the time and at the end I just feel more refreshed.“

Rewire also helps Rebeccah prepare for inevitable setbacks that occur on race day: “As a triathlete so much of our races come down to mental toughness. Your training can go perfectly, but on race day there are endless variables – weather, mechanicals, nutrition issues, etc. Using Rewire is the best way to prepare for the mental toughness it takes to get through these issues.”

To find out more about how Rewire helps athletes like Rebeccah develop their mental focus, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram. 

Ed Gibbins

Rewire Beta Athlete: Joe Holmes

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“Most of us are looking for distractions while riding indoors, whereas Rewire provides something that commands absolute focus.” says Joe Holmes, who was an Elite Road Racer for 20 years and is now a cycling coach.

Joe uses Rewire to provide more engagement to his indoor workouts: “I think the main benefit of the app is turning mindless pedalling into a more immersive experience.”

As an elite coach who has trained state and series title winners in MTB, ultra and road categories, Joe thinks using Rewire with his athletes that he coaches will be especially helpful during the winter training season: “With the athletes that I coach I’m always looking for things to not only increase their focus but also to pass the time while they are getting in those trainer miles. Rewire is perfect for that.”  Joe’s scientific approach to coaching is clearly working, demonstrated by all of the athletes he coaches moving up at least a category or more under his guidance.

Want to learn more about how Rewire is helping athletes like Joe develop their mental endurance and focus? Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram!

Ed Gibbins

Rewire Beta Athlete: Laura Kline

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“One of my big things is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable” says Laura Kline, a former World Duathlon Champion and Elite Ultra Runner/Triathlete/Duathlete.

Laura uses Rewire to help her mind stay focused on the task at hand and keep pushing. “It’s not letting your mind wander and your legs slow down as it keeps you focused the entire time. What I like and find useful about the app is that your legs have to go and then your mind has to keep up.”

“It gives you a controlled environment and structure so that you can choose when you want to add mental training to your workouts and you can do it as often as you’d like.”

Want to learn more about how Rewire is helping athletes develop their mental endurance? Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram!   

Ed Gibbins

The Science Behind Mental Toughness

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Mental toughness can be defined as a personal capacity to produce consistently high levels of subjective or objective performance despite everyday challenges and stressors as well as significant adversities. (Gucciardi et al., 2015)

Clearly, mental toughness is a beneficial quality to have, it allows you to push past inevitable setbacks to achieve success. But how do we become more mentally tough?

In a study by Jones et al., 2002, athletes ranked 12 attributes of mental toughness in order of importance. Numerous studies, including this one, show that the most important attribute of mental toughness is self-belief in your ability to achieve goals. Self-belief in yourself can be developed through vicarious experiences – by watching others who have embarked on a similar path and have achieved success, you can develop the belief that you can achieve that same success yourself. What you believe about yourself and tell yourself are crucial to mental toughness, Rewire has integrated self-talk mantras to help develop this and in turn, build your mental toughness.

“This record was in my mind for a long time, I’m so happy to have made it reality today.”

Geoffrey Kamworor – On his Half Marathon World Record (2019)
Integrated Self-Talk Mantras in the Rewire app.

In this same study, athletes ranked ‘bouncing back from performance set-backs as a result of increased determination to succeed’ as the second most important attribute of mental toughness. One of the athletes involved with the study was quoted as saying ‘Nobody’s rise to the top is completely smooth, there are always little hiccups or turns in the road.’ Negative results provide increased determination as no one ever wants to be known as a ‘failure’. This increased determination coming from failure is a key part of mental toughness, it differentiates those who will never give up from those who will.

The third most important attribute of mental toughness was a self-belief that you possess unique qualities and abilities that make you better than your opponents. Rewire is all about developing qualities that set you apart from your competition by providing mental training so that you can develop your mental endurance above that of your competitors, allowing you to have that self-belief that you are better than your opponents.

‘Every quarterback can throw a ball; every running back can run; every receiver is fast; but that mental toughness that you talk about translates into competitiveness.’

Tom Brady

The fourth attribute, and the final one we will discuss, is the ability to remain fully focused on tasks in the face of competition-specific distractions. Numerous distractions can occur in competitions, causing your mind to be taken off the task at hand reducing your performance. Using Rewire helps to develop your mental focus. You are ranked on mental focus after every training workout, with the ability to track it over time.

The metrics available in the Rewire app.
The metrics available in the rewire app including Mental Focus.

Laura Kline, Rewire Athlete and Former World Duathlon Champion, tells us: ‘It’s not letting your mind wander and your legs slow down as it [Rewire] keeps you focused the entire time.’

To summarize, mental toughness is universally accepted as a key part of athletic performance, as Eliud Kipchoge says: “If you don’t rule your mind, your mind will rule you”. Mental toughness allows you to achieve high levels of performance even in the face of setbacks. It’s time we started to work on it….

‘If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it.’

Michael Jordan

Studies Covered in Article for Further Reading

‘What Is This Thing Called Mental Toughness? An Investigation of Elite Sport Performers’
Jones G; Hanton S; Connaughton D.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED SPORT PSYCHOLOGY
Copyright © 2002 by the Association for Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology

‘The Concept of Mental Toughness: Tests of Dimensionality, Nomological Network, and Traitness’
Gucciardi F; Hanton S; Gordan S; Mallett C; Temby P
Journal of Personality 2015
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.