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Matthew Mace

How to Teach Mental Toughness in Sports

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Mental toughness is often associated with an unshakable self-belief, the refusal to quit, and impressive self confidence.

Professional athletes, in particular, are known to face adversity head-on, staying concentrated on the task at hand, regardless of what obstacles are thrown their way [2]. 

Many of the very best athletes understand that the need to develop mental toughness is crucial. It’s what separates the best from the very best.

Conversely, if an athlete lacks mental toughness, then they are less likely to give it their all in both training and competition. 

Which athlete would you rather have on your team? 

Some athletes are more mentally tough than others; it’s just how it is. And it’s the way that it will always be.

But mental toughness can be trained. So that’s what this blog post is all about — this is a guide for coaches on how to teach mental toughness in sports.

Key takeaways:

  • Mental toughness and resilience can be trained
  • Use SMART goal setting to build discipline and accountability  
  • Create training scenarios to mimic dips in mental toughness 

A few examples of mental toughness in sport

When you think of an athlete who is mentally tough, your mind likely goes to those who persevere and push through adversity. Usually, it’s the athletes who show up and give it their all, game after game, session after session.

It’s the talented athletes who have the mental strength to ride a solo breakaway at the Giro d’Italia with 80 km to go. It’s those who play with food poisoning and get promoted to the NBA finals. And it’s the athletes who fight with their teammate for multiple seasons but go on to win the world championship with Mercedes at the very last Formula One race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

It’s the Chris Froomes, the Michael Jordans, and the Nico Rosbergs of the world. They’re all incredible athletes who can access the present moment and play the mental game exceptionally well. 

And that’s only a few examples of elite athletes who have unshakable mental toughness. 

The “food poisoning game” 

It’s game 5 of the 1997 NBA finals — the Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz.

It’s 2 am in the early hours of the morning, and Michael Jordan orders a pizza. He’s starving, and there’s only 1 place open. But what he doesn’t know is that he’ll later go on to get food poisoning, spending all day in bed, throwing up. 

Most people would not play the same evening. Most people would still be in bed, wishing they could play and feeling sorry for themselves. But not Michael Jordan.

Jordan was the heart and centre of that game. He went on to score 38 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. The Chicago Bulls moved on to game 6 and went on to win the 1997 NBA finals.

The game was labelled the famous “food poisoning game,” and to this day, nobody knows how Michael Jordan did it. 

If this isn’t the most perfect example of mental toughness in Elite sport we’ve ever seen, then what is?

It may sound simple, but both winning and losing can become a mindset, and I won’t accept losing – ever. — Scottie Pippen, Former Basketball Player for The Chicago Bulls. 

How to teach mental toughness 

Many athletes and coaches stand firm in the belief that mental toughness is genetic — it’s a thing some athletes have. And something other athletes do not have.

And while we agree that some athletes may be naturally more mentally tough than others, coaches can still teach mental toughness in sports.

But how do you teach it, you ask?

  1. Teach discipline and goal-directed behaviour 
  2. Use failure as an opportunity to learn
  3. Create training scenarios to mimic competition 
  4. Use Rewire to improve mental toughness 

Teach discipline and goal-directed behaviour 

Expert coaches and elite athletes agree that discipline and goal-directed behaviour are essential components of mental toughness [1].

As a coach, you should use goal-setting principles to keep your athletes motivated and focused on the task at hand. So when it comes to it, they can rise up to the challenge and practise mental toughness.

You should coach your athletes on how to set SMART goals. This type of goal setting is very effective in sports and can help athletes persevere, whether rehabbing from an injury or practising their free throw.

The SMART acronym stands for [3]:

  • Specific: state exactly what you want to achieve or improve.
  • Measurable: how can you accurately measure progress?
  • Achievable: Is it possible? You need to be realistic.
  • Realistic: your goals should be challenging, but not impossible.
  • Time-bound: set a realistic timeframe to achieve your goals.

Use failure as an opportunity to learn

The very best athletes use failure as an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve.

And although it’s a useful tool to get better, many athletes (and everyday people) do not do well with failure.

Failure can easily knock an athlete’s self confidence, and just easily negatively impact their mental toughness. 

As a coach, you should teach your athletes not to fear failure. Embracing failure is a way to get better — to find your weaknesses (as a player or a team), and ultimately provides the groundwork and motivation to do better.

Athletes do not want to make mistakes. But it’s these mistakes that allow them to learn and improve. Take Jonny Brownlee, for example; he was set to win the final race of the World Triathlon Series in Mexico back in 2016, only to encounter severe dehydration in the final stretch of the race. He would have won the race, but instead, he was carried over the finish line by his brother, Alistair, to finish second. 

And what did Jonny do? He made sure not to make the same hydration mistakes again.

It’s these mistakes that can be very difficult to deal with in the moment, but are crucial mistakes to learn. It’s what creates mentally tough athletes.

Create training scenarios to mimic competition 

During competition, you might notice some athletes lose motivation and subsequent mental toughness — they’re more likely to make a mistake, less likely to put in the effort, and may allow the decision from a referee to get the best of them.

Situations that zap mental toughness can be coached and mitigated in training.

For example, if an athlete loses motivation and scuffs their shots when they’re losing, create the same scenario in training to mimic competition.

Practice lapses in mental toughness and motivation in practice, and make sure they don’t happen when they matter most.

Use Rewire for teams to improve mental toughness

Coaches can use Rewire to improve focus, increase readiness for their athletes to perform, and reduce stress.

Athletes also gain access to the Athlete Platform — the ultimate toolkit to help athletes improve mindset, manage stress, and improve mental toughness in the run-up to competition. 

Coaches can use Rewire to prescribe neuro-training sessions that best suit an athlete’s readiness. Athletes can also select their own neuro-training protocols to further build mental toughness and resilience. The neuro-training sessions utilises brain-endurance training protocols to help athletes build mental toughness.

Related: Overview of Rewire’s Neuro-Training System

And that’s not it. Coaches can use Rewire to assess athletes’ readiness scores — this allows you to adjust training load and intensity for each athlete based on how they feel mentally and physically.

“There has been huge advancements in the way we train the body for peak performance. I truly believe that the next major gains will be surrounding the brain/body connection. Rewire Fitness is an app that helps with just that.” — Matt Hanson, Professional Triathlete and Coach.

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How do athletes work on mental toughness?

You can apply all the best coaching principles in the world, but at the end of the day, your athletes also need to work on their mental toughness.

They need to apply the principles and practise the habits and lessons to increase their mental toughness.

Athletes can also use tools such as Rewire, using scientifically proven neuro-training protocols to build mental toughness and resilience.

“With the app, it’s giving 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.” — Laura Kline, Elite Ultra runner & Endurance Athlete.

FAQs

How to build mental toughness in young athletes?

To build mental toughness in youth athletes, you should practise discipline and SMART goal setting. Make sure to set difficult but achievable goals for the best results.
Related: How to Build Mental Toughness in Youth Athletes

What is the best sport for mental toughness?

Virtually all sports, when done correctly, can be an excellent vessel for improving mental toughness. Although, gymnastics is often a standout sport for many, especially because athletes start training as early as 2 years old.

Can mental toughness be trained? 

Yes! Mental toughness and mental resilience can be trained. And while some athletes may naturally be more mentally tough than others, the trait can certainly be improved. 

References:
Fourie, S. and Potgieter, J.R., 2001. The nature of mental toughness in sport. South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation, 23(2), pp.63-72.

Liew, G.C., Kuan, G., Chin, N.S. and Hashim, H.A., 2019. Mental toughness in sport. German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research, 49(4), pp.381-394.

McCarthy, P.J. and Gupta, S., 2022. Set goals to get goals: Sowing seeds for success in sports. Frontiers for Young Minds, 10(10.3389). 

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Matthew Mace

4 Powerful Ways To Prioritise Mental Health In Athletes

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Get the basics right, and you’ll set yourself up for success.

Question: Victoria Pendleton, Gracie Gold, Michael Phelps, Naomi Osaka, Mary Cain, and Tyson Fury… what do these athletes have in common? And we’re not talking about the success they’ve had in their careers.

Answer: Each of these athletes has opened up about their struggles with mental health. 

Mental health in sports has become increasingly talked about in recent years. And with the intense pressure elite athletes face, combined with the scrutiny from the public and press, and not to mention internal and external expectations, it’s a recipe for some dark times.

But the more people talk about mental health, the easier it is to set up the right systems to combat it. 

Here’s how to prioritise mental health as an athlete. 

Key takeaways:

  1. Prioritise rest, sleep, and recovery
  2. Find a team or coach that supports you
  3. Surround yourself with the right support team
  4. Know when to take a step back

Prioritise rest, sleep, and recovery

You already know the importance of sleep, especially as an athlete. 

When we sleep, the body recovers. It’s how our muscles repair and adaptations are made — it’s how we improve.

Think of it like this: each day, you write yourself a check for the hard work you put in (training and nutrition). However, the check is only useful if you cash it in. The bank is sleep — you take your checks, cash them in, and reap the benefits.

If you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re not only at an increased risk of injury, but you might be sacrificing your mental health.

For example, Mind mentioned that those who have trouble sleeping might feel more anxious, depressed, or even suicidal. You may also lack the energy to train and compete. And perhaps, you’ll feel lonely and isolated and not want to train with your team.

Prioritise getting quality sleep and rest each night. If you struggle with sleep, you might want to look at your sleep hygiene — that’s those healthy habits that set you up for sleep success.

Good sleep hygiene habits include:

  • Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
  • Get sunlight exposure as early as you can in the day to set your circadian rhythm
  • Avoid caffeine after 2 pm 
  • Limit screen usage in the hours leading up to sleep

You can also check out the Rewire mindset recovery sessions, designed to promote rest, relaxation, and better sleep.

Find a team or coach that supports you 

As an athlete, you likely have a coach.

For most, it’s peanut butter and jelly — one does not work quite as well without the other.

Whether you’re a long-distance runner, javelin thrower, professional basketball player, or tennis player, a coach guides your training and provides mentorship. 

And while sometimes there isn’t too much choice, if you can choose, try to find a coach that supports you.

Let’s use the Mary Cain example: she was the fastest girl in America until she joined Nike. Until she wasn’t. To cut a long story short, the coaching relationship was far from a match made in heaven.

According to Cain, the coaching team did not listen to her needs. They told her she needed to become thinner, and thinner, to become faster, as mentioned in a video for the New York Times.

Over time, she fell into a system where weight loss was encouraged to an unhealthy extent. Ultimately, this wreaked havoc on her mental health and even led to suicidal thoughts.

While it’s easy to say, “choose your coach wisely,” it can be challenging to do in person. But if you can get a coach that works with you and supports you, then you’ve ticked one of the big boxes.

Surround yourself with the right support team

Your coach is your main mentor, but alongside working with a coach who supports you, try to find other athletes who stand in your corner.

It helps to have a support team behind you. That can include athletes, coaches, coaching staff, and friends and family.

But more importantly, work on surrounding yourself with the right people. 

Talking to other athletes is an excellent place to start. You have a lot in common, likely encounter the same problems, and you understand the intense pressure of sport.

You don’t need to build a supportive team and network overnight, but you should be intentional about it.

Know when to take a step back

Professional Greek Olympic runner, Alexi Pappas, suffered from depression following the Olympic games—she wasn’t ready for what happened after she achieved her dream.

Now a major advocate for mental health, Pappas was told that her depression was a “scratch on her brain.” This helped her visualise her injury, and know that it did affect her but that it could be fixed.

Pappas stands behind this statement and emphasises mental health as a legitimate bodily need. She goes on to say, “…if you’re unable to compete because you’re risking your body, then don’t compete.”

A great example of this is professional tennis player, Naomi Osaka, who withdrew from the French Open back in 2021 for mental health reasons. As athletes, we need to know when to take a step back, and not to feel ashamed about it. It should be as essential as eating, drinking, and breathing — prioritise mental health the best you can.

Related: Naomi Osaka: Mental Health Journey.

Use Rewire to optimise recovery

Keeping tabs on your mental health, checking in with yourself, and optimising recovery can prove challenging. But you can use the daily Rewire readiness platform to track physical, cognitive, and emotional states. 

Based on your holistic readiness score, Rewire’s engine generates tailored recovery sessions designed to address your unique needs such as reducing stress, improving sleep, or achieving a more relaxed state.

The app also integrates with Strava, OURA, and other platforms to provide you with a holistic view of your health, training, and recovery status. 

While it’s impossible for us to know how you’re feeling, prioritising time for yourself each day and assessing your readiness score is a great place to start when it comes to putting your mental health first as an athlete.

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Matthew Mace

How to Build Mental Toughness in Youth Athletes

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Help youth athletes build a healthy relationship with hard work and mental toughness — here’s what you need to know.

Mental toughness is a term thrown around in abundance in the world of sports. Many people believe that those who display the highest levels of mental toughness will come out on top — they will succeed. 

Although the term is almost as popular as Michael Jordan in his prime, very few people know what it actually means. After all, it is a very subjective term — people have their own definitions of what mental toughness is.

David Goggins will give you a different definition than Michael Jordan, and LeBron James will describe it differently to Tiger Words.

At Rewire, we prefer the definition of mental toughness as a personal capacity to produce consistently high levels of subjective or objective performance despite everyday challenges and stressors, as well as significant adversities [2]. 

Typically, mental toughness is only applied to adults and professional athletes. But what about youth athletes — should they build mental toughness to improve performance? Here’s everything that you need to know.

Related: The Science Behind Mental Toughness

Mental toughness for youth athletes 

If youth athletes can learn mental toughness from a young age, they can then apply this not only to sports, but to life.

Sport is a powerful vehicle for building positive habits, beliefs, and developing discipline.

But how should coaches and parents build mental toughness in the youth? Read on to find out. 

Maximum effort 

Great coaches should encourage maximum effort in youth athletes. However, where many coaches go wrong is by punishing or withdrawing support when the athlete does not perform to their expectations.

Instead, their maximum effort is a better gauge of performance — working hard each session will instil the importance of hard work.

Coaches should show encouragement and praise hard work to reinforce this behaviour. It’s not only a lesson that pays dividends in sports, but also in life.

“If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” — Michael Jordan

Encourage mistakes — they are a part of learning 

We all make mistakes — it’s a part of human nature. But as a coach for young athletes, you should not discourage mistakes as they are a necessary part of learning and improving from our experiences.

If you’re a coach, allowing your athletes to make mistakes can prove difficult — you don’t want to hurt their confidence, but equally, you want them to improve and learn valuable lessons.

So, how can you encourage learning from mistakes? For optimal learning, you can increase training difficulty to the point where youth athletes make mistakes approximately 15% of the time [5]. 

If you increase the difficulty of training, whether learning a new skill or attempting to hit challenging splits too often at too hard a difficulty, then the cons will likely outweigh the pros, perhaps resulting in a frustrated athlete.

It’s all about finding a healthy balance between success and learning from mistakes to become a better athlete.

I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall.” — Serena Williams

Build a solid foundation by emphasising sports to be fun 

As a coach, you want your athletes to succeed. But at a young age, it’s important for sports to be fun — this encourages a balance between physical fitness, psychological well-being, and lifelong lessons and learning [4]. 

Children and youth athletes participate in sports to have fun. If, at an early age, they do not enjoy sports, they might be less likely to continue participation in that sport (and others).

Coaches and parents should prioritise sports participation to be fun. All too commonly, parents and coaches skew the goal implicitly or explicitly in the hopes of a scholarship, that the child will become a professional athlete, or as a parent, to achieve unfulfilled childhood dreams [1].

For example, imagine a twelve-year-old showing up to training twice a week and being told to run as fast as they can twelve times around the track. That’s not a fun session — and while they may do it, if they are not having fun, they’re less likely to go back.

But if you can build a foundation for the athlete, prioritising fun with hard work sprinkled throughout, the athlete is more likely to stick with the sport, learn valuable lessons along the way, and perhaps even avoid burnout. That’s a big win in our book.

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually, it will subside, and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” — Lance Armstrong

Create a healthy training environment

To get the most out of a youth athlete, coaches and parents should foster a healthy training environment.

As previously stated, training should be fun. It doesn’t mean it can’t include difficult aspects, but first and foremost, it needs to be fun. The training environment needs to reflect that — incorporate games into training, be there after training and competition if your athletes want to talk to you, and create a place that kids and youth athletes look forward to coming to.

And if a child wants to do multiple sports, encourage them to. 

There’s a whole debate surrounding multiple sport diversification vs. early sport specialisation in one sport. But ultimately, being told they can only do one sport may increase their risk of burnout, injury, and other risk factors [3]. 

Besides, trying other sports is also fun! And this is the ultimate goal for youth sports — it is also likely to encourage mental toughness.

 “Pain unlocks a secret doorway in the mind, one that leads to both peak performance and beautiful silence.” — David Goggins 

Key takeaways  

Developing mental toughness from an early age can help youth athletes push through pain, learn from their mistakes, and ultimately become better athletes. But the benefits span far beyond sports — they also transfer to life, teaching self-discipline, hard work, and not giving up.

To build mental toughness in youth athletes, coaching and parental figures should:

  • Teach the importance of hard work and effort
  • Keep training fun and exciting 
  • Create a healthy training environment
  • Do not discourage multi-sport participation 

And if you’re looking to take it a step further, you can try the Rewire neuro buttons and neuro training app — create a fun cognitive game for youth athletes. This helps train mental toughness and is a great tool for youth athletes looking to compete at the highest level.

Want to know more about how Rewire can improve your athlete’s mental toughness? Book a free consultation call with our team today!

References

  1. Brenner, J.S. and Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2007. Overuse injuries, overtraining, and burnout in child and adolescent athletes. Pediatrics, 119(6), pp.1242-1245.
  2. Gucciardi, D.F., Hanton, S., Gordon, S., Mallett, C.J. and Temby, P., 2015. The concept of mental toughness: Tests of dimensionality, nomological network, and traitness. Journal of personality, 83(1), pp.26-44.
  3. Gustafsson, H., Kenttä, G. and Hassmén, P., 2011. Athlete burnout: An integrated model and future research directions. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 4(1), pp.3-24.
  4. Merkel, D.L., 2013. Youth sport: positive and negative impact on young athletes. Open access journal of sports medicine, pp.151-160.
  5. Wilson, R.C., Shenhav, A., Straccia, M. and Cohen, J.D., 2019. The eighty five percent rule for optimal learning. Nature communications, 10(1), p.4646.
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Matthew Mace

Brain Endurance Training for Athletes: What You Need to Know

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What is brain endurance training, and how can athletes benefit? 

Do you want to increase mental resilience, decrease mental fatigue, and benefit from quicker decision-making? If so, then brain endurance training could be the secret sauce to unlocking a new level of athletic performance.

Brain endurance training (BET) is a type of neuro-training that focuses on targeted training towards a specific area of the brain responsible for goal-driven behaviour, effort perception, and impulse control. Training the brain and temporarily increasing mental fatigue during exercise has been shown to increase physical endurance while reducing the rate of perceived exhaustion (RPE), as found in a 2015 study. 

By training the mind during exercise — stationary cycling, running and walking, for example — you can increase mental fatigue to improve mental resilience while reducing the perception of pain, fatigue, and exhaustion, to allow athletes to perform at higher intensities without getting tired as quickly.

This blog post will explain the concept of brain endurance training in more detail, rounding up current studies on BET and how it benefits athletes.

Does brain endurance training improve physical performance?

Mental fatigue is caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity. However, a build-up of mental fatigue negatively affects physical performance in humans, as mentioned by Marcora and colleagues. 

During exercise, especially intense competition, we build up increased mental fatigue. And the more tired we become, the more likely we are to make errors regarding decision-making. We’re also more likely to experience a decrease in other cognitive abilities and may encounter a performance decline.

To help showcase the impact BET has on athletes and non-athletes alike, we’ve gathered together three studies — continue reading below for a round-up of the science. 

BET training on professional-level football players 

One study investigated the effect of brain endurance training on professional-level football players. 24 players were assigned to either:

  1. The control group
  2. The brain endurance training group 

Both groups performed 20 supervised physical training sessions. After each session, the control group listened to 20 minutes of neutral music while the BET group performed 20 minutes of cognitive training. 

After 4 weeks of training, results showed improved reactive agility — with fewer fouls — in the BET group and significantly faster decision-making (RSA random test). The control group also showed a significant decrease in performance in the same test. Aside from these results, there were no other significant differences.

So, what does this study suggest? This research provides evidence that BET, combined with football training, is more effective than standard training in boosting cognitive and physical performance in professional football players.

BET training on healthy male adults 

An earlier study also looked at the effect of BET, although instead of analysing professional football players, the study population was healthy male adults. 35 male adults were allocated to one of two groups:

  1. The control group
  2. The brain endurance training group 

The two groups trained on a stationary cycle ergometer for 60 minutes at 65% VO2 Max 3 times a week, for a total of 12 weeks. During each session, the BET group performed a mentally fatiguing task on a computer, while the control group did nothing other than cycle.

Results found an increase in VO2 Max in both groups — which was to be expected — but also found a significant increase in time to exhaustion in the BET group. Similarly, RPE was significantly lower in the BET group compared to the control group.

The findings of this study support the previous study, suggesting that not only can elite athletes benefit from BET, but regular healthy male adults can, too. Brain endurance training can alleviate fatigue and reduce the perception of pain during endurance exercise. 

BET training on healthy undergraduate students 

And finally, we have another piece of research, this time from 2020, which explores the effect of concurrent brain endurance training on 15 females and 21 male healthy undergraduate students. 

Similar to the other two studies, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups:

  1. The control group
  2. The brain endurance training group 

Tests took place over 8 weeks and consisted of 26 sessions. During each test, the BET group performed a 5-minute endurance task — participants were to generate as much force as possible by squeezing a handgrip dynamometer with their dominant hand once per second, cued by a metronome. The test was performed under 3 conditions:

  1. Following 600s of a 2-back working memory task
  2. While performing a 2-back task
  3. On its own (solo)

The 2-back test, also known as N-back, is a stimulus working memory test which requires participants to decide if the current stimulus matches the previous one presented several trials ago. The 3 tasks were separated by a 5-minute break. During this break, participants completed a self-reporting questionnaire. Baseline physiological measures were also recorded between tests. 

Results found a 32% task improvement in the BET group and evidence to suggest changes in prefrontal cortex oxygenation. The BET group also showed greater performance scores in post-testing cognitive tasks relative to control. Rhythmic handgrip performance also revealed better performance than physical training alone. 

The findings of this study are in line with the two previous studies, suggesting that BET training combined with physical training can reduce mental effort during physical activity, regardless of gender and athletic ability, as long as the participant is somewhat already healthy.    

Related: What is Neuro-Training?

Reduce mental fatigue and improve physical performance 

Brain endurance training has been proven to be effective in reducing mental fatigue and increasing mental resilience during exercise. Professional athletes, and the wider population alike, can benefit from this type of neuro-training. Adding brain endurance training during or after exercise will improve physical performance while reducing cognitive fatigue.

If you’re looking to add brain training to your exercise routine, consider the Rewire Neuro Performance Hardware — a pair of ergonomic buttons that allow you to perform brain training endurance while running, stationary cycling, walking, or weight lifting, for example. Neuro-training is also free on our mobile app — try this 3-minute session for beginners to get started, or check out our free web-based mental toughness challenge. 

Related: Overview of Rewire’s Neuro-Training System

References

Dallaway, N., Lucas, S.J. and Ring, C., 2021. Concurrent brain endurance training improves endurance exercise performance. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 24(4), pp.405-411.

Kane, M.J., Conway, A.R., Miura, T.K. and Colflesh, G.J., 2007. Working memory, attention control, and the N-back task: a question of construct validity. Journal of Experimental psychology: learning, memory, and cognition, 33(3), p.615.

Marcora, S.M., Staiano, W. and Manning, V., 2009. Mental fatigue impairs physical performance in humans. Journal of applied physiology.

Staiano, W., Merlini, M., Gattoni, C. and Marcora, S., 2019, June. Impact of 4-week Brain Endurance Training (BET) on Cognitive and Physical Performance in Professional Football Players. In MEDICINE AND SCIENCE IN SPORTS AND EXERCISE (Vol. 51, No. 6, pp. 964-964). TWO COMMERCE SQ, 2001 MARKET ST, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103 USA: LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS.

Staiano, W., Merlini, M. and Marcora, S., 2015. A randomized controlled trial of brain endurance training (bet) to reduce fatigue during endurance exercise. In ACSM Annual Meeting.

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Matthew Mace

What Is The Purpose of Being Mentally Fit

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The purpose of mental fitness is to achieve a state of well-being, feeling calmer and more prepared to tackle a mix of life’s responsibilities and challenges. 

Being mentally fit does not mean achieving a high IQ test score or being able to read a book a day. Mental fitness is a lot more holistic — it’s less about one thing and instead a mix of components and exercises that create a healthy mind.

This blog post will explain more about the purpose of mental fitness — we’ll discuss what it means to be mentally fit, the benefits, a few exercises to get started, and more.

What does it mean to be mentally fit?

Physical fitness relates to how the body looks and functions. If you exercise regularly, you improve your health and reduce your risk of disease. If you lift weights, you’ll build bigger and stronger muscles. If you run or cycle long distances, you’ll better develop your cardiovascular system.

But what about mental fitness? While exercise improves physical fitness, it also improves mental fitness. When we exercise, our brain produces and releases endorphins — also known as “feel-good hormones.” It’s why you feel happy after exercise, and it’s likely one of the reasons you keep going back — whether you realise it or not.

The purpose of being mentally fit is similar to that of physical fitness — to improve the function of your brain and how you think, feel, and react to the world around you. And while that may seem somewhat far-fetched, it’s actually rather straightforward.

What are the benefits of mental fitness? 

As you likely already know, there are many benefits to focusing on mental fitness.

For example, benefits include:

  • Increased presence and focus
  • Improved sleep quality and quantity 
  • Increased resilience 
  • The ability to be more present
  • Build confidence
  • Improved cognitive function 
  • Build new skills 

Unsurprisingly, the benefits are centred around how we think, feel, and interact with various situations.

For more benefits, you can check out our mental fitness training guide for beginners.

Mental fitness training — a few exercises to get started

If you want to get bigger muscles, you go to the gym and lift weights. But if you want to train your mind, you need to adopt a different approach.

As previously mentioned, your mental fitness is made up of several components. For example, this could include how much sleep you get, how stressed you are, whether or not you exercise regularly, your immediate environment, and so forth. 

There are, of course, plenty of exercises you can do to get started:

  • Regular exercise
  • Practice mindfulness
  • Do mind games
  • Read
  • Increase awareness and reduce stress with journaling 

Regular exercise

Let’s start with a more obvious one: regular exercise.

The CDC states that adults need 150-minutes of exercise each week. Ideally, this should also include two days of muscle-strengthening activity. We recommend splitting the 150-minutes throughout the week — 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or something similar to best suit your schedule.

Exercise releases endorphins — these make you feel good, can elevate your mood, and improve your outlook on a certain situation or even life, in general.

Regular exercise should be a part of your mental fitness routine — it’s easy to do, it’s super rewarding, and you’ll feel great physically and mentally for doing it. 

Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness and meditation often go hand in hand, but you can do one without the other — meditation is not the only form of mindfulness.

Despite this, many people find that meditation helps them achieve a more calm state of mind and improves focus and concentration.

But you can exercise mindfulness in different ways — it could be a short walk, perhaps creating a list of things you’re grateful for, gardening, cooking, or performing another hobby that you find rewarding.

We’re all different — you may enjoy yoga or meditation, or you might find that noting down your thoughts and tracking your goals in a notebook works best for you. You can also try our Rewire mindset recovery sessions, or, if you prefer, our open recovery post-workout deep mind and body session. And if guided sessions are more your thing, click here to give one a go! 

Do mind games

There are loads of mind games that help reduce stress and improve cognitive performance and function. For example, it could be something as simple as a crossword puzzle, sudoku, or a game of chess.

Alongside traditional games, there are also reaction tests and other brain-stimulating tests and activities that increase cognitive function and focus. We recommend trying a mix of Rewire neuro-training sessions, designed to temporarily increase mental fatigue, and build long-term mental fitness. If you’re reading on mobile, click here to try a 3 minute neuro-training session.

Read

Regular reading keeps the mind healthy — it stimulates the mind, reduces stress, improves knowledge, and facilitates better focus and concentration. 

Also, reading may keep the brain active, potentially slowing the onset of dementia in Alzheimer’s disease by up to five years, as found in a 2021 study. 

Increase awareness and reduce stress with journaling 

Journaling can be as simple as writing down your thoughts for a few minutes each day. But writing down how you feel can increase awareness, contributing to better mental fitness and reduced stress.

It’s a basic practice, but many people find it useful to note their thoughts on paper, almost clearing their heads and sharing the responsibility. 

Mental fitness is a holistic practice 

Mental fitness is a lot more holistic than you might think. Improving your mental fitness is not as simple as going for a run, playing a game of chess, reading a book, or performing reaction tests.

Instead, it’s a mix of several activities — there is no finish line, and you must constantly perform these activities to ensure optimal mental fitness.

To get started with your mental fitness journey, we recommend using the Rewire daily readiness assessment. The short 90-second assessment looks at your unique needs day-to-day, recommending specific neuro-training and mindset-recovery protocols to set yourself up for success.  

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References:

Ciomag, V. and Zamfir, M.V., 2016. The Benefit of Physical Exercises of our Own Body and Health. Univers Strategic, (2), p.26.

Horowitz, S., 2010. Health benefits of meditation: What the newest research shows. Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 16(4), pp.223-228.

Wilson, R.S., Wang, T., Yu, L., Grodstein, F., Bennett, D.A. and Boyle, P.A., 2021. Cognitive activity and onset age of incident Alzheimer disease dementia. Neurology, 97(9), pp.e922-e929.

Winter-Hébert, L., 2019. 10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day. lifehack. org, Retrieved, pp.22-4.