WheelPower Training

Happy Taty Schmidt had an amazing last week! Our great ultra runner celebrated her birthday and her first year training with us with one more podium. This time she reached the 3rd place overall in a tough sand beach terrain! Moreover, this was only a 5k training for her but she still left almost every man and woman behind her! Congrats Taty! We are so proud of you!

Why the "Just Do it" attitude might be breaking you. By Felipe Almeida (PhD candidate)
It is normal to see motivational speakers and coaches talking about the "just do it" attitude, mostly known as the act of doing something even if your emotions are telling you no to do it. There is a good intention behind this idea, which is the idea of truly exploring your limits. However, when it comes to human psychology, nothing is as simple as we wish it was. This attitude, although sounds amazing, it is also very simplistic and it might actually be harmful in the long run if you don't truly listen to yourself. Emotions consist of three basic components (Barlow et al, 2011): 1. feeling state, derived from physiological changes; 2. Experience, derived from the cognitive interpretation of the feeling; 3. Expression, meaning the behavioral response to the experience. What the "Just Do it" attittude attempts to do is to overwrite your emotions by changing the way you express your feelings (i.e. fight until you win). Although it sounds nice, this strategy can actually push you to a mindless state, in which all you might be doing is conditioning yourself to behave in such a way. At first you get that false sensation of power, but the mismatch betweeen your emotions and your behavior can grow (a lot) and your effort to control your behavior will grow (a lot). It is important to know that there is a fine line between avoidance or blocking and facing the emotions, with the first having the potential to lead to burnouts and even dissociation. Moore (2016), states that one's response to confront and face the situation that is causing the emotion is what actually increases the probablity of that emotion to become adaptive in the pursuit of one's goals and values, but that comes with awareness of one's feelings. Thus, listen to your emotions! Now, if you are feeling too overwhelmed, find professional help. Athletic world is full of myths, of people telling you to be strong, but the reality is much more complex and if you want to be strong start by realizing what are your weaknesses and how to defend yourself from them. Don't let your emotions catch you by surprise.