By CJ Richardson, M.Ed., M.A., CSCS, USAW-1
Director of Sports Performance & Assistant Football Coach
Sul Ross State University
Build Psychological Toughness
You cannot separate the physical aspect of performance from the mental. The elite performers master the art of both physical and mental preparation. This is sometimes less concrete in its implementation, but the goal is to find some way to challenge the athletes mentally every day. This can take many forms. It could be as simple as laying out the plan for the day with specific instructions to see if we will be able to listen and follow directions when we are tired. It could also be a specific drill that requires an athlete to remain focused in the midst of some sort of intentional adversity. It does not matter what the plan is for that day to challenge and train mental toughness. The important thing is that we are going to do something every day.
We also develop mental toughness by the difficulty of what we are doing every day. It does not matter how an athlete is feeling, the same effort is required of everyone. When they athletes show up every day, they know we will be pushing them to their limits. We talk about giving 100% of what you have every day. For example, if an athlete only feels like he is at 80% on a particular day, we expect him to give 100% of that 80%.
Some coaches simply drive athletes into the ground and call it training mental toughness. This is a simplistic, and at times, dangerous approach. We have recently seen some high profile schools get themselves into trouble with this. What is “Mental Toughness?” Is it just enduring under harsh conditions? Is it being able to push through pain? I believe it goes much deeper than that. Plenty of people can push through pain. Plenty of people can go through demanding physical challenges without quitting.
Mental toughness in the context of sport is about being able to remain focused and executing in the midst of a stressful situation. Sometimes this stress comes from fatigue, but often it comes from the situation in the game or the desire to contribute to the team effort. This is what we need to be training. I definitely believe that athletes need to be able to execute when they are tired and the only way to get them tired is to push them to that point. However, when pushing athletes to some arbitrary level of exhaustion becomes the goal in and of itself, we are not really training mental toughness.
Strength and conditioning coaches cannot forget about progressive overload and gradually building athletes to the point they need to be at by the time their competitive season begins. To ignore this foundational principle is irresponsible and dangerous, and can even be counterproductive.
Educate the Athletes
There are 168 hours in a week, and most athletes only train with us for about 5 of them. Therefore, how they are spending those other 163 hours are going to determine a lot about their training outcomes. Am I to assume that since the information is literally at their fingertips they will eat properly, stay hydrated, and get enough sleep all on their own, without me saying anything? No chance.
At the conclusion of every workout, I give the players a brief (1-2 minute) lesson on some aspect of sports performance. These talks cover topics like the length of their naps, the importance of seeing their athletic trainer, the short-and long-term effects of alcohol, and what they should be eating before a workout. I also supplement these educational moments with daily posts on Facebook and Twitter. Utilizing social media is not something that comes naturally to me. I still have to force myself to post daily, but once I saw that my athletes were actually getting something out of it, I found my motivation.
I try to bombard them with information and just hope that some of it sticks. About halfway through the semester, I will pass out a quick quiz to see what they have retained on the subjects of nutrition, hydration, sleep, and recovery. This allows me to tailor my mini-lessons and social media posts to areas where they still lack knowledge.
I am not naïve enough to think I will be able to change all of the habits of over a hundred college students overnight, but every little bit helps. In our program, it is about celebrating good decisions and not criticizing them for bad ones. For example, if I am walking through the cafeteria and one guy at a table is drinking water and the other three are drinking soda, I will praise the guy drinking water, rather than call out the guys drinking soda.
Conclusion
We design every single day to be extremely challenging. In doing this, we prepare our athletes for the rigors of the competitive season. By the time the spring semester is over, our players have improved in every area of athleticism and are confident in their ability to perform at a high level. Maybe more importantly, they have developed a confidence in
their ability to overcome adversity and push through challenges on a daily basis. They should also be armed with important knowledge regarding health, nutrition, hydration, and recovery. By building our training plan around our three main goals, we develop a more complete and more prepared player.
SAMPLE WEIGHTLIFTING SESSION:
Warm-Up Barbell Complex – 1 X 8e (65 lbs.)
V-Ups – 3 X 12
Hurdle Overs/Unders – 2 X 10e
Cleans 2 X 3 (Warm-Up), 4 X 2
Chin-Ups (4-Count Down) 3 X 8
Push Press 4 X 5
DB Shrugs (2-Ct. Hold, 3-Ct. Down) 3 X 10
Upright Rows 3 X 12
Glute-Ham Raises 3 X 6
Single-Arm DB Bench (3-Ct. Down) 4 X 6e
Bent-Over Rows (3-Ct. Down) 3 X 10
Single-Leg RDL 3 X 6e
Single-Leg Squat 3 X 6e
Barbell Rollouts 3 X 5
Back Extensions 3 X 10
Barbell Bicep Curls (3-Ct. Down) 3 X 8
Hanging Pike-Ups 3 X 8
