Issue 053
August 2009
How evolution's friend can also be your biggest enemy. By Martin Rooney.
There are two mental zones when it comes to high-level performance: one that is pure performance and one that is pure adrenaline. One is known in science as ‘flow’ and the other as ‘fight or flight’. Interestingly, each has similar characteristics: a feeling of time slowing down, an experience of having no mind, and actions based on instinct. The dilemma is that one zone leads to optimal performance, and one can be disastrous.
The ability for an athlete to learn to access one zone and resist the other is the next frontier in athletic training. Over the last five years I have studied these phenomena of the mind and have learned only one truth: these states rely on both physiology and psychology, and the mechanisms for accessing these states are highly varied and individual. The key to developing the mind into a weapon that works for (and not against) you demands deep understanding, and practice.
When I saw the Incredible Hulk movie, I had an epiphany about this topic, compliments of Rickson Gracie. Rickson plays an aikido master who uses breathing techniques to help Bruce Banner control his emotions and heart rate, so that Banner doesn’t have an adrenaline response that turns him into the mindless, raging Hulk. The epiphany wasn’t that we can lower our heart rate with breathing, but that it is our own thoughts that must be controlled if we are ever to reach the pinnacle of our own performance.
I was reminded of a performance I had at a past competition. At this no-gi event, my name was called over the loudspeaker and I ran over to the mat to avoid disqualification. With no mental or physical warm-up, I was thrown into the match. I was taken down immediately and found myself shocked and scrambling from half guard. My mind went blank. I mindlessly reverted back to technique and got a sweep and went on to win the match. But after this win I was more tired than I have ever been in my life, almost nauseous to the point of vomiting, unable to think or communicate. What I didn’t know was that I just had my first ‘adrenaline dump’ and that understanding this phenomenon would be a key to unlocking the mystery that has plagued every athlete. Having experienced this first hand and seen it reoccur in others many times, I believe that controlling this physiological process is a distinguishing ability between the master and amateur fighter.
What is the adrenaline dump?
Physiological responses:
- Increased heart rate and blood pressure
- Dilation of the bronchial passages
- Dilated pupils allowing more light to enter
- Dilation of blood vessels for muscles
- Raising of blood sugar level
- Diversion of blood away from areas of the brain and the internal organs
- Inhibition of stomach and intestinal action
- Tunnel vision (loss of peripheral vision)
- Auditory exclusion (decreased hearing)
Motor and psychological responses:
- Increased pain tolerance
- Short-term memory.loss
- Decreased fine motor skills
- Decreased communication skills
- Decreased coordination
- Difficulty thinking
- Shaky, weak or nauseous feeling
- Feeling that time has slowed down
- Feelings of fear, panic or helplessness
Depending on the scientific literature, the adrenaline dump can also be found to be referred to as Tachypsychia or the ‘fight or flight response’. This is a protective mechanism that has evolved from prehistoric times to enhance a human’s chance of survival by preparing your body for a life-threatening event. The good news is that this response can result in increased speed, strength and decreased perception of pain. The problem is that this ancient mechanism also has many other effects that can be disruptive to modern-day high-level performance.
When I examined the adrenaline dump, I realized two important things. First, the event is triggered by our own perception. This tells me that it is our own mind that is in control of whether the event is going to occur or not. So, our perception does create our own reality, and therefore the event is something we can learn to control.
Second, once this biochemical event is triggered, there is little we can do to stop it. This means that we want to prevent the event from happening in the first place. The facts that we don’t know exactly what may trigger the adrenaline dump and the difficulty of replicating high-stress situations in training makes controlling this event a challenge. They do not, however, stop us from training to keep our ‘inner Hulk’ at bay.
I found a number of concepts to help prevent this event from occurring. Although none are foolproof, you should work on the mind as much as you do on the body. Below is a list of three possible suggestions to keep your most important weapon in check.
Mental imagery, visualization and self-talk
Visualization is a very powerful tool when it comes to blunting the fight or flight response. By using imagery and self-talk to replicate possible scenarios before they occur, your body and mind have a better opportunity for handling them in reality. Involving all of the senses (including the sights, smells, and feel of the arena, etc) is important here. Even though mental scenarios might not be real, science has shown that imagery is very powerful for familiarity with a potential event. This way, an athlete can be more relaxed because the mind believes they have already ‘been there’ by rehearsing possible events before they actually happen.
Action step: Create your own internal ‘highlight’ reel. Every night before you go to sleep, vividly imagine yourself competing and, most importantly, succeeding.
Train under stress with repetition
All too often, we don’t like to put ourselves in bad positions during training, but when they happen during a fight we are completely unprepared to handle them. A great way to be ready for worst-case scenarios in a match is to have placed yourself in those situations many times in training! Make sure that you repeat these situations for many repetitions so that you can have confidence in bad spots. This confidence will allow you to stay relaxed even when the going gets tough.
Action step: During a training session, place yourself in your least favorite positions and do rounds with fresh opponents while attempting to work to a better position.
Breathing / meditation Techniques
Simply put, you must learn to make breathing a conditioned response. Whether it is putting on the gloves, or beginning a warm-up, controlled breathing must be connected with these events. For centuries martial artists have used yoga and meditation to keep arousal down with proper breathing, yet I rarely see athletes experimenting with this style of training today.
Action step: Using deep stomach breathing, breathe in through your nose for a count of four, hold the breath for a count of four, exhale through your mouth for a count of four, and then complete the cycle again. Practice this technique for ten minutes a couple of times per day and use this as a form of stress reduction.
Your ability to control yourself under high stress will be the skill that eventually separates you from the competition. Science now shows that we are able to use these techniques to affect what we once thought was out of our control. The mind of the warrior is his strongest weapon. Only by learning to control this weapon can you ever unleash it on your competition.
Martin Rooney is the conditioning coach for Team Renzo Gracie and author of Training For Warriors: The Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Workout. He has trained champion fighters for the UFC, PRIDE, IFL, ADCC and Olympics. His Training for Warriors blog and warrior community can be found at www.trainingforwarriors.com.
