The advantages of a stable and orderly life in elite athletes

Dedicating yourself to sports in a professional way is much more than developing strength, maximizing your quickness of reflexes or even learn a lot of theory about the sport to which one devotes a good part of his life.

It is also, among other things, knowing how to take care of yourself physically and mentally, and develop skills from which it is possible to live through effective preparation habits.

Therefore, in this article we will briefly review the advantages that, from the point of view of elite athletes, learning to live in an organized manner and applying the principles of order to your day to day.

• Related article: "What is Sports Psychology? Learn the secrets of a booming discipline "

Why is it important to lead an orderly life in the face of the demands of elite sport?

It's not just about being aware of workout schedules and healthy living standards (physically) imposed by the sports club, the sponsors, and other entities participating in the professional career of the athlete.

Beyond this formal version of what an orderly life is supposed to be, there are a whole series of

guiding principles on which healthy lifestyle habits and efficient preparation are based (both physically and psychologically).

Overlooking them not only means exposing yourself to health complications in an environment where hard work can lead to a lot of wear and tear; In addition, it produces a disadvantage compared to other athletes who do take advantage of their ability to establish habits and routines that are consistent and adapted to their goals and talents. And this, in such a competitive field of sports and professional development, is a double problem.

But… What exactly do we mean when we talk about living an orderly life in which stability prevails? It is not about bringing the existence of a robot, far from it (in fact, overlooking the facet The athlete's emotional state is a very serious mistake in psychological preparation for a league, tournament or championship).

What it is about is to be aware that, if we do not realize and do not keep a certain control of what we do and how we do it inside and outside the training sessions, We expose ourselves to many situations that lead us to lose time and health, and we lose many opportunities where we could win on these two fronts..

For example, adopting a series of routines adapted psychologically to the characteristics and sport objectives of oneself allows:

• Learn to temporarily distribute the incentives that allow us to motivate ourselves as athletes, aspiring to climb an ascending difficulty curve.
• Do not fall into the trap of "covering" stress with bad habits
• Do not indulge in procrastination (that tendency to say "I'll do it tomorrow") and know when it is better to do what.
• Do not overdo the training sessions producing the opposite effect to the desired one.
• Improve the ability to concentrate in sports activity thanks to the fact of having managed the moments of rest well.
• Having memorized the appropriate spatial and temporal references to know at all times what to be doing and what activity to perform right afterwards.

All of these are work areas that, as you can see, do not adhere strictly to what is usually understood as physical preparation, and that are complemented by this.

• You may be interested in: "The 10 keys to motivating yourself"

What can psychology contribute in this regard?

Psychological therapy is not only a way to treat psychopathologies; In addition, it is also adapted to the needs of people without significant mental health problems, and among the intervention strategies and techniques that are encompass in this area there are many that are used to help professionals, opponents, people with creative projects underway... and elite athletes too, for course.

After all, applied psychology does not have to be limited only to addressing psychological disorders; the point is to put to work all the discoveries and technical advances generated in this field of science to help as many people as possible. For this reason, many of the psychotherapy services offered are intended to support people with very stressful career paths, or subject to a high level of stress and demands.

In the case of psychological assistance for elite athletes, one of the main functions of the psychologist is to help the person to structure their routines and habits so that from that way of life it is possible to maintain an effective and sustained training program (physical and mental) over time, without “burning” the person because of excess anxiety but at the same time leading them to always face new challenges.

Some of the ways in which psychology can help professional athletes in this regard are the following:

• Training of self-motivation skills to make training a consistent routine.

• Establishing a program of action triggers to make good use of time and organize chains of tasks.

• Learning in the early detection of trap thoughts associated with the onset of a distraction.

• Learning in the detection of dysfunctional behavior patterns as a reaction to stress (eating without hunger, biting nails ...).

• Creation of conditioning routines for the training space.

• Relaxation techniques training to easily fall asleep.

• Learning in the detection of the signals that indicate that it is time to rest mentally.

• Related article: "Triggers for action: what are they and how do they influence behavior"

Do you want to have professional psychological assistance?

If you want to have the support of a psychologist to help you in any problem related to the management of emotions or behavior patterns, or simply seek psychological assistance when facing challenges in the professional field, get in touch with me.

My name is Tomás Santa Cecilia and my way of working is based on the cognitive-behavioral model, one of the most effective and adaptable to the needs or problems of each person. I offer my services in person in Madrid or online by video call.