Athletes typically associate the idea of conditioning with the process of increasing physical endurance. This conditioning process is the combination of pushing one’s body to the point of complete fatigue and then pushing as far past that point as one can withstand.

It’s common for coaches to condition athletes exclusively by focusing on running and calisthenics. These conditioning techniques require minimum equipment and therefore get the most attention from coaches. More creative coaches are more strategic in how they implement the process of conditioning. For example, conditioning with sport specific techniques to serve the dual purpose of creating muscle memory.

Either way, whether it’s rote or strategic conditioning, athletes must understand that to succeed when conditioning they must embrace the mental side of the process.

Conditioning is 100% Mental

When an athlete is running laps or sprints to increase their endurance, it’s easy to see the physical effort. However, the physical effort is not what conditions an athlete. An athlete could learn how to master the process of conditioning in practice and still find themselves facing extreme fatigue in a competition. The reason for this is because conditioning is 100% mental.

This is not to say that the physical capacity of one’s muscles and lungs don’t matter. Athletes must be physically capable of enduring the stress of fatigue. However, one’s ability to endure the stress of fatigue changes as their mindset changes.

The Threat vs. Challenge Mindset

The threat vs. challenge mindset is the first mindset type that dictates how one performs in stressful situations.

The threat mindset causes one to put a significant focus on the source of the stress, and how that source could cause negative consequences. This then triggers emotions related to anger, fear, and scarcity. These emotional triggers are draining, and as a result cause premature fatigue. This fatigue then causes a decrease in performance. Which in turn prevents any possibility of a person performing at their best.

On the other hand, the challenge mindset is a much more optimistic mindset. A person with this mindset views the source of the stress as an opportunity to test them self. When one’s mindset is ready to take on a challenge like this, the mind prepares to be at its best. This in turn sparks the motivation to take steps to do things better than normal. These steps not only improve confidence, but it also increases energy levels to push past fatigue.

The Task vs. Ego Mindset

The second mindset that dictates how one performs under stress is the task vs. ego mindset. The tasks mindset is one that focuses on things one has control over. For athletes this generally means the process of personal improvement and learning. The ego mindset is one that focuses on how one compares to others. For athletes this generally means outperforming the competition and winning.

When an athlete has an ego mindset they tend to start to fatigue faster as the chances of winning decrease. This is a result of one or more of the three negative achievement behaviors: lack of persistence, debilitated performance, or rescinding effort.

On the other hand, the task mindset allows an athlete to focus on the very next thing within their control and not concern themselves with the score or the performance of others. In doing this, whatever level of conditioning an athlete develops in practice remains the same in a competition, regardless of the circumstances.

Conditioning Mental Skills Starts with Self-Talk

The primary mental skill that allows an athlete to orient their mind to the mindsets that optimize conditioning is the mental skill of self-talk. All athletes use self-talk, but some use it in a way that helps them, and others use it in a way that hurts them.

When an athlete uses self-talk to hurt themselves, they talk to themselves with language that drives negative mindsets (i.e., threat mindset and the ego mindset). This is why it’s called negative self-talk. Moreover, that negative self-talk tends to go hand and hand with premature fatigue and poor conditioning.

An athlete may whisper to themselves things like:

• “I’m just not a lucky person.”
• “I suck at this.“
• “Please don’t let me get in a situation to choke again.“
• “This isn’t my day.“
• “Why even try anymore, I’m not going to win.“

On the other hand, athletes who use positive self-talk learn how to take control of their thoughts. They do this by practicing a simple three step process:

1. Listening to the thoughts flowing in and out of your mind. Specifically in stressful moments and high-pressure situations.
2. As soon as you recognize that you are having a negative thought or even when someone says something negative to you, cut the negativity off by saying “STOP!”
3. Clear your mind by taking a very quick deep breath and feel the void with a neutral line of thinking and positive self-talk.

Positive self-talk reinforces the positive mindsets (i.e., challenge mindset and task mindset). An athlete may whisper to themselves things like:

• “I got this.”
• “I’m stronger than I think.“
• “I’ve been here before, this pressure is a privilege.“
• “I’m going to focus only on the process.”
• “This isn’t harder than practice. My practice has me prepared.”
• “This is my chance to get better.“
• “One step at a time.”
• “I’m ok.”
• “Stick with it and keep getting better.“

That’s it. However, as a mental skills coach I am not going to tell you this is easy. Conditioning self-talk takes a tremendous amount of practice, just like physical conditioning. My suggestion is to create a habit-forming daily routine. Athletes should work on their self-talk every single day, multiple times a day. For example,

• Moments of self-doubt
• When you’re feeling self-conscious
• Most importantly, first thing in the morning when your alarm goes off and you tell yourself you still feel tired when you know you must wake up.

If an athlete can learn to use these everyday moments to practice self-talk every day, overtime they will learn to control their thoughts when the pain of fatigue is at its highest and when endurance is the difference between success and failure.