The End Point of Performance
In 1939 a group of German researchers concluded after conducting tests on endurance athletes in cycling that “the end point of any performance is never an absolute fixed point but rather is when the sum of all negative factors such as fatigue and pain are felt more strongly than the positive factors of motivation and will power.”
The brain rules the body. All training is brain training, even if it doesn’t specifically target the brain. The brain is the master organ, it regulates all other organs and processes which keep us alive. Sometimes we as coaches and runners forget that and get consumed with aerobic or energy system development — which does matter, up to a point. Races are not strictly plumbing contest of who can deliver the most oxygen to their muscle by pumping the highest volume of blood per heartbeat. There’s something more at play.
It’s why belief, context and perception matter and the “mental side” to athletics matters. It’s attractive to measure and predict performance based on objective metrics because numbers are easy to track and interpret, plus they’re stable. We know more about the brain each day, but our body of knowledge is still so small. When it comes to the mind, there is still a hint of magic. And this is what makes sports fun. Our training does not determine the outcome, it influences it. As many coaches know, champions bring extra on race day.
What experience has taught me is you have to teach athletes that they can do more than they think they can. To all athletes who learn this lesson, when the moment of truth arrives on race day you’ll always have a little more you can give — so long as you’re willing to believe it.