Why stress can rob athletes of success.

The biggest problem athletes face, is that no matter how fit and prepared they may be for an event, they can never be 100 percent certain that they will be performing at their best during that  event..The reason is that the stress of pressure on the field harms performance. And the best way  to insure yourself against the effects of stress on your performance is to raise your baseline stress tolerance.

When it comes to stress management most athletes prepare themselves to perform under pressure by rehearsing for every aspect of the event and having strategies in place to cope during the event. This approach works well for performance stress prior, during and after an event.  Unfortunately this approach is of limited benefit, because it cannot redress the negative effects of the total life time of stress experiences each of us carries. This personal stress history creates an unconscious stress load which impacts negatively on performance.

 

Furthermore stress can have either an activating or an immobilising effect.  The problem when you get even slightly stressed either of these states can kick in.  Often simultaneously.  If stress were only a mobilising force it would always be positive, but unfortunately it can very rapidly and uncontrollably switch to an immobilising force.

This creates a problem, because fully controlling stress with your conscious mind is impossible.  Our stress reactions start as physical reflexes.   This biological fact makes stress a very slippery fish to catch.

StressAce works by activating the stress control centres of the brain (the hippocampus)  to inhibit the reflex stress centres (the amygdala).  This neurological re-wiring naturally raises your automatic controls over your stress emotions, which is your best insurance against the effects of unconscious and unpredictable immobilisation during competitions.

My research on the psychology of stress over the past twenty years demonstrates the  nefarious effects of  life stress on mental, emotional and physical performance and  is described n in my book ‘How the Mind heals itself.’ I have found that the best way to ensure peak performance  is to create a better baseline stress tolerance..

Let StressAce be your coach and sports psychologist. Use it to eliminate stress and ensure maximum mental and physical fitness.

Anca Ramsden