What Coach Steve is reading…
“You can do all this shit, but it all comes down to two guys on a bike, trying to beat each other” - Jesse Thomas
When I finished reading the book Endure, I was genuinely pleased with what I learned. The author did a good job combining ‘what the science says’ versus what coaches are seeing in the ‘real world’. Good coaches can execute on both, science, athlete needs, and race demands. In my opinion, the book felt drawn out and the themes reoccurring, but I 100% recommend it. The ultimate take away is simple, you are only as powerful as your brain allows you to be.
Your brain controls everything and science has proven that through continuous studies when a placebo was used. In one of the studies in the book, the author states “they used electroencephalography to measure brain activity during exhaustion tests. Shortly before the cyclists gave up, there was an increase in communication between insular cortex, which was monitoring their internal condition, and the motor cortex, which issued the final commands to their leg muscles. The brain, in other words, knew that the cyclist were about to reach their limit before their legs actually failed.”
I recently saw a study done on caffeine. The study included the use of a caffeine stimulant, regular coffee, decaf coffee, and a placebo. The results showed similar performance gains across all 4, even when caffeine wasn’t present. The brain thought it was receiving caffeine, so it acted as if it did. Caffeine is a known performance enhancer, there are more studies proving that you can boost performance while also getting a reduction in perceived effort by consuming around 3 cups of coffee before your workout. I’ve seen studies where the subjects consumed upwards to 10 cups, which is not recommended.
Back to the brain. The author is also an accomplished runner and talks about his own “brain training” experience for a marathon he was preparing for. He would go through mind-numbing exercises that lasted upwards to an hour and then immediately go for a run. As expected, his legs felt ok but his internal motivation to push was dragging. He was training his brain to deal with boredom and not let his mind wander. I have done something similar by reading books on the trainer. The purpose of this is to keep your focus and recognize when your brain wanders from the task on hand.
“Being boring is an important characteristic for inducing mental fatigue and, there, a brain training effect”
The athletes who can put together months and months of training are the ones who improve the most. They are the ones who can do the “boring” aerobic training without distraction. The best part, these people don’t consider the aerobic work boring, they understand the value and embrace it. They see the opportunity and capitalize. Every athlete who’s reached big results share something in common, they enjoy doing the work.
At the end of the day, your improvement and race results come down to you and your ability to embrace the reality of the situation and push the limits of your brain. You are not born a winner or a quitter. You get to train these limits every day, and they aren’t always on the bike or out running. You are constantly faced with moments of adversity, it’s up to you if you want to capitalize on these opportunities. To eat the doughnut or not. Hmm
As Jesse said, “You can do all this shit, but it all comes down to two guys on a bike, trying to beat each other”. You don’t have to be racing someone else, but you are always trying to beat your previous self. Getting your brain really good at saying “no I won’t quit” when your body just wants to walk is the biggest performance enhancer you can invest in.