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THE MENTAL SIDE OF SPORTS: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR BRAIN TO BE SUCCESSFUL

The Myth of 10,000 Steps

8/14/2017

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The only person you should compare yourself to is the person that you were yesterday.
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-Amy Morin
How many steps does it take to be healthy? To increase physical activity? To change yourself for the better?

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If you have a fitness tracker, you’re probably saying, “well, 10,00 steps.” After all, you spend your days stressing about reaching that magic number. You take a lunch walk at work. You park further away at the grocery store. You pace in your room before bed to get those last 100 steps.

The 10,000 steps goal is based on the CDC’s recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week.  While that’s a great goal to set for the population, it’s like trying to use a hammer to drive in a pin. Yeah, it’ll work, but it’s far from the best tool for the job. It's the "2,000 calorie diet" of lifestyle activity.

The point is this: there is no magic number. It’s a very personal thing, and should be individualized as such. Trying to apply a one-size-fits-all approach can be far too hard for some, and far too easy for others. But there is a simple solution, and one that has been overlooked by the technology today.

Do more.

So simple it seems ridiculous, right? The goal—if you want to get healthier, walk more, to become more active—is to do more than you have been doing. It’s an elegant solution to an inherent goal-setting issue in fitness technology. Being active isn’t an all-or-nothing game. It’s about making small changes and building on those changes. Even a couple hundred steps at a time.

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Make Your Exercise Work for You: The Upward Spiral of Affect

6/20/2016

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How can you ensure you get the most out of your workout, while also increasing the likelihood you go back the next day? Easy. Think about how awesome you're going to feel after. It's called "Post-Exercise Affective Expectation," but it's a lot easier than it sounds.

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My Fitness Tech Use: A Case Study

3/25/2016

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“Be better today than you were yesterday. Be better tomorrow than you are today.”
​– Jim Harbaugh
​I'm a huge believer in the Quantified Self. The more information we have about our exercise, sleep, nutrition, and how we feel, the better we are able to learn how these things interact. Fitness technology has allowed us to track all of these things, but fail to tell us what to do with them. Below is a case study regarding how I use my experience in exercise psychology to apply the information received from this technology.

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"Down With the Tyranny of the Fitbit" Rebuttal

1/28/2016

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Down With the Tyranny of the Fitbit Original Article
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I saw this article posted, and believe it's important to address the assertions made here.
While I agree with this article in principle, I disagree with the fatalistic view of the fitness tracker space. It’s true that companies like Fitbit focus on intrinsic rewards that, by nature, decrease extrinsic motivations. However, this problem is not in the product itself, but rather the implementation of the product. I have spoken about this at length here.

Research has demonstrated that fitness trackers, such as Fitbit, can have positive effects on short-term exercise behavior. The article agrees with that point—for most people, increasing awareness of physical activity patterns can help to increase exercise behavior. However, once the initial novelty wears off, these products do little to encourage long-term exercise adherence. That doesn’t mean we should give up on them wholesale.

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A Call to Action: What Activity Tracking Companies Need To Do

1/18/2016

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“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” --Sun Tzu
Do you own an activity tracker? Do you still use it? Did you take it off to charge it one day, and forgot to put it back on? Is it just sitting in your drawer, gathering dust? The truth is, you’re not alone. While roughly one in every 10 people have an activity tracker, but one third of people stop using them within 6 months of purchase(Ledger, 2014). That might be why Fitbit’s stock recently dropped lower than their initial IPO for the first time since going public in June, according to Time. People are realizing that fitness trackers aren’t what they’re purported to be.

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The Most Useful Skill: A Champion's Mindset

9/10/2015

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Watch your thoughts for they become words,
watch your words for they become actions,
watch your actions, for they become habits,
watch your habits for they become your character,
watch your character for it becomes your destiny.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
The next "skill" I'm going to discuss isn't so much a skill as it is a mindset. An approach to life. Like most things, this doesn't apply just to sports, but facet of life. In my experience, this is the greatest predictor of success there is. It's what sets the best apart from the rest. It's what drives the constant need for improvement-- that push to become the best you can be. It's what we call "The Champion's Mindset."

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Rethinking Exercise as a Source of Immediate rewards (ARTICLE)

9/4/2015

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Today I'd like to briefly discuss an article I came across, titled Rethinking Exercise as a Source of Immediate Rewards, by Jane E. Brody with the NY Times. The article is based on research in exercise and motivation done by Dr. Michelle Segar, director of the University of Michigan Sport, Health and Activity Research and Policy Center (Go Blue!). I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Segar and I'm really excited about the research SHARP is doing, and I think it can make a huge impact in helping people initiate and maintain exercise. I'd recommend reading the article, and considering its implications as you head into the weekend.

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Activity Trackers: Goal Setting, Streaks, and "Failure"

8/31/2015

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Today, I just want to briefly expand on something related to my posts on goal setting and my post on activity trackers and goal setting. That is, some day you're not going to reach your goal, for whatever reason. On these days, based on how you view it, it can actually be a hindrance to your motivation, or help to feed it; it's all about how you look at it. I'm here to teach you how to use it to your advantage.

"failure" is Inevitable


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Building Confidence: Fake it 'til you make it

8/28/2015

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TO BE A GREAT CHAMPION YOU MUST BELIEVE YOU ARE THE BEST. IF YOU'RE NOT, PRETEND YOU ARE.
-MUHAMMAD ALI
Last week, we talked about confidence, why it's important, and sources of confidence. Today, I tell you  an easy trick to increase your confidence. The easiest way to become more confident is to pretend that you are confident. While I use the term "fake it" in reality it's not fake. It may seem that way starting out, but soon the changes to our confidence are real, and easily achieved.

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Improving Your Exercise: Activity Trackers and Anchoring

8/23/2015

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Do you ever have those days where you just don't feel like exercising? Those days where getting off the couch, or out of bed early, just seems like too much work? You just feel "blah", and even if you did exercise, it probably wouldn't be productive? In this post I'm going to show you how we can utilize a specific cue (i.e. our activity tracker) to elicit positive emotions and confidence, and help you perform to your peak ability and overcome difficulties you may encounter when maintaining exercise.

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    Brent Nier

    Experienced researcher and performance coach with a passion for fitness, sport and exercise psychology, and the role of technology in training.

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