I know what you’re thinking, hang on I thought this was a strength and conditioning page, and no I'm not into massive men in stringers... well not like that anyway! FYI there are different types of arousal, for the purpose of this blog I'll be explaining the high performance levels of arousal in sport so get your mind out of the gutter!
Most of us at one time or another have felt the pressure and/or anxiety that can come when performing at a high level, whether trying to achieve something that you’ve never done before, pushing past your preconceived limits or competing in a new environment. If met with an optimal level of arousal it can drive you and lift you up to meet the challenge head on and on the other hand it can become a scary situation and makes you feel uneasy and off your game, both of these outcomes depend on the level of arousal that’s produced by the brain.
These factors increase anxiety and stress due to the rise in levels of hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline, creating our fight or flight response which is signaled by both your CNS (central nervous system) and your adrenal glands. Adrenaline is produced in response to the size of the mental and emotional task; while noradrenaline is produced due to the size of the physiological demand and amount of work needed.
While these conditions can actually help increase performance if the levels are optimal, they become detrimental in helping us perform if they peak too high, this rise in hormones is what we term ‘arousal’.
We all have an optimal level of arousal some much more than others, the trick is to find your sweet spot, your happy place if you will. Your optimal level of arousal will depend on genetics, experience, and the complexity and level of danger in the activity that you're undertaking. Its a common belief that if you are a relative novice then too much arousal can interfere with your ability to implement cues. Activities such as powerlifting and weightlifting use gross skills (major muscle groups) and can tolerate higher arousal levels than sports such as snooker or archery that use fine skills and require a lower level of arousal. Below is a graph known as the Inverted U Theory, showing how performance increases with the rise of arousal levels but then decreases if they get too high.
This is where ergogenic aids such as pre-workout supplements were borne from, their aim is to mimic the physiological effects of high arousal therefore increasing performance.
Remember the first time you ever took a pre workout? Mine was likely very typical, back in those days it wasn’t very common place and I wasn’t even drinking coffee so my tolerance was very low. I was in for a big surprise as no one I knew was taking them, we didn’t have google and there sure as shit weren’t any warning labels associated with the negative side effects of having too much caffeine. I was so excited to try it as my body building idol Ronnie Coleman had just brought out a line and I could just imagine myself yelling YEAAAAAH BUDDYYYYY after top set of 10x50kg quarter squats and then super setting with a set of bicep curls, getting a filthy pump with veins like hose pipes...yes, in the squat rack... but unfortunately I never made it out of the car park! Just as I pulled up to the gym I felt my heart try to leap out of my chest at the speed of light, I got the cold sweats and I had an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and panic, literally all I could focus on was not dying right there and then in my mum’s gold Mazda 323. My legs were shaking that hard but I managed to bunny hop that bad boy home and collapse in a heap on the lounge room floor, my mum pokes her head around the corner and says “must have been a bloody good workout”. Yup see pretty typical aye. Needless to say, over the years of trial and error and learning a thing or two in my studies I found my sweet spot of arousal and stuck to what I knew worked for me, hard work, a playlist of my favorite bangers, visualisation, imagery and the occasional pre-coffee when things felt flat.
A heads up for aspiring coaches, I’ve seen newbie coaches literally slap their athletes in face drawing blood and smack them so hard on the back it leaves them winded, all geared towards getting their athletes arousal up to where they think they perform best only for them to screw it up or under perform because they were too hyper or pissed off to fully utilise their technique. Look I’m not demonising this approach it definitely has merit but an experienced coach would have built a very good relationship and understanding of their athlete and their experience level before slapping or thumping them - you slap me in the face and you’ll find something much harder coming straight back at you. Find where they sit on the spectrum that produces results and practice chasing that feeling so that over arousal doesn’t take them too far out of their comfort zones to the point where they can’t focus directly on the task at hand.
What also hinders our ability to perform in high pressure situations is attaching ourselves to negative outcomes that may occur if success is not reached. These negative outcomes can vary depending on the level of performance and the sport, but can be things such as losing your starting position, being dropped from the team, the feeling of letting your team mates or family down, losing sponsors/potential income or the very real consequences that may take place if you sustain a serious injury or put an end to your career. There are ways in which we can combat this uneasiness or uncertainty so these situations feel more manageable.
· Listen to music that gets you to your optimal level of arousal.
· Mediation or deep breathing to help calm yourself if arousal gets too high.
· Use data collection and testing results to reinforce trust that you’ve done the work.
· Trust in your technical ability by application of good technique and plenty of practice. Get your > 10,000 hrs.
· The power of visualisation and mental rehearsal
Imagery (imagine yourself being successful in situations)
Mental Rehearsal (Imagine yourself executing the skill)
· Practice positive self-talk (turn the negatives into positives).
· Breaking the task up into chunks, learn the art of process control.
· Control the controllable, focus on what you can control, don't fixate on things you can’t control.
In summary, we are all different and require different levels of arousal, the key is to chase the feeling when things are on fire. Aim to manage the situations put in front of us as best we can, don't neglect the power of the mind and visualisation as the more experience you get (real or otherwise) the better you’ll cope with stressful situations.
And don't go chasing waterfalls, haha na jokes YEAAAAAH BUDDYYYYY
Live Well Live Strong
Jez
https://academy.sportlyzer.com/wiki/arousal-and-performance/inverted-u-hypothesis/1.) 2).
Krahenbuhl GS. Adrenaline, arousal and sport. J Sports Med. 1975 May-Jun;3(3):117-21. doi: 10.1177/036354657500300304. PMID: 1195705.
Lori A Thein, Jill M Thein, Gregory L Landry, Ergogenic Aids, Physical Therapy, Volume 75, Issue 5, 1 May 1995, Pages 426–439,