June 29, 2006
Welcome to issue No 6. This month we will look at the one of the biggest misconceptions in sports and fitness training and this is ‘effort is good’.
Athletes are often praised for the amount of effort they put into a performance and we come to believe that unless we are in pain we are not trying hard enough. You may have thought the ‘no pain, no gain’ school of physical fitness had worn thin by the late 80s along with Jane Fonda’s leotard but this mantra is alive and kicking still!
In this issue
1. Sports personality: Roger Federer
2. Effort and performance
3. Fitness myth – More training equals better performance
4. What’s on the web? Swimming without stress
5. July's special offer – well, sort of.
1. Roger Federer
With the start of the Wimbledon championships this week there will be plenty of opportunity to see the many different styles of the top players. One player that always impresses me with his poise and effortless style is Roger Federer. Like Thierry Henry (see last months eZone) Federer manages to look calm and in control even when under pressure. This is a quality top sports people have in common. Yes, they can appear in control because of their skill and experience but I think they make it to the top because they already have this quality – it doesn’t just appear when they get to be the best.For some great pictures of Federer making the complex look easy click these links.
The Serve
The poised backhand
How does he get his whites to look so good?
2. Effort and performance:
Are you using the wrong kind of effort?
Those of you who live in the UK will be used to this phrase after British Rail famously made the excuse one winter that their trains were running late because we were having the ‘wrong kind of snow.’ Brilliant!I believe most adults use the ‘wrong kind of effort’, even athletes with the exception of the those that make it look easy, i.e. Federer. How do you know if you are using the wrong kind? Well, this is the point – you don’t! The amount of effort you put into everything you do is based on what you have done before – it’s a habit. The more effort you use the more effort you have to keep applying to work against muscles you shouldn’t be using – it’s a catch 22!
It is easy when you are training to think if you can feel you are working hard you are doing yourself good - we can confuse effort with performance. When I am running I constantly ask myself “am I doing too much?” or “are my shoulders raised?” or “am I making a face?” The next time you are training check what you are doing with your face and decide whether you need to do it. Quite often if you can relax your face you whole body will relax.
If you haven’t already tried my instant biomechanical test to see if you use the wrong kind of effort Click here
3. Fitness myth of the month:
More training equals better performance
I have just released my first book The Performance Paradox (Front Runner Publications 2001) on ebook as it is now out of print. The subtitle I used at the time was ‘Challenging the conventional approach to sports training and exercise’. I got a bit worried that this sounded a little too confrontational so the new subtitle is ‘Train smarter to enhance performance and reduce injury’, okay it probably sounds a bit dull but the content is exactly the same.The point of the book is to look at how existing methods based on old thinking may be limiting performance and perhaps even leading to injury. You may be aware that I believe many popular exercises encourage poor movement habits and the more you use your body in this way, the better you get at doing it poorly!
If you would like a copy for just $12.95 you can click on the link below OR if you have already purchased one of my programs drop me an email and it’s yours for free. The Performance Paradox eBook
4. What's on the web?
We are told swimming is a great all round exercise but for many it can be a pain in the neck. Swimming should be a joy but how often does it become a chore to do your set number of lengths?Swimming Without Stress is a great website based on the Shaw Method (Alexander Technique in the water). If you live in the UK and fancy a short break with a difference you may want to try a course with Ian, Cheryl or Chie Cross. I had a session with Ian about 6 years ago when in return for a running session he worked with me in the pool. With a few simple changes to my breathing and technique I found my front crawl (a stroke I had always struggled with) improved dramatically.
Swimming for me is now truly a pleasure and I still get a thrill of the sensation of gliding through the water. It doesn’t have to hurt to do you good!
Check out the site Swimming without stress
5. July's special offer – new online eCourse
Okay, it’s not really a special offer because it will be free anyway when it released next week. But I would like you to try it out first and let me know what you think.I have talked about effort and performance in this issue and some of the modules in this course will look at how you can reduce the stresses and strains you place on your body through undue effort. The objective is to give you an experience that is outside of your usual habitual sensations of effort and movement.
To request your online eCourse click here
P.S. I’ll let you into a secret ...
look out for the special graduation offer at the end of DAY 5!
I hope you gained something from taking the time to read this issue. Please feel free to email this ezine to your friends.
Regards
Roy Palmer
Next issue will be sent out before August as I will be in Ireland for a few weeks running on the sands of County Clare. Or more likely building sandcastles with the kids