The Secret To A Peak Performance
Is.... Not To Try!

Here are a few of the articles I have written about The Zone and sport and fitness training over the last ten years.

If you have any questions about the content please email me at roy@fitness-programs-for-life.com
and enter 'zone' in the subject line.

Are You Training To Fail?

What Is The Zone?

Total Fitness Training

Bouncing Back From An Injury


Are You Training To Fail?

Here is an interesting story that I believe highlights one reason many fail to reach The Zone, that euphoric state when a peak performance feels the easiest, most natural thing we can do.

On my drive to work I used to see an elderly gentleman walking his dog. He first caught my attention because in spite of his age (probably around eighty years old) he moved with a wonderful free-flowing action and always had a smile on his face. Day by day I observed his effortless style and we soon began to acknowledge one another with a polite wave. Here was a man in The Zone. He could enjoy being in the moment during his daily activity.

Several weeks later I noticed a change in his gait. In place of his usual stride was a contrived march accompanied by a fixed facial expression and stiffness throughout his body. Thinking he might be in pain, I stopped to ask if he needed any help. Once I got closer the reason for the change became obvious. It was not physical but one of attitude; today he was wearing a tracksuit. He informed me that his doctor had suggested he took up exercise to maintain fitness in his later years.

So instead of enjoying his morning walk he was now ‘working out’ to keep fit. It was apparent that his idea of exercise involved making a natural activity harder, to guarantee he would get some benefit from it. Yet the extra effort succeeded only in adding unnecessary tension to his frame and strain on the joints and perhaps in the long term changing his concept of what free movement feels like. In place of enjoying his morning stroll, whilst keeping fit in the process anyway, it had become a chore because it was now exercise. Was he still in The Zone?

Your biggest hurdle to reaching The Zone and experiencing a peak performance e is an invisible one. That's not because it is hidden from view; in fact, you can’t see it because you are too close to it. It’s right in front of your nose, or to be accurate, behind your nose. I believe the conventional attitude to training and physical activity, that is, it takes hard work and plenty of effort, can interfere with our body’s natural ability to perform at its capacity. I think of it as driving your car with one foot rammed on the accelerator and the other on the brake.

To increase our chances of getting into The Zone we need to try a little less and train a little more imaginatively and intelligently to appreciate how our body’s want to move and can move if we just let it. Perhaps this is what is happening when athletes use words such as effortless, flowing, simple and even easy to describe their moment in The Zone.


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What Is The Zone?

The Zone is the holy grail of sport. Athletes who experience it describe it as the ultimate state, a sort of nirvana, a pinnacle of achievement to reach and enjoy. It is often portrayed as a mysterious, altered state where performance is effortless, trouble-free and near to perfection. Many feel they can anticipate events, permitting them to take action before their opponent. The stress and anxiety of performing vanishes leaving them free to function without fear of consequences.

Another commonly reported phenomenon is the nature in which The Zone is experienced: usually, it occurs unexpectedly. Athletes will suddenly find themselves in it. Then as soon as they acknowledge it, they lose it. Those who do feel able to enter it at will are generally elite athletes and even in these cases it occurs more often during training than in competition.

Michael Jordan, one of basketball’s greatest talents, described one particular game where everything he attempted worked; it was too easy and felt he could do no wrong. But as soon as he thought to himself, ‘I must be in The Zone,’ it was gone.

So what is this state? What is this ability that allows us to function beyond our normal everyday capacity? What evolutionary purpose does it serve? Is it a primitive ability? Have the comforts of modern civilisation rendered it obsolete, or does The Zone represent the next stage in our evolution - a sort of higher state of consciousness?

I believe The Zone is a primitive ability and therefore an automatic function triggered by circumstances. It’s a place we arrive at when we let go and allow it to happen. We cannot get there directly by deliberately trying, any more than we can get to sleep quicker by shutting our eyes tighter. If we are concerned about getting there we introduce an element of effort that I believe is the opposite of what is required. Even elite athletes often experience The Zone by ‘accident’ - they didn’t deliberately try to get there. One moment they are performing, the next it’s just happening.

Training methods that aim to improve specific skills and sensations associated with The Zone are, I believe, misguided. Whilst they may lead to some improvements, they will not deliver a true Zone performance. This approach can see only the destination and ignores the journey required to take us there. For example, it is not necessary to train in order to improve how quickly we can shift attention from one thing to another, because the ability is already there. Playing your sport with the right approach will help to sharpen these abilities. Smiling is associated with happiness; but it would be madness to strengthen the facial muscles used to smile in order to become more content. I believe we all have the ability to switch on and perform - we just have to learn to allow the process to work.


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Total Fitness Training

Total fitness is an ideal we all aspire to reach. But how do we define it? How do we know if we are going in the right direction? To be fit means being able to do what you need to do and to do it well. A swimmer may not be fit to run a marathon; a squash player could struggle to at the 100m hurdles. They are fit for their own sport because that is what they train for.

If you want to be fit, ask yourself fit for what?

Fitness is relative. Relative to the demands you place on your body. The ultimate goal, in my view, is the ability to meet the challenges that life throws at you. Not just your sport, but your career, your family and your leisure pursuits. If you can successfully handle life and not let your health suffer then this is approaching the ideal.

We hear about the 3s', that is, strength, stamina and suppleness as attributes that determine your level of fitness, I would like to add two more, the first is synchronisation (coordination as we know it but it does begin with S). You may have strength but if the appropriate muscles are not firing at the right time, their strength will work against you. This may be resistance to a movement adding to the effort required, or worse still injury.

The other is judgement (okay I know this one doesn't begin with S!). Your 4s' are not worth much if you cannot make the right decision at the appropriate time. This may be during the course of play or about when you train or what sort of training you do.

Injuries can occur when wrong decisions are made. What if you decide to train too soon after a big event? You may have chosen a fitness program that is unsuitable for your sport. You may judge a shot to be possible but injury yourself if you have misjudged the distance. From a performance view, you may miss your chance to take the lead if you choose the wrong moment to up your pace. Can your read the game and make appropriate decisions? Are these qualities people consider when training for total fitness?

So your fitness to perform in your sport and away from it relies heavily on your ability to assess a situation and to act upon what you see. Your actions will be based upon your previous experiences, but are these reliable?

One obstacle you will have to face is habit. Habit is the hidden element in your pursuit of total fitness. It determines the way you move, what you feel and how you react. Are you aware of how much habit influences your performance?

You may be surprised at how habits may be limiting your performance. Your reliance on habit will also affect your judgement because you will react without allowing yourself to think - some call it a knee jerk reaction. So in addition to training your 4s'(your sport will dictate the requirements), you also need to practice your ability to stop and think. Athletes refer to this as being in the moment or the here and now. You will not usually find techniques to train this ability in most fitness programs.


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Bouncing Back From An Injury

How many people go straight back to training after an injury and do it all again! If done in the right way the rehabilitation period can be used to strengthen our resolve, increase our skill and take our sport to the next level. But how?

On your return to training following an injury try to think as a beginner for the first few training sessions and use them to assess your technique. When you were a beginner you had the building blocks - that is, how you moved your arm or leg - but not the structure of your sports techniques. It may have been that these building blocks were not as efficient as they could have been, this maybe why you sustained an injury. Putting them together to execute the techniques needed for your sport may have put stresses on your joints or muscles if they were not coordinated appropriately.

By going back to the start you can assess whether your basics were suitable. You will have ingrained habits associated with your techniques that will feel right, but if these were habits that caused your injury or loss of form it really won’t help to repeat them – especially with more effort - in the belief that you are not trying hard enough.

One advantage of recovering from an injury is that it can provide you with instant feedback concerning your performance. It is like an alarm bell that rings if you are doing it in your habitual manner, i.e., wrong again. If the bell rings, STOP! Stop immediately what you are doing and give yourself a few moments to run some checks to see if you are holding any tension in your neck, shoulders or back. When you have achieved this, maintain your awareness in the moment for a while longer before starting your activity again. Immediately you recognise something that tightens your body and prevents a feeling of lightness in your movement, stop and go back to the beginning. It is tempting to carry on with the niggles or aches and pains – I know I’ve done this enough in the past, but as mentioned earlier, all you will achieve by doing more of the same thing is the same end result – the injury.

Be patient otherwise you will go straight back to the situation that got you injured in the first place. Learn from your injury and you will return stronger, wiser and better placed to progress your sport.


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Copyright 2006 Roy Palmer