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Being an athlete and developing the physique from a scratch is a lifelong process. Once a journey on the path of health, fitness and sports starts, it continues for life. The psychology of sports is very advance and different than the other health sciences. In this literature review, the point of concern is the psychology of running. Running is a tough sport to break into. The physical and mental hardship that the body goes through during the training process is unbelievable. Here, five articles discussing the various point of views about the running are under the analysis.
The article from Jennifer Van Allen, states that there are five major obstacles that an athlete comes across when he starts career as a professional runner. These five problems are purely psychological. They are the thoughts that arise in the mind to turn down the running regime. The author also gives the solution to tackle these obstacles. They are the questions about the intolerability of physical pain, the fear of being a target of social taboo, excuses like being too busy in work and not able to restart the regime after a break in the regular workouts. Also, the issues like the lack of patience to get the results. These are the five common mistakes that almost everyone makes that leads to complete avoidance of the physical training. In the article the author clearly gives the solutions to tackle these problems and move ahead.
According to Cooper, Bob. (2013, Dec 2) in the article ‘Three Ways to cope with a Bad race,’ the solutions for the humiliation of having a bad race are at the center of focus. The author gives three psychological coping mechanism to handle the negative energy of having the bad performance in a race. She gives three simple ways to let all the anger go out of the mind. They are very simple mental exercise to let everything go and move ahead of the curve. They are namely, Scream and Shout, Dissect the Disaster and Move Forward. Many people get fixated on the idea of losing and inability to deliver the desirable performance. But, according to Cooper, Bob. (2013, Dec 2) it is not the end of the world. The failure is the only motivation to strive hard to do it better next time. The author strongly suggests that one should take it in the positive sense and move ahead.
Exercise is the part of the daily regime that never hurts or harms the body. Continuous practice of running is not an addiction. According to Douglas, Scott. (2014, Sep 19), excessive running has nothing to do with the addiction. Having an improved endurance to physical strain over the period of time is a good health benefit. There is no relation of having the habit of running more mileage and having an addiction of running. Many people feel irritation if they miss a running session. The feeling of agitation that arises due to disturbance in the routine is very common in the behavioral psychology, and has nothing to do with the addiction.
In the article by Hutchinson, Alex. (2014, Sep 18) in ‘Mindfulness for Athletes,’ the broader picture of the abilities of the athletes to cope with the stressful situations is the point of concern according to the author. The article talks about research involving the usage of advanced brain imaging to look for variances in brain function between elite performers and the rest of general population. Sure enough, the researchers have found some idiosyncratic patterns in how elite performers respond to stressful situations. The other part of the research involves trying to assess how to improve or develop the inabilities of some people to handle stress and strain. Interestingly, one of the techniques that the researches have had success with is noticeably low-tech: mindfulness training.
In the article by Stopyra, Diane. (2014, Aug 27) ‘Forget Your Stress While You run,’ she mentions the mechanisms to become stress-free through the process of running. Running can be a stress reliever. All the stress that one faces throughout the day at work or at some social conventions can be stressful for some people. The best way to let the stress go is to run it out. Research has shown that your repetitive four-miler helps keep granule neurons in the brain from firing, making a person better able to deal with anger, anxiety, or grief and the negative emotions collectively called as ‘stress.’ Sex is also an exercise that can be a great stress reliever. But, sex requires more elaborate pre-requisites. Running on the other hand is simple and quick.
Thus running is an essential part of the daily regimen. Professional runners as well as general enthusiasts also can use these mechanisms to deal with various psychological issues in the process of running.
References
- Allen, Jennifer. Van. 5 Mental Barriers, Smashed. The Starting line,
- Cooper, Bob. (2013, Dec 2). Three Ways to Cope with a Bad. Runner's World,
- Douglas, Scott. (2014, Sep 19). Exercise Addiction Isn't Tied. Runner's World,
- Hutchinson, Alex. (2014, Sep 18). Mindfulness for Athletes. Runner's World,
- Stopyra, Diane. (2014, Aug 27). Forget Your Stress While You R. Runner's World,
