Men’s Fitness UK – October 2019

IN FOCUSSELF-TALK

researchers have found it helps athletes increase their

tolerance of exercise-induced pain, perhaps helping us bu er

out the psychological crises we hit when we push ourselves

hard and get the frustrating, and unhelpful, realisation we

could stop the pain by quitting. One group studying this

area thinks it could help us see stressful situations in a more

helpful way, another suggests it enhances our con dence and

belief in ourselves. All of these may be true, as they would

see our mantras helping to reduce our perception of e ort.

When we’re under pressure in an athletic performance we are

held back from pushing harder by lapses in our motivation

and the e ort we feel we’re putting in. When we remind

ourselves of our motivation, our e orts feel easier and the

same workload suddenly feels less strenuous – we can go

further, higher and stronger.

Self-talk covers lots of elements: reframing those pesky

negative thoughts most of us have when pushing ourselves,

giving us an instruction when technique starts to fall apart,

or having a cue word to use when we lose concentration

mid-training.  e one which we all need, though – whatever

our sport, ability, or personality – is the motivational mantra.

And this is where those three magic words come in. Working

out which three words work for you, and using them in your

sport or  tness challenges, will help you to remain positive,

stay focused and keep on going even when everything seems

to be working against you.

Everything seemed to be against Finn Cristo (now 40)

when, in 2014, he and three friends took on a 3,000-mile

rowing challenge across the Atlantic.  eir journey was beset

by crises: parts of the boat broke, sharks were spotted, and

the friends argued – with two even refusing to continue

rowing. On top of all these pressures, Cristo had a deadline:

his wife’s due date gave them only 59 days to complete the

voyage. A big believer in self-talk, Cristo picked a mantra to

get him through the trip, and he still uses it to this day: 'Stay

strong. Focus.' “I wrote it on the inside of our cabin wall,”

he says, “so I would see it every time I went inside. I found

it really helpful.”  e mantra worked, and Cristo made it

“Working out

which three

words work for

you will help

you to remain

positive, stay

focused and keep

on going”

Ultra prepared: long-distance

runner Ian Sharman uses mantras

to manage the more diffi cult miles

Tough talk: Finn Cristo

credits a simple three-word

mantra with helping him to

cope when times were hard