Shape_USA-January-February_2017

138 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 SHAPE.COM

Imagine

a renewed

you

you know that athletes use visualization

to give themselves an edge and calm their

nerves before a big competition. (Remember

#PhelpsFace from the Olympics?)

“When you imagine yourself performing a task,

your muscles contract as though you’re actually

doing it. The contractions are so small, you can’t

feel them, but it’s enough to strengthen your

muscle memory,” says Nicole Detling, Ph.D., an

assistant professor of kinesiology and sport

science at the University of Utah and a sports

psychology consultant to Olympic athletes. In

other words, when you mentally rehearse a ten-

nis serve or a swimming stroke, you’re essentially

doing it physically as well. As evidence: People

with wrist casts who visualized moving their

immobilized muscles lost half as much strength

as those who didn’t imagine exercising, research

in the Journal of Neurophysiology found.

Visualization can help hone your technique,

too. Female basketball players who imagined

themselves throwing perfect free throws just

before a game wound up making 70 percent

of their shots, while those who didn’t sank

| Motivation

To achieve success—

getting fi tter, healthier,

more confi dent, or

whatever—you need to

create a picture of it

in your mind, scientists

say. Here, the steps.

By Mirel Ketchiff

54 percent, a New Mexico State University study

found. It can even rev motivation, according to

research in the journal Psychology of Sport and

Exercise. In the study, women who pictured

themselves working out were signifi cantly more

driven to exercise than those who didn’t.

And now experts are discovering that the

perks of visualization go far beyond fi tness. New

research has verifi ed its eff ectiveness for every-

one, showing that the technique is extremely pow-

erful at improving confi dence, reducing stress,

and boosting performance. That’s because your

brain responds to visualization the same way your

muscles do, says Philip Post, Ph.D., the assistant

professor of motor learning and sport psychology

at New Mexico State University. “When you imag-

ine yourself reacting a certain way to a certain

event—like being calm and in control while giving

a speech at a wedding—it strengthens the neuro-

logical pathways you need to actually respond that

way,” he says. Once the big moment arrives, you’ve

“done” it so many times mentally that you’re much

better prepared to keep your cool.

Best of all, it takes just 10 minutes a day of visu-

alization to start seeing the benefi ts, Detling says,

and you could notice changes after just one ses-

sion. We walk you through the important steps.

First you need a goal

Be sure that what you want to achieve is clear and

measurable, then ask yourself exactly what you

need to do to make it happen, Post says. If you

want to run faster, the fi rst step is to gradually

increase your pace. If your goal is to deliver that

great wedding speech, you might start by practic-

ing in front of the mirror to get comfortable recit-

ing it and build your confi dence. Being specifi c

about the actions you’ll take to reach a goal lets

you create a more targeted mental picture, which

in turn activates the corresponding brain path-

ways, leading to faster, stronger results, Post says.

W

y

mentally

rehearse

tally

performing

a move

or a task,

you’re

essentially

y

doing it

physically

doing it

as well.

phy