65% of French people practice regular physical activity. It is a habit that now seems to have become common practice: the benefits of sport on the body and mind are acquired by the majority. For some time now, we have been hearing about "going out of our comfort zone", surpassing ourselves, doing better, going ever further, higher, stronger, as if it were never enough ?
What if we understood why this is so important ? Is this only about performance ?
What is surpassing oneself ?
These are as follows use mental forces to overcome one's own physical, cultural or educational limitations. Surpassing oneself is a competition towards oneself, one's own limits, it does not generate a defeated and is not done at the expense of others. It is about exploring your own field of possibilities, going beyond your comfort zone.
These self-dictated limits are imposed mainly by 2 modern explanations: the habit of daily comfort, and the "collective consciousness", such as the fact that some efforts are reserved for a minority (climbing a peak, for example).
According to the theory of Tim Noakes and his team (1), the body has more possibilities than the brain attributes to it. This is the theory of the central governor: the brain acts as a regulator of effort. It determines the proportion of the useful muscle in relation to the effort to be exerted. When he judges that the effort has been achieved, he creates fatigue. According to studies, only 30 to 50% of the muscle is used! We can therefore deduce that the potential of the body is never 100% exploited by the mind and that the margin of manoeuvre is quite substantial.
That's where mental training comes in
The notion of mental training is then rich in meaning, because this training will have a direct impact on bodily performance. We are here in surpassing ourselves! By analysing the problems imposed by the mind during physical training, it is possible to work on parasitic thoughts that can slow down progress such as fear, discouragement, lack of self-confidence...
Sport then becomes a precursor of an in-depth introspection that will lead to overcoming one's own limits and will be a vector for improvement and progress for the individual. It is then a human adventure, which leads to a better knowledge of oneself. By pushing one's limits, one gains an effective mind, and the willingness to understand and reflect on one's internal functioning becomes more and more important.
The athlete then focuses on values that are dear to him: courage, resistance, tolerance, determination, ambition, humility and conveys this state of mind to those around him. Performance is important, but it is transformed into a real path of personal development. This questioning is very often accompanied by a desire to review one's lifestyle and diet, to optimize one's intake of nutrients, vitamins and trace elements.
This journey reveals personalities and helps some people to make crucial decisions about personal areas of their lives. Smart and productive exercise helps you know what you want and get, and gives you discipline.
Not to mention the other benefits
We stimulate the 5 senses, muscles, vital organs, and nerve connections, which promises other benefits than surpassing oneself and self-knowledge.
Regular sport improves concentration and delays memory loss caused by the narrowing of the hippocampus through movement, which stimulates the neural production area.
In 2003, Professor Marcus Richards (2) of University College London studied the link between physical activity and memory in 1919 adults. Their sporting level is assessed at the age of 36, then their verbal memory at 43 and 53. Research results show that the more exercise subjects have done at age 36, the better their memory in the middle of life! This phenomenon can be accentuated by consuming Omega 3, essential fatty acids for memory and quality magnesium.
Numerous studies have also shown that the practice of a sporting activity helps to reduce anxiety and depression. A 2006 study by the Free University of Amsterdam highlights this fact (3). 19,228 subjects are followed from adolescence to adulthood for 11 years. At the end of this observation, it was found that those who exercised at least one hour a week were on average less anxious, less depressed, more outgoing and looking for stronger sensations than non-practitioners.
Finally, we can talk about leadership development. This state of mind is a bonus for friendly or professional relationships (management, patience, pedagogy).
It can be interesting to be well surrounded and advised by a coach or a physical trainer who will have to adapt according to the objectives of the moment and the potential to be developed.
Surpassing oneself is not only about sporting performance. It is also about boosting your mind, improving globally and giving salt to your life !
(1) Noakes TD, St Clair Gibson A, Lambert EV. From catastrophe to complexity: a novel model of integrative central neural regulation of effort and fatigue during exercise in humans: summary and conclusions. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2005;39:120-124.
(2) Richards M1, Hardy R, Wadsworth ME. Does active leisure protect cognition? Evidence from a national birth cohort. Soc Sci Med. 2003 Feb;56(4):785-92.
(3) M.H.M.De Moor, A.L.Beem, J.H.Stubbe, D.I.Boomsma, E.J.C.De Geus. Regular exercise, anxiety, depression and personality: A population-based study. Prev Med. 2006 Apr;4
(4):273-9. Epub 2006 Jan 24.
