WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.879 A good telltale sign is to look at the mental 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:04.879 preparation strategies, the psyching up strategies 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:08.300 that your athlete is incorporating. If they tend 00:00:08.300 --> 00:00:11.320 to be somebody who gets nerves and that psyching 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:13.160 up strategy doesn't appear to be helping because 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:15.779 a lot of time in strength sports, psyching up 00:00:15.779 --> 00:00:18.280 is predominantly considered as getting yourself 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:20.679 irate, increasing them arousal levels, getting 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:23.320 angry, screaming. If this individual just doesn't 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:25.559 seem to be benefiting from that, if they seem 00:00:25.559 --> 00:00:27.760 to be uncomfortable, if their performance seems 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:30.320 to drop, then that's when you need to start thinking 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:32.659 about how can I control this because they are 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:34.960 exhibiting symptoms of something that is detrimental 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:37.060 to performance. And that's when you'd incorporate 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:39.939 the techniques identified within strategy one 00:00:39.939 --> 00:00:44.179 to strategy three. Hi Curtis, it's my pleasure 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:46.420 to have you on Evidence Strong Show. If you could 00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:48.460 briefly introduce yourself. My name is Curtis 00:00:48.460 --> 00:00:52.079 Cusimano. I am a PhD student in Sport and Exercise 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:54.899 Science at the University of Essex. I come from 00:00:54.899 --> 00:00:58.159 a broad background of strength sport practitioner 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:02.100 work, working as a strongman coach within the 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:04.739 community, in addition to utilizing my sports 00:01:04.739 --> 00:01:06.939 psychology understanding to apply interventions 00:01:06.939 --> 00:01:10.019 for working athletes. Amazing. So I invited you 00:01:10.019 --> 00:01:12.079 because you published a very interesting paper. 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:14.980 us about psyching up so in strength sports you 00:01:14.980 --> 00:01:17.340 know anything in strength sports is so rare that 00:01:17.340 --> 00:01:19.680 i'm super excited to have you thank you for saying 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:22.599 yes and the first question would be what is psyching 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:24.599 up do you have some kind of definition for us 00:01:24.599 --> 00:01:27.400 yeah so psyching up conventionally over the past 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:31.439 30 years of research has been defined as form 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:34.840 of psychological strategy used immediately prior 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:37.560 or during the execution of skill however that 00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:40.140 didn't seem to because it was specifying as well 00:01:40.140 --> 00:01:42.239 that it was self -directed It didn't seem to 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:44.500 consider different methodologies and interventions 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:46.760 that are quite often seen within the strength 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:49.200 community. This can be demonstrated by anecdotal 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:51.680 or just watching, you know, strongman on TV, 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:54.019 powerlifting meets and observational research 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:57.719 conducted by Wynwood. So very recently, it's 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:00.299 not actually been published as got accepted in 00:02:00.299 --> 00:02:03.200 November. We've altered that definition to being 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:05.819 any mental preparation strategy that aims to 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:08.699 alter the levels of activation. This can be either 00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:11.710 enhancing state arousal. or trying to control 00:02:11.710 --> 00:02:14.969 or decrease state arousal. Nice. All right, so 00:02:14.969 --> 00:02:18.090 let's go into the meat. What are these? Do we 00:02:18.090 --> 00:02:21.689 have any groups or is there some kind of classification? 00:02:22.310 --> 00:02:25.770 Yeah, so again, we used a concept mapping approach, 00:02:26.009 --> 00:02:29.770 which effectively to do this, we approached strength 00:02:29.770 --> 00:02:32.469 athletes and coaches and we got them to first 00:02:32.469 --> 00:02:35.530 say, what sort of techniques do you use to get 00:02:35.530 --> 00:02:37.610 yourself psyched up? This ended up giving us, 00:02:37.610 --> 00:02:41.090 I think it was 901 off the top. Different methods 00:02:41.090 --> 00:02:43.789 to get psyched up. I then had to condense this 00:02:43.789 --> 00:02:46.569 list and get it back out to strength athletes 00:02:46.569 --> 00:02:49.509 and ask them to then group these strategies together 00:02:49.509 --> 00:02:51.729 in addition to giving their perceived ratings. 00:02:52.090 --> 00:02:54.990 From this, we ended up with eight different psyching 00:02:54.990 --> 00:02:58.509 up strategies overall. So the first one is pre 00:02:58.509 --> 00:03:01.189 -performance routines, goals, performance accomplishments. 00:03:01.349 --> 00:03:04.270 So thinking about where you aim to be or where 00:03:04.270 --> 00:03:06.729 you've been in the past. Positive thoughts, feelings 00:03:06.729 --> 00:03:09.409 and images. So thinking about previous... you've 00:03:09.409 --> 00:03:11.949 done really well things like that self -deprecation 00:03:11.949 --> 00:03:14.689 so this is now going towards aiming to increase 00:03:14.689 --> 00:03:17.889 arousal stage physical and physiological techniques 00:03:17.889 --> 00:03:21.129 negative thoughts feelings and images stimulation 00:03:21.129 --> 00:03:25.370 and aggressive acts so these can comprise of 00:03:25.370 --> 00:03:27.310 a variety of different techniques for example 00:03:27.310 --> 00:03:30.009 within the aggressive acts there's head putting 00:03:30.009 --> 00:03:33.030 walls and getting slapped and screamed at conversely 00:03:33.030 --> 00:03:35.349 when we look towards the first three strategies 00:03:35.349 --> 00:03:38.050 identified we've got things like visualizing 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:41.280 you performing the exercise or the lift successfully. 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:44.319 So the initial concept mapping is kind of like 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:46.879 a two stage area of data collection. Initially, 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:49.280 we brought in the various different techniques 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:51.639 that athletes use to get themselves hyped up. 00:03:51.699 --> 00:03:53.939 Following this, there was like a sifting phase 00:03:53.939 --> 00:03:59.020 where I condensed a list of 900 into 64, 65 different 00:03:59.020 --> 00:04:01.919 techniques. Once we then had this list, we sent 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:05.099 it back out to a sample of strongmen, powerlifters, 00:04:05.419 --> 00:04:08.020 Olympic weightlifters for them to then first 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:10.599 of all group the techniques within what they 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:13.099 perceive to be appropriate groups and then they 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:16.199 rated each individual technique because obviously 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:19.040 there will be variations in who groups what where 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.519 from this we then used the sort information we 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:25.480 conducted a multi -dimensional scaling applied 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:29.220 a point to each technique within a map while 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:32.879 conducting cluster analysis to allow for separations 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:36.180 of the groups or of the techniques to create 00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:39.259 individual psyching up strategies or groups obviously 00:04:39.259 --> 00:04:42.279 things like this will never be completely perfect 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:44.959 there will be individuals who utilize a technique 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:48.339 from strategy three to and a technique from strategy 00:04:48.339 --> 00:04:51.300 eight it's always going to be some inconsistencies 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:53.279 in some regard with that sort of methodology 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:57.160 but the stress values were indicating good separation 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:00.899 of groups was really impressive really high for 00:05:00.899 --> 00:05:04.420 a study of this this sort indicating that while 00:05:04.420 --> 00:05:06.970 obviously there will always be some variations 00:05:06.970 --> 00:05:09.689 within athletes and the way they cycle up that 00:05:09.689 --> 00:05:13.949 the strategy or the classification of the groups 00:05:13.949 --> 00:05:18.269 is fairly significant and is separation of the 00:05:18.269 --> 00:05:21.810 separate strategies is fairly conclusive in these 00:05:21.810 --> 00:05:25.370 regards and while you could say that well person 00:05:25.370 --> 00:05:29.089 a may use technique 40 that is in strategy one 00:05:29.089 --> 00:05:32.430 and technique three that's in in in strategy 00:05:32.430 --> 00:05:35.750 eight this could be found within any any sort 00:05:35.750 --> 00:05:38.910 of psychological skill work anyway i .e previously 00:05:38.910 --> 00:05:41.329 they used to just separate into attentional focus 00:05:41.329 --> 00:05:44.750 self -talk imagery and preparatory arousal you 00:05:44.750 --> 00:05:47.370 could utilize self -taught methods in order to 00:05:47.370 --> 00:05:50.269 enhance state arousal you could use imagery techniques 00:05:50.269 --> 00:05:52.709 to do the same or you could use self -talk to 00:05:52.709 --> 00:05:54.870 increase attentional focus So there is always 00:05:54.870 --> 00:05:57.490 some potential there for overlap, but the stress 00:05:57.490 --> 00:06:00.470 value was real high, which indicates reliable 00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:03.370 separation of said strategies. All right. So 00:06:03.370 --> 00:06:06.750 we have a new classification that groups techniques 00:06:06.750 --> 00:06:09.990 into these groups. You said eight? Yes. Eight 00:06:09.990 --> 00:06:12.149 separate strategies. Yeah. Awesome. Now you tested 00:06:12.149 --> 00:06:14.829 these in athletes. Yes. So the control condition, 00:06:14.970 --> 00:06:17.750 we opted for a passive control. This was based 00:06:17.750 --> 00:06:20.629 off systematic review we did where participants 00:06:20.629 --> 00:06:24.009 who were incorporated within a passive. condition 00:06:24.009 --> 00:06:27.790 and there was less positive effects of said intervention 00:06:27.790 --> 00:06:30.709 they were comparing to which leads to a possibility 00:06:30.709 --> 00:06:33.410 especially again when you're measuring psychological 00:06:33.410 --> 00:06:36.410 interventions and strategies if you were to engage 00:06:36.410 --> 00:06:39.750 in an active control in order to control for 00:06:39.750 --> 00:06:42.550 the use of psyching up strategies this could 00:06:42.550 --> 00:06:45.310 end up having a detrimental effect on the performance 00:06:45.310 --> 00:06:47.550 within a control condition in addition to that 00:06:47.550 --> 00:06:48.949 especially if you're getting them to do a strength 00:06:48.949 --> 00:06:51.170 task there's potential health and safety risks 00:06:51.170 --> 00:06:53.060 that you need to be considering as well should 00:06:53.060 --> 00:06:55.560 you be engaging in a distraction technique or 00:06:55.560 --> 00:06:57.819 a distraction technique of the sorts. So we opted 00:06:57.819 --> 00:06:59.959 for a passive control condition, which was fairly 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:02.740 simplistic. We asked the participant not to engage 00:07:02.740 --> 00:07:05.139 in the psyching up strategy they typically use 00:07:05.139 --> 00:07:07.980 and to, while they're still trying to generate 00:07:07.980 --> 00:07:10.939 as much force into the deadlift as possible, 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:13.959 we want them to treat it as a blasé approach, 00:07:14.139 --> 00:07:15.779 like they're picking up their gym bag or something 00:07:15.779 --> 00:07:17.680 like that. In addition to that, we had to have 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:19.899 silence in the room, so we had to keep turning 00:07:19.899 --> 00:07:22.399 music on and off in gyms around them. the country 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:24.639 in addition to instructing everyone else who 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:27.100 may be around that keep storm this needs to be 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:29.899 perfectly controlled conversely the other condition 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:32.300 your psyching up strategy if you need anything 00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:34.560 from us let us know we'll do it if you need anything 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:37.160 from from peers other people around the facility 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:39.680 take it you have preference over music should 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.240 you want that so that got quite fun as well getting 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:44.579 to see various different psyching up strategies 00:07:44.579 --> 00:07:47.139 getting involved in it giving a few people a 00:07:47.139 --> 00:07:49.620 back slap here and there it was um yeah it was 00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:52.199 weird to call it science in some regards but 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:54.839 we found that there was a big difference within 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:57.839 the effects of psyching up on performance but 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:01.100 there was no indication of a superior strategy 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:04.300 i think one of the key elements of this is as 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:07.199 we did see that there was a trend in the more 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.790 experienced the athlete was the greater the enhancement 00:08:10.790 --> 00:08:14.129 in performance. I think it ranged from, I'm going 00:08:14.129 --> 00:08:15.930 off the top of my head here, so I might be wrong, 00:08:16.029 --> 00:08:19.550 but I think it was an average of 14 % increase 00:08:19.550 --> 00:08:25.250 in regional level athletes and then 22 % in national 00:08:25.250 --> 00:08:29.870 and 24 % in international athletes. I might be 00:08:29.870 --> 00:08:32.210 butchering the numbers slightly there as it is 00:08:32.210 --> 00:08:34.370 off the top of my head, but there was a trend, 00:08:34.529 --> 00:08:37.149 especially a big difference between the regional 00:08:37.149 --> 00:08:39.649 and the national and the international. having 00:08:39.649 --> 00:08:41.990 that experience and practice with your skill 00:08:41.990 --> 00:08:44.110 and building that that trust within it but i 00:08:44.110 --> 00:08:46.330 also do think that especially if you're dealing 00:08:46.330 --> 00:08:48.909 with experienced athletes they've got that experience 00:08:48.909 --> 00:08:50.830 of effectively trial and error they might have 00:08:50.830 --> 00:08:52.629 tried they're getting angry in the salts figured 00:08:52.629 --> 00:08:54.610 out it didn't work for them and gone for something 00:08:54.610 --> 00:08:57.909 to decrease that activation so interesting that's 00:08:57.909 --> 00:09:00.389 fascinating that the more experienced athletes 00:09:00.389 --> 00:09:03.730 were way better yeah yeah so there was as you 00:09:03.730 --> 00:09:06.789 can imagine disparities between the the sample 00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:10.269 sizes but not enough for it to make any meaningful 00:09:10.269 --> 00:09:12.690 difference when it comes to statistical significance 00:09:12.690 --> 00:09:15.889 so again off the top of my head roughly it was 00:09:15.889 --> 00:09:19.590 split with around 100 regional athletes and then 00:09:19.590 --> 00:09:22.090 a fairly even split between the national and 00:09:22.090 --> 00:09:25.110 international athletes with circa about 50 per 00:09:25.110 --> 00:09:27.750 group there it wasn't quite that clean cut nice 00:09:27.750 --> 00:09:29.909 numbers but within that sort of ballpark sounds 00:09:29.909 --> 00:09:32.889 good would you be able to say what would work 00:09:32.889 --> 00:09:36.429 for what type of athlete yes so within the the 00:09:36.429 --> 00:09:40.259 discriminant analysis we indicated what personality 00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:43.320 traits were greatest associated with strategy 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:46.200 selection. So there was no effect on performance, 00:09:46.299 --> 00:09:49.379 but especially when you were looking at the results, 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:53.580 it was clear that there was a trend in what strategies 00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:57.559 are preferred by people of certain types of traits. 00:09:57.779 --> 00:10:00.320 So when it comes to the individual strategy, 00:10:00.620 --> 00:10:04.159 there is no indication as to you have to select 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:07.159 this specific one. I think allowing an athlete... 00:10:07.179 --> 00:10:09.320 to have some sort of autonomy of what seems to 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:11.820 be most comfortable for them. and allow their 00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:14.519 preference may be what indicates this to some 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:17.559 degree. But individuals who have greater sensitivity 00:10:17.559 --> 00:10:22.600 to reward and lower sensitivity to anxiety and 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:26.059 higher trait aggression will favor strategy four, 00:10:26.299 --> 00:10:29.100 five, six, seven, and eight. Those that appear 00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:33.000 to be aiming to increase state arousal in some 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:35.019 degree. So obviously it's just differences of 00:10:35.019 --> 00:10:37.799 how you get there. So for self -deprecation, 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:39.779 you're getting there in a way where you're saying 00:10:39.779 --> 00:10:42.509 some pretty... intense things about yourself 00:10:42.509 --> 00:10:45.110 and to yourself whereas aggressive acts is more 00:10:45.110 --> 00:10:48.470 over engaging in more physical activities that 00:10:48.470 --> 00:10:51.149 may again raise arousal getting slapped things 00:10:51.149 --> 00:10:54.330 like stimulation as well utilizing pre -workouts 00:10:54.330 --> 00:10:56.850 inhaling ammonia things like that whereas if 00:10:56.850 --> 00:10:59.090 somebody has greater sensitivity to their anxiety 00:10:59.090 --> 00:11:02.429 systems lower trait aggression and lower reward 00:11:02.429 --> 00:11:05.429 sensitivity they'll favor the first three strategies 00:11:05.429 --> 00:11:08.009 so pre -performance routines positive thoughts 00:11:08.009 --> 00:11:10.490 feelings and images goals performance accomplishments 00:11:10.490 --> 00:11:14.490 so again we can't specify any deeper than that 00:11:14.490 --> 00:11:17.610 in regard to if you're x y and z you should be 00:11:17.610 --> 00:11:19.990 in this strategy only but i don't necessarily 00:11:19.990 --> 00:11:22.789 think that would be an appropriate response anyway 00:11:22.789 --> 00:11:24.990 people will always have their own preferences 00:11:24.990 --> 00:11:27.110 and allowing that autonomy of saying okay you 00:11:27.110 --> 00:11:29.029 should pick it from one of these three strategies 00:11:29.029 --> 00:11:31.610 or you should pick from one of these five strategies 00:11:31.610 --> 00:11:34.529 just allows them to relate to what whether it's 00:11:34.529 --> 00:11:36.350 their own personal experiences what they feel 00:11:36.350 --> 00:11:38.750 comfortable doing and like i said before there 00:11:38.750 --> 00:11:41.470 is always going to be some potential crossover 00:11:41.470 --> 00:11:44.230 within there so it might be that they take inspiration 00:11:44.230 --> 00:11:47.049 from techniques within a couple of the strategies 00:11:47.049 --> 00:11:49.549 rather than just always sewing in on one individual 00:11:49.549 --> 00:11:51.970 could you explain routine in particular yeah 00:11:51.970 --> 00:11:54.450 so pre -performance routines itself so this is 00:11:54.450 --> 00:11:57.029 you are quite right the the verbiage the terminology 00:11:57.029 --> 00:11:59.870 can kind of indicate well in some regard every 00:11:59.870 --> 00:12:01.789 psyching up strategy is some form of routine 00:12:01.789 --> 00:12:04.970 right but it's more based off the methodologies 00:12:04.970 --> 00:12:08.110 used within this specific strategy matches those 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:11.679 that are used within current literature regarding 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:14.340 what is meant by a pre -performance routine within 00:12:14.340 --> 00:12:17.480 sports psych literature so this can be you know 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:19.679 to read off a few of the techniques as giving 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.419 yourself a countdown in your head prior to execution 00:12:22.419 --> 00:12:24.919 so before you pull a deadlift you go three two 00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:27.879 one go engaging in slow deep breaths clearing 00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:30.840 your mind visualizing performing the lift successfully 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:33.379 wearing the same clothing or footwear that you 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:36.600 tend to use in previous successful attempts these 00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:40.379 actions or behaviors or thought processes are 00:12:40.379 --> 00:12:42.820 seen and it's really cool as well in a sense 00:12:42.820 --> 00:12:44.840 of seeing that these are the strategies used 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:46.700 by strength athletes that they've just picked 00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:48.980 up through maybe they've been advised to do it 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:50.759 maybe they've just figured it out on their own 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:52.559 but these are things that have been found in 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:55.379 in various other sports as techniques to especially 00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:58.759 control for things like anxiety the idea effectively 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:02.299 is to try and increase flow state by decreasing 00:13:02.299 --> 00:13:05.799 activity within the frontal regions of the brain 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:09.100 and rely more on trying to elicit a flow response 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:11.580 in some regard which has been shown as really 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:14.279 effective in controlling for symptoms of anxiety 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:17.379 for example things like the countdown the breathing 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:20.159 techniques and visualization is heavily incorporated 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:23.519 in golfers for example as an intervention when 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:25.019 they're struggling with anxiety when they're 00:13:25.019 --> 00:13:26.980 going for a putt or something so pre -performance 00:13:26.980 --> 00:13:29.480 routines while the verbiage does kind of indicate 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:31.299 especially with a psyching up strategy all of 00:13:31.299 --> 00:13:34.200 them are a routine in some regard this was more 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:36.110 just because it reflected previous literature 00:13:36.110 --> 00:13:38.990 of the same man all right could we stop for a 00:13:38.990 --> 00:13:42.389 moment also to to discuss what is the idea situation 00:13:42.389 --> 00:13:46.529 so is there a state the athlete has to be in 00:13:46.529 --> 00:13:49.230 to perform at their best because obviously they 00:13:49.230 --> 00:13:51.990 could get there better if they were allowed to 00:13:51.990 --> 00:13:54.370 use they prefer techniques to get themselves 00:13:54.370 --> 00:13:57.909 so there is i presume some kind of state that 00:13:57.909 --> 00:14:00.789 will promote better performance so what it is 00:14:00.789 --> 00:14:03.549 yeah so this is this is a really complex issue 00:14:03.549 --> 00:14:06.690 that that sports side has been trying to address 00:14:06.690 --> 00:14:10.090 literally since 1908 in some regard and it is 00:14:10.090 --> 00:14:12.970 entirely individual so and this is one of the 00:14:12.970 --> 00:14:15.590 reasons that I included specifically anxiety 00:14:15.590 --> 00:14:19.389 sensitivity within conditions for most recent 00:14:19.389 --> 00:14:22.990 trials because 1908 Yerkes -Dodson published 00:14:22.990 --> 00:14:26.590 about the relationship between arousal and performance 00:14:26.590 --> 00:14:29.629 indicating that there's an optimal point within 00:14:29.629 --> 00:14:31.929 the middle of the inverted u -shaped relationship 00:14:31.929 --> 00:14:34.440 and there's been various different theories is 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:38.299 specifically looking into the impact and the 00:14:38.299 --> 00:14:41.500 relationship between performance, anxiety, and 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:43.919 arousal. And typically, once you exceed this 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:46.340 threshold, you end up with decreased performance 00:14:46.340 --> 00:14:49.460 and end up in a state of state anxiety rather 00:14:49.460 --> 00:14:52.080 than optimal performance, feeling excited, feeling 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:54.759 high, feeling psyched. Conversely, if you fail 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:57.620 to meet that threshold, it will be a bit of a 00:14:57.620 --> 00:15:00.360 boredom, lack of interest, not full engagement. 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:03.399 There's been various adaptions of this theory. 00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:06.600 or different theories to look into this relationship 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:10.460 since there's catastrophe theory, reversal theory, 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:14.200 but I tend to buy most into the individual zones 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:16.600 of optimal performance, which basically indicates 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:19.879 the same inverted U shape, but that optimal threshold 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:21.899 is at different points for different people. 00:15:22.019 --> 00:15:25.080 So myself, for example, may perform at a much 00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:27.860 greater level when that arousal level is extremely 00:15:27.860 --> 00:15:30.860 high. I may have, in this scenario, low sensitivity 00:15:30.860 --> 00:15:34.539 to anxiety. really strive upon that physiological 00:15:34.539 --> 00:15:38.120 response of increased state arousal. Conversely, 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:40.840 you may be of greater anxiety sensitivity and 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:43.279 your threshold might be on the other end of the 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:45.299 spectrum where you need to be in a lower state 00:15:45.299 --> 00:15:47.960 of arousal because if you exceed that point, 00:15:48.059 --> 00:15:50.519 you'll end up with formants anxiety, which debilitates 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:53.600 formants. So with that in mind, and this is why 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:57.299 we changed the psyching up definition to alters 00:15:57.299 --> 00:16:00.960 activation levels and enhancing mental, utilizing 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:03.629 mental preparation. skills to alter activation 00:16:03.629 --> 00:16:06.509 levels because while the first three strategies 00:16:06.509 --> 00:16:09.690 appear to be either trying to decrease or control 00:16:09.690 --> 00:16:12.789 that state arousal the other five appear to be 00:16:12.789 --> 00:16:15.710 trying to elicit and enhance that state arousal 00:16:15.710 --> 00:16:18.669 in what appears to be ever -growing methodologies 00:16:18.669 --> 00:16:22.629 so or difference so some are very internal such 00:16:22.629 --> 00:16:25.529 as saying nasty things about yourself in your 00:16:25.529 --> 00:16:28.090 head verse going around grunting screaming and 00:16:28.090 --> 00:16:30.809 head -butting walls so there isn't an optimal 00:16:31.149 --> 00:16:33.929 state per se but each individual has their own 00:16:33.929 --> 00:16:36.409 optimal state if that makes sense is there anything 00:16:36.409 --> 00:16:39.970 coaches can do to help the athlete yeah so first 00:16:39.970 --> 00:16:42.509 of all it's it's kind of knowing who your person 00:16:42.509 --> 00:16:46.049 is at this point in time at least prior to publication 00:16:46.049 --> 00:16:49.070 it is just trying to understand your athlete 00:16:49.070 --> 00:16:52.850 in some regards of okay they appear to exhibit 00:16:52.850 --> 00:16:56.649 symptoms of getting nerves or or anxiety it may 00:16:56.649 --> 00:16:59.850 be that we are intending on controlling and decreasing 00:16:59.850 --> 00:17:03.340 them Conversely, if you know somebody can elicit 00:17:03.340 --> 00:17:06.019 a more beneficial response from increasing them, 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:07.960 them arousals that don't seem to exhibit these 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:10.420 anxiety responses, they seem to do better when 00:17:10.420 --> 00:17:12.599 people are shouting at them around them. That's 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:14.839 when you can tend to favor the latter strategies. 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.799 Once this manuscript I've currently got in draft 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:20.740 gets published, I have made a lot of grand promises 00:17:20.740 --> 00:17:23.700 to those in the strength sport communities that 00:17:23.700 --> 00:17:27.500 the specific function that we now have, so we've 00:17:27.500 --> 00:17:30.500 got a formula that will... indicate based off 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:33.400 the same questionnaires we utilized within that 00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:36.200 study that this will be an accessible formula 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:39.079 in a sense of it'll be online and it will be 00:17:39.079 --> 00:17:41.079 published in a way that you effectively just 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:42.960 fill out the questionnaires and then it will 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:45.900 tell you, you should pick from one of these three 00:17:45.900 --> 00:17:48.319 strategies. Here are the techniques used. Do 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.500 you think that the scale you're working on will 00:17:51.500 --> 00:17:55.200 be applicable for Olympic weightlifters too? 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:57.059 Because you mentioned that at the beginning you 00:17:57.059 --> 00:17:58.940 used Olympic weightlifters for the... mapping 00:17:58.940 --> 00:18:01.700 study, but then later you used mainly strongman 00:18:01.700 --> 00:18:04.900 and powerlifting athletes. Do you think that 00:18:04.900 --> 00:18:08.460 we can put all these sports together? Because 00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:11.559 powerlifting and weightlifting are similar in 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:13.839 the sense that you go up to your lift, you take 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:16.980 one lift, you go off, then you do it again, again, 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:20.400 again, again. So would it be the same or close 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:23.940 or how do you see that? So the strategies themselves 00:18:23.940 --> 00:18:26.900 were also identified within the concept mapping 00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:29.869 of Olympic weight. lifters so i do believe in 00:18:29.869 --> 00:18:32.549 some regard it may be able to be carried over 00:18:32.549 --> 00:18:36.210 obviously the main differences between the sports 00:18:36.210 --> 00:18:39.049 of strongman power lift power lifting and olympic 00:18:39.049 --> 00:18:41.529 weight lifting specific when it comes to one 00:18:41.529 --> 00:18:44.869 rep max attempts is the actual type of strength 00:18:44.869 --> 00:18:47.369 exhibition so with olympic weight lifting it's 00:18:47.369 --> 00:18:50.509 power based strength speed movements whereas 00:18:50.509 --> 00:18:53.609 within power lifting it is absolute strength 00:18:53.609 --> 00:18:55.750 and then in strongman obviously there's greater 00:18:55.750 --> 00:18:58.970 variation the The main reason I didn't include 00:18:58.970 --> 00:19:01.549 Olympic weightlifters within this study is that 00:19:01.549 --> 00:19:05.470 it wouldn't allow for the utilization of a consistent 00:19:05.470 --> 00:19:08.309 dependent variable in a sense of with powerlifters, 00:19:08.329 --> 00:19:10.490 strongmen, maximal deadlifts is something they're 00:19:10.490 --> 00:19:13.230 both exposed to on a regular basis. If you could 00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:16.549 bring it all together and have some kind of advice 00:19:16.549 --> 00:19:19.869 for coaches. So you know quite a lot on the basis 00:19:19.869 --> 00:19:21.950 of the studies that you already know results 00:19:21.950 --> 00:19:25.789 of. So how coaches should apply what you just 00:19:25.789 --> 00:19:28.740 discovered. or brought together in the coaching 00:19:28.740 --> 00:19:31.759 practice? Yeah, so in order to really make the 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:35.720 most of what we've got so far is that the questionnaires 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:38.359 that we used within the trials were the Bus -Perry 00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:42.819 Aggression Questionnaire, BPAQ, and the BIS -BAS 00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:46.359 scale, which is Behavioral Inhibition Sensitivity 00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:49.680 and Behavioral Activation Sensitivity from Carver 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.259 and White. Both these questionnaires are available 00:19:52.259 --> 00:19:55.880 for free in various different websites. psych 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:59.000 tools is one of them from these results especially 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:01.119 if you're thinking about how to prescribe or 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:04.119 what type of strategy to prescribe for your athlete 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:07.319 should the individual display greater sensitivities 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:10.059 to their reward system which is the bass in the 00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:13.299 bass scale or if they display and if they display 00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:16.559 lower scores for the bis which is the anxiety 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:20.740 sensitivity and higher scores for the trait aggression 00:20:20.740 --> 00:20:23.940 and these are overall scores especially for the 00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:26.880 bass which it does have subcategories, same for 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:30.059 the BPAT, then I would opt for strategy four, 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:33.920 five, six, seven, or eight. So the last five 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:36.980 strategies on the list within the concept mapping 00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:40.680 study, if they exhibit especially higher scores 00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:45.160 of anxiety, so higher BIS score or lower sensitivity 00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:48.440 to the reward and lower scores for the trait 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:50.900 aggression, then so, sorry, higher scores on 00:20:50.900 --> 00:20:53.319 the BIS indicating greater anxiety sensitivity. 00:20:54.089 --> 00:20:56.549 then I'd opt for one of the first three strategies. 00:20:56.650 --> 00:20:59.809 A good telltale sign is to look at the mental 00:20:59.809 --> 00:21:01.789 preparation strategies, the psyching up strategies 00:21:01.789 --> 00:21:05.170 that your athlete is incorporating. If they tend 00:21:05.170 --> 00:21:08.190 to be somebody who gets nerves and that psyching 00:21:08.190 --> 00:21:10.029 up strategy doesn't appear to be helping because 00:21:10.029 --> 00:21:12.670 a lot of time in strength sports, psyching up 00:21:12.670 --> 00:21:15.150 is predominantly considered as getting yourself 00:21:15.150 --> 00:21:17.549 irate, increasing them arousal levels, getting 00:21:17.549 --> 00:21:20.190 angry, screaming. If this individual just doesn't 00:21:20.190 --> 00:21:22.450 seem to be benefiting from that, if they seem 00:21:22.450 --> 00:21:24.630 to be uncomfortable, If their performance seems 00:21:24.630 --> 00:21:27.190 to drop, then that's when you need to start thinking 00:21:27.190 --> 00:21:29.549 about how can I control this because they are 00:21:29.549 --> 00:21:31.849 exhibiting symptoms of something that is detrimental 00:21:31.849 --> 00:21:33.930 to performance. And that's when you'd incorporate 00:21:33.930 --> 00:21:36.829 the techniques identified within strategy one 00:21:36.829 --> 00:21:40.049 to strategy three. I personally, in that regard, 00:21:40.170 --> 00:21:42.529 based on my own preference and experiences, think 00:21:42.529 --> 00:21:44.710 that opting for the pre -performance routines 00:21:44.710 --> 00:21:47.529 approach would probably still be favorable just 00:21:47.529 --> 00:21:50.769 because it supported findings within other literature 00:21:50.769 --> 00:21:54.579 as well. To be able to switch off that perception 00:21:54.579 --> 00:21:57.720 of this is a state of potential anxiety. Using 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:00.339 different methodologies to increase that flow. 00:22:00.599 --> 00:22:02.880 But you know if somebody feels more comfortable. 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:05.960 Or enjoys the idea of thinking about positive 00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:08.539 previous experiences. Whether it be within the 00:22:08.539 --> 00:22:10.980 sporting context or outside of it. Allowing autonomy 00:22:10.980 --> 00:22:13.700 as well for them to select. Okay you need to 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:16.119 decrease your anxiety levels. Here are three 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:18.259 different strategies. You know providing athletes 00:22:18.259 --> 00:22:20.599 with autonomy has been shown to be extremely 00:22:20.599 --> 00:22:23.380 beneficial. just in a performance context, but 00:22:23.380 --> 00:22:25.480 in a client coach relationship as well. Awesome. 00:22:25.539 --> 00:22:28.299 Sounds good. Okay. Two short questions to finish. 00:22:28.339 --> 00:22:30.099 The first one is, what is your favorite lift? 00:22:30.180 --> 00:22:33.019 What's my favorite lift? Oh, I mean, the deadlift 00:22:33.019 --> 00:22:34.720 is the mother of all lifts, but I feel that's 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:37.039 a bit, that's a bit cliche. I did used to really 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:39.940 love Farms Walk. but a colleague of mine recently 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:42.359 beat me on that event in a comp and that's that's 00:22:42.359 --> 00:22:44.140 increased the negative effect towards that one 00:22:44.140 --> 00:22:45.660 is that was when I should have beaten him out 00:22:45.660 --> 00:22:48.339 in that comp but I quite like a super yoke as 00:22:48.339 --> 00:22:50.519 well quite good with a yoke awesome and where 00:22:50.519 --> 00:22:52.720 people can find you if they want to follow your 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:55.259 work or see what you're publishing what you're 00:22:55.259 --> 00:22:57.779 up to or even ask a question where should they 00:22:57.779 --> 00:23:00.880 go so there's a few options really if you're 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:04.059 if you're not overly into reading publications 00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:07.359 and you want easy or more accessible explanations 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:11.079 of my findings i like to discuss a lot of my 00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:15.059 work on my instagram page or in addition to generic 00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:18.480 psychological research that can enhance performance 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:21.599 specific to strength athletes so that is my instagram 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:24.380 handle is the strongman psychologist conversely 00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:26.420 if you're more interested in reading publications 00:23:26.420 --> 00:23:29.720 and actual papers i can be found on researchgate 00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:32.680 Curtis Cusimano and google scholar same name 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:35.480 awesome thank you so much thank you very much 00:23:35.480 --> 00:23:37.710 for your time thank you very much thank you Thank 00:23:37.710 --> 00:23:37.769 you.