How Super Champions Face Challenges

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Published on Tuesday, 07 August 2018 18:27

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How do you face challenges? It can be tempting to be disheartened and demotivated but viewing roadblocks as stepping stones instead can make us tougher athletes and stronger people.  An article by Pecel, Collins, and MacNamara in Frontiers in Psychology found that Super Champions (“great” athletes) view challenges positively—even before they encounter them.

The authors studied the experiences of athletes across three differing levels of performance; Super Champions, Champions, and Almosts.  After interviewing the participating athletes, the authors compiled the experiences and began to see patterns of behavior that differentiated the Super Champions from the Champions and the Almosts.

One of clear distinguishers was simply how Super Champions faced challenges.  Notably, they often had a preexisting attitude of learning from challenges.  While some Champions had this outlook, Almosts, on the other hand, “seemed almost entirely reactive.”  Simply put, Super Champions are distinguished in that they view challenges as “catalysts for their development rather than roadblocks.”

Lesson Number One:  Before you face a challenge, choose to see it as an opportunity to grow. 

In addition, the Super Champions demonstrated a high level of commitment to their sport.   They were internally driven, very focused on details and improvement, and sometimes, in their retrospective view, a bit too critical of themselves.  In contrast, Champions and Almosts tended to be less committed, viewed challenges more negatively, and did not cope well.  They also were motivated to improve by comparison with others rather than on an internal drive.

Lesson Number Two:  Be whole-heartedly committed.

Lesson Number Three:  Be internally driven to improve yourself.

(Don’t be mainly motivated by outdoing your rivals.)  Work to be your best.

I hope the above study recap was intruiging and motivating.  (For the full study, please click here.)  And if you are an athlete looking for tools as you conquer your next challenge, you can find our comfortable and highly effective padding here.  Our final thoughts for the day?  Embody the Olympic Motto:  Faster, Higher, Stronger.

Summer's Not Over Yet!

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Published on Wednesday, 01 August 2018 22:43

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Just because it’s August doesn’t mean the summer is over! ????????‍ What goals are you going to crush yet this summer? ????????

When it Feels Like Forever--Perceived Time During Exercise

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Published on Friday, 02 March 2018 20:50

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Time keeps ticking on . . .  but are we actually all that accurate when it comes to our “internal clock?”  Whether sitting in class, on an incredibly long plane ride, or on a long run, we always think, “shouldn’t this be over by now?”  Generally, when we’re not particularly enjoying a situation, time seems to move more slowly.  But what about exercise?  (Yes, exercise can be enjoyable!)  However, exercise, and especially more difficult exercise, seems to alter our perception of time.

A.M. Edwards and A. McCormick from the University of St. Mark & St. John in Plymouth, UK and James Cook University, Sport & Exercise Science in Cairns, Australia published what is probably the first research on this topic of exercise-altered time perception.  Participants spent twenty minutes on a rowing machine at three different levels of exertion three separate times.  They stated their perception of time throughout the twenty minutes.  At 15 minutes and again at 20 minutes, their perceived time was more than the actual amount of elapsed time.  (In other words, they thought more time had passed than actually had.)  Additionally, as the level of exertion during exercise increased, perceived time became even longer than actual elapsed time.

The authors discussed how the data could differ if the participants were professional athletes who were accustomed to exercising and could perhaps become accustomed to correcting their perceived time.  The discussion also mentioned how perceived time could pass more quickly due to a higher amount of neural processing occurring at levels of more exertion.  This greater amount of processing than normal could lead to the perception of more time passing.

As time passes (get the pun?!), I’m sure we’ll learn more about why and how our perceived time differs from actual time—and how athletes can work with these factors for optimal performance.  Until, then, we’ll still have runs, conditioning, and those stroking classes that make your legs burn and feel like they last forever.  (Luckily, they don’t!)  So, just “keep calm and carry on!”

Our Contest Winner!

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Published on Friday, 02 March 2018 19:33

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Win Free Peace Pads on Facebook

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Published on Thursday, 08 February 2018 17:30

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Visit our Facebook to enter in the contest and we'll announce a winner on Mon., Feb. 26.

4 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Set New Year’s Resolutions This Year

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Published on Thursday, 28 December 2017 17:30

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We’re all for resolutions and goals here at LK, but sometimes it seems people drop their New Year’s Resolutions as soon as the ball drops.  (That’s a sure way to failure!)  Set some resolutions this year—just be sure you aren’t setting yourself up to fail by doing it for the wrong reasons.

Here’s where resolutions go wrong and how to make them right:

1.  Because everyone else is doing it.

Like mom always says, just because everyone is doing it doesn’t mean you should, too.  If you already have some goals in place, why set a whole bunch of new ones?  Just focus on achieving your current goals well!

2.  Because it’s New Year’s Eve and you haven’t come up with anything yet.

Same advice as above.  Only make new resolutions if they’re meaningful.

3.  Because you want to achieve one very large, very lofty goal.

Lofty goals can be good, but if you want to achieve something grand, you’re better off to break it down into bitesize pieces.  Set some short-term goals underneath the larger goal.  For example, say I want to land a double axel this year.  I might set some smaller goals like, “this much air time in a large single axel” or “land five double axels off-ice.”  Each smaller goal achieved is a mini celebration on the way to the loftier goal!

4.  Because you want something impressive to post to social media.

New Year’s Resolutions and goals aren’t about other people—they’re about you.  If you are driven to reach for bigger and brighter things just because you want everybody’s eyes on you, your motive is mistaken.  There’s nothing wrong with being great at what you do, but at the end of the day, you have to be satisfied—even if your achieved goals are never cheered on by all those around you.  Make sure your goals mean something to you.  Honestly, if your goal is important to you, it will be much easier to work toward achieving it!

New Year’s Resolution’s aren’t bad by any means.  So set some this year—just make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons! J  And don’t only set them—go out there and get them!