Meditation for fitness and performance

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This article was published 09/08/2016 (3399 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not too long ago, meditation was considered New-Agey and those who practised it were seen as flaky or weird.  

However, in the past few decades there has been a significant amount of research into the physiological effects and health benefits of regular meditation practise. It is now widely accepted that meditation is good for your health, especially stress reduction. It’s not difficult to see how sitting quietly might help us manage stress. Breathing is slowed and the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in to promote rest and digestion.

Meditation can accomplish much more than that. We can actually use meditation techniques to improve fitness and performance. Most successful athletes will tell you that they practise some form of meditation.

So how can we, as everyday fitness enthusiasts, adapt some of those techniques to make us more fit?

• Use meditation for motivation — Meditation helps us learn to stay focused. One meditation technique that helps with focus is reciting a mantra, which is a word or a series of a few words you repeat to yourself over and over. Choose something that reminds you of why you want to be healthy or what motivates you to be active.

• Visualize your training and the desired outcome — High-level athletes often visualize their performances beforehand. Gymnasts might go through their routines hundreds of times in their heads before they perform it in front of others. Hockey players might imagine various passes, shots, or in the case of goalies, saves. We can do the same by imagining ourselves preparing for training, going through the movements, and finally achieving our goals.

• Learn breathing techniques — Many meditation techniques involve awareness of breathing. This is very effective for calming the nervous system. Breathing techniques can be used during a daily meditation practice, while visualizing our performances, and even during physical training. Controlling breath means controlling how the body responds to stress, whether it is psychological stress or the physical stress of athletic endeavours.

• Practise mindful movement — Mindfulness is a form of meditation that involves focusing on being present in the moment. We can practise mindfulness almost anytime, while doing just about any task. However mindfulness lends itself particularly well to movement. Any physical practice, whether that be a martial art, an endurance sport, or even strength training, can be vastly improved with the simple act of being in the moment.

Tania Tetrault Vrga is owner and head trainer at CrossFit Winnipeg. Send questions to her at www.crossfitwinnipeg.com.