If you are a pro competitor of any sort, you already know this. But everyone can make use of this spirit, use it to their own advantage in training, getting fit, shaping up and building positive aggression. I said sport of any sort because consider a wide range of sports, from tennis to cricket and everything in the middle!
I mean it’s already well understood in martial arts or such sports where a loud shout or vocalization is often used to focus your energy. But did you know, if you strike your vocal cords with right timing, you can get a few more reps in even after you felt that you were completely drained out.
The performance boost which is experienced is particularly strong for exercise that require very high mental effort, such as maximal power output, grip strength or isometric holds to failure.*
It is my absolute favorite strategy to bypass fatigue in moments of distress (physical) in sport and gym, sometimes even away from gym if I need an absolute breather in a stressful situation where it might be just the practical solution to let out some air, out and loud. Nothing crazy. Right?
Mechanistically, swearing induces arousal (in the biological sense of heart rate, not the sexual sense), it improves pain tolerance and it causes psychological disinhibition, effectively removing our mental barriers.
Basically it psyches you up and takes your brakes off.
People who practice vocal stimulation for a performance boost also develop their own styles and they are well aware of when to use it for maximum benefit.
Before you start shouting in your gym keep a few things in mind, to implement this in practice, it can get tricky in the average gym. You need to respect that and then figure out the best practices.
It is not about being reckless, swearing can also convert into negative self talk if it is conducted without the necessary awareness. That will land the exact opposite results of what you intended. Bringing yourself down and becoming a nuisance to others around you.
I want to share with you a few examples of the unintended negative output that I hear more often than not… It’s completely pointless to say these things out loud but most people do it all the time anyway.
“Shyya, I can’t do it.”
“To hell with it, I am not good enough.”
“This will kill me, it is just too tough.”
“Damn it, starting this was a mistake!”
“I am better off without it!”
Instead, learn to prep yourself into positive self talk that erupts from self motivation.
A powerful exhalation while grunting automatically makes you inhale more air right after, letting your muscles a greater pool of oxygenated blood and improved capacity to recover.
So following a grunt you really don’t have to continue talking to yourself.
But if you do catch yourself in the negative self-talk loop, consider these instead;-
“Shyya, I am better than this!”
“To hell with it, I can do more.”
“This is hard! But I got it!”
“Damn it, I started for a reason, I can finish it.”
If the goal is to empty the tank and leave with complete satisfaction of your time invested in the activity, then this strategy is for you!
