JULY 5, 2021

What is Mental Toughness and Why You Need It to Uplevel Your Training

Without mental toughness, you’re not stepping up to your full potential.

By House Fitness

In my mind, mental toughness is a key aspect of training. We can’t just train our bodies and expect results. If we really want to be performing at our peak ability, we need to train our minds.

“Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them — a desire, a dream, a vision.”

— Muhammad Ali

Why Mental Toughness is the Key to Our Success in Training (and in Life)

Similarly to training our bodies, developing our mental toughness is like a muscle. We can train it and strengthen it. And if we neglect to train it, it’s going to weaken or plateau. Without intentionally practicing it, we’re not getting everything that we can get out of ourselves and our training.

Strengthening our mindset improves our discipline, performance, well-being, and openness to learn. Through developing our mental toughness, we can face adversity head-on, persevere through challenges, and cope with the psychological stress that accompanies physical training.

By bringing mental toughness into your training, you are separating yourself from the pack. The physical component to training is only half the battle; your mental game needs to match that.

Key Qualities and Traits of Mental Toughness

Here are a few key aspects that we develop as we strengthen our mindset that impact not only our training, but every single aspect of our lives.

We Can Weigh the Risk vs. the Reward
It’s in our nature as humans to want to stay safe. It’s not easy to be uncomfortable. In developing our mental toughness we are able to push past this by asking ourselves, “Is this worth doing? Or do I want to stay in my comfort zone?” We can recognize when the goal is worth being uncomfortable for, acknowledge our discomfort, and persevere.

We Challenge Ourselves
Once something becomes comfortable, we begin challenging ourselves once again. Never stagnant; always moving forward to reach the next goal.

We Become More Aware of Our Cognitive Biases
Often in life, we find excuses even when there are none. If we want to go out for a run, we might create a barrier for ourselves by saying it’s too hot, it just rained, it’s snowing, etc.

In developing mental toughness, we can recognize that we are creating these barriers for ourselves. We know that we create our own reality and therefore can shift our own perspective.

We Manage Our Stresses
By being in tune with our body and mind, we are able to effectively manage stresses that come up in our day-to-day lives.

We’re Comfortable With the Uncomfortable
By pushing our own boundaries, we steadily become more comfortable with being uncomfortable. The more we are in this state, the more we are expanding our mindset (as long as there is an appropriate balance.) Hyper-arousal, over extended amounts of time can lead to a host of physical, mental, emotional issues.

We Swiftly Adapt
It’s a choice to be resilient. Instead of taking hits with failure, we adapt, grow, and become more resilient.

We Don’t Make Excuses
We know that only we stand in the way of our own success.

We Focus on the Present
By not focusing on the past or the future, we are able to live fully present in the moment. By staying present, we focus on what matters and can train with intention and purpose.

We Stay Committed
We stay committed to our goals. Even when we get knocked off our path, we re-align with ease.

We’re Self-Confident
Confidence is an integral part of our identity. Through believing in ourselves, everything we set out to do becomes easier.

We’re Able to Take Risks
We welcome failure and stay resilient in the face of it. We know that if we’re not close to failure, we’re not close to growth. If failure is not a risk, then growth is not likely to be an outcome.

Honest Self-Talk

We’re able to speak to ourselves honestly. We can recognize when we speak overly negative to ourselves as well as unrealistically positive.

We know how to get real and speak to ourselves in a realistic, productive way.

“Don’t be afraid to fail, be afraid to not try.”

— Michael Jordan

Want to Know More About How to Develop Mental Toughness?

You can work with us one-on-one to build your mental toughness alongside your training, by checking out our online coaching program, AthleteMaker.

Learn More

Also check out…

Featured

6 Tips for Developing Mental Toughness on the Daily

We know why mental toughness is important — but what can we do to maintain or practice mental toughness on a daily basis? How can we incorporate it as a daily practice alongside our training?