Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Have you ever noticed the feeling of your body being tense and tight after a hard practice, grueling game, or a long day of classes with homework ahead? What do you do?! Understanding relaxation can help to alleviate the tension and stress felt during situations such as those.

Relaxation is the “temporary deliberate withdrawal from everyday activity that aims to moderate the functions of the sympathetic nervous system which is usually activated under stress” (Hill, 2001, p. #). Whenever an athlete experiences any amount of pain, their pain typically will inhibit their breathing, which then reduces blood flow, which can cause muscle tension and muscle spasms. Relaxation also can act as an internal distraction. When you do PMR, you focus on the task of PMR and not on your pain or injury.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is one the most commonly techniques for relaxation. This technique involves the tensing followed by relaxing of all major muscle groups to allow the athlete to physically feel and become aware of the different sensations between tension and relaxation. It teaches athletes how to relax their muscles through a two-step process. Step 1) Tense particular muscle groups in your body, working from the top down, starting at your head then moving down to your shoulders, through your whole body. Step 2) Relax the muscle and release the tension and notice how your muscles feel when they are being relaxed.  It is important for the individuals to know what the absence of tension feels like, which can be done through relaxation.

PMR is beneficial because it can help to reduce overall tension as well as well as reduce stress levels. It can also help reduce physical problems such as headaches and stomachaches that can result from tension. Often you don’t realize how tense and stressed you are and fail to recognize what being relaxed truly feels like. Through practice with PRM, you learn how to distinguish the feelings of a tense muscle and a completely relaxed muscle. Once it becomes learned, an athlete can begin to “cue” this relaxed state when they first notice the feeling of muscle tension.  By learning and practicing tensing and releasing, not only does the individual get to feel what relaxation is like, but they are also able to recognize the first onset of tension within their muscles.

• Try to set aside roughly 15-20 minutes to complete PRM exercises.
• Find a place where you can be undisturbed to perform the exercises.
• Make sure you are in a comfortable area where there is little noise to distract.
• You don’t necessarily need to be feeling tense or anxious to do these exercises. In   fact, it is better to learn when you are calm and relaxed that way it can be easier to do when feeling anxious.
• Do not try to push your body beyond its limit. If you are experiencing pain or discomfort at any time, back off or stop all together!

Here are some helpful videos that are guided PMR exercises that can be done anywhere at any time.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86HUcX8ZtAk
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqJ2OMwP2n4

 

PRM Script

Begin with finding a comfortable position either lying down or sitting, where there will be no interruptions.

Allow your attention to focus only on your body right now. If you notice your thoughts start to drift away, bring your thoughts back to the muscle you are working on.

Let’s focus on our breathing…take a deep breath through your abdomen, close your mouth and inhale through your nose, counting to 4, holding for a few seconds, and then exhale. Noticing your stomach rising and your lungs filling with air as you inhale, and as you exhale, imagine the tension in your body being released and flowing out of your body. Slowly feeling your body to relax.

As we go through each step, remember to keep breathing. Now lets begin.

Tighten the muscles in your forehead. First, raise your eyebrows, raising them as high as you can, and hold for 5 seconds…1…2…3…4…5, not abruptly release, feeling your muscles in your forehead relax and feeling the tension release.

Pause for 10 seconds.

Now working down, smile as wide as you can, feeling your cheeks and your mouth tense. Hold for 5 seconds…1…2…3…4…5, now release, feeling the tension leaving and feeling the softness in your face.

Pause for 10 seconds.

Now, shrug your shoulders, tensing them up close to your ears, holding for 5 seconds…1…2…3…4…5, now release, feeling the tension in your shoulders melt away and you release.

Pause for 10 seconds.

Now, tightly, without straining, clench your fists and hold for 5 seconds…1…2…3…4…5, now release, opening up your palms, feeling more relaxed than ever.

Pause for 10 seconds.

Now, flex your bicep. Feeling the tension building up in your arms, squeezing and tensing those biceps. Holding for 5 seconds…1…2…3…4…5, now release, feeling the limpness of your arms and feeling the relaxation of your muscles as your release.

Now, tighten the muscles in your stomach by sucking in. Holding for 5 seconds…1…2…3…4…5, and release.

Pause for 10 seconds.

Feeling the limpness in your upper body letting go of all of the stress that has been built up.

Now tighten your buttocks. Hold for 5 seconds…1…2…3…4…5, release, and image your hips falling lose.

Pause for 10 seconds.

Next tighten your thighs by pressing and squeezing your knees together as if you are holding a dollar in between them and you want to flatten that dollar. Hold for 5 seconds…1…2…3…4…5, good and now release, feeling the tension in your thighs releasing.

Pause for 10 seconds.

Now flex your feet, pulling your toes all the way towards your head and feeling the tension in your calves, holding for 5 seconds…1….2….3….4….5, and relax, feeling the weight of your legs sinking down and the tension in your calves release as your relax.

Pause for 10 seconds.

Now imagine a big wave of relaxation spreading through your body, start up at your head and moving all the way down to your feet. Feel the weight of your body relaxed.

And now breathe in…inhaling slowly…and out exhaling slowly…

Feeling your body relax.

And breathe in again…and out….in….out…in…and out.

(script from: Bourne, E. (2010). Progressive Muscle Relaxation Script. Retrieved 2015, from https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Progressive_Muscle_Relaxation.pdf)

For additional information:

     Barrow, M., & Walker, N. (2013). The psychology of sport injury and rehabilitation. New York, New York: Routledge.

    Hill, K.L. (2001) Frameworks for Sport Psychologists. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Caroline Berger, ATC

Bowling Green State University

Managing Performance Anxiety

“Nerves can be brilliant because they get your adrenalin going and it means you care and want to do well. There’s a fine line, though – getting too nervous can ruin a race, and that’s happened to me…”

-Rebecca Adlington, 2012, 2x Olympic, World, and Commonwealth Swimming Champion

Performance Anxiety:

Contrary to what many believe, performance anxiety is not some kind of disease that you either have or you don't. Every athlete faces some form and level of performance anxiety, which is a situation-specific negative (unpleasant) emotional response to one’s view of competitive stressors, and the general involvement in competition.

              Mental Symptoms: Worry, negative expectations, poor attitude, etc.

Physical Symptoms: Muscular tension, butterflies in stomach, increased heart rate, perspiration, dry-mouth, etc.

Not all effects of competition anxiety are negative – in fact, some aspects of anxiety may help us perform at our very best. We want to use anxiety to our advantage.

              Potential Benefits to Anxiety:  Feel pumped up, in the zone, focused, 

              energized, etc.


It’s all about finding the appropriate level of anxiety, which is specific to each athlete. The graph shows that performance is best when there is some, but not too much anxiety.

A strategy for mental activation:

 I recommend using a three-part technique to get yourself pumped up for competition:

1.       Listen to a song that will inspire you and get you feeling motivated and ready.

2.       Intense breathing – hard forceful exhales and strong rapid inhales.

3.       Get moving! Jump around, shake out your limbs, and get your heart pumping.

A strategy to reduce anxiety:

To decrease your anxiety, we will combine a breathing technique with a quick physical relaxation:

1.       Complete breath – Take a deep full breath of air drawing from your belly, while lowering your shoulders. Slowly and peacefully exhale, and then repeat.

2.       Meanwhile, focus on relevant body parts to the upcoming event (e.g., a tennis player may focus on the arms and shoulders before a serve), and squeeze those muscles tightly for 3 or 4 seconds (as you inhale), then let those muscles soothingly release and relax (as you exhale). This takes practice, but can be used immediately in combination with complete breathing to quickly reduce anxiety.

Remember it’s all about finding that perfect level of mental and physical actovation. When you find something that works for you – stick with it! And always feel free to alter or try new things.

Figures and concepts adapted from:

Hanton S., Mellalieu, S., & Williams, J. (2014) Understanding and managing stress in sport. In J. M. Williams & V. Krane (Ed.), Applied sport psychology personal growth to peak performance, (pp. 207-239) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

By Scott Graupensperger

Building Confidence through Thought Stoppage

Have you ever played in a game or performed a skill in your sport where you doubted your ability? Or have you verbally beat yourself up after making a mistake? Well, this simple confidence building exercise may be beneficial in building and maintaining your confidence. But first, what is confidence?

Confidence is the belief that you can perform certain skill successfully (e.g. making a free throw, recovering from an injury, making a decision on the field, or using mental skills). You can develop and strengthen your confidence. By maintaining your confidence, you will strive harder to reach your goals and be able to bounce back from errors and mistakes during a game. A great and simple exercise for athletes is thought stoppage.

Thought stoppage is an exercise for athletes to use on and off the field to build confidence. Think back to the questions above. If you can stop thoughts of doubt or stop dwelling on a mistake, you will build up your confidence. The main focus of thought stoppage is to stop unproductive thoughts and replace them with productive thoughts. Before we dive into how to use thought stoppage in sport, we need to develop a list of the common unproductive thoughts you may have and when you might have these thoughts. We also need to create a list of productive thoughts that could be used instead of the unproductive ones. To do this, follow these steps:

PART 1: Turning the Unproductive into Productive

1. Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper to create two columns.
2. Label one column Unproductive Thoughts and the second column Productive Thoughts
3. Take a few minutes to think about the common unproductive thoughts you may have before, during, and after performance or practice (e.g., I hate this drill, My opponent is better) and write them under the unproductive thought column.
4. For each unproductive thought, write down a productive one that can replace it.

            a,. I hate this drill -> This drill will help me improve _______
            b. My opponent is better -> I have trained for this event/competition.

1. Take each statement and come up with a word that you can associate the phrase with
2.             a. This drill will help me improve -> Improve
3.             b. I have trained and put in effort during practice -> Effort or Strong

It is important to create a productive phrase or word that has meaning to you instead of copying another teammates. In doing so, you will have an understanding of why this word is used to stop unproductive thoughts. The most important thing to remember is acknowledging your unproductive thoughts and transforming them into productive ones. Pick productive phrases or words with which you are comfortable.

Now that you have your transformed thoughts, the next step is to incorporate thought stoppage into sport. One strategy to do this is to use the rubber band method, which is explained below.

PART 2: Thought Stoppage - The Rubber Band
1. Put a rubber band around one of your wrists.
2. Snap rubber band when you have an unproductive thought.
3. Say your productive phrase or word.
4. Repeat steps 1 & 2 every time you say something unproductive to yourself. 

Example
1. I always mess up: Snap!
2. Control
3. Repeat as needed…

You can modify this method by replacing the rubber band with another action or verbal phrase. For example, you can say stop! when you snap the rubber band. A pitcher may throw the ball into her or his glove, a soccer player can toss some grass off to the side, and a basketball player can say stop. The most important aspect of thought stoppage is stopping the unproductive thought and replacing it with something productive.

The awesome thing about thought stoppage is you can use it in your everyday life. Think about when you have to take a test. If you are thinking you will fail, you can use thought stoppage. Snap the rubber band. Say your positive phrase or word (e.g., I studied and know the material, I am smart). By using the rubber band method in your everyday life, it will become routine on and off the field. As you stop these negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones, you will notice your confidence increase. Increased confidence leads to increased effort. Increased effort leads to a better chance of meeting your performance goals. And putting it all together will lead to a happier college experience at BGSU!

Adapted from: Barraclough, J. (2013). Self talk. Believe Perform. Retrieved from http://believeperform.com/performance/self-talk/

Bernadette Compton
Bowling Green State University

Practicing with Your Mind: An Introduction to Imagery

Practicing with Your Mind: An Introduction to Imagery

Have you ever imaged yourself walking through the hallway of the stadium? You can hear the noise of the audience and are ready for victory. Or, have you ever pictured yourself in a competition that you are not fully prepared for? You feel yourself sweating and your heart is beating fast. You are probably familiar with similar scenarios because this is our natural ability – this is imagery.

What is Imagery: Imagery is using the mind to create or recreate a situation that you want to practice. Successful imagery utilizes all senses to establish a new experience or relive a previous experience. You can think of it as creating a virtual reality video game in your mind. In this game, you are the controller. The more specific details you include, the more successful your imagery will be.

Practicing imagery for few minutes a day can help you to develop new skills or correct past mistakes. Research has shown that our muscle memory can be improved through imagery; through imagery you gain additional practice, become more confident, and reinforce doing skills correctly and efficiently.

How to Use Imagery: Begin by selecting a skill that you want to improve and identify the sequence of movements or actions needed to do that skill correctly. Then think of where you typically practice your skills (e.g., in the university arena, on the field). Remember, using imagery is not as simple as closing your eyes and having a day dream. It should be conducted in systematic way to be most effective. The following points will help you use imagery and ultimately help you to achieve peak performance.

1.      The scene of your imagery must be vivid. This means you should focus on using on all five senses during imagery. Mentally note all of the visual details in the performance environment; what it looks like and the sounds of this environment (e.g., the sound of the basketball bouncing on the floor, a softball landing in a mitt, the splash of the water, or the sounds of your coach or teammates). Try to add the smells (e.g., fresh cut grass or chlorine in the pool) or tastes (your favorite gum or Gatorade) associated with your practice environment. This may seem odd, but we are training the mind for familiarity, so every meticulous detail matters. Also focus on the physical feelings you have while completing the skill, such as muscles contracting or stretching, your balance, or the sensations of moving. Also notice the weather or temperature (warmth of the sun or chill of the ice rink). There are countless physical feelings that are associated with skilled performance and the more you can incorporate them into your imagery, the more successful that imagery will be.

2.      Your imagery should be in a first person point of view. See everything through your own eyes, feel your own body, etc. In other words, experience the skill in the same manner as when you perform it physically (e.g., see your arms and legs, but not the back of your body).

3.      Remain in control of your imagery. If you make a mistake or imagine something you don’t want to happen in real life, immediately open your eyes, take a deep breath, and begin again.

4.      Focus on the performance of the skill rather than the outcome. For example, if imagining a serve, feel the ball toss and the movement of your arm as you follow through rather than only thinking about scoring an ace. Imagining the correct technique and smooth execution of a skill is what will help you become more proficient.

5.      Include your emotional and mental states in your imagery. Feel yourself being relaxed, in control, and confident. Notice the excitement or pride in doing your skills correctly.

Now put this all together:

• Spend at least 10 minutes every day practicing imagery.
• Get in the habit of right before doing a skill physically, image doing it correctly (e.g., image a corner kick before taking the kick or imagine a putt before taking your stroke).
• Whenever you make a physical mistake, as soon as possible image doing the skill correctly and confidently. Remind yourself of what you can and will do in the future.
• Remember to include all the details of the environment and movement in your imagery.

Using imagery can be useful in various aspects of peak sport performance. It can help you to conquer a fear that has consumed you. It prepares you for that clutch buzzer beating shot in the dying seconds of a big game. It can help you to recover from a mistake as you immediately image correcting the mistake and imagine how it should have looked and felt. It is a long-term process, but it can become an athlete’s greatest weapon. Like any other area of sport, learn this new skill one step at a time, but there’s no better time than present. Start by picking up a pen and writing down all the sensory details of a sport moment that you would like to improve.

For additional information, see:

 Vealey, R. S., and Forlenza, S. T. (2014) Understanding and using imagery in sport. In J. M. Williams & V. Krane (Ed.), Applied sport psychology personal growth to peak performance, (pp. 240-273) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Yin-Kai Chen and Scott Graupensperger
Bowling Green State University