Mind Over Muscle

From our daily experience as athletes, we know that physiology and psychology are inseparably linked. Every task requires conscious or unconscious decisions about how much effort to exert and what technique or movement to apply in a given situation. In competition, we become particularly aware of our limits.

Take endurance sports as an example. Mentally, this includes any task lasting more than a few minutes. Many activities fall into this category. Initially, you feel fresh and powerful, but soon something happens. Subtle changes go unnoticed at first, but the effort to maintain performance grows steadily. Eventually, you hit an invisible wall that forces you to slow down drastically and fight an increasing urge to stop. Interestingly, at this point, your core temperature is far from critical, your muscles still have fuel and oxygen, and waste products haven’t built up significantly. Only your brain knows you’re in trouble and time is running out.

In shorter sports or those with more rest intervals, we also experience moments when we can’t perform. Basic, well-practiced movements fail, and we wonder at simple mistakes. This highlights that one of the biggest challenges in sports is psychological.

From a practical perspective, it is useful to consider three boundaries that determine athletic performance.

The first boundary (LIMIT 1) is defined by physical constitution, i.e., the raw material that forms the foundation of your physiology. It determines how the body is built and how efficiently performance and recovery processes operate. Particularly talented athletes have had greater luck in the genetic lottery. This limit is fixed and cannot be exceeded naturally.

Through physical training, we determine how close we can get to this boundary. The goal is to close the gap (PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE GAP) between our current performance level and our maximum potential. In endurance sports, this is reflected in physiological metrics such as aerobic capacity (VO2 max, the engine of the car), movement efficiency (fuel consumption), and lactate threshold (engine power that can be sustained over a longer period). This second boundary (LIMIT 2) is adjustable and can be minimized through physical training.

Particularly intriguing is the mental limit (LIMIT 3). It describes how effectively we can utilize our physiological capabilities and represents the current performance level of an athlete. Physical training expands our physical possibilities, but these can only be fully exploited if the mind – our central control system – is equally capable. Often, there is a gap (MENTAL PERFORMANCE GAP) between physical and mental performance. The body could achieve more but is held back by mental, often unconscious processes. Highly trained athletes are particularly aware of these mental limits. Since mental skills are not trained with the same intensity as the body, this mental gap is often especially pronounced.

Recognizing and experiencing one’s mental boundaries is an important process. It highlights untapped mental potential. The goal of mental training is to close this gap. By doing so, we can optimally utilize both our physical and mental capabilities – whether in executing technically demanding sequences or reaching the proverbial “red zone.” Through mental training, athletes can come closer to their true physical limits. Peak performance is the combination of optimal physical and mental abilities.

Still not convinced about the influence of the mind on physical performance? Let’s explore some fascinating insights that show your body is capable of more, but your mind sets the limits.

• The “Endspurt” Phenomenon: One of the most intriguing observations about how the mind limits performance is pacing strategies, including the so-called “endspurt” (final sprint). You might assume that as you continue performing, you’d get slower due to muscle fatigue and dwindling energy reserves. But as soon as the finish line is in sight, you speed up. This indicates that the body can do more, but the brain conserves energy during the race, releasing the last reserves as the end approaches. Interestingly, there’s a wide range of variation in endspurt capabilities. Some athletes are mentally better equipped to tap into their physical reserves than others.
• Anticipation of Limits by the Brain: These mental limits are regulated by the brain in anticipation, based on past experiences, internal sensations, and predictions about the remaining task. Only a fraction of available resources (e.g., muscle fibers) is utilized during prolonged or intense exertion. The rest is held back as a reserve.
• Unconscious Decisions in the Brain: Studies show that before endurance athletes slow down or stop abruptly, communication increases between parts of the cerebral cortex that monitor internal states and the motor cortex, which sends final commands to the muscles. The unconscious brain detects when the athlete is nearing their limits long before they become consciously aware of it. Using electrodes on an athlete’s head, it’s possible to know when they’re struggling even before they realize it themselves.
• Mental Fatigue: Athletes perceive physical tasks as more strenuous when given a cognitive task before training. Cognitive tasks cause mental fatigue, which reduces performance. The brain then tolerates less discomfort and becomes less flexible in regulating behavior. Additionally, mental fatigue reduces the drive to resist slowing down. Why? Because it decreases activity in brain centers responsible for motivated behavior and heightened reward-seeking drives.
• The “Choking” Phenomenon: Finally, let’s address the interesting phenomenon of “choking.” A well-developed mental working memory is typically an advantage, helping us respond intelligently to new situations. However, with well-practiced, complex skills, it can become a problem. Choking occurs when you overthink automatic processes, often in response to stressful situations.

These insights highlight how the mind both regulates and constrains performance, often without our conscious awareness.

But it works the other way around as well. There are countless examples where the mind enables and enhances peak performance. A well-known phenomenon is the placebo effect, where belief in a certain outcome boosts performance. Many coaches leverage this intentionally, deceiving their athletes to enhance their performance. This approach works, and there is extensive scientific evidence showing that beliefs and expectations significantly improve both objective performance indicators and subjective markers of physiological stress, such as perceived exertion.

Our perception of what we can achieve is shaped in a complex way by a combination of actual experience and expectations of what we should experience at a given time. In critical, sometimes life-threatening situations, emotional urgency can override the brain’s cautious control and release hidden physiological resources.

Interestingly, athletes report that they feel less effort and can push further when their brain is fed false information about their actual performance (e.g., speed, time, body temperature, or heart rate), suggesting they are not yet at their limit. The brain can, to a certain extent, be tricked. Remarkably, this works even when the person knows they are using a placebo.

These effects are by no means mere imagination. Beliefs and expectations leave clear electrochemical fingerprints in the nervous system and have measurable impacts on the cardiovascular, digestive, hormonal, and muscular systems, to name a few. Even visualizing movements or engaging in positive self-talk leads to measurable improvements in physiological parameters.

Success in sport is not just about physical ability; factors such as effort, discomfort, attention, awareness, and emotion play a central role. These elements have a significant impact on performance, influencing how long you can sustain effort and how accurately you can execute a sequence of actions more accurately than any physiological measurement. The brain’s perception of effort, attention, and emotion are powerful determinants of performance.

Recognizing that mental limitations are rooted in the brain doesn’t make them any less real in competition. Perception shapes reality, and while the complexity of the brain means that it’s not always clear how these effects work – consciously or subconsciously – recent science has revealed ways to tailor mental training to individual needs. By systematically training and integrating these factors into practice, athletes can develop powerful skills to overcome and shift performance limits.

To start shifting your mental limits today, think of the brain as a prediction machine that influences the body’s responses. Studies show that understanding expectation effects can be empowering and have long-lasting benefits. Knowledge changes predictions, and because the brain is a highly effective prediction and simulation machine, understanding these processes can affect unconscious mental limits.

By simply reading this article and learning about the role of the brain, you are taking an important first step toward shifting your performance limits. While systematic mental training is essential, understanding the underlying mechanisms is the beginning of transformation. Remember this insight the next time you face the invisible wall of performance, and use it to push a little further. Transformation begins with understanding, and you are already on the right track.