Do you know your optimal activation level?
“Everything burns if you give it the right spark”, as Héroes del silencio used to sing.
Many times, after a crazy day when we get home totally “wired”, we'll have noticed that when we head out to train, we don't perform as usual and don't run as well as we normally do. That's probably because our overactivation has stopped us from pacing ourselves properly and, as a result, made us more tired, sometimes even forcing us to quit the session halfway through.
While running can help us manage stress or anxiety, we mustn't forget that, to enjoy healthy running and get peak performance from our training, we need to approach every session with the right activation level. To do that, it's important to:
- First, become aware of our own activation state. Before heading out for a run, we should take a few minutes to check in with ourselves and think about whether our activation state fits the session we're about to do.
- Know our optimal activation state, depending on the training we're going to do. We won't need the same level of activation for an easy run as for a fartlek, an interval session or a race.
- Apply strategies that let us regulate our activation level. Our activation level can show up in different ways: physiological, cognitive and behavioral. The strategy we choose will depend on which of these we want to regulate. For example, on a physiological level we can use relaxation or breathing techniques; on a cognitive level, keywords, thought control or goal setting; and on a behavioral level, visualization or self-control techniques.
Going back to the line we opened this post with, our activation state is the foundation that regulates how we execute and perform, because it has an energizing function, giving us the right spark to set our performance and our well-being on fire.
Eva Parrado – PhD in psychology, specializing in sports.