BRAIN TRAINING
SIMPLE TRICKS TO BOOST YOUR MOTIVATION
All cyclists are armed with psychological tricks and techniques to help them overcome the unique mental challenges of cycling - from how to manage pain on a brutal 17 per cent climb to how to psyche yourself up for a 50-miler on a rainy weekend. But ever since Covid-19 arrived, riders have faced a new set of psychological obstacles. Unable to travel far, we’re forced to repeat the same old local roads. Intermittently blocked from meeting up in large groups, we’re denied the motivational buzz of cycling clubs and forced to do more solo rides. With our health and finances under threat, we’re facing additional stress, which makes it harder to focus on training. And with the painfully slow return of sportives, and foreign travel di!cult, the big goals and events that normally keep us focused have disappeared into oblivion.
One psychological factor that hasn’t changed, however, is that cyclists love a challenge. And this current predicament undoubtedly represents a daunting new hill to climb. But it’s clear that cyclists need new mental strategies to help navigate this strange new landscape.
“One of the issues we have in sport generally is that a large number of people are externally motivated,” explains Dr Karen Howells, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Cardi" Metropolitan University. “These extrinsic
motivations might, at one extreme, be all about the winning - a medal, say, or beating somebody or aiming high in the rankings. We’ve also got this idea: ‘If I don’t go cycling, I’m going to feel guilty.’ Because cycling is something that I do - it’s part of who I am. And under normal circumstances, all of those things kind of work. But the problem is, when things go wrong, can we still maintain that motivation? And a lot of people are finding that the answer is no.”
During the 2020 spring lockdown, cycling remained a sunbeam of positivity, with the UK witnessing a 200 per cent increase in weekend riding. But many riders, bored of repeating the same roads, and put o by the winter weather, are now in need of new inspiration. “There are no competitions, there are new lockdowns and people are thinking: ‘Well, where am I going and what can I do?’” says Dr Howells. “I’ve done a route three or four times, I want to do see di erent scenery or ride with di erent people.”
Even professional riders have been forced to find clever ways to pump up their motivation. “I’ve been plotting my routes as far away as possible so I can explore, find new roads and treat it as an adventure,” explains 20-year-old Team Sunweb women’s rider and contributor to our Winter Warrior feature, Pfei er Georgi. “I used lockdown as an opportunity to do new things. I was able to train with my dad and my brother so I was not alone. In training I make a good playlist for hard e orts - things which hype me up, like Stormzy and Eminem. Also, a little trick I do is to turn my clock o so I can't see how long I’ve been riding, rather than looking at every minute and thinking: ‘When will it be over?’”
Internal a airs
These strategies have helped pro cyclists to stay focused during a challenging year. But pro riders have also enjoyed the motivational boost that comes from seeing the return of big races to their diaries. For the rest of us, that’s not been the case. So what we need, says Dr Howells, is a deeper change in motivation.
“To the question, ‘How do we maintain that motivation?’ my answer is: we don’t. We need to find an alternative motivation. Most athletes with a goal in mind are extrinsically motivated and we need to take them to the other end of that continuum, to intrinsic motivation: we do something because we love it and enjoy it. Often we get pulled into competition. That can be formal or informal, entering cycling races, or just competing within a group. So one of the things we probably need to be thinking about with this pandemic is being more intrinsically motivated. And that’s about bringing the enjoyment back.”
To switch to a more intrinsic form of motivation, you need to focus on three areas, says Dr Howells. “The first is ‘competence’, which is about being good at something and getting better at it. When we’re good at things we’re more likely to enjoy it. The second is ‘relatedness’: being part of something and being valued. Cyclists are quite high on this because they tend to ride in groups, which is about being valued and a feeling of belonging. The third is ‘autonomy’, which is about having a degree of control and taking responsibility for what you do.”
The pandemic may have a ected our competence, if we haven’t been able
“Just getting out of bed is 10 times easier if I already know what I’m having for breakfast and my bag is packed” Elinor Barker
to train as e ectively. It’s a ected our relatedness, as we’ve not been on as many group rides. And it’s also a ected our autonomy: “One of the things I’ve heard a lot in sports psychology (this year) is: ‘I feel trapped’ or ‘I have no control over my life’,” explains Dr Howells. Losing all three represents a dislocating experience.
To restore your sense of competence, Dr Howells suggests you start focusing on process goals: targeted technical improvements, such as working on climbs, which will inject focus into your rides, even if you’re riding solo or on the same old roads as normal. “You get enjoyment by trying to improve (your competence),” explains Dr Howells. “Process goals are about technique, pacing, cadence and position on the bike. Identify two things you’re not so good at and two things you are good at, and work on those four things. It could be working on your climbing through specific gear work or standing climbs, or going downhill and trying to stay o the brakes or cornering better. That improves competence but also autonomy: I’ve made a decision about what I want to get out of this ride. My distance doesn’t matter but I managed these hills better. It doesn’t matter that you haven’t done a 100-mile ride; it might have been a 12-mile ride, but you’ve got a tick in the box.”
Pfei er Georgi has used a similar method herself. “Something we implemented into our training is to have a di erent focus on a specific skill for each hour,” she explains. “So, recently I’ve been working on my aero position and in other blocks I focus on technique. Even when we’re in a group, we aim to learn new skills, like going back to the car to get bottles or stopping, taking our wheels o , switching them with each other and going o as quickly as possible. We do lots of di erent challenges and skills that make the time fly by.”
Focusing on skills is especially helpful on dull solo rides. But Dr Howells says your process goals should be highly personal – intrinsic – anyway. “Aiming for distances and times is fine normally but it’s not necessarily working now,” she explains. “For example, in the area I’m in, it’s very hilly, so my times are slow and my distances
low. But I’ve got friends in the next county where it’s flat and it’s a much bigger area. So you can’t compare. I do use Strava but you can become so focused on how somebody else has gone further or faster. And if your mate can do a 100-mile ride, but you can’t (because of a local lockdown or geographical limits), that can be quite destructive.”
Group think
With big club rides still not on the agenda at the time of writing, it’s also vital that you make the most of the small social groups that are permitted and get whatever motivational social support you can. This will solidify that all-important quality of ‘relatedness’, which will make rides more enjoyable.
“Ride with friends whenever you can,” advises Dr Howells. Have work meetings with fellow cyclists, meet for a ride instead of a pint and go for a spin with friends instead of sharing a Zoom call.
However, ‘relatedness’ is about more than just banter and camaraderie. It’s also about a sense of belonging. “Ask yourself: what’s my role in this group?” suggests Dr Howells. “It might be: I’m responsible for setting the route or organising the time. So you’re not just a participant. Without that role, it’d be very easy for me to not feel missed and not go out. But if you take on a role, you have this sense of value and belonging.”
Olympic team pursuit champion Elinor Barker says training in a group is vital for her own motivation. “If I’ve arranged to meet someone at nine, I will be there at nine,” she insists. “Just having that accountability and other people to bounce o is really helpful.”
Autonomy for the people
Everyone is being bu eted by events right now and the stress can have a negative e ect on our motivation to exercise. That’s why Dr Howells’ third motivational factor – autonomy – is so important. “The things that make us most stressed are the things we don’t have control over,” she explains. “But setting a personal goal is not about somebody telling me, you need to work on hills. This is me saying, ‘I’m going to work on standing out of the saddle this Saturday.’ Autonomy is about control and responsibility. It’ll develop some control in your life where maybe we feel we don’t have it. And it doesn’t have to be big things. It can be: I have put this ride on our WhatsApp group. I’m taking responsibility of this situation.”
With fewer sportives to target, it can be harder to set big motivational goals. But Elinor Barker, who had to deal with the postponement of the 2020 Olympics, adapted by switching to shorter-term micro-goals to help maintain momentum. “I was never really looking more than a week or so ahead and taking it in smaller chunks,” she explains. “That helped me to get the best out of myself in training.” By focusing on shorter-term goals, you can keep making progress - even if you don’t know when the next race is coming.
To keep your momentum, Barker recommends two extra strategies. First, build good habits. “Just getting out of bed is 10 times easier if I already know what I’m having for breakfast and my bag
is packed,” she explains. “Having good habits helps me keep a routine, even if my motivation changes.” And second, record your training so you can gauge progress. “Our training’s logged so I know how each day stacks up against my best for that amount of time this year or last year, so there’s always a goal to aim for.”
Variety performance
It can be hard to stay motivated when you are riding the same roads all the time. But variety is the spice of your new Covid life: the same route can feel completely di erent at di erent training intensities, di erent times of day and in di erent directions. Or use Strava or Komoot to unlock new roads.
Injecting a new focus into your ride will also help you to compartmentalise your thoughts, deal with worries and restore a laser-beam focus. “If you go into a ride with negative thinking, and then you say, ‘I’m really good on the flat and I’m going to be even faster on this ride,’ you’re not then thinking, ‘Woe is me, life is horrendous,’” explains Dr Howells. “We’re focusing on our cycling as a form of avoidance, but in a positive way. To focus on specific things – what I want to get from this ride - means that you can’t worry about other things because, look, the hill is coming up and this is what I’ve got to focus on.”
Navigating the grim psychological challenges of the pandemic requires e ort and creativity. But whether you plot new routes, focus on micro-goals or work on your technique, what matters is that you rediscover the fun of cycling. “It can be as simple as trying to catch up with someone or riding a route the other way round,” explains Dr Howells. “One of the things we’re not very good at as adults is playing games. But why can’t adults play as well? Set something for each day that is completely di erent. Do it. It’s worth it.”
“Autonomy is about control and responsibility. It will develop control in your life where we feel we don’t have it” Dr Karen Howells