Reason 3: Stimuli = Optimal level of Performance

In light of how adrenaline works, there are different stimuli, ways that coaches introduce these stimuli within the athlete's training sessions, and how coaches teach athletes to deal with those stimuli. There are three main stimuli that activate adrenaline, and the college football environment contains all three of those stimuli. The three stimuli that trigger adrenaline to be produced are stress, anxiety, and fear. These three stimuli aren’t only common in sports, but they’re also extremely common stressors in our day to day lives. Athletes tend to see these stressors on a larger scale. These stressors tend to arouse the athletes and cause them to create adrenaline within their bodies. Trainers and coaches believe that if an athlete is able to use the adrenaline that is being produced within their bodies, then they will be able to operate at their maximum potential. When a player is operating at their maximum potential, it's known as being in “the zone”. Many believe that in order to be able to utilize the adrenaline that is being produced, many mental preparational tactics need to be involved. Others believe that in order to get athletes to use their nerves effectively, one must introduce stress during training sessions. This way, when the athlete gets to the game, they’re used to the stress and know how to use their nervous energy to increase their athletic performance (Valle, Carl). Athletes tend to see the three different stimuli in different situations. For example during games, the most common stimuli that seems to affect an athlete tend to be anxiety and fear. Athletes tend to be afraid of not performing to the best of their capabilities. They also have anxiety because they’re worried about either their own performance, the outcome of the game, and possibly something else that doesn't concern the game. Athletes tend to feel the stimuli of stress during practices or training sessions. This is due to coaches implementing stress during workouts in order to get the athlete used to stress. When an athlete is introduced or faced with one of the three stimuli adrenaline is produced. Once the adrenaline begins to flow, if an athlete has the mental toughness and is able to use that adrenaline that has been created they’ll not only be able to increase their athletic performance but they’re be able to enter the state of flow much easier. If an athlete is able to enter the state of “flow” easier and on a more consistent basis then they’re able to consistently perform on a high level. Essentially the state of flow is when both the mind and body are synchronized thus allow the athlete to be “in the zone”. This means that everything is going well for the athlete. Being in the zone is a way of saying that the athlete has reached their max or optimal performance level. The most common stressor amongst athletes is anxiety. There are two different kinds of anxiety in competitive sports. The first one is cognitive anxiety, which means the athlete has a negative expectation of the outcome. The second kind is known as somatic anxiety. Somatic anxiety is when the athlete has physical symptoms.Anxiety can have both positive and negative effects. There’s such a thing as feeling positively anxious and negatively anxious. This is also why people believe that elite athletes thrive under pressure while other people would crumble under the same pressure. There are different theories that demonstrate a connection between stress/anxiety and athletic performance. One theory was proposed in 1943 and claimed that if an athlete whose drive to compete is aroused, then they will have a better athletic performance. (Singh, 2003). Anxiety appears to play an important role in the effect adrenaline has on athletic performance. For example, positive anxiety could allow the athlete to positively use their adrenaline for their benefit, whereas negative anxiety could cause an non-elite athlete to negatively use their adrenaline which would hurt their athletic performance. It also suggest that the most elite athletes have somatic anxiety. This meaning that elite athletes feel butterflies in their stomach or their palms start to sweat. This also shows that athletes have been using adrenaline to increase their athletic performance for a while. Regardless of whether or not adrenaline has a positive effect on athletic performance in college football, there is still an obvious and impactful effect on the athletic performance.When athletes are introduce to anxiety it increases their adrenaline thus allowing them to either increase their athletic performance or harm their performance. There is a specific anxiety level that each individual athlete needs in order to reach their optimal operating level. This maximum operating level is also known as the zone which I mentioned previously. In order to get into the zone not only does the athlete need to be stimulated but they need to be used to being stimulated, taught how to handle the stimulation, and how to use it the byproducts of the stimulation to their benefit. Coaches generally start off with getting the athlete acclimated to dealing with stimulation by introducing it in the athlete’s training.

The graph demonstrates the different levels of pressure. ("Adrenal Support with Essential Oils." Essentialthree.com. N.p., 31 July 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

The most common stressor amongst athletes is anxiety. There are two different kinds of anxiety in competitive sports. The first one is cognitive anxiety, which means the athlete has a negative expectation of the outcome. The second kind is known as somatic anxiety. Somatic anxiety is when the athlete has physical symptoms. Anxiety can have both positive and negative effects. There’s such a thing as feeling positively anxious and negatively anxious. This is also why people believe that elite athletes thrive under pressure while other people would crumble under the same pressure. There are different theories that demonstrate a connection between stress/anxiety and athletic performance. One theory was proposed in 1943 and claimed that if an athlete whose drive to compete is aroused, then they will have a better athletic performance (Singh, 2003). Anxiety appears to play an important role in the effect adrenaline has on athletic performance. For example, positive anxiety could allow the athlete to positively use their adrenaline for their benefit, whereas negative anxiety could cause a non-elite athlete to negatively use their adrenaline which would hurt their athletic performance. It also suggests that the most elite athletes have somatic anxiety. This means that elite athletes feel butterflies in their stomach or their palms start to sweat. This also shows that athletes have been using adrenaline to increase their athletic performance for a while. Regardless of whether or not adrenaline has a positive effect on athletic performance in college football, there is still an obvious and impactful effect on the athletic performance. When athletes are introduced to anxiety, it increases their adrenaline thus allowing them to either increase their athletic performance or harm their performance. There is a specific anxiety level that each individual athlete needs in order to reach their optimal operating level. This maximum operating level is also known as the zone which was mentioned previously. In order to get into the zone, not only does the athlete need to be stimulated but they need to be used to being stimulated, taught how to handle the stimulation, and how to use the byproducts of the stimulation to their benefit. Coaches generally start off with getting the athlete acclimated to dealing with stimulation by introducing it in the athlete’s training.

This video is an example of some of the stimuli that coaches introduce during athletes training. In this particular video the essence of being times is the stimuli/stressor. Having to make a specific time causes the athlete to be stress which then releases adrenaline. When the adrenaline is released the athlete will most likely use it in order to make their time. The more the athlete is used to harnessing adrenaline in practice the easier it is for them to harness it during a game.

There’s a specific way for coaches to implement stress into an athlete's training which allows them to increase their athletic performance. One of the main theories that implements stress in workouts is known as the “The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)”. This theory was created by a Russian sports trainer in the 1960’s. The Russians believe that having stressors within an athlete's workout will increase their performance. There are three different stages of this theory. The stages are alarm, resistance, and exhaustion (Brooks, Christine). An example of this would be when Trevor Moawad, VP at Elite Sports at Exos, trains his athletes by asking them to find specific numbers while under extreme duress (Yu, Christine). The different stages that are mentioned serve as a guideline for what is supposed to happen and how they affect the athlete when coaches implement different stressors within an athlete's training session. One way coaches implement stressors during training is by the use of time trials. Having to make a specific time causes the athlete to be stressed, thus causing them to produce adrenaline and become used to the sudden rush of energy. The first stage, which is known as the alarm stage, is when the athlete is first introduced to stress during training. The athlete's body notices and realizes the stress and attempts to respond accordingly. The second stage, which is known as the resistance stage, is when the athlete’s body begins adapting and getting used to the stress. Once the athletes body begins getting used to the stress it starts getting stronger. The final stage is known as exhaustion. This stage occurs when the athlete has been pushed to their limits and are no longer able to perform. It also occurs when stress isn’t dealt with over a long period of time. Meaning that the athlete over exerted themselves and depleted their energy source, causing them to not be able to deal with the stress at hand. The two major stages that are focused on the most are resistance and exhaustion. These two stages are the most important because they help the athlete get the best outcome during training. The resistance allows for the athlete's body to get acclimated an opposing physical force. For example, some coaches have their athletes run with parachutes on their back to simulate resistance. At first the athlete's body becomes stressed and then after a couple of reps the body become well acclimated with the resistance. Essentially the resistance makes the athlete's body stronger because they’re used to running with resistance. When the resistance is removed the athlete will be able to run faster. The exhaustion phase is extremely important because the coach wants the athlete to feel exhaustion to some extent, but not to the extent of where the athlete can longer physically perform. Stress within a training environment is used to help build the athletes mind. Essentially, it helps the athlete get more acclimated with dealing with pressure. Due to the athlete constantly being introduced to different stimuli during training, both their body and mind are used to the pressure. Since the athlete is used to the pressure, it’s easier for them to make more informed decisions because they can think clearly instead of making irrational choices from being stressed. Also, they’re more capable using the adrenaline that occurs when one is stressed. It’s more likely for them to use this adrenaline more effectively because they’re used to the pressure and it’s almost just like practice to them. In the sense that the game is similar to practice, it takes a degree of stress off of the athlete but still allows them to produce adrenaline. This idea connects back to my main claim because of the coaches introducing stressors into the training environment athletes will be better equipped to deal with the stress of a real game. While introducing stimuli into athletes training is one of the ways coaches get athletes acclimated to the pressure or stress of games, there’s another way coaches teach athletes to deal with stress. The other way coaches teach athletes to deal with stress is by using a techniques known as mindfulness and relaxation.

Coaches teach athletes the techniques of mindfulness and relaxation in order to give the athlete a way to mentally deal with stress. In an article written by Brian McCormick, he interviews coaches and discusses how they teach their athletes relaxation techniques in order to deal with stress and improve their athletic performance. The technique that stuck out the most was the technique taught by Baylor’s Track and Field coach Clyde Hart. Hart noticed that there is essentially an “athlete paradox,” meaning that athletes are constantly being yelled at or stressed to relax during their games or matches. He notes that the paradox for sprinters is the difference between hard/fast and relaxed/efficient. In order to get his sprinters to relax, he tells them to run sleepy eyed, which means to run with your eyes relaxed. Doing this causes the rest of the body to destress and be calm. Most sprinters tend to run with their eyes open, which causes stress and tension in the body. This is significant because the more tense one is, the slower or more sluggish their movements are. If the athlete is tense, their athletic performance will suffer. The athlete paradox elucidates the way coaches are hypocritical.They’re hypocritical in the sense that they’re always trying to get their athletes to be calm but coaches do this by yelling at them to remain calm. For example, it would be like someone telling you not to stress but they’re the ones stressing you out. If athletes don’t know how to remain calm or relaxed, then the tension and stress within their body will cause their athletic performance to suffer. Not only will their performance suffer, they may also be more prone to injury. The paradox essentially shows the irony and struggle of coaches trying to teach their athletes to be calm. The paradox makes it harder for athletes to learn the techniques of relaxation and staying calm. If an athlete learns the ability to be calm their athletic performance will increase because their bodies are less stressed, thus allowing them more movement. Not only will an athlete's body allow more movement, but it’ll also allow the athlete to feel more at peace. By this I mean the athlete will be calmer and be able to make rational decisions quicker instead of being discombobulated by their stress. By not relaxing, tension is created. Tension not only causes the athlete to move slower but it interferes with the athlete's ability to synchronize timing and movement. In order to operate at an optimal level to increase performance, an athlete needs to be able to synchronize their timing and movements. An example used within the article is how boxers use breathing techniques to reduce the amount of tension within the body. With each punch or jab, the boxer lets out a quick breath to release tension. This allows the boxer to synchronize his movements and timing. Breathing techniques are one of the techniques coaches use to teach their athletes to deal with stress and to increase their performance (McCormick, Brian).Tension causes an athlete’s ability to synchronize their body with their minds to diminish. Due to this, one's ability to synchronize timing and movement is heavily affected. This can affect the athlete's ability to synchronize their mind and body, which would then also affect their movements. If the connection between mind and body is disturbed or interrupted it also affects the athlete's ability to perform at an high level.

Another Technique coaches teach their athletes is mindfulness. I’m sure some people are skeptic that the mind plays that much of a role in athletic performance, but as Trevor Moawad said, “ What we’re telling ourselves affects what we see, and what we see affects what we feel.” This goes to show that what we think becomes what we see and that affects our behavior. The mind is an extremely powerful weapon that can lead to one's success and or demise. That’s where the technique of mindfulness plays a role in. When an athlete believes or thinks positive outcomes of their match or game, there is a higher chance that they will perform on a higher level. This is likely to happen because the athlete 100% believes what they think will come true, which leads to it actually happening. There are two major things to focus on when discussing mindfulness. The primary focus is on the mental link between mind and body. The mental link between the mind and body can be plagued with negative “what if” thoughts that can cause the athlete to become more stressed. Questions such as “what if’s” make it hard for the body to use the part of the brain that is used to focus on the present. The second thing to focus on is simply focusing. By focusing one is able to manage stress (Yu, Christine). The less stressed the athlete is the stronger the mental link between mind and body is. The stronger or the more positive the link between the mind and body is the more likely the athlete is going to perform at a higher level. It’ll also allow the athlete to enter “the zone” and remain there for a longer time. The more the athlete practices mindfulness and work on positive thinking the easier it is for them to not only enter “the zone” but it’s also easier for them to deal with stress. They’ll be less stressed by the “what ifs” because they’ve practiced positive thinking and won’t allow those thoughts to distract them from their goals. Athletes being able to implement the techniques of relaxation and mindfulness into their training increases their capacity to use adrenaline to benefit them, rather than succumbing to nerves that detract from their athletic ability. When able to manipulate the effect of adrenaline in correlation with athletic performance, athletes are more likely to experience being in the zone.