Sports Psychology

By letting go of expectations and focusing on process, you can achieve more.

What works best for you before a race—aggressive, calm, or clear?

Learn from the mental strategies of triathlon’s experts and pros to reach your own peak performance on race day.

What does it mean to be present in the moment—even when the moment is painful?

Being able to control your intensity level through swim, bike, run, and race will help you perform to your potential.

A sports psychologist tells you how to overcome the most common psychological road blocks and unleash your true triathlon potential.

Yes, an FTP test will be uncomfortable. Dr. Jim Taylor shares a step-by-step guide to preparing your brain for the pain to come.

Making clear decisions is important not just for our training energy and goals, but also in all aspects of our lives.

The shift to winter can bring on Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is linked to a biochemical imbalance in the brain.

Uncertainty around the race calendar can wreak havoc with motivation—here's how to get going.

Build your triathlon goals around a purpose and reason will help you achieve them. But how do you know what your why is and how do you fine-tune it to make it effective?

Here's how three coaches have kept their triathletes motivated in a time full of uncertainty.

Your emotional health can have a direct impact on how you're feeling and performing physically.

How do you find the motivation to properly train for an event that may get canceled before race day? A sports psychologist weighs in.

Mental preparation is as important as physical and technical training for triathletes to gain a competitive edge.

This special sports psychology webinar for Active Pass members explores how mental training can impact your physical performance.

If you frame the mental challenges you're feeling in a certain way, you'll come out the other end of this season as a better overall athlete.

A silver lining of canceled races and disrupted training schedules? The opportunity for athletes to strengthen and nurture personal relationships during the downtime.

You’re swimming with your body, but what about the rest of you?

Millions of people are experiencing some form of micro or macro grief related to COVID-19. Here’s what to know about exercising during a traumatic and turbulent time. 

Time trials and virtual races present unique challenges and require new psychological tactics. Here's how to mentally master them.

"Everything's amazing, horrible." With so much up in the air and out of their control, how can an athlete find the right balance between optimism and realism when goal setting going forward?

Struggling to find motivation to string workouts together? Not feeling like yourself in training? You're not alone.

Want better performance? While a strong mind is important, being aware of your feelings is equally crucial. 

Exercise has long been the go-to outlet for people who need to channel their energy and emotions into something physical — but ensuring a “mind-body connection” is the sure-fire way to get more from your workout. 

Sports psychologists give their advice for coming out on the other side of the coronavirus pandemic as a mentally stronger, more well-rested athlete.

A mental performance consultant shares cues that will help athletes stay focused and calm through these uncertain times.

Keep your training on track—and stay safe, well, and focused—with these motivational tips from some of tri’s best coaches.

The mind needs just as much care as the body.

Tips for making the most of the 24 hours you get each day.

How to keep your cool when the pressure is on.

There’s nothing new about using sound for relaxation, but triathletes are increasingly turning to our sense of hearing to boost recovery and performance.

This simple daily exercise can have a big impact on your health and happiness.

Follow these guidelines to have your most productive (and fun!) winter training yet.

The off-season provides unique challenges and opportunities; find out how to set strong goals, experiment with gear, and adapt to adverse conditions.

Being successful often boils down to a combination of talent and luck, but research has proposed another essential ingredient.

How the best keep their mental game sharp—no matter what.

Making the call to stop in the middle of a race is tough, but it’s not always a bad thing.

Do you struggle to stay on track with your training, or get down when you fall short? You may need to revisit your relationship with yourself as an athlete.

Triathletes with personal support networks are better equipped to deal with, um, everything—from the emotional stresses of training and competitions, to funky performances, fatigue, and injuries.

Regardless of its source, your body responds to all stress the same way. Here’s how you can train hard no matter what you’re going through.

Merging ambition with action can get mentally messy.

A long-time triathlete and runner shares her solutions to the question, "How do you stay motivated?"

“Goal setting is a phenomenal tool, but it can be weaponized against itself."

Strava is calling today "Quitter's Day."

Over the years coach Steven Moody has noticed that triathletes who reach their goals have these five things in common.

With so many devices and physical treatments available to injured triathletes, the best way to get better quickly may actually be locked inside your own skull.

If you're stuck in fight-or-flight mode, your nervous system is left confused about how to support your athletic endeavors.

Feel like it's a struggle not to hit the snooze button every morning? Use these three mental tips to motivate yourself during the colder months.

Here's how to translate that stress into speed.

A look at some common pitfalls athletes experience through social pressure.

The secret sauce to racing successfully sometimes means humbling yourself and your expectations.

Save your energy for what really matters by keeping your mental demons at bay.

How to deal with the “ughs,” the “blahs” and the “not todays.”

Like practicing your nutrition or your transitions, training your brain “should be something you’re actively trying out during training rides and runs.”

Practicing self-compassion will help you get the most out of your athletic journey. Here's how to start.

Sending electrical currents through the brain may make us stronger, faster, more resilient athletes. But is the tech ready for us yet?

Feeling unhappy about the way you look is something almost all of us have experienced at some point in our lives.

Too often, athletes run out of physical or mental energy before their long season is over.

You want to set goals that inspire action and positive change.

Athletes are using meditation to get an edge for these six reasons.

Follow these three tips from mental skills expert Carrie Cheadle to make sure your next big racing or training goal becomes reality.

Perfectionism can be both an asset and a disadvantage for athletes.

“By creating a mental periodization plan for yourself, you’ll start working on that aspect early on in the season."

Meredith Atwood shares her four tips for avoiding the depression that often comes after a big race.

Off-road is a whole different fallgame—err, ballgame. Here’s how to prep your brain for success.

Five steps to maintain a sense of self when triathlon gets put on the backburner

As a former Olympic Trials marathon runner, Ruth Brennan Morrey is one of the quickest finishers in any pro field.

“The mind is as trainable as your sport.”

You wouldn’t use a bike that’s three sizes too small, so why would you race with an ill-fitting mindset?

When you race, do you worry too much about what others think about your performance or results?

Three 100 percent legal, injury-free ways to become a better triathlete.

I'd argue that your finish time is one of the goals you should be least concerned about.

Your mental outlook toward swimming can have a tremendous effect on your results in the water.

If sleep deficit is chronic, the effects become physiological.

The solution to mental blocks? Pretend to be someone else. "Fake it until you make it."

Do you get crazy nervous before triathlons? Try this strategy from Dr. Simon Marshall and Lesley Paterson.

Dr. Simon Marshall and Lesley Paterson are here to help you win the brain fight with their new book, The Brave Athlete.

For the routine to become automatic, we need to design it with such conscious and deliberate precision that it’s ready-made to run on autopilot.

As an endurance athlete, you’re going to encounter pain. You’re also expected to be able to tolerate and manage that pain.

Assuming you show up physically prepared, mental errors are the biggest cause of bad races, and they are self-inflicted.

There’s no prize money. No sponsors to please. So why do some age groupers resort to cheating to get to the podium?

What's going on inside your brain? And how does it affect your athletic performance?

Ever wonder why you leave a Facebook binge feeling worse about yourself than before?

Finally! Your epic race is here! You’re suited up, ready…and it’s cancelled, shortened or otherwise no longer epic.

Have a plan for handling your triathlon nerves so you can avoid feeling overwhelmed on race day.

Time to get in on the puppy love.

Head into the triathlon season with a sharper mental edge.

The scenery in virtual reality-based training programs like Zwift may be computer generated, but the results you get aren’t.