October 17th, 2020

Mind/Body programmes aren't new.

They just haven't always been seen as that; the old way of training was centred around the physicality of everything. 

The Mind was involved, but in a different way. It was focused on how hard, how fast, how intensely it could force the body to work. Injuries abounded.

Bodies were pushed to the limits of performance, and beyond.

Unfortunately the bodies hadn't been conditioned to train at that level. Then the realisation came that the body had to be conditioned, to be fit enough, strong enough, resilient enough, to train that hard. That was when the whole Fitness Arena began to change.

This would have started in the nineteen sixties, when a few coaches were regarded as Gods because they had the common sense to see that levels of fitness were arrived at in stages, that fitness was a skill, and had fundamentals that could be, and needed to be, learned.  That principle hasn't changed since then; it's unlikely it ever will. And it applies to any level of Fitness. Whether you're a beginner or an accomplished athlete, the principle remains the same. The difference lies in the level of performance.

What's this got to do with Wellness? Everything.

Just like the production saloons are the end result of what's been learned in Formula 1 Racing, daily wellness, energy and resilience are the end results of what's been learned in the Gym' laboratories, the High Performance Sports Fields, and the use of Mind/Body and Body/Mind techniques. 

So, when Four Minute Milers relate how they train, regulate, synchronise their minds and bodies to the required level of performance, they leave clues. These principles are then transferred to the gym', or the stage rehearsals, or the boardroom.  What has come from the performance in the field, on the track,  in the racing car, is the same principle that applies to Human Performance in any endeavour. This is why the Human Factor is the key element. What the accomplishments in sport has shown is that the development in that sport, while aided by technology and materials, is ultimately decided by the physical condition, the  mental state, and the emotional force of the player.

Just as it does in business, the arts, any area of Human Performance.

Great people in modern sporting activities, from Arnold Schwarzenegger in Bodybuilding, Roger Bannister in running, Stirling Moss in motor racing, DJ Carey in hurling, Brian O'Driscoll in rugby, will without exception attest to the necessity of putting in the time, attending to the detail, rehearsing the basics, to lay the foundation for instinctive, spontaneous, indomitable performance.

It's no coincidence that one of the greatest coaches in modern rugby, Steve Black, to one of the greatest performers in modern rugby, Jonny Wilkinson, is now considered to be one of the most effective coaches in the world in the business arena.

And the word that matters in that sentence is 'effective'. He teaches people how to exert an effect on their aims. That's because, 'Blackie', as Wilkinson called him, keeps it simple, does it with a will, and sees it through.

Simple. Not always easy, but simple, And effective.

For a way to learn these fundamentals of effective living, click HERE.
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