CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE FEBRUARY 2019 | Page 97

A B O D Y B U I L D E R C A N P U T I N T H E B L O O D ,
S W E A T , A N D T E A R S T O P R E P F O R A S H O W
T O A C H I E V E A F A N T A S T I C P H Y S I Q U E B U T
W I T H O U T M E N T A L P R E P A R A T I O N A N X I E T Y
C A N N E G A T I V E L Y A F F E C T H I S / H E R S T A G E
P E R F O R M A N C E .
The main reason for anxiety prior to a
competition is uncertainty. Where does
that uncertainty come from? Assuming
you’ve followed your training and diet
schedule, peak week has its own unique
set of challenges: food and water
manipulation, the excitement of the
upcoming show, seeing other athletes’
posts and pictures on social media,
physical & mental exhaustion, the body
not cooperating like it did last show, etc.
Other than peak week, uncertainty also
comes from checking out fellow
competitors both before, i.e., on social
media, at the athlete meeting, and
during the show (back stage, in the lineup
warming up).
Some athletes become anxious because
they have no idea what to expect in the
upcoming competition or get caught up
in the “what if” scenarios. Uncertainty
can cause some athletes to mentally
envision potential mistakes or fear the
worst prior to a competition,
Which leads to tension and a lack of
trust in their skills. Seeing the worst and
fearing the worst, i.e., making mistakes,
self-doubts, etc. become negative
images that will ruin an athlete’s
performance every time.
What is the answer to combat
uncertainty? The answer to dealing with
uncertainty is to experience the event
before the event even happens. One
method of doing this is visualization.
Visualization helps you be mentally
ready for the event so you feel you have
"been there before". If you have already
experienced the event in your mind and
visualized yourself succeeding, the
upcoming event becomes known. That
is, experiencing an athletic event in your
mind through visualization reduces the
anxiety that comes from uncertainty.
Seeing yourself fail has the opposite
effect.