TYLER CHRISTIANSEN, CSCS,*D, USAW, RSCC AND MIKE ASKEN, PHD
EXTREME EXERCISE FOR MENTAL TOUGHNESS
AND SELECTION: EFFECTIVE TRAINING OR
ERRANT BULLYING? PART I
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and
do not necessarily represent the policies or procedures of any
affiliated organizations.
A major focus in many tactical performance circles is to develop
programs to assure that tactical athletes make it to the “next
level” in their careers. However, a practice widely seen in some
of these programs is to make the training so intense or punishing
that it will leave these elite tactical athletes pushed to the point
of exhaustion, wondering if they will survive the next two minutes
without vomiting and pondering the thought that they may have
developed exertional rhabdomyolysis.
The individuals who create these workouts often justify them by
simply adding two words “mental toughness.” However, coaching
that rationalization as mental toughness training begs two
questions: Is this wise and effective physical training? And, does
it really train mental toughness? The answer is no on both counts.
Individuals who think “puke training” is mental toughness training
are like those who misunderstand the warrior as an aggressive
killing machine rather than a skilled and dedicated servant of
his/her country, community, and family. As a retired Navy SEAL,
Richard Machowicz, wrote in his book, “Being a warrior is not
about the act of fighting. It’s about being so prepared to face a
challenge and believing so strongly in the cause you are fighting
for that you refuse to quit,” (5).
A man way before his time and a true pioneer to the strength and
conditioning community, Dr. Mel Siff, once stated that “any fool
can create a program that is so demanding that it would virtually
kill the toughest marine or hardiest of elite athletes, but not any
fool can create a tough program that produces progress without
unnecessary pain,” (6). There should be full agreement with this
philosophy, however, there are often counterarguments from
those who foster the belief of mental toughness rationalization
first mentioned. Common, but misguided, are comments such as,
“If I don’t push to the edge, how am I supposed to get mentally
tough,” “I’m training for selection into…,” “I have to prepare for the
unknown,” and, of course, “you need to train for the worst case
scenario.”
In reality, these are not counterarguments but rather supplements
and validations of Dr. Siff’s quote. Training mental toughness is
essential, but proper implementation is the critical qualifier. Direct
or explicit mental toughness skills training will prepare for the
“tough” days and extreme challenges.
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A human performance system can be defined as a coordinated
body of methods forming a complex or singular whole (speed/
power, strength, endurance, energy system development,
prehabilitation/rehabilitation, and mental skills). A method is a
procedure, a technique, or a way of doing something (i.e., circuit
training). It requires the integration of physical and mental training
approaches, not the assumption that one will automatically create
the other.
It is widely accepted that mental toughness is needed for tactical
settings (during selection or in battle), sports (making big plays
or game winning plays), stressful situations, high-stress leadership
roles, and/or the “curve balls” of everyday life. Some believe
mental toughness is something an individual is born with while
others believe it is something that evolves naturally over the
course of a life because of hard work. Some people think it is a
natural side effect of grueling physical training and others find
it hard to pinpoint what is actually meant when using the term
“mental toughness.” Is it the ability to grind through lifting heavy
things, crushing an extremely hard circuit, or going toe-to-toe with
life or death situations?
While there is no doubt that there is a physical and genetic basis
to mental toughness, a premature narrow insistence on these
components significantly overlooks the full nature of mental
toughness and the fact that it can be trained. Mental toughness
has been defined by Michael Asken in the book “MindSighting:
Mental Toughness Skills for Police Officers in High Stress
Situations” in a manner that breaks it down and shows why it is a
set of skills that can be trained:
Mental toughness is possessing, understanding, and being able
to utilize a set of psychological skills that allow the effective,
and even maximal execution, or adaptation, and persistence of
decision-making and physical skills learned in training and by
experience. Ment [