Staying motivated all year round
That's it: Quebec is covered in a thick blanket of white, much to the delight of winter sports enthusiasts... but not cyclists, who are deprived of their fix of cycling. With rollers as their only methadone, they valiantly await the return of sunny days. Take heart: there are "only" four months left before you can get back on the road.
For amateurs, this winter hiatus can deal a serious blow to motivation. Training enthusiasm wanes. The desire to push oneself is absent. One allows oneself to skip one, two, three sessions. If the situation persists, one is headed straight for the wall of undertraining. Paradoxically, the next season may suffer as a result.
Christiana Bédard-Thom, mental preparation consultant and doctoral student in sports psychology, explains how to maintain that famous motivation during the cold season... and beyond.
Everyone talks about motivation, but no one really knows what it is. Can you define it for us?
There are several definitions and ways of conceptualizing it in scientific literature. In general, however, we can say that motivation is a force, an energy that energizes us and guides our behavior. We recognize a motivated person by their high level of energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to an activity.
The reasons why we decide to practice our sport determine the type of motivation that drives us. Motivation can be viewed as a continuum: at one extreme is a lack of motivation, and at the other is the most self-determined motivation, or intrinsic motivation. It is the latter that drives us when we practice a sport simply for the pleasure it brings us.
Between these two extremes lie various forms of extrinsic motivation. This occurs when we engage in an activity for reasons that are external to us, such as winning a race, losing weight, avoiding disappointing our coach, or staying healthy.
So, as a cyclist, we want to be intrinsically motivated?
In fact, we want to strive for the "intrinsic" extreme, since this type of motivation is a quality one. It promotes perseverance and well-being and is associated with reduced stress and anxiety. But realistically, it's unlikely that anyone will be 100% motivated in this way. When it comes to training, not everything is done for pleasure. For some people, stretching, weight training, and interval training are not exciting.
On the other hand, it is possible to become motivated to do these activities anyway. This happens when we are constantly reminded of their importance, for example: we end up integrating them. We then do them of our own free will, even if they give us little pleasure.
How can we promote high-quality motivation?
By setting goals. These are what enable athletes to give meaning and structure to their training. More than 500 studies on the subject have concluded that the more specific and difficult to achieve (but not impossible) a goal is, the greater the motivation and the higher the level of performance.
The type of goals is also important. Performance goals (time, ranking, etc.) are good when you're in the middle of the competition season, or when you're riding outdoors and competing with others on Strava. However, this is not the case at the moment, which is why it's important to set process goals. In concrete terms, this means focusing on techniques, skills, and all the little details that you can easily focus on during each training session.
This means that every workout has a purpose, which helps you achieve your longer-term goals.
What are some other tips for achieving this?
The environment in which we live has a big influence on motivation. It is possible to create your own motivational climate. To do this:
Where to start to keep your motivation intact 365 days a year?
It all starts with regular planned rest. Training, competing, and performing well requires physical resources, but also psychological ones. This stress must be managed mentally. It's a question of adaptation. We can think of our mind as a muscle, just like our quadriceps. It too needs to recover in order to overcompensate and become stronger.
Rest periods are crucial for our minds to reach their full potential when it really matters. You can think of it like a bank account: the rest we invest in it now bears fruit and pays off in the long run. Not allowing ourselves this time means condemning ourselves to performance plateaus.