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Albert Einstein once said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results". If you want better results in competition, it’s important to train at a higher level and compete in line with your potential. The goal is to train the same way you compete. And, if you combine your sport training with competition level pressure, you are connecting mind and body. This is why training must incorporate the cognitive dimension of performance, in order to simulate mental pressure. In this 4th blog in the series, we will cover how you can take your training to another level by employing the same mental techniques you use in the actual competition.

Bring the Pressure of Competition into Training

When we train, we want to have the same demands and difficulties as in the competition itself. One factor that predominates and limits us when we compete is pressure, but this is really about lack of preparation. Training under real pressure helps us to be better prepared. When you are able to train with an added difficulty, the challenges of competition will actually start to feel normal.

When we train we seek a short term goal, which is to be better prepared for competition. Everyone is a champion when no one is watching. But, when pressure intervenes, our capabilities are limited, and affected. This happens perhaps because the actual method training is not powerful enough to get you properly into the state of competitive moments. A common phrase in sport is "compete like you train.” However, that may not be true if your training is not of high quality. Remember a time when you thought "I need something more" while training, or after a bad competition.

Take on Real Training Challenges

When you train with an added challenge, and that difficulty is lessened or disappears, everything flows. If every day you are training with increasingly adverse challenges, then you are achieving the closest thing to being in competition. If you put yourself a demand like in a COMPETITION you will see high stress as something normal – just familiar daily experience.

In those moments, actually competing as you train will become possible. Difficulties are part of the process. Those difficulties will take you to the next level. Robert Bowman, coach of the 23 times Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps, constantly repeated: "There is no growth without suffering."

Athletes you might like to watch while looking for inspiration are those who connect body and mind. For example the moment when Steph Curry scored 46 points and 6 assists, besides equaling what at that time was a record of 12 three pointers in a game. However, perhaps the greatest moment of when his mind and body were synchronized, was in the winning shot with 3 seconds left vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, where he decided, got up, and scored.

Integrate Brain and Body Training

Connecting body and mind is what athletes and coaches want most, especially when your goals are very high. When you get that connection, your performance is higher. Training your movement, your technical gesture, your blocking, your pass...while under high cognitive loads, you allow you to be able to connect body and mind.

This leads to the sports science principle of automaticity, where your movement skills  mastery of pressure becomes almost effortless. That is a what the greatest athletes tap into when they are in their true competitive zone, it comes from superior preparation with training over time. It is possible for anyone.

Here is an example of training with this integrated approach at the International Center. In the following video you can see how we prepare the kickboxing athlete of the Spanish national team for the Budapest open, incorporating elements that we know will be difficult challenges in competition performance. Through the yellow element we attack his body, looking for dodge and block and fist counterattack looking for the best solution.

All this is performed while tracking the NeuroTracker at speed threshold through a custom program created at the International Center. Specifically we’re combining the visual, perceptual and cognitive demands of NeuroTracker, while incorporating the complex skill work of dodging and hitting.

With this approach of 3D-multiple object tracking and sports specific skill training, we can successfully apply real mind-body training under pressure, simulating demands and difficulties equivalent to performing in the competition itself.

Takeaway

With every new competition season there is the challenge to rise to higher and higher levels professionalism. Every time the differences are smaller. That's why training with higher quality, and training cognitively under pressure will make you achieve that edge over your rivals. Training with higher quality methodologies and to evolve your performance levels is possible. At the International Center we can take you to your next level, to increase your performance by training under pressure - it’s time for others look at you for inspiration!

You can read the first 3 parts of this 6-part blog series here.

‍The Secrets to Dominating in Your Sport Part 1 - Execution

The Secrets to Dominating in Your Sport Part 2 – Injuries

‍The Secrets to Dominating in Your Sport Part 3 – Pressure

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Described in the UK press as Manchester United’s secret weapon, Mick Clegg was instrumental behind the scenes of the biggest sports club in the world from 2000 to 2011. The first power development coach in the English Premier League, he helped forge the team’s physical and mental strength throughout the club’s glory years, including completing the legendary treble. Here we’ll uncover why this fascinating book 'The Power and the Glory', sold out on Amazon the first day it was published.

What Is the Book About and Who Is It For?

As mentioned in the book’s preface, people’s attention is most likely to be focused on finding out what it is really like working with some of the best footballers ever to play the game, under arguably the greatest manager ever to occupy a dugout. And here Mick certainly delivers, giving more than a decade’s worth of raw first-person insights to the incredible struggles, overwhelming successes and deep relationships that he built with the players and with 'the boss', Sir Alex Ferguson.

However, The Power and the Glory is about so much more. In fact, coauthor Steve Bartram (Manchester United’s Features Editor), reveals that his initial intention was simply to interview Mick about his rehab work with players, but quickly realized that the big story in front of him was the man himself.

Over ten years in the writing, and spanning 31 chapters, Mick takes the reader on a multi-dimensional journey. Starting from the time he transitioned from working in a power station into owning his first gym, through to his eldest son taking over his role at Manchester United. He tells stories of his remarkable life with such honesty and character, it feels like you’re having a chat with him over a cup of tea.

The insights that emerge from the book are relevant for anyone interested in coaching elite sports performance, understanding the deep psychology and politics of playing and working in professional team sports, the challenges of parenting, and the life-changing personal development that comes with a wild roller coaster of a career.

The Development of Power-Development

Less well-known is the father of five children who developed his own specialized form of power development coaching, which he taught in colleges. This training methodology led to three of his offspring becoming international class Olympic Weightlifters, and two of his sons playing for Manchester United – the reason why the club initially hired him.

Mick’s unique approach evolved out of his Olympic Sports Gym in Manchester, where he coached national sports teams and mentored talent across numerous sports, one of which was boxing. This later turned out to be crucial in earning the respect and trust of many of the world’s best footballers, as well as Mick taking a massive right-hook to the face from Wayne Rooney - but that’s another story!

As a coach constantly looking to improve himself, his training techniques became more advanced under the pressure of training the Red Devils’ first team and reserve team players, as well as ‘Fergie’ himself. His work even included incorporating a scientific approach to conditioning ‘rapid cognition’ – the first bona fide cognitive training applied to professional soccer.

He also leveraged the psychology and explosive power of boxing to bond with the players and channel their athletic passion.

In combination this all had a huge influence on the team’s athletic performance, exemplified well by Cristiano Ronaldo, who once described his own physique as ‘Built by Cleggy’.

Mick worked with Ronaldo daily throughout his phenomenal 5-year ascension from a Premier League rookie to the best player in the world. In Ronaldo’s foreword to the book, he highlights how Mick played a pivotal role in his career development.

I put in a lot of work to keep in the best condition I can be in, and a lot of my success in that area stems from what I learnt with Mick. The work we did was very specific, very clever and along with the work I was doing on other aspects of my game, it helped me to improve massively.

Understanding the Human Side of ‘The Game’

Within the club Mick worked with a galaxy of star players, gleaning fascinating insights into their different talents. One example is club legend Ruud Van Nistelrooy - one of the world's most prolific goal-scorers inside the 18-yard box. Ruud shared with Mick how he would lose conscious perception in goal scoring moments - literally having no memory between getting into the box, and seeing the ball resting in the back of the net.

But at a much deeper level, Mick untangles the rich human side of soccer. Mick’s gym inside the club was purposely his office, open to any player, any time. And many of the world's most famous soccers stars would come frequently to chat over a cuppa. Not just about their athletic development, but also their worries or just other things going on in their life - from helping design Beckham’s famous VII tattoo, to teaching Gary Neville how to play the guitar. The process helped forge long-term personal bonds with many of the players.

Much of this stemmed from Mick's philosophy to truly understand what really made each player tick, in order to really get to grip with their different needs. In his own words,

When Paul Scholes or David Beckham or Gary Neville tell you that they need *this*, you have a collision of hearts where you work together from an emotional place. To really be creative with another person is to understand them, show them the knowledge that you have and see how they can match and be used together as a force.

This level of empathy led him to realize just how much professional football players are misunderstood, particularly in the media.  Mick gives a poignant example of how David Beckham was vilified in the press for apparently suing a company for misuse of his name. It was completely untrue and David knew nothing about it, yet had to defend himself, despite being the victim. And there are many other instances of the players being put unfairly through the wringer in the public eye.

There were also very emotional times too. Amid the celebrations of winning the 2007/08 Champions League final in Moscow, Mick recounts how his most important memory was actually of Wayne Rooney opening up and crying with his head on his shoulder because he’d been substituted during the match.

He was a huge part of the team and a big part of the success, but he just didn’t feel part of the night because he’d been taken off. It really touched him deeply inside and he needed to get that out. I felt so sorry for him.

Life After Manchester United

Mick covers how his departure from the club was a difficult decision embroiled with internal club politics. At the same time, it allowed him to focus once again on evolving his coaching practices, with the freedom to be creative and exploratory. Setting up Seed of Speed, he steadily built a new gym from the ground-up, specialized around his coaching goal of developing how the brain controls the body.

As well as plenty of Manchester United players training with Mick during the off-season, he also got back to working with athletes across many different sports, including mentoring Aaron Cook to world no.1 in Taekwondo.

In addition, Mick shifted his focus to nurturing athletic potential at a younger age, leading to his gym being dubbed in the media as the ‘Ronaldo Factory’.

The Clegg Legacy

The respect and admiration for Mick’s coaching shines through in the testimonials at the end of the book. Along with world and national champions in different sports, the following Manchester United players went out of their way to volunteer their personal insights into what they found so special about their years working with ‘Cleggy’.

• Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United 1996-2008

• Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United 2002-2014

• Ryan Giggs, Manchester United 1990-2014

• Ruud van Nistelrooy, Manchester United 2001-2006

• Edwin van der Sar, Manchester United 2005-2011

• Patrice Evra, Manchester United 2006-2014

• Darren Fletcher, Manchester United 1995-2015

• Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United 2006-2014

• Teddy Sheringham, Manchester United 1997-2001

• Andy Cole, Manchester United 1995-2002

• Louis Saha, Manchester United 2004-2008

• Alan Smith, Manchester United 2004-2007

• Jaap Stam, Manchester United 1998-2001

• Jesper Blomqvist, Manchester United 1998-2002

• John O'Shea, Manchester United 1999-2011

• Wes Brown, Manchester United 1998-2011

• Diego Forlan, Manchester United 2002-2004

When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over as the new United manager he sought to recruit Mick back into the fold. Ole had not only been coached by Mick personally, the pair had also worked together during Solskjaer’s two-year tenure as the club’s Reserves Team manager. Although honored, Mick’s journey with Seed of Speed was now too much to let go of. However, in a perhaps serendipitous twist of Clegg-United legacy, Ole instead hired Mick’s son, Mike Clegg, formerly the strength and conditioning coach for EPL club Sunderland AFC.

The day Ronaldo historically returned to Manchester United’s training grounds he immediately went looking for Mick, instead finding Clegg junior, with whom he fondly shared many stories of his time working with his dad.

Takeaway

For the first time, the Mick Clegg who has always been behind the scenes, wears his heart on his sleeve to bring to the foreground a truly fascinating concatenation of stories inside the real-world of coaching world-class professional football.

All-in-all The Power and the Glory is a tome of incredible life experiences through the eyes of a humble man, driven not only by success in sports, but also through connecting deeply with the athletes whose lives he touched.

The Power and the Glory can be purchased here.

If you’d like to learn more about Mick’s evolving work in sports performance development, check out his Seed of Speed website.

Since COVID Mick also offers remote Zoom consultancy and live training for soccer teams and individual athletes looking to progress their professional careers. Anyone interested can apply here.

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As cognitive abilities decline with age, there has been interest in identifying interventions that can slow or reverse these changes. One such intervention is cognitive training (CT), which aims to improve the acquisition and retention of skills involved in fluid intelligence, such as reasoning and problem-solving. CT programs have been shown to improve cognitive abilities in older adults, but only a few studies have examined the effects of CT in children or adolescents. This article discusses CT's short-term and long-term benefits on cognitive abilities in children and adolescents.

Short-term Effects

The effect of CT on cognitive abilities depends on the type of cognitive skills trained and the mode of administration. The effect may occur during training or after training and may last for a short time (i.e., hours) or for a longer duration (i.e., months). Here are the short-term effects:

1. Memory

It has been demonstrated that CT can improve memory by training and improving the efficiency of memory retrieval. In addition, CT focused on improving memory has also shown some evidence of transfer to gains in tests of attentional resources, reaction time, visual processing speed, episodic, semantic, subjective and working memory, as well as aspects of social cognition.

In one study, CT helped improve participants' verbal memory performance only after training and not immediately after (i.e. post-training effect). This post-training effect was found in children, adolescents, and young adults. However, other studies have not supported this finding, so the type of CT may be a key factor.

2. Executive functions

Executive function (EF), such as planning, working memory, attention, and inhibition, are positively affected by CT. EF play a significant role in intelligence and academic achievement. Research has shown that participants who completed a computerized CT program demonstrated improved performance on different types of EF tasks, requiring participants to process information while simultaneously inhibiting responses incompatible with that information. Another study reported that adolescents who completed an online CT program had better EF skills than a control group on expressive and receptive language measures after 2 weeks but not after 10 weeks.

3. Information processing speed

Children who showed improved processing speed during CT performed better on EFs and verbal ability measures after training. Therefore, if a child is improving their processing speed, they may gain a greater ability to communicate, learn new information, and solve complex problems.

4. Verbal intelligence

In a study with 120 children aged 11 to 13 years old, researchers found that verbal intelligence improved after six weeks of participation in CT training programs. This effect was more pronounced among participants in the experimental group than those in the control group.

Long-term Effects

The effect of CT on cognitive abilities may last for a long time. The long-term effects include:

1. Neural changes

CT training can result in neural changes that support certain cognitive processes. For example, CT has been shown to induce anatomical changes in the brain, such as the growth of new neurons and increased synaptic density. A CT program requires participants to practice certain skills for a period, which may lead to structural changes in the brain.

2. Generalization

CT generalizes to other cognitive tasks on the same or other domains. For example, researchers found that working memory and reasoning training could lead to improvements in an unfamiliar reasoning task. This finding suggests that CT training improves reasoning and memory, not only on the tasks trained, but also on other related tasks. This aspect of generalization has been called transfer-appropriate processing (TAP).

3. Broad transfer

CT can be applied to other cognitive domains. For example, CT aimed at improving academic achievement and reading comprehension can lead to improved academic performance in adolescents without changes in intelligence, executive functions, or verbal abilities. This finding suggests that CT can be effective in academic achievement without affecting other cognitive domains.

4. Retention

The effects of CT are more likely to last for a long time if it is physically and mentally demanding. Retention is believed to be related to physical and mental fatigue. If a child experiences high levels of physical and mental fatigue, retention may be longer.

5. Specificity

The effects of CT can be specific to the targeted cognitive processes. For example, CT may improve working memory components but not others (e.g., verbal knowledge). This suggests that CT is likely to be limited to specific cognitive abilities and not a universal intervention.

Conclusion

Although CT is beneficial for children and adolescents in improving cognitive skills, the type of training and the cognitive processes targeted are key factors. The effects may last for longer periods if the training is more stimulating, motivating or demanding. Interventions such as computerized brain training are widely used to improve cognitive ability, and have also been found to be safe and accessible to children.

It is important to understand that cognitive ability can be changed and improved at all ages, not only in old age. If interested, you can check-out nicelocal.com to find services like occupational, physical & speech therapists, and other clinical rehabilitation medicine specialists near you that offer CT programs.

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In the world of sports, soccer is unique because of the purposeful use of the unprotected head for controlling and advancing the ball. This skill obviously places the player at risk of head injury and the game does carry some risk. Head injury can be a result of contact of the head with another head (or other body parts), ground, goal post, other unknown objects, or even the ball. Such impacts can lead to contusions, fractures, eye injuries, concussions or even, in rare cases, death. Coaches, players, parents and physicians are rightly concerned about the risk of head injury in soccer.

Current research shows that selected soccer players have some degree of cognitive dysfunction. It is important to determine the reasons behind such deficits. Purposeful heading has been blamed, but a closer look at the studies that focus on heading has revealed methodological concerns that question the validity of blaming purposeful heading of the ball. In this article we will look at the some of the key factors involved in the potentially underrecognized importance of sub concussive impacts in soccer, as well as their implications for motor-impairments and associated injury risks.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) and Ball Heading

While it is likely that the sub concussive impact of purposeful heading is a doubtful factor in the noted deficits, it is unknown whether multiple sub concussive impacts might have some lingering effects. In addition, it is unknown whether the noted deficits have any affect on daily life.

Soccer accounts for a major number of sub-concussive episodes in sports: excessive heading of the ball (more than 1000 episodes per year) may cause subclinical brain injury, the effects of which are not as well defined as those of recognized for concussions generally. Although most published studies have focused on collegiate and professional players, most soccer players are amateur recreational league players.

Heading with the unprotected head to direct the ball during game play is increasingly recognized as a major source of exposure to concussive and sub-concussive repetitive head impacts. These impacts have been linked to changes in brain structure visible on neuroimaging, and decreased performance on cognitive tasks both with short term and long-term exposure.

Concussion involves several clinical domains: symptoms, physical signs, behavioral changes, cognitive impairment, and sleep disturbance. The physical signs of concussion can resolve quickly, but some players may manifest persistent impairments.

UEFA first published a call for research proposals in May 2017, in which potential researchers were asked to address two key topics.

• Determining the burden of heading in youth football; addressing differences in the way headers are taught in football training.

• Assessing differences in the incidence and characteristics of football headers in matches and training, and in different age and gender categories.

Sub-Concussion Effects in the Neuromuscular Control of the Knee

The ACL ruptures when the stresses to which it is exposed exceed its mechanical properties. However extreme knee loading scenarios may be potentiated through abnormal neuromuscular control in the lower limb, with gender differences in hip rotation and rear foot pronation in the transverse and frontal planes.

Concussion can also result in decreased postural stability from impairment on the afferent signals from the cervical spine, the vestibular-ocular system, and the visual systems. Persistent sensorimotor impairment after resolution of concussion symptoms would likely contribute to an increased injury risk, and further studies are warranted. These neurocognitive impairments are likely highly inter-twined with neuromuscular control, motor learning, and other aspects critical for the performance and safety of the athlete.

From a sports traumatology and rehabilitation perspective, we should try and produce intervention models first, which allow assessment of neurocognitive performance and identify athletes at risk for injury. Also, in the rehabilitation process, neuromuscular training tools should incorporate progressively more challenging tasks.

The benefits of using tasks such as dual-attention during clinical assessment are currently being explored when assessing and managing concussion. This strategy can be successfully translated to ACL injury risk screening, and neurocognitive strategies may be employed in ACL injury prevention and ACL injury rehabilitation. Sports activities demand initiating and maintaining appropriate performance of dynamic activities in a complex, rapidly changing environment. The success of each action is contingent on voluntary and in-voluntary motor commands modulated by sensory processing, attention, and motor planning.

Baseline Symptoms Matter

The assessment of concussion symptoms is a cornerstone to assessing individuals with this injury (P. McCrory et al., 2013). However, concussion symptoms are typically assessed only at post injury time intervals. In other words, clinicians usually do not know a patient’s pre injury or baseline level of symptoms.

Researchers have reported that baseline levels of concussion-related symptoms among healthy individuals vary considerably, with some individuals reporting no symptoms at baseline and others reporting high levels (Iverson & Lange, 2003). Several explanations have been posited for this variability in symptoms among healthy individuals, including the overlap between concussion-related symptoms and symptoms from other health conditions, including fatigue, orthopedic injuries, and physical illness (Piland, Ferrara, Macciocchi, Broglio, & Gould, 2010). Many different health conditions share symptoms such as headache, fatigue, dizziness, and sleeping problems, all of which are common following a concussion.”

NeuroTracker is one example of an excellent tool for baseline assessments of the neurocognitive sta-tus of an athlete. These types of neurotechnologies could provide a valuable rehab tool for monitoring concussion symptomatology and more subtle long-term consequences of head injuries.

Takeaways

Neuroscience will continue to help uncover how the brain and central nervous system influences and determines motor control, and the mechanistic errors in motor control resulting in non-contact lower limb injuries. Poor baseline neurocognitive performance or impairments in neuro-cognitive performance via sleep deprivation, psychological stress, or concussion injury can increase the risk for subsequent musculoskeletal injury. Head injury prevention programs span well beyond ACL injury, and their impact will extend to prevention of impairment of neural function and neurocognition.

If you’re interesting in exploring this topic further, you can read my recently published open-access paper here.

Ball heading and subclinical concussion in soccer as a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament injury

Kakavas, G., Malliaropoulos, N., Blach, W. et al. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research, Res 16, 566 (2021).

Or if you would like to learn more about the importance of cognitive dimension in sports performance, here is an earlier Experts Corner blog that I wrote.

3 Reasons Why the Brain Rules Everything in Sports

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Pressure interferes with our ability to concentrate, sometimes diminishing athletic abilities, developed over a lifetime, in just mere seconds. However, it’s often performing under pressure when the greatest accomplishments in sporting careers are achieved. In this 3rd blog of 6-part series we will discover why learning how to dominate competitors in situations when under pressure, will help you actualize your true athletic potential.

Training Under Pressure

Competition creates pressure. That pressure will cause you to lose focus; and without focus your technique and performance will be limited. In fact the latest neuroscience research shows that when mental focus is overloaded, injuries are more likely to be sustained due to impairments in motor-skills.

This is why it’s important to train with high intensity to increase concentration, as well as learn how to reduce or even block out distractions. When you train in this state, it’s more likely you can also achieve a state of flow – when everything in the brain and body just comes together perfectly in the moment.

Repeatedly conditioning yourself in this intense training state will allow you to learn how to refocus your attention at will. This is exactly what the greatest athletes of all-time have mastered, and it’s an essential skill for being able to succeed in any situation.

Concentration Under Pressure

We need concentration, especially in the moments when doubts of our abilities creep into our minds. However, when pressure is overwhelming, it deactivates our focus. So pressure is a direct threat to our concentration, yet concentration is also the solution to this threat.

Concentration helps us to connect with our most important goals in sports, and is naturally critical for situational awareness and accurate decision-making. If you have ever been really under pressure in a competition, it’s likely that you tell yourself "Concentrate!” But at the same time, your inner voice asks “How can I do that?”

Taking Control Over Distractions

We have a multitude of distractions when we compete. Most athletes are aware of external distractions, such as crowd noise, taunting by opponents, or something as simple as a shoelace coming undone.

However, the most significant distractions are usually internal. This can be conversations in your head, fluctuations in emotional states like nervousness, or most importantly fear of failing. High pressure situations magnify this mental noise, making even top athlete’s performances crumble in the moment. World Cup penalty shoot-outs are a great example of how challenging internal distractions can really be.

The ability to take control over distractions is known in neuroscience as selective attention. This allows you to consciously choose what to focus on, and what not to focus on. Few athletes or even coaches know that this is a very trainable cognitive skill. In fact it’s one of the reasons we use NeuroTracker at the International Center, which is very effective at rapidly building up the brain’s attentional muscles.

Great players succeed when their skills and attentional control are synchronized under pressure. With this, most distractors just seem to disappear, and the mental space it creates, gives the illusion that time slows down during the heat of action.

Using Dual-Tasks to Push Neurophysical Limits

A great example of training techniques that push an athlete to their performance thresholds is neurophysical dual-tasks. At the International Center we apply this with all our athletes, but only after they have sufficiently progressed their cognitive abilities.

We use the patented NeuroTracker Learning System, where we put an athlete’s attention under high-cognitive load, while simultaneously attempting skill specific tasks. With this methodology we are able to condition any athlete to adapt to situations of maximum difficulty. Here is an example applied to Olympic Shooting.

If we are able to prepare ourselves through situations of maximum difficulty as in the video, the athlete is working with a specific program of 1 ball, adapted to his sport, Olympic Shooting. With the dual-task, he's using 20 kilograms of weight to generate that pressure; that blockade and stress is an added difficulty so that the athlete only focuses on following the program.

Mastering Your Optimal State

Now it’s your time to master the ability to reach your optimal state in critical moments of performance. Lots of sports professionals talk about the importance of flow - feeling the moment and mastering the pressure. The state of flow is the moment when everything slows down and your mind processes only relevant information with high efficiency.  

Training in ways that push you to your threshold, not just physically, but more importantly mentally, will optimally condition your attention and concentration. In turn, this will unlock your hidden ability to handle pressure any situations. Mastering both body and mind in synchrony is how great athletes achieve consistent success.

Pressure in the world of sport is a daily occurrence. Sport has become a global industry with more people watching and higher standards of performance than ever before. Reaching your goal in modern sports depends on how you manage the pressure that comes with the territory. At the International Center we specialize in preparing athletes to increase their performance against the odds. If you are looking to train like a champion with us, find out more at the International Center website.

You can also read the first two blogs in this 6-part series here.

‍The Secrets to Dominating in Your Sport Part 1 - Execution

The Secrets to Dominating in Your Sport Part 2 – Injuries

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The difference between the gold and silver medal in the 100m Men’s Freestyle final of the Tokyo Games came down to just 0.06 seconds – less than one sixth of the time it takes to blink! Today’s world-class swimmers push the boundaries of human performance so close to their limits, that such marginal differences often decide positions on the podium. This makes professional swimming one of the most competitive events in the world of sports. Hence these athletes are constantly searching for any performance edge they can, no matter how seemingly small. Here I’ll cover a study revealing that the cognitive dimension of performance could provide a new edge in reaction times, allowing swimmers to get off-the-blocks and into the water faster.

What Was Studied

I worked with Professor Brian Christie and research colleagues to test the hypothesis that improved selective attention via visual training can transfer to improved reaction times to auditory cues. This is based on the theory that the visual and auditory centers of the brain are functionally coupled in terms of shared attentional resources.

To do this we conducted a study with 15 male and female swimmers on the University of Victoria Vikes Swim Team, comprised of high performance athletes and a world champion. The goal was to see if cognitive training to improve selective attention, would yield far transfer to faster off-the-block dive times

Off-the-block dives are defined as the time between the start gun firing and the swimmer’s front foot leaving the blocks. Here are the four stages of a race dive.

Dive reactions rely on auditory selective attention, which can be thought of as mentally filtering out all other sounds in order to listen acutely for the gun. Here is the methodology we used to investigate if auditory performance could be positively affected by improved visual selective attention.

Training Intervention - we chose NeuroTracker as a tool with a strong evidence base for effectively training selective attention. As you can see in this demo, the task requires visual attention to be focused onto prioritized moving targets, and away from distractors.

Multiple studies show that training on this task produces notable gains in selective attention within 3 hours of training. We assigned an active group to perform 30 x 6-minute NeuroTracker sessions alongside their normal weekly swim training, as well as a control group who did only swim training.

Dive Testing – we closely simulated a competitive race environment for the athletes, which included an audience of college students as active spectators. To measure dive performance on millisecond timescales, we used the Ares Omega Timing System.

Each participant conducted a series of 3 separate dive tests prior to NeuroTracker training, with rests in between each dive. Then another 3 dives test were conducted in the same way 7 weeks later, after the NeuroTracker training intervention had been completed.

What Was Found

The study took place early on in the competitive swim season, so as expected, the 7 weeks of swim training produced some improvements in the control group’s dive results. However, in contrast, the active group trained on NeuroTracker demonstrated significantly larger drops in reaction times off-the-blocks.

In comparison to the control group’s average improvement in reaction time of 0.034 seconds, the active group achieved their dives 0.081 seconds faster, demonstrating more than twice the gains from their additional cognitive intervention - a training advantage of 0.047 seconds.

This advantage was surprisingly consistent across the participants, suggesting a reliable far transfer effect. Anecdotal reports from the active group also included improved sustained attention and concentration levels in their academic study work. These findings support the hypothesis that training attention in one sensory modality (in this case vision), can positively affect other modalities (in this case auditory attention).

Sports vision research tends to focus exclusively on visually dominated sports like soccer, basketball, tennis and so on. However, visual training methodologies may well be relevant for the performance enhancement of non-visually dominated sports, particularly those which rely on auditory reactions, such as rowing, cycling, and running.

As this domain is relatively unstudied, it would be great to see more research investigating this area of sports performance.

The Competitive Advantage?

As we covered at the outset, professional swimmers seek marginal gains in race times because they have a relatively large impact on competition outcomes. To qualify the effects for these results I looked into race times at past Olympics, to see how much of a difference there would be in terms of who won medals.

A 0.1 second change in race results would have caused a total of 65 Olympic medals to have exchanged hands between the 1972 and 2004 Olympic Sprinting events (50 m – 200 m). Interestingly, as the standards of the sport progress over time, the differences become even more significant. For example, at just the Rio 2016 games, a total of 30 Olympic medals would have exchanged hands.

The Takeaway

Modern day professional swimmers and their coaches are constantly search for new ways to gain a marginal performance advantage. Visuo-cognitive training tools like NeuroTracker may offer a distinct performance edge with just a few hours of distributed training, and with no risks of injury or overloading existing training regimes.

View the full published study here (open access).

Effects of 3D-Multiple Object Tracking on Reaction Time Performance in High-Performance Varsity Swimmers

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Road trips are a fun and adventurous option to head from north to south and explore the hidden gems in the world that you will not be able to see if you fly. However, it requires a fair amount of planning when it comes to outings so that you can pack the things that are necessary to you. From the several things, you need for your personal use to must-have items, ensure to pack all of the essentials to save yourself from hassles. Here is our road trip packing guide to ensure you have the best and safest time.

1 Stock up Edibles and Water

Bringing along edibles and water for your road trip is a common rule that needs to be followed. After all, packing your own edibles on a long journey is a good idea for numerous reasons. You don’t have to find good quality food at every pit stop. Plus, you will eat nutritious food as well.

Make sure to pack a variety of edibles that are delicious, nutritious, and satisfying not specifically for you but for other passengers as well. After all, you cannot be sure about hunger.

Following are essential travel edibles for long trips: -

1 Eggs and bread slices.

2 Fresh fruits and Vegetables (exclude oranges, blueberries, carrots, tomatoes, etc., as they require chopping).

3 Tea bags, cans, juices, or other easy-to-mix beverages.

4 Chips and chocolates.

5 Canned foods like tuna, beans, bacon, etc.

2 Keep Gadgets Handy and Powered Up

Snapping pictures during the day or listening to music continuously will drain the battery. With a portable charger, it is essential to bring some additional batteries and a car charger to ensure your gadgets remain powered up, especially in those cases where you can't find a spot to charge the devices.

Moreover, before leaving, test out the car charger to confirm that each gadget is working correctly.

Suppose you plan to bring your bulky equipment from sporting goods to camping gear. In that case, try installing a roof rack. Or, if you are wondering how to use a roof rack, research more about it as it can be your savior in many cases.

3 Go for Comfy Outfits and Shoes

Comfortable clothes and shoes need to be on your priority list, considering you will be sitting for a prolonged period. Choose the outfits made up of cotton, as they are generally more comfortable and breathable. Meanwhile, a dry fit option is ideal for wet terrains.

In contrast, try to evade heavy pieces of denim since they can make you feel uncomfortable. Also, be ready for the weather changes and keep thermals if the temperature drops.  

It's recommendable to check the weather forecast for all the regions you are planning to visit at least before you leave so that you will pack accordingly.

4 Emergency Kit

It's advisable not to go on any long journey without an emergency kit as you don't know what can happen on the road. Just like you require your car to be checked before leaving, it’s the same with your emergency kit. Consequently, it's vital to carry an emergency kit to ensure safety.

Make sure the flashlight is working well, the jumper cables are there, or the first aid kid essentials are not expired. Except this, make sure to have a blanket, hand warmers, gloves, and ice scraper during the winters to save yourself from trouble.

5 Good Navigation Apps

Before heading on any journey, one of the significant road trips essentials is installing a navigation app—particularly the one with online features since you are driving in an uncommon area. Navigation apps help navigate nearby traffic, discover stops, and, most importantly, recalculates the track if you lose the route.

Additionally, it's not wise to rely entirely on these apps. It can be multifunctional, but sometimes it can offer incorrect information. So, it's better to research the route beforehand.

6 Entertainment to Keep Everyone Happy

Bringing along all of your entertainment items is the best way to go for a fun-filled road trip, from music to games and high-tech gear. A decent selection of playlists, audio   immediately doubles up the fun. Moreover, you can download the podcast to keep things interesting throughout the trip.

Similarly, it's always a brilliant idea to download content to a smartphone beforehand if you lose the connection during the road trip. In addition, if you are a fan of reading, do not forget to bring your favorite book or kindle if you want to save space.

Wrap Up

Before heading, it's vital to locate all of your necessary documents like your driving license registration documents, etc. So, make sure you do a quick check, at least before leaving. Additionally, several cities have highways with toll-booths, so make sure to keep the cash ready or indulge in research to locate the alternative route.

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CBD has gained a lot of attention in recent years, and understandably so. This great cannabinoid offers numerous benefits. You can use it to treat many conditions, including chronic pain, anxiety, and even cancer! Not to mention, it's a great alternative to traditional medications. But what most people don't know is this miracle molecule can also relieve joint pain. Here are six reasons you should use CBD for joint relief.

1. There are Numerous Ways to Consume CBD

One of the best things about CBD is that there are countless ways to consume it. Therefore, if you're looking for a natural treatment that fits effortlessly into your lifestyle, CBD is it. Some of the ways you can incorporate CBD into your lifestyle include the following.

CBD Gummies

CBD gummies are one of the most popular forms of CBD (for more information, consider this online option: https://cbdfx.com/collections/cbd-gummies/), and for a good reason. Everyone loves gummy bears, and CBD offers the same experience without the side effects of THC.

CBD Edibles

You also have the option of consuming CBD with a wide variety of edibles. You can eat it in the form of chocolates, beverages, and even baked goods. However, you need to be careful with dosing if you're making the edibles yourself since, excessive CBD can result in an unpleasant experience.

CBD Topicals

If you don't like edibles, consider using a topical application to get your daily dose of CBD. Topicals are an excellent way to target specific areas of pain.

CBD Vapes

Vaping CBD is a great way to get your daily dose quickly and easily. You can also customize your vape experience by choosing the flavor and potency that's right for you.

CBD Tinctures

Tinctures are another easy way to consume CBD, and they offer a longer-lasting effect than most other methods of intake. This form of consumption involves dropping a few drops of CBD oil under your tongue and allowing it to absorb over time.

CBD Capsules

Capsules are perfect for people who want to make sure they're getting an exact dose of CBD each time. They're also easy to carry with you on the go.

2. CBD Is Non-Psychoactive

People have frowned upon marijuana as a natural treatment for a long time because of its psychoactive effects. However, CBD is non-psychoactive, meaning it doesn't produce the "high" associated with marijuana.

3. It's a Great Alternative to Joint Medications

There are numerous prescription and over-the-counter medications available for joint pain relief. However, some of these can have harmful side effects, such as damage to your liver or kidneys, and they can be addictive.

CBD is an excellent alternative because it has no dangerous side effects and works just as effectively, if not better than those harsher options you might find on store shelves. Not to mention, it's also non-addictive, so you won't have to worry about developing a dependence on it. This cannabinoid also comes with a host of other benefits that we'll delve into below apart from joint pain relief, including:

• Improved sleep

• Decreased pain and inflammation

• Boosted immune system function

• Reduced stress and anxiety

4. CBD Reduces Inflammation and Swelling

Joint pain is usually caused by inflammation. CBD oil has been shown to be incredibly effective at reducing inflammation and swelling in both joints and other areas of the body.

You can use CBD oil to treat many different types of joint pain, including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

5. CBD Has Antifungal and Antibacterial Properties

Another reason to stock up on CBD oil for joint pain relief is its antifungal and antibacterial properties. These properties make CBD oil an excellent choice for treating any infection or inflammation in the joints.

6. CBD Is Easily Attainable

With more and more states legalizing cannabis, CBD oil is becoming more accessible and easier to find. You can find CBD oil online or at many local dispensaries.

The fact that it's popular in most countries also makes it easier to find people knowledgeable about CBD oil and its various benefits. This way, you'll be able to get all the information you need about CBD oil.

Wrapping Up

While CBD has gained worldwide popularity in recent years, many people still don't have all the facts about this natural remedy. Therefore, it's understandable why you may be on the fence about CBD oil. However, this article should have given you a good idea of what CBD is and whether or not it's the right choice for your specific needs.

The bottom line is that there are countless benefits to using CBD oil in place of traditional medicine. If you suffer from joint pain, anxiety disorders, chronic inflammation, or sleep disorders, talk to your doctor about CBD oil as a potential treatment option. You may be surprised at how well this natural remedy can work for you. I hope this article has helped you better understand CBD and how you can take advantage of its properties!

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It may sound a little weird, but humans also hold an internal clock that maintains your body's biological and neurological rhythm over each daily 24 hour cycle. This rotates among sleeping at night and being awake during the day. This is commonly known as the circadian rhythm. This internal clock is situated at the base of the brain, known as the hypothalamus, which responds to all kinds of sensory stimuli, and manages your overall pattern of sleep.

Reasons like late-night shifts, jet lag, traveling through time zones, or even late sleeping patterns, can disturb the circadian rhythm. But that doesn't mean you cannot improve it. You can reset your sleeping cycle with the following six tips and tricks.

1. Avoid Napping

If your sleeping routine is already out of a track, skip napping specifically during the daytime as it doesn't restore the sleep that your body needs during the night. As a result, you will end up sleeping late at night.

Studies have indicated that napping is related to less night-time sleep and creates a disturbance in your sleeping cycle. But if you must nap, keep the nap between 10 to 20 minutes maximum.

2. Try Organic Supplements

Nowadays, people are pretty much aware of the importance of quality sleep. But sleep deficiencies can be harmful and affect the mind and the body. The ideal options are CBD, essential oils, and lavender oils to experience calming effects that help in inducing sleep.

CBD is a cannabinoid compound found in the Cannabis plant and is linked with numerous health benefits like:

• Reducing pain

• Improving mental health

• Lowering down the blood pressure

• Improving sleep, mood, and stress

The online market offers numerous varieties of CBD products from dedicated vendors like weedsmart.co, including CBD oil, creams, and CBD gummies UK. These organic supplements have the ability to reduce sleeping disabilities and enhance sleep quality. Lots of research indicates calming effects on the nervous system, leading to better quality sleep.

3. Avoid Eating Before Just Before Bedtime

Circadian rhythm is also connected to your eating habits, which means a late-night meal can disturb your sleeping pattern. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology confirms that delay evening meals is not suitable for health and can lead to unnecessary weight gain.

Try to eat dinner two to three hours before shut-eye. This way, your body will have enough time to digest food. Also, it's advisable to avoid caffeine as it has stimulant effects that result in the reduction of total sleep time.

4. Setup Your Bedroom for Sleep

While quality sleep requires ideal sleeping arrangements, which means setting your bedroom into a comfortable sleeping environment that leads to good sleep. So, try to design your bedroom with the help of warmer colors on the walls along with a well-placed bed to evade the cramped feeling.

Experts recommend changing your mattress every year to save yourself from the discomfort of saggy mattresses and lumpy pillows.

5. Avoid Noisy Environments

A peaceful environment plays an essential role in getting adequate sleep. Since a brain continuously processes sound, even a tiny snooze can lead to sleep distraction, making the sleeping process uneasy.

It is advisable to sleep in a calm environment. In addition to this, if you have a noisy neighborhood, white noise can help maintain an even tone and volume, helping to reduce the chances of abrupt sound changes causing you to wake up.

The following are some ideas to create white noise:

• Fan

• Air conditioner

• Air purifier

• Humidifier

6. Consult a Doctor

Sleep is a vital component that enables the body and mind to rejuvenate and offer you the feel-good energy that you need all day long. Everyone experiences occasional sleeping issues, and sometimes introducing minor changes in the routine helps resolve these issues and restore the sleeping cycle. But if you are constantly struggling with sleeping, you need to see a doctor immediately.

In addition to this, not getting enough sleep frequently can cause severe damages like:

• High blood pressure

• Obesity

• Diabetes

• Heart diseases

• Impaired memory

• Lack of alertness

• Excessive daytime sleeping

Poor oral health has also been found to cause disturbed sleep, as well as impact sleep quality and quantity. If you suspect you have dental issues and you have sleep problems, it's recommended to see a dental specialist for treatment.

You may also seek the help of a sleeping specialist, who can help if you are suffering from sleep disorders that need immediate treatment.

The Takeaway

Sleep is one of the most important factors in our daily quality of life, throughout our whole lives. While it's easy to fall into poor sleep habits, paying a little attention to your circadian rhythm and optimizing your sleep environment can get you back into the habit of high quality sleep.

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Health is something that many people start to notice the importance of when they’re older. It tends to be the case that good health is only really appreciated once it is in decline. This commonly leads to neglecting simple wellness habits that go along way to avoiding such decline in the first place. As the saying goes, 'prevention is better than cure'.

Typically speaking, most serious health concerns are related to, or are directly caused by lifestyle choices or poor wellness habits. The digital age has brought new challenges for health, such as increasing the likelihood of being physically sedentary, as well as factors like social media impacting our sleep quality. Added to this, the pandemic has made it even more challenging for individuals to take care of their health, psychologically, socially and physically. The rapid trend to move workplace practices into the home may also be taking it's toll in terms of bringing deadline pressures and work stress into the home place.

All this goes to say that being mindful of our wellness and consciously practicing good health habits is going to be more important than ever before in 2022. The first step is to know how to take care of yourself, even if it's through simple changes to your daily routines. Here are five easy-to-follow self-care tips to help you find your path to wellness.

1. Consume CBD

CBD products have remained highly controversial for a long time. Some people dislike the substance, while some have known for many years that it provides a plethora of medicinal benefits. Now that many countries have legalized the production and sale of CBD, it has become a growing wellness practice for millions of people.

Due to the integration of technology into the CBD industry, there is now an array of CBD products you can choose from, and each of them is equally capable of providing you with medical benefits like its ability to reduce anxiety and depression, improve heart health, and even help to suppress many types of pain. This makes CBD a great go-to supplement for all-round health needs.

If you want to get your hands on some CBD there are many online stores you can order from, such as CBD Oil UK stores, that will deliver to your doorstep. If you are looking for help in choosing from the many different CBD products available, checkout this introductory guide.

2. Understand Your Emotions

Without understanding your emotions, maintaining a sound quality is very difficult. Your feelings can range from happiness to sadness to anger and or other emotional states, and a lack understanding why can leave you like a dog chasing it's tail. Practicing mindfulness and even meditation has been shown in lots of research to be extremely helpful in learning to balance emotional states.

The most important thing is to be consciously self-aware of your emotional state, in order to realize what internal or external factors trigger emotional changes. This awareness allows your to self-regulate to avoid negative feelings happening before they occur. Or if circumstances make negative feelings somewhat inevitable, you can still internally analyze and regulate these emotions so they are much less impactful on your day-to-day wellbeing. Once you can can understand your emotions as they happen, acting appropriately and calmly starts to become second nature. You can also do this by introspection, talking to others about your feelings, or going to therapy.

3. Keep Learning New Things

One of the costliest mistakes you can make is to stop learning. Learning is part of what makes us human. If you stop learning, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Neuroscience shows that our brains thrive when acquiring new knowledge or skills, boosting your neuroplasticity and neurogenesis.

Learning can happen in many ways, the simplest and most common being learning from social interactions with others. In fact being socially active, especially in terms of having strong relationships with family and close friends, is a very strong predictor of how long you will live.

Learning is also significantly triggered through simply engaging in new types of experiences, even if it is from small changes in your daily life. For example, if you engage in sports for exercise, trying a new type of sport will challenge your mind and body to adapt through knowledge and skill acquisition, which in turn improves your overall adaptability and wellness.

4. Include Regular Exercise in Your Schedule

It’s understandable how today’s world, filled with endless work hours and fierce consumerism, has left little free time for many people. They are made to sit down for extended periods typing away at a computer. However, lower activity levels and a sedentary lifestyle could lead to many health problems. Some of these health problems include heart complications, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.

That’s why you need to figure out ways to input fitness into your schedule. Doing this would allow you to stay on top of your health and keep your wellness journey on track. You don't have to run a marathon to reap the benefits of exercise - simple things like working a standing desk or taking an occasional 30-minute break to take a walk outside still go a long way.

5. Stay Financially Responsible

Financial responsibility is the last but perhaps least obvious way to maintain self-care on your wellness journey. Sadly, many people don’t take care of their finances, which leads them to make unhealthy choices. In particular, spending habits which choose materialistic or status symbol purchases (e.g. a new car or smartphone), tend to having only superficial and short-term influences on your well-being. In contrast, choosing to invest in a high-quality diet and meaningful experiences, such as travel or social activities, has been shown to reap far more benefits with longer lasting effects.

Staying financially responsible is about investing in your health and wellness, and generally being less impulsive. The simple rule of thumb is to spend your money on experiences before possessions, which will help you afford better lifestyle choices overall.

The Verdict

Trying to stay on a wellness journey can be pretty challenging. These five self-care tips are some of the simplest ways to help keep your lifestyle on a positive track. Although it’s normal to derail sometimes, getting back on track is mostly about be aware of how important your ongoing health is, and what habits help promote your day-to-day wellness.

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It's easy to forget that the basic concepts of health and exercise remain the most effective in an age with fast tracks, hacks, and shortcuts. This is because "science maybe like an echo chamber." You'd have one truly next-level athlete if you combined all the elements of fitness-strength, power, speed, mobility, coordination, and agility into one package. Even if you don't achieve elite status, each of these characteristics can assist make everyday life simpler.

If you are not a professional athlete, it may not be easy to train like them. The key reason is that you have to do the work you're paid for on top of all your training, whereas pros get to sleep and eat as much as they want during their non-training time. Now let's look at 7 tips to train like an athlete and other vital areas that you need to focus on.

1. Know Your Limits

Although exercise is beneficial to your physical and emotional health, too much of anything can be bad. Excessive activity may lead to tiredness, injury, and even worse mental health. It's crucial to know your physical boundaries. Although pushing oneself to new heights can be exciting, it's critical to do so in a way that protects your health, preferably with the help of a professional. Also, keep in mind that taking drugs to boost competitive sports performance, is often prevented through regular drug testing, though some athletes try to get around this by using stores that sell synthetic urine.

2. Relax and Release

Myofascial release is a deep-tissue technique for deactivating unpleasant muscular knots and improving body flexibility. You may use a softball, golf ball, foam roller, lacrosse ball, or massage stick to perform this. Make smooth passes, and when you notice tightness or knots, roll out that region to help it relax. Bending, squatting, and jumping will be difficult if you have tight glutes. Before and after exercises, do tissue work to prepare for action and recovery.

3. Warm-Up Properly

Athletes have learned that they must first prepare their bodies for their careers to perform at their best. Most people think of a warm-up as a couple of static stretches, a little cardio, and maybe a little foam rolling. Still, if muscles and tendons aren't prepared for the motions ahead, they won't be able to perform to their full potential, limiting the movement's efficiency and effect. In other words, if you don't prepare, you're setting yourself up to fail.

4. Train More Than Once or Twice a Week

Of course, athletes have the advantage of training every day because it is their job. Still, you can learn from them that exercise regularly establishes good habits for continued training and allows you to challenge different body parts while providing adequate rest and recovery time. It's tough to develop bodily adjustments when you only train once or twice a week, whether your goal is cosmetic or performance.

5. Proper Nutrition Is Must

One of the most important aspects of any training program is athlete nutrition. At its most basic level, the food we consume offers the energy we need to operate at our best. Sports nutrition is a different industry, which may make things complicated. There are, however, techniques to ensure that your nutrition corresponds to your training:

Understanding food

Understanding food and how it affects your body is the first step in ensuring you're eating the proper stuff. You may learn about the connection between food, exercise, and the stomach in one of our courses and how to enhance mental health via nutrition. Understanding how nutrition and wellness are related will assist you in making smart food choices while training.

Adjusting Your Diet

As you better understand what an athlete eats, you may begin to alter your diet to fit your training schedule. This might include learning about healthy cooking or delving into the myths and realities of superfoods. Remember that there are a plethora of diet fads out there that promise various outcomes. However, eating in a way that will complement your training requires knowledge and effort.

6. Workout Your Brain

To get an advantage over the competition, professional athletes train their minds. However, you might be wondering how these professional athletes develop their minds. They employ a cognitive training tool to develop essential skills in athletics.

Awareness, attentiveness, and decision-making are among these qualities. They can help you recognize critical play possibilities, filter out distractions, respond to plays faster, and anticipate your opponent's moves. Fortunately, you can do some cognitive training from the comfort of your own home to find out your mental fitness.

NeuroTracker is an example of cognitive training that is both scientifically validated and adopted at the highest levels of professional sports, yet is available to use in the in your own home.

7. Drink More Water

It's critical to drink enough Water while training so that your muscles can perform at their best. Water makes up the most connective tissue that connects and encloses your muscles. As a result, becoming dehydrated might negatively influence your performance.

The sliding surfaces between these tissue sheets and other structures get "glued" together. As a result, you may get cramping when working out, jeopardizing your workout.

Takeaways

Finally, it would help if you changed your focus. If you want your training to be sustainable, it needs to be about more than just avoiding a bad body image; it has to be about training for the right reasons. Take some pride in your physical abilities. The blessings of strength and movement do not stay indefinitely. To make the most of what you have today and preserve your body's condition in the future, develop effective workout habits.

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The reality many athletes know is that when you get injured, not only does everything stop, but your physical and mental performance abilities start to drop day by day. That’s why it’s crucial to maintain your cognitive abilities, in order to keep your competitive sharpness in terms of mental abilities. It’s also a way for you to return to training with more confidence. Let’s learn more about why keeping your mental edge is the key to successful recovery from sports injuries.

The Psychological Impacts of Sports Injuries

Injuries are often sudden, coming hand-in-hand with loss of motivation and focus, along with worries appearing on the scene, and in some cases even depression. In professional sports you are only as good as your last competition, and even the biggest sports celebrities become quickly forgotten. More significant though, also less well-know, is the impact on cognitive abilities.

The Cognitive Impacts of Sports Injuries

During rehabilitation your attention is often over focused towards your physical injury, consequently shifting your self-awareness away from changes in your mental capacities. However, you can be the fittest or most skillful athlete in the world, but in most sports, if your situational awareness and decision-making skills are poor, your performance will be the same.

When athletes recover physically from a serious injury, they may be physically back to game shape, but more often than not they aren’t mentally ready for peak competition performance. This is because injuries typically lower your cognitive abilities. The number one reason is that neuroplasticity rules the brain, which simply means ‘use it, or lose it’. Let’s dig into this concept a little more.

Impacts on the Brain

In biological terms, the human brain is a very expensive organ to run. Athletes typically need 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day, however professional chess players can burn up to 6,000 calories per day in competition, while just sitting. This is one reason our brains evolved to be very lean and efficient. Accordingly, when your grey matter suddenly lacks the stimulation it is used to from frequent training and competitions, it essentially starts to atrophy it’s neural networks.

This is similar to how you lose muscle mass when inactive. However, for the brain it happens more quickly, and this process can be further impacted by factors like stress and depression, that often come with serious injuries.

Lastly, the brain and body are closely interrelated, so sports injuries can actually directly impact the brain. For example, the latest sports science research shows that ACL injuries can also be considered brain injuries, because they damage areas involved with motor-control, which then further delays physiological recovery. On the flipside, brain injuries like concussions actually increase the risk of ACL injuries, and likewise, cognitive assessments can even predict the likelihood of an ACL injury occurring.

Losing Cognitive Game Shape is Normal

The big point here is that physical injuries can take their toll on brain performance in many different ways. Accordingly, losing your cognitive sharpness during an injury is simply a normal thing that happens.

Yet is also something that most athletes and coaches overlook, even though it is a critical factor when it comes to performance over a season. But what if I told you that you can keep training your mind to retain peak performance?

Maintaining Cognitive Game Shape

These days professional athletes at the highest levels strive to take care of all aspects of their performance, including the cognitive dimension. This helps them to maintain their level and be the best version of themselves the moment they are physically ready to return-to-play.

They key thing here, is that if you keep training visually, perceptually and cognitively, you’ll stay sharp. You may even be cognitively better prepared post-injury. One upside to this is that injuries will rarely ever prevent you from training between the ears. In fact, downtime during injury gives you a great opportunity to raise your mental game to the next level.

Mental Rehab Training at the International Center

At my training center in Madrid we specialize in maximizing the advantages of cognitive training on the road to recovery. In particular it can be useful to help guide the crucial timing of when an athlete is really ready to return to full training or competition.

This video is an example of a complex balance task with low physical risks, yet tests skills essential for performing well in martial arts.

With this approach we can use cognitive overload with NeuroTracker to detect motor-skill weaknesses not fully recovered. Then we can accurately and safely determine if more cognitive or physical rehab is needed before progressing to the next level.

This is really helpful, because in high level sports, the biggest mistake athletes and coaches make is coming back too soon and getting reinjured. Avoiding having to start rehab all over again is just worth its weight in gold.

Another advantage that we leverage is home training. One of the challenges for sports men and women suddenly out of action, is simply having nothing productive they can do at home, other than just rest. Here is an example of one of my athlete’s honing her mental focus under our home training program.

When athletes see their speed thresholds improving rapidly with this form of training, it brings a well needed motivational boost. This helps set up positive rather than negative expectations, and keeps their sights set on success after recovery. Additionally, they are one step ahead in their progress when we do our next in-center training session.

Boosting Confidence

When you start training again after traumatic injury experiences, you will inevitably feel some level of insecurity. Without noticing, you’ll be eager to get back and begin overloading your physical capacity to its limits, which brings additional psychological pressure. Loss of confidence is one of the most immediate ways your athletic ability can be lowered.

However, when you keep stimulating your brain to train and adapt it to different complex situations, you turn insecurity into feelings of mental certainty and confidence. The higher your level of attention, the more awareness and control you will have over your sports performance.

Imagine the difference between an athlete returning to competition feeling like they are not mentally ready to perform, compared to an athlete who knows they have trained their cognitive abilities to a level higher than ever before. I’ve seen this first-hand, and those two athletes will be worlds apart in their confidence to comeback.

Takeaway

Will inevitable sports injuries cause you to lose, maintain or actually increase your mental focus?  Believe it or not the choice is in your own hands - its simply a case of engaging in high-quality cognitive training. If there's one thing to remember here, it's that this makes a big difference in successful recovery from injuries.

At the International Center we strive to perfect the whole athlete during rehabilitation using the latest neurotechnologies and training methodologies. If you would like to learn more, checkout our website.

The International Center

You can also read the first blog in this 6-part series here.

The Secrets to Dominating in Your Sport Part 1 - Execution

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Alors que les méthodologies d’entraînements modernes évoluent à grands pas, aussi bien dans les dimensions énergétiques, physiques que stratégiques ou tactiques, les fonctions exécutives apparaissent aujourd’hui comme un élément essentiel de la performance. Le nombre de séances d’entraînements augmente. Les exigences deviennent de plus en plus complexes. Elles deviennent également de plus en plus éprouvantes, et la fréquence des compétitions participe à limiter considérablement le temps consacré à la récupération. Dans ces conditions, le sportif est soumis à des niveaux de stress jamais atteints. La dépression, le surentraînement, la blessure et la contre performance s’invitent au plus haut niveau et à des fréquences qui alertent les instances du sport, au point de diligenter des enquêtes et d’imposer des politiques visant à protéger l’intégrité physique et mentale de nos sportifs.

Nous avons atteint des limites physiologiques dans les domaines liés à la force, à la puissance ou à la vitesse. Le geste technique est répété tellement souvent qu’il est lui aussi parfaitement intégré. Malgré ce constat, la majorité des sportifs, ultra-entraînés, ne performent pas davantage, alors que d’autres, « des exceptions », pourtant moins forts ou moins rapides, semblent déjouer tous les pronostics et interrogent les spécialistes. Leur faculté à se défaire des situations complexes dans un contexte émotionnel favorable, leur niveau d’adaptabilité ainsi que leur incroyable capacité à trouver presque systématiquement des solutions à haute vitesse et même en situation de stress ou de fatigue intense, pose question.

Qu’ont ils de plus que les autres?

La spécificité du génome peut être? Il n’est pas question ici de penser que pour être un sportif de haut niveau il faut être « bien né ». Tous les sportifs de haut niveau font partie de cet environnement très sélectif. Alors pourquoi certains d'entre eux sortent-ils du lot ? Daphnée Bavelier, (Professeur en sciences cognitives) expliquait, en parlant des joueurs de Esport: « Lorsque les joueurs de FPS doivent chercher une cible, ils se fatiguent moins vite que la normale et sont moins distraits par d’autres événements liés à leur environnement. Ils agissent plus vite et parviennent également plus rapidement à recentrer leur attention à la recherche d’une nouvelle cible ».

Que doit-on comprendre?

Pour répondre à cette question j’aime me référer à cet exemple tiré du prochain livre de Philippe RODIER quand il veut nous faire comprendre la relation entre l’intuition et la performance: Dan Carter expliquait à son tour : « L’instinct, c’est le plus important et c’est aussi le plus difficile à laisser exister. Il m’arrive d’entendre quelque chose, une annonce d’un coéquipier ou l’ordre d’un adversaire, mais mes yeux me disent autre chose, alors je suis mon intuition ». Puis il ajoute: « Les choses bougent tellement vite sur le terrain que je ne sais même pas ce que je vais faire dans les secondes qui suivent » Elle est peut être ici la réponse. Les joueurs d’exceptions perçoivent mieux leur environnement que les autres. Dans toute ma carrière d’entraîneur auprès des sportifs de haut niveau, j’avais fait ce constat que la dimension physique avait atteint des limites. Je regardais les vidéos de matchs et mes analyses de jeu mettaient en évidence que celles et ceux qui se démarquent le plus, n'étaient pas toujours les plus grands, les plus forts ou les plus puissants mais ils savaient se jouer de toutes les situations complexes et contre toute attente. Ils savaient lire, mieux que les autres, leur environnement.

J’ai donc naturellement imaginé que s’il nous était permis de développer cette qualité perceptivo-cognitive chez tous les joueurs, et pas seulement chez ceux dont la vocation est de diriger le jeu, peut-être pourrions nous changer le cours des choses, les modalités d’entraînement, les charges de travail ainsi que la vision du jeu et de la performance. Au regard des études épidémiologiques des statistiques des traumatologies enregistrées dans le sport de haut niveau, il est apparu que la blessure survenait le plus souvent sous fatigue, dans le 3eme quart temps du jeu ou en hiver quand les conditions sont plus délicates ou en fin de championnat. Il n' en fallait pas moins pour me convaincre que la dimension perceptive, et bien évidemment cognitive, jouaient un rôle très important dans ce contexte. En effet, quand il n’est plus possible de prendre la bonne la bonne décision, le sportif se trompe de choix, il s’enferme dans des contraintes de déplacements inappropriés et génère de plus en plus de fatigue, de doutes et finit par conscientiser sa tâche. La contre performance et la blessure, dans ce contexte, ne sont plus liées qu’à une question de temps. C’est inéluctable.

Le NeuroTracker: La solution!

Jocelyn Faubert m’a contacté il y a plus de 10 ans pour me proposer son nouveau système d’entraînement de la vision périphérique et centrale. Le NeuroTracker. J' ai été immédiatement emballé à l’idée de me voir proposer une solution et un outil qui allaient enfin me permettre d’explorer cet environnement et d’aborder la performance sous un nouvel angle. J' avais besoin d’entraîner la vision périphérique, d’inconscientiser le traitement et la prise de décision et de proposer ce mode d’entraînement à tous mes sportifs. J’ai développé cette méthode auprès de plusieurs sportifs de haut niveau en préparation de compétitions nationales, internationales ou en préparation des jeux olympiques de Pékin, de Londres ou de Rio avec des résultats dont je n'imaginais pas encore la portée.

La particularité du sportif de haut niveau, réside dans le fait qu’il « va là où les autres ne vont pas et continue là où les autres s’arrêtent ». C’est en tout cas ma vison des choses. Ils sont donc liés à des processus mnémoniques qui en font des particularités. Prendre des décisions à haute vitesse et en situation de stress, comme toute chose, ça s’apprend. N’oublions pas que toute décision, qu’elle soit motrice, visuelle, ou cognitive, n’est dépendante que d’un seul acteur : Le Cerveau. C’est lui qui décide. Et pour prendre les décisions, il s’approvisionne presque exclusivement par la vision. C’est donc à lui qu’il faut s’adresser. La particularité de cette méthode réside dans son concept. Elle s’adresse à la vision, mais pas seulement. L’adaptation cellulaire est dépendante de l’intensité, de la variabilité et de la réitération de la charge. Autrement dit, développer une capacité musculaire ou nerveuse dépend de la capacité à proposer une sollicitation individuelle et ajustée dans l’intensité, de pouvoir créer un environnement que le cerveau percevra ensuite comme une norme, et de pouvoir également évaluer et incrémenter la charge en temps réel. (à condition que la réitération soit elle aussi ajustée et suffisante).

Le système propose de solliciter les muscles oculomoteurs à des vitesses maximales (liées à la fonction) et corrélées aux capacités du sportif au moment T. En plus de cet entraînement musculaire et nerveux, il a la particularité de mobiliser la stéréoscopie dont tout sportif dépend dans le cadre de sa pratique. Un autre avantage du principe proposé réside dans son temps d’action : 8’’. Qui est le Temps Limite pendant lequel le système nerveux peut mobiliser son pic de vitesse. Répété sur 20 séquences et sur plusieurs sessions, plus que ce pic, c’est aussi son temps de soutien qui est entraîné. 15 à 30’ de travail répété sur plusieurs séances et en situation progressive de double ou triple tâche, permet aussi de construire un environnement spécifique au traitement de l’information et à son entraînement. Le cerveau comprend ici que cette qualité devient essentielle et qu’elle prendra dorénavant davantage de place.

Au-delà de ces aspects, le travail sur NeuroTracker permet d’augmenter la mémoire de travail, mais pas seulement. Puisqu’il est question de s’adresser au système nerveux, sa sollicitation à haute vitesse adaptée, permet à l’information d’accéder à la mémoire séquentielle beaucoup plus tôt. La réponse cognitive ou motrice sont alors plus rapides et plus ajustées. Le sportif perçoit l’information plus rapidement. Il a l’impression de bénéficier de davantage de temps pour prendre sa décision (C’est le cas), il comprend plus vite son environnement. Enfin, il développe ses qualités de concentration et de vigilance, de focus attentionnel et d’attention divisée.

Ce procédé devient donc un atout indissociable de la formation et de la performance du sportif. Il est aussi devenu un moyen de prédire la performance.

La Fédération Française de Football l’a bien compris. L’ensemble de ses salariés lui a décerné le premier prix de l’innovation lors des journées de l’nnovation dans son centre d’entraînement à Clairefontaine. La direction technique de l’arbitrage (DTA) en avait déjà fait un outil de formation et de performance dans le cadre de la formation des arbitres de ligue1. D’autres clubs Français comme l’Olympique Lyonnais ou l’Olympique de Marseille l’on intégré dans leur prise en charge et l’intègrent aussi bien dans le cadre de la performance, que de la formation ou de la rhéabilitation.

La prise de décision à haute vitesse est une des qualités requises pour prétendre exister dans le sport de haut niveau. Il est donc essentiel de développer cette capacité et au plus tôt dans un projet individuel de haut niveau.

Hélène DEFRANCE, championne du monde Voile et médaillée de Bronze aux Jeux Olympiques de Rio a suivi cet entraînent perceptivo-cognitif durant toute sa préparation. Nous avions établi ensemble le besoin de garder un niveau de concentration le plus élevé possible pendant toute la durée de la compétition et de pouvoir être en capacité de lire les mouvements d’eau, de voile, ou la trajectoire des adversaires dans un contexte de stress permanent. (Les fréquences cardiaques des équipières en 470 avoisinent leurs maximaux théoriques pendant presque toute la durée de la compétition). Le NeuroTracker était donc tout indiqué et les résultats obtenus à la hauteur de nos attentes.

Vidéo d’Hélène de France lors de sa phase de consolidation sur NeuroTracker.

Un autre exemple de prise en charge mais cette fois ci dans le Tennis de Haut niveau avec Tan Harmony (Joueuse internationale Française).

Le tennis est aussi un sport dans lequel la prise de décision, l’anticipation et l’intuition sont des atouts incontournables de la performance. Les balles peuvent atteindre des vitesses avoisinant les 200 Km/h et la durée des matchs oblige ces sportifs à garder un haut niveau d’attention et de focus attentionnel sur quelque fois plusieurs heures.

Ici sur cet exemple la double tache consiste à reproduire le geste spécifique de compétition.

Outre le développent des capacités perceptives, ce mode d’entraînement est aussi devenu un mode d’évaluation des aptitudes à traiter les informations aussi bien sur le revers que sur le coup droit. Pour exemple, quand cette prise de décision est moins efficace sur le revers que sur le coup droit, le positionnement sur le cours en situation de jeu ne peut être optimisé. Le sportif compense et perd ainsi un temps considérable à capter et à traiter l’information. L’action motrice est alors retardée dans son exécution et il lui devient plus complexe de se positionner correctement sur la frappe suivante.

Exemple de Triple tache associant le geste technique au traitement visuel et moteur d’une autre information perceptive.

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While modern training methodologies are evolving rapidly, whether in the energetic, physical, strategic or tactical dimensions, executive functions are now appearing as an essential element of performance.

The number of training sessions is increasing. The demands are becoming more and more complex. They are also becoming more and more demanding, and the frequency of competitions contributes to considerably limit the time devoted to recovery.

Under these conditions, the athlete is subjected to unprecedented levels of stress. Depression, overtraining, injury and counter-performance occur at the highest level and with such frequency that the sport authorities have been alerted to the need to investigate and impose policies to protect the physical and mental integrity of our athletes.

We have reached physiological limits in the areas related to strength, power or speed. The technical gesture is repeated so often that it is also perfectly integrated. In spite of this, the majority of athletes, who are highly trained, do not perform any better, while others, "exceptions", who are not as strong or as fast, seem to thwart all predictions and question the specialists. Their ability to get out of complex situations in a favorable emotional context, their level of adaptability as well as their incredible capacity to almost systematically find solutions at high speed and even in situations of stress or intense fatigue, raises questions.

What Do They Have More Than the Others?

The specificity of the genome perhaps? It is not a question here of thinking that to be a high level athlete one must be "well born". All top athletes are part of this very selective environment. So why do some of them stand out from the crowd?

Daphnée Bavelier, (Professor in cognitive sciences) explained, talking about E-sport players: "When FPS players have to search for a target, they get tired less quickly than normal and are less distracted by other events linked to their environment. They act faster and are also able to refocus their attention more quickly in search of a new target".

What Should We Understand?

To answer this question I like to refer to this example from Philippe RODIER's upcoming book when he wants us to understand the relationship between intuition and performance:

Dan Carter explained in April 2016, (4 World Cup appearances (2003, 2007, 2011, 2015) "Instinct is the most important and it's also the hardest to let exist. Sometimes I hear something, an announcement from a teammate or an order from an opponent, but my eyes tell me something else, so I follow my intuition. Then he adds: "Things move so fast on the field that I don't even know what I'm going to do in the next few seconds.''

This may be the answer. Exceptional players perceive their environment better than others. Throughout my career as a coach of high-level athletes, I had made the observation that the physical dimension had reached its limits. I watched videos of matches and my analysis of the game showed that those who stood out were not always the biggest, the strongest or the most powerful, but they knew how to play in all complex situations and against all odds. They knew how to read their environment better than the others.

I therefore naturally imagined that if we were allowed to develop this perceptive-cognitive quality in all players, and not only in those whose vocation is to lead the game, perhaps we could change the course of things, the training methods, the workloads as well as the vision of the game and of performance.

In the light of epidemiological studies of trauma statistics recorded in high-level sport, it appeared that the injury most often occurred under fatigue, in the third quarter of the game or in winter when conditions are more delicate or at the end of the championship. It did not take much to convince me that the perceptive dimension, and of course the cognitive dimension, played a very important role in this context. Indeed, when it is no longer possible to make the right decision, the athlete makes the wrong choice, he locks himself into inappropriate movement constraints and generates more and more fatigue, doubts and ends up making his task conscious. The counter-performance and the injury, in this context, are no longer linked to a question of time. It is inescapable.

The NeuroTracker: The Solution!

Jocelyn Faubert contacted me more than 10 years ago to propose his new training system for peripheral and central vision. The NeuroTracker.

I was immediately excited at the idea of being offered a solution and a tool that would finally allow me to explore this environment and approach performance from a new angle.

I needed to train peripheral vision, to unconsciously process and make decisions and to propose this training method to all my athletes.

I have developed this method with several high level athletes in preparation for national and international competitions or in preparation for the Olympic Games in Beijing, London or Rio with results that I could not yet imagine.

The particularity of the high level athlete lies in the fact that he "goes where others do not go and continues where others stop". This is my vision of things.

They are therefore linked to mnemonic processes that make them special. Making decisions at high speed and under stress, like anything else, can be learned. Let's not forget that any decision, whether motor, visual or cognitive, depends on only one actor: the brain. It is the brain that decides. And to make decisions, it is supplied almost exclusively by vision. It is therefore to him that we must address ourselves and through the vision that we must enter.

The particularity of this method lies in its concept. It is aimed at mink but not only. Cellular adaptation is dependent on the intensity, variability and repetition of the load. In other words, developing a muscular or nervous capacity depends on the ability to propose an individual and adjusted solicitation in the intensity, to be able to create an environment that the brain will then perceive as a standard, and to be able to evaluate and increment the load in real time. (provided that the reiteration is also adjusted and sufficient).

The NeuroTracker system proposes to train the oculomotor muscles at maximum speeds (linked to the function) and correlated to the athlete's capacities at the time. In addition to this muscular and nervous training, it has the particularity of mobilizing the stereoscopy on which all athletes depend in the context of their practice.

Another advantage of the proposed principle lies in its action time: 8 seconds. This is the Time Limit during which the nervous system can mobilize its peak speed. Repeated over 20 sequences and several sessions, more than this peak, it is also its support time that is trained. 15 to 30' of work repeated over several sessions and in a progressive situation of double or triple task, thus makes it possible to build an environment specific to the processing of information and its training. The brain understands here that this quality becomes essential and that it will henceforth take on more importance.

Beyond these aspects, the work on NeuroTracker allows to increase the working memory. Since it is a question of addressing the nervous system, its high speed solicitation allows the information to access the sequential memory much earlier. The cognitive or motor response is then faster and more adjusted.

The athlete perceives the information more quickly. He has the impression that he has more time to make his decision (This is the case), he understands his environment more quickly. Finally, he develops his qualities of concentration and vigilance, attentional focus and divided attention, which are essential to sports performance.

This process has therefore become an indisputable asset in the training and performance of the athlete. It has also become a means of predicting performance.

The French Football Federation has understood this. All its employees awarded it the first prize for innovation during the innovation days at its training center in Clairefontaine. The technical direction of refereeing (DTA) had already made it a tool for training and performance in the context of the training of referees of league 1. Other French clubs such as Olympique Lyonnais and

Olympique de Marseille have integrated it into their training and are using it for performance, training and rehabilitation. High speed decision making is one of the qualities required to exist in high level sport. It is therefore essential to develop this capacity as early as possible in an individual high level project.

Hélène DEFRANCE, world sailing champion and bronze medalist at the Rio Olympic Games, followed this perceptive-cognitive training throughout her preparation. We had established together the need to keep a level of concentration as high as possible throughout the competition and to be able to read the movements of the water, the sail, or the trajectory of the opponents in a context of permanent stress. (The heart rates of the 470 team members are close to their theoretical maximums during most of the competition). ) The NeuroTracker was therefore the ideal tool and the results obtained were just what we expected. Here is a video of Hélène de France during her consolidation phase on NeuroTracker.

Another example of training, but this time in high level tennis with Tan Harmony (French international player).

Tennis is also a sport in which decision making, anticipation and intuition are essential assets for performance. Balls can reach speeds of up to 200 km/h and the duration of matches requires athletes to maintain a high level of attention and focus for several hours. In this example the dual-task reproduces specific gestures of competition.

In addition to developing perceptual abilities, this training method has also become a way to evaluate the ability to process information on both the backhand and the forehand. For example, when this decision making is less efficient on the backhand than on the forehand, the positioning on the court in a game situation cannot be optimized. The athlete compensates and thus loses a considerable amount of time to capture and process information. The motor action is then delayed in its execution and it becomes more complex to position oneself correctly on the next shot.

Here is an example of a triple-task associating the technical gestures with the visual and motor processing of other perceptive information.

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Since I created my blog Grieving Maman, I've been writing mostly on grief, trauma and PTSD that we experienced following our tragic accident. This article is the first in a series of posts about how ADHD is adding additional challenges to our family.

Last week, we received the results of an assessment done by a neuropsychologist to see if my son Maxandre has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The result; Mixed ADHD with hyperactivity/impulsivity and oppositional disorder. These were the results we expected; we would have been surprised to receive a different diagnosis. Here I will share my perspective to hopefully help other families in similar situations.

Diagnosis Can Be a Positive

The neuropsychologist took the time to explain to, us over the phone, why Maxandre’s diagnosis is ADHD with impulsiveness and opposition. We are happy to receive a professional diagnosis which will help us to better support Maxandre. All in all, for us, this is good news! Over the next week, we should receive the final written detailed report from the neuropsychologist.

Over the past year, I’ve read a lot on the subject. I also got a firsthand look at what ADHD really looks like since the children were mostly at home due to the pandemic and virtual school. Supervising and encouraging an ADHD child for virtual learning comes with its share of challenges. This experience gave me 99% certainty that Maxandre had ADHD. I was able to see, right in front of me, the differences compared to other students.

There's Nothing to Be Ashamed About

One of the biggest misconceptions some people have about ADHD is the idea that it is related to the way parents raise their children (“badly brought up kids” in other words). This is not true. We lived it with our two boys. Raised in the same environment, they were the polar opposites of each other, even though both were active boys!

Studies show that ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes differences in the brain, meaning that the brains of people with ADHD work differently. Since it is a neurological disorder, the symptoms are beyond a child’s control. As such, there is no shame in having a child with ADHD and talking about it. We must support the child and not be discouraged by their actions!

Understanding the Challenges

Below is an infographic that I created with reasons why managing ADHD can just be so hard. I chose the subject of “challenges” because identifying the symptoms is the first step for parents. The infographic lists some of the common difficulties within families, especially before a diagnosis. It is important that all of us, parents, grandparents, or others around us, be on the lookout for signs. It is even more crucial that parents feel less alone in their frustration.

Most of the challenges that occur below are more likely to happen during the day-to-day routine and at school. By contrast, in happier situations (e.g. visiting friends or grandparents), these issues are less likely to be apparent. As such, we must look beneath the surface and avoid making quick judgments, especially if we aren’t part of day-to-day life of the child!

Not all behaviours listed below will necessarily be present for all families and children with ADHD. The situations listed in the infographic are just more likely to happen with a child with ADHD. Each child is unique. A list of references that I consulted before I created the infographic can be found below.

If you found this helpful, please kindly share it with any other families it might help. Also, if you are a parent with an ADHD child, don’t hesitate to share it with you family or friends, they might understand your situation better after!

Lastly, please feel free to visit my blog site Grieving Maman. On my blog, I share our experience with ADHD, but also my personal perspectives on special needs families, grief, trauma and depression; while supporting each other through difficult times.

References

1. ADHD 101 - Why Kids With ADHD Need Different Parenting Strategies

2. Socio-demographic and clinical correlates of parenting style among parents having ADHD children

3. Kids With ADHD Suffer More Injuries

4. The Messy Bedroom (and Backpack and Locker) Cure for Kids with ADHD

5. ADHD: Expecting More from Chores

6. Hyperactive and clumsy: the same battle

7. ODD vs. ADHD: The Facts About Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Attention Deficit

8. Oppositional Defiant Disorder

9. Oppositional defiance disorder: When your kid isn’t just “difficult”

10. ADHD and the Epidemic of Shame

11. ADHD Parent Burnout Solutions

12. Growing Up With ADHD

13. Developmental ADHD

14. Coping with Shame When You Have ADHD

15. ADHD With or Without Hyperactivity

16. Data and Statistics About ADHD

17. Hyperactivity and conduct disorders: controversial diagnoses

18. Working Together To Better SUPPORT Young People

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As National Coach of the Royal Spanish Taekwondo Federation and Director of the International Taekwondo & Mental Coaching Center, I've dedicated my career to unlocking the secrets to sporting success. In this 6 part blog series, I'll cover the essential components of athlete development and that are also key challenges for most athletes. I believe these 6 factors are critical to achieving exceptional levels of performance. We'll cover mastery of execution, overcoming injuries, coping with pressure, competition preparation, optimizing concentration and efficient information processing.

In this first part we'll discover why athletes who excel, anticipate and execute the best decisions with the greatest speed.

Make the Best Decisions to Win

The biggest difference between performing poorly and being the best athlete is simply making the best decisions. This allows you to control the play and your opponents. The best athletes dominate the competition whenever there are moments that are pivotal to winning outcomes - it's everything or nothing. When you watch highlights of competitions closely, you'll notice that top athletes players have the ability to make crucial decisions when it matters the most.

You'll also notice that the MVP of the match is always someone who seemed to thrive in the most challenging moments of a game, and can transform a potential loss into a win in a single moment. For example Michael Jordan could face defeat, yet take the ball with 5 seconds left on the clock, and the world would seem to stop as he would snatch a seemingly impossible win. Indeed, it's these clutch moments that define truly great athletes.

Anticipate The Best Decisions

The best decisions always come from those who are able to anticipate optimal solutions in any situation. This is very important. In the crucial gameplay moments we just discussed, you'll also notice that great athletes always seem to expect an opportunity to arise, regardless of how surprising the situation may seem to other players. Similarly MVPs will not only review key matches and learn from them for future games, they'll also prepare themselves mentally, visualizing as many potential outcomes as they can, before a competition begins.

This gives them an edge over their peers, because prepared anticipation is a great ally against the huge pressures that come with professional sports. Athletes know that when representing their team, city or country, that how they perform under pressure will decide whether they are remembered as heroes or villains.

It's not knowing what to expect which amplifies the pressure when it happens. This negatively impacts attention and concentration, ultimately leading to decision-making errors.  Everything needs to start with a proper mental clarity - when you can anticipate well, your mind will be less distracted and more sharply focused on what it takes to achieve success.

Execute Faster in Competition

It's not just about how you act, but also the timing of when you act. If you think of athletes that you are most inspired by, then the chances are they are also extremely fast in their ability to execute plays and in their reaction times. This is because they have worked extremely hard developing speed of execution. To execute faster, it's essential to process information more rapidly, in order to be able to choose the best option almost instantly.

When everything is decided the pressure is higher, that's when you need to process, prioritize, and execute your chosen option. As such it's important to always strive to make plays rapidly, especially in critical moments when it makes all the difference. The context of competition needs a higher level of attention, because pressure is always a threat of distraction, ready to block your performance.

Putting it Altogether

Acting like a winner IS mastering the timing of the game, choosing the best play, making the decisive play - or as I like to say: MAKING THE DIFFERENCE. At the International Center we dedicate our training programs to unlocking potential for many different types of athletes. We do this by systematically conditioning these key cognitive skillsets under pressure, using the latest training methodologies.

Here is an example of our training methods using NeuroTracker 3D multiple object tracking with Optic Flow (visual tunnel), in order to build-up cycling awareness while under high neurophysical loads.

By conditioning attention and processing speed, then simulating the mental demands of competition, we turn good athletes into great athletes. With faster, more accurate, and better anticipated decisions, they become ready to excel. Learn more about our techniques on the International Center website.

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PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a disorder that is categorically characterized by the inability to recover after witnessing a terrifying event. Although most commonly associated with war veterans, PTSD often results from; sexual abuse, road accidents, physical assaults, terrorist attacks, and any nerve-wracking event that leaves one in severe shock. Some victims of these unfortunate events might be able to heal and get along just fine with their lives. Still, some other individuals might fail to recover and become irrationally sensitive to everything around them.

How It Affects Individuals?

In the US PTSD is much more common among ethnic groups like Latinos, African Americans and American Indians. It is also around three times more prevalent in female adults compared to males.

Post-traumatic stress and PTSD are pathological because they are deviations from the normal neuronal pathway. Typically, endocrine chemicals like cortisol and adrenalin are released in mass into the neural system when an unpleasant event occurs. These hormones prepare the body for flight and fight response. After the situation is controlled, the individual ought to return to his normal physiological state, but when this "reset" fails to happen, the problem can be judged to be PTSD.

This disorder affects the nervous system and can linger on for months or even years, causing the sufferer to recall pictures and memories from the incident when triggered. PTSD also interplays with the sufferer's emotions, causing extreme physical and emotional reactions. Hence, it is not uncommon to find sufferers of PTSD in severe stress, fear, and excessive worry. They are also characterized by sleep deprivation, moodiness, frequent flashbacks to unpleasant events, etc. And, according to the ADAA (Anxiety and Depression Association of America), about 7.7 million adults in the United States suffer from this condition. As a result, since PTSD is a prevalent health challenge, it would help to know some tips to employ when it is needed.

Now we've covered the fundamentals, lets explore five tips that can be helpful for managing PTSD successfully.

Use CBD

CBD is the all-powerful multi-purpose component of the hemp plant that has been shown to help relieve various forms of health conditions. Previous research showed that cannabis could eliminate anxiety or prevent heightened concern altogether.

A study carried out on cannabis in 2019 showed that this plant helps combat PTSD, and although scientists are still not clear on the mechanism of action of CBD, they presume that CBD acts on the amygdala and hippocampus.

Another group of researchers believes that CBD can completely extinguish terrifying memories. Whichever is the case, it is confirmed that CBD brings relief to PTSD. So, you can try CBD for reducing PTSD symptoms, and there is also a wide range of CBD products to sample. There are CBD oils, gummies, sprays, pills, etc.

Mindfulness Meditation

It is a fact that relaxation and meditation help relieve a wide range of medical conditions, so this concept of mindful meditation seems to be very promising as a cure for PTSD. It is non-invasive but entails mindful-based cognitive therapy. Meditation works for hand in hand with relaxation techniques, so firstly, get in the habit of pampering your body.

Get sufficient sleep, eat rightly, and perform some physical stunts. You might not be the type to languish in a spa but indulge in what works for you. Perform any activity that gives you happiness; swim, walk, stretch, listen to songs, jog, dance, cycle, etc. Engage in these activities to enforce an explicit awareness of your present reality on your consciousness centers.

Art Therapy

This PTSD therapy has gradually begun to pick up magnitude over the years. This therapy aims to help people with PTSD externalize and learn to handle their deep-seated emotional hurts.

They encourage PTSD patients to relieve themselves of the painful memories by channeling their emotional energies into art. So, these patients get to paint, draw and create sculptures. By so doing, the people living with PTSD find some relief from their aches and anxieties.

Regain Focus Through Physical Activity

It is a testimony from the lips of confirmed PTSD sufferers that engaging in pleasurable physical activities provides them with strength and helps alleviate their stress levels. These physical activities are not only meant to whisk you away from your problems temporarily, but they also help you to recall how great your life was before the trauma. In similitude to the relaxation techniques, the best thing to do here is to comply with what is most suitable for you, and there are tons of hobbies you could pick from.

Engaging in these activities would also provide the much-needed boost you need to sleep properly. Get a trusted friend or partner to carry out these activities with, and not only would you have strengthened your muscles, but your mind would also be made healthier.

Pets for PTSD

One of the least exploited methods of combating PTSD is employing pets' help. Of course, pets are susceptible to becoming additional burdens but, some trained pets can help people living with PTSD cope with their condition. By purchasing one of these highly trained pets, you can be assured of short-term help managing your anxiety level.

These 'super pets' are trained to sense when a person living with PTSD begins to drift into anxiety. On perceiving this, the pets try to gain the attention of their owners and help them snap out of their invisible illness.

Conclusion

PTSD is a menace that might not be visible to the eyes, but can have dire long-term consequences if left to roam free. Therefore, if you have a loved one who suffers from this condition, it's recommended to share the tips highlighted in this article.

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Virtual experiences have come a long way in recent times. VR technologies that would have literally cost hundreds of thousands of dollars just a decade ago, can be bought by anyone today for just a few hundred bucks. Due to Moore’s Law, technology is becoming more efficient, smaller, and cheaper, at an accelerating rate. This pace of progress is skyrocketing the development of VR, with the hype of the metaverse now looming eagerly on the horizon. But if you’re as confused as alphabetti spaghetti over the differences between VR, AR, MR, XR and the metaverse, then worry not, we’ll cover each in a nutshell here.  

VR (Virtual Reality)

Technically speaking any kind of realistic simulation of reality constitutes a form of virtual reality. For example, stereo headphones provide a high-fidelity virtual experience that we’re all familiar with. However, whenever the term VR is used today, it pretty much relates to two specific aspects of virtual experiences that create an exceptionally strong immersive experience.

The first aspect is the use of stereoscopic 3D view from a 1st person perspective across a wide field of view.

The second is a little more nuanced, but equally powerful. It involves the perceived environment being seamlessly adjusted to accommodate changes in your viewing direction and location. Going a step further this can also include adaptive virtual representations of your own body (typically hands).

Together this means that you will experience the virtual world in a very similar way to how we perceive real-world experiences. Along with stereo sound, this convinces the brain that the virtual is actually surprisingly realistic – sometimes almost too realistic!

An example of a VR product on the market today is the Meta Quest (formally called Oculus Quest), made by META (the company formally called Facebook!).

AR (Augmented Reality)

With VR the emphasis is very much on ‘virtual’, as you are completely cut-off visually from the real-world around you. With AR, the goal is to use virtual reality to enhance or morph actual reality, by blending both into a singular experience. Here the emphasis is on ‘augmented’, meaning you perceive reality in a way that goes beyond normal experiences. A simple example would be going to play laser tag, but when you see your opponents, you see realistic looking aliens, instead of the humans that are actually there.

Much the same as VR, stereo 3D and adaptive viewpoints are essential ingredients of AR. In terms of commercial products, AR is still very much in its infancy. Microsoft’s Hololens has been leading the way, but is still very much a limited form of what this type of experience promises to become.

One common misunderstanding is that devices like ‘smartglasses’ (e.g. Google Glass), are also AR. In fact, this form of tech only delivers flat displays that do not adapt to changes in view. Neither AR nor VR, these are known as yet another acronym – HUD (Heads-Up Display).

MR (Mixed Reality)

Fortunately, our third acronym on the list is now very easy to explain. MR is simply a marketing spin on AR. This was largely driven by Hololens and Magic Leap. Hence AR and MR are both used interchangeably. Although AR has been around for over a decade, the term mixed reality is likely simpler for the everyday person to understand.

A further clarification is that VR and AR/MR can be collectively referred to as ‘immersive media’.

XR (Extended Reality)

XR is also relatively straight-forward. It basically refers to technology that can switch between VR and AR/MR. Basically this term came about to save companies having to describe their products as virtual reality and augmented reality devices. Enough said.

Metaverse

You’ve likely heard the term ‘metaverse’ being bounced around due to Meta investing some serious marketing dollars into hyping up the next evolution in virtual experiences. At this stage it’s still more of a concept born out of science fiction, than an actual experience. As such, it’s also a concept that there’s not yet a clear consensus on.

At the simplest level the metaverse takes VR (virtual metaverse) and/or AR (augmented metaverse), and applies them to a persistent virtual environment that exists independently, and is shared by many people.

An analogy for this is the game World of Warcraft, where millions of people play quests in a fantasy landscape that carries on in real-time, even when you are not playing. The metaverse could also be more of a unified network of virtual worlds, a little like connecting all multiplayer games into one ecosystem.

At the other end of the spectrum the metaverse could become an embodiment of all virtual experiences within a single and cohesive world. It could also contain its own socio-cultural norms, economy and political systems, as a parallel, yet independently functioning virtual universe.

In this sense the metaverse isn’t fundamentally about technology, instead it’s about how the human race will transform its relationship with technology.

In a Nutshell

Boiled down here are the essential definitions.

VR – fully simulated experiences that are highly immersive

AR – real-world experiences enhanced by immersive simulations

MR – an interchangeable term for AR

XR – technologies which can switch between VR and AR

Metaverse – VR and AR/MR experiences within a shared and persistent virtual universe

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In part 1 of this 2 part blog we covered an introduction and some of the history behind the 6 biggest types of games in eSports. As we saw they vary quite radically, for instance comparing RTS and FPS is a little like comparing say soccer to boxing – totally different! The big question to answer here is how do these eSports differ in terms of the mental loads on some of the highest performing human minds on planet earth? The goal here is to analyze each class of gaming to discover which eSports are the most demanding on high-level cognitive functions – enjoy!

Essential High-Level Cognitive Abilities in eSports

First we’ll break down the each type of the 6 eSports in terms their demands on seven different high-level cognitive functions. Research shows that many types of cyber athletes possess mental abilities that surpass those of non-gamers. Based on the NeuroTracker Team’s knowledge of neuroscience, here are our selection of the particular aspects of elite gamers’ mental prowess that matter most.

Processing speed – the amount of sensory information that can be meaningfully processed and evaluated over time. Why it’s important – this literally determines how fast you can operate in any demanding situation. As this decreases throughout adulthood, it's the reason why professional gamers tend to be young.

Working memory – the total load of information that can be held in mind and simultaneously manipulated in a given moment. Why it’s important – call it multitasking or mental juggling, this form of cognitive bandwidth is essential for thriving in complex or chaotic situations.

Depth perception – the ability to perceive your position relative to the environment and objects moving away or towards you. Why it’s important – perceiving depth is the most complex form spatial awareness, and is critical for predicting where you and your opponents will be, moment to moment.

Peripheral vision – the total visual field of view that can be effectively perceived. Why it’s important – having a wider useful field of view allows more visual information to be absorbed, and is essential for being able to track many moving objects, as well as virtual motion from a 1st person perspective.

Situational awareness – the ability to evaluate the relevance of perceptual information in terms of environmental consequences. Why it’s important – it’s especially key for recognizing situational threats or opportunities, and is an essential component of any kind of tactical or strategic awareness.

Decision-making – the ability to evaluate all of the above (and more) in order to predict different outcomes and select the best opportunities in a given situation. Why it’s important – gaming involves endless concatenations of small to large decision-making events, smart choices add up quickly into large advantages, and vice versa.

Reaction time – the neurophysical response time to execute an appropriate physical action. Why it’s important – when there is only a small timeframe to execute a decision into an action, a fast response time is needed to actually make it happen, otherwise the opportunity is lost.

The Cognitive Demands of Different eSports

Now we'll evaluate each of the big eSports across these cognitive metrics on a scale of 1-100, with some explanation of how they are scored.

FPS (First-Person Shooters)

As we can see FPS games rank very highly on depth perception, which is essential for perceiving self-motion through the environment via optic flow, as well as the precise distance of opponents (think sniper targeting). It’s also a classic form of reaction-based gaming, where milliseconds determine who gets shot and who survives.

Working memory and decision-making are less taxing, as there are times during gameplay where players are mostly roaming the map scouting opponents or seeking defensive positions. Overall FPS players have high demands on their visual systems during the heat of action.

RTS (Real-Time Strategy)

As we can see, RTS games place very heavy mental loads across the board apart from reaction time (mostly confined to micro managing units) and depth perception (mainly discerning the differences between flying and ground units).

Peripheral vision may seem surprisingly high, but RTS players have to constantly scan the activity of myriads of both friendly and enemy units, often across the whole screen, as well as maintain astute awareness of the all-important mini-map. Processing speed, working memory and decision-making are also maxed out, with the world’s best players executing in excess of an incredible 800 gaming actions per minute (aka APM), while also making complex tactical and strategic decisions.

Fighting

Just like in martial arts, fighting games are the quintessential reaction challenge when it comes to gaming. Every attack, block and counter attack is intimately dependent on the opponent’s actions, pretty much every micro second of combat. This requires a reasonable level of processing speed to interpret and predict each action.

However outside of this, the mental demands are fairly low. Decision-making and working memory demands are quite limited in terms of the number of gameplay options. Visual focus is much more acute than peripheral, and depth perception is largely about simply judging left and right motion through parallax 3D effects, with the background moving at different speeds to the plane of combat.

Racing

When it comes to racing games peripheral vision and depth perception are absolutely critical. They also go hand-in-hand, especially when it comes to precise judgement of speed when cornering or going for inevitably risky overtaking maneuvers. These specific visual demands push the human brain to its limits, way past what it was evolutionary designed to handle.

Although reaction time and decision-making do win or lose races, they tend to only come into play occasionally during battles for position – moments which have to be timed and chosen carefully. Working memory is also not overstrained, as top-flight racing is more about acute focus and precision than mental juggling.

Sports

Sports games tend to be quite polarized in their demands. Similar to some degree to real sports - reaction time, situational awareness and peripheral vision demands are very significant. This is because tactical play is all about reading every player position moment-to-moment, in order to predict play threats and opportunities.

Depth perception is only stimulated moderately through judging ball trajectories along with minor differences in the relative motion of players that are closer, versus further away. Likewise, processing speed, working memory, and decision-making demands aren't very significant, mainly due to the limited number of play outcomes compared to other eSports.

MOBA (Multi Online Battle Arena)

As we mentioned in the last blog, MOBA competitions are fiercely competitive. They also have a phenomenal number of potential play outcomes in big team fights. For example in DOTA 2, each of the 10 different players can execute up to 37 combinations of hero abilities and items in synergistic fashion. This vast complexity, paired with fast-paced gameplay, rigorously tests players’ grey matter across the board, topping the charts when it comes to both challenging tactical and strategic decision-making thinking.

However, the Achilles heel for these high-level cognitive functions is the low demand on depth-perception. For the most part this just about judging the motion of occasional airborne spells or attacks across a mostly flat battle environment.

The Takeaway

As we’ve seen, the specific high-level cognitive demands of one particular eSport can vary quite dramatically when compared to another. Now let’s take a look at the overall scores across the top eSports.

As mentioned in the Part 1 of this blog, not all games are created equal. Also it’s useful to recognize that, with the exception of fighting games, all the big eSports games have very significant cognitive demands compared to the majority non-professional games.

Although FPS, Racing and MOBA games are close contenders, it’s RTS games that come up trumps when it comes to needing superhuman brain power in order to succeed at the highest standards. Even with the light demands on depth perception, RTS games still excel overall when it comes to taxing gamer’s neurons.

In particular, there is a huge gap between high-level competitive players and the world’s best RTS cyber athletes, who execute play actions on the order of 10 times faster than their lesser counterparts. This is likely the reason why cognitive sports scientists have chosen to study Starcraft II champions to investigate what makes gamers’ brains so special. Additionally, this class of gamers were the first choice for Google to field test an astonishingly powerful evolution of Deepmind AI, dubbed AlphaStar.

If you enjoyed this two-part article, then check out our other blogs revealing why eSports deserve to be taken seriously.

4 Blogs on Why eSports are Impressive

And in case you missed it - Which eSports Are the Most Cognitively Demanding? Part 1

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There are myriads of different types of video games, especially when you take into account the popularity of casual or hyper-casual gaming. That said, when it comes to competitive gaming, cyber athletes fall into 6 main categories of eSports - collectively attracting by far-and-away the most spectators and biggest prize pools in gaming. In Part 1 of this blog, we’ll cover a brief introduction as well touch upon a little history of each of the big eSports. In Part 2 we’ll analyze each eSport in terms of their demands on 7 different high-level cognitive functions, and then weigh-up which types of gamers have to be the most adept at flexing their mental muscle!

First-Person Shooters

First-person shooters, or FPS as they’re more commonly known, were originally spawned by the legendary game of Doom in 1993. The desire for fans of the game to compete across the internet was so strong that the makers of the game actually invented multiplayer technology, changing gaming forever. Modern iterations of the same game are still popular almost three decades on.

This distinct class of games essentially involve gunning your foes down from a first-person perspective, while maneuvering to get better shots and taking evasive actions to avoid getting incoming fire. They also combine tactical teamplay, typically with two of teams five or more players pitted against each other. Some of the most popular FPS games today include the long-running success Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, Arena of Valor, Fortnite, and the Call of Duty series.

Real-Time Strategy  

Also acronymized, RTS games blend strategy with fast-paced warfare. The epitome of multi-tasking gaming, players strive to build up a small empire via economic growth combined with tech research (macro play). They do this while managing growing armies from a top-down perspective (micro play), to steadily conquer control of the map, or rush to directly besiege their enemy’s base.

The Command and Conquer series popularized the format and brought RTS into multiplayer status. However, Starcraft II (Starcraft’s successor), has very much dominated the modern RTS landscape. The game was so popular in Korea that it literally helped bring the economy out of recession, with Korean players having a long history of being exceptional at this cybersport.  Whole TV channels have been dedicated to showing competition matches, and Korea’s top players are heralded with the status of rock stars.

Fighting Games

Fighting games deliver one-on-one brutal combat viewed from the sidelines. Born out of video arcades, they were the first games which allowed one player to really challenge another player head-on. The winner being the one who pummels their opponent into submission (or death) the first. Requiring very high-dexterity, this skill-based form of combat involves knowing precisely when to exact a combination of strikes on the opponent, and when to dodge incoming blows.  

Going all the way back to 1991, and still going strong today, the original Street Fighter II cemented this genre’s massive popularity. In 1992 it was soon followed by its far bloodier counterpart Mortal Kombat, and then the Japanese game Tekken. These games all successfully transitioned out of the arcades into homes, online gaming, and eventually eSports. That said they have been steadily declining in popularity compared to their eSports counterparts.

Racing

One of the earliest types of computer entertainment, racing or driving games have come a long since their graphically crude beginnings. Driving down race tracks or streets, they are the ultimate eSports simulation game. And today’s computer hardware allows for extremely realistic racing experiences which test a player’s cognitive skills much in the same way real driving does.

iRacing.com and Trackmania are examples of racers which attract respectable prize money, but it’s F1 eSports which has been gaining phenomenal growth and spectators in recent years. The video game even replaced real Formula 1 races, when events were cancelled due to COVID-19. Some of the biggest names in real F1 continue to compete regularly in online championships, with millions of viewers following their Twitch streams.

Sports Games

Ever since computers could do a decent job of recreating competitive sports, digital versions have been delivered into our homes. EA Sports has been the major video game maker on the market, covering long running series of NBA, NFL, NHL and MBL, with newer versions of the games released regularly. However, it’s pretty much only the sport of soccer which is globally popular in eSports tournaments, played through EA Sports’ FIFA 21 (and now FIFA 22). With a truly vast competitive player base, these cyber athletes have clocked up almost half a billion online matches.

Although very realistic, sports games are not sports simulations, as they are viewed from somewhere in-between a top-down and sideline perspective, and player actions have no resemblance to how the sports is actually played (unlike with racing games). Though they do involve some similar demands on situational awareness and tactical play.

MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena)

The core mechanics of MOBA evolved out of modding an older RTS game called Warcraft III (the predecessor of Starcraft). A whole community of gamers iteratively developed a brand new style of game by essentially hacking a game near the end of it's lifespan. This changed the history of video game development, as no company actually invented MOBA - instead gamers created all by themselves.

MOBA essentially blends FPS, RTS and RPG (role playing games) mechanics. Similar to FPS, matches involve facing-off two teams of 5 players against each other, with the ultimate goal of destroying the enemy base. Each players control a single hero or avatar (also like in FPS), but from a top-down perspective like RTS. Along with this is an RPG style leveling up of each hero via experience, allowing increasingly more powerful spells or combat abilities to be brought to the fray. The result of this melting pot of playstyles is a frenetic combination of tactical teamwork, meta-strategy and action gaming. As such, MOBA comes with a reputation for having an extremely steep learning curve, as well as being aggressively competitive.

MOBA games are both the newest type of game in eSports, and perhaps the least known generally. Nonetheless MOBA’s popularity among the serious gaming community has soared over the past decade, accounting for the most massive tournaments in eSports, as well as the most phenomenal prize pools. League of Legends and DOTA 2 are by far the most popular games of this genre, with a die hard following of fans. So much so, that in 2021, DOTA 2’s premier tournament (dubbed ‘The International’) dished out over $40 million dollars in winnings - with every cent contributed by people devoted the game!

The Cognitive Dimension – Which Gamers Will Come Out on Top?

Sports science and neuroscience research has demonstrated that elite gamers have exceptional cognitive abilities. In Part 2 of this blog, we will analyze each of these cyber sports in terms of their demands on mental bandwidth. Then we’ll measure them across these 7 high-level cognitive functions, which are all critical elements in gaming prowess.

• Processing speed

• Peripheral vision

• Depth perception

• Working memory

• Situational awareness

• Decision-making

• Reaction time

Scoring each cognitive function from 0-100, we’ll take the highest collective score to determine which cyber athletes require the biggest superbrains to compete at the top level. Who do you think will come up trumps? Find out in Part 2!

Which eSports Are the Most Cognitively Demanding? Part 2

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As a sports scientist and experienced coach with different types of athletes, the chance to work in eSports was a great opportunity. Luckily, I was recruited by the Alpine F1 eSports team to bring cutting-edge neurovision training into this truly exciting domain of human performance. In 2021 alone, we have made superb progress in transforming the team’s athletic abilities on the simulated track. Here I’ll share some insights on our unique approach, and reveal why the training methods of eSports athletes could change the way all athletic potential is developed.

Hyper Competitive Racing

In F1 eSports racing the goal is clear – to train the drivers (or ‘pilots’ as they are referred to in the sport), not only to perform at their best, but also to maintain their performance across the whole season. And in this domain the competition is extremely fierce. In the first Formula 1 eSports Series held in 2017, over 60,000 drivers competed through the qualifying stages. As the first traditional sport to have successfully transitioned onto a fully virtual platform, it provides both competitors and fans an unparalleled racing experience that is surprisingly close to real F1. To help get an idea, here is a clip of the Alpine Team in action.

The simulation side is also very sophisticated at the professional team level, with a pit wall crew communicating live telemetry data such as tire wear, along with very technical customization of each driver’s sim-station setup.

If you're interested to discover more, a series of great documentaries on the team’s development over the season can be watched here.

From Strength to Strength

Things have been growing rapidly ever since, particularly due to COVID-19, which led to real F1 drivers crossing into the virtual series when events were cancelled. This, along with the huge popularity of the Netflix Drive to Survive documentary, led to competitor and spectator numbers to rising dramatically. In 2021 close to half a million drivers competed to qualify in the F1 eSports Pro Series, with an estimated viewership of 26.8 million - making it one of the most popular events on online streaming platforms.

On top of this, real F1 stars continued to compete in virtual F1, bringing in an additional 2.7 million viewers from their live streams. The phenomenal growth of this eSports shows no signs of stopping.

The point is that F1 eSports is ultra-competitive. It's not just tenths of a second that count - it's literally thousandths of a second that make the difference at the checkered flag. The competition is so strong that it's all about the details!

Pushing the Boundaries of Human Performance Through eSports

Human performance development is of paramount importance to the strategic approach of the Alpine eSports F1 team.  For this reason, we work closely with the real Alpine F1 team, including sharing vanguard human performance approaches that we have developed on the eSports side.

One unique area we focus on is the neurovisual and physical conditioning of the drivers. Alpine brought me in as Manager of Performance, partly with the goal of bringing in the best tools currently available to improve drivers' visual, cognitive and motor performance.

Leveraging Cutting-Edge Science and Technology

What makes our approach particularly innovative is our driver training programs, which are built and developed on the basis of the latest scientific research and publications in cognitive neuroscience and sports psychology.

We use state-of-the-art technology such as NeuroTracker, to help drivers gain those few thousandths of seconds that make the difference between a podium finish and fourth place. As you can see here, the technology fits perfectly for the sim-racing setup, making it easy to use as pre-training or pre-competition warm-up to cognitively prime the brain on-demand.

As an up-and-coming team we’ve had phenomenal success in developing relatively low-ranked drivers into world class pilots, allowing us to battle for podium places with the very top teams like Mercedes. This is why Alpine F1 eSports management was asked to present to real race teams at Le Mans 2021, to share how leveraging technologies like NeuroTracker has allowed the team to punch well above their weight.

Custom Neurovisual Training Protocols

Within the team, we have put into place two specific training protocols in addition to the classic simulator training. The first is an evaluation and training protocol which targets the visual and cognitive functions of the drivers, which we call neurovisual training. The second is oriented around the development of the speed of motor responses and reaction times. These two training protocols combined allow us to put the pilots in the best possible position in terms of performance throughout the season.

In addition we use neurovisual assessments to test each driver’s performance readiness, and to recruit new talent. In a follow-up to this blog, I’ll share a case study demonstrating how these techniques helped us to statistically predict potential driver rankings and recruit diamonds in the ruff.

The Cognitive Advantage in Both Sports and eSports

Having worked with elite athletes across a wide range of sports, it was a surprisingly natural transition to move into sim-racing. This is because in traditional sports, the cognitive dimension of performance is a primary factor differentiating athletes at the top level.

In fact, many of the demands of traditional sports, real F1, and eSports F1 are very similar. This includes factors such as speed of processing and dynamic attention, but especially so for neurovisual abilities like peripheral vision and situational awareness.

Evolving Performance to the Next Level

As a truly innovative race team we are constantly striving to develop the next training technique or technology to achieve next-level athletic abilities. In particular we are keen to develop custom-training methods with NeuroTracker that give our pilots an extra cognitive edge. In fact, we are working directly with NeuroTracker’s scientific consultants, to merge neuroscience expertise with sports science, to evolve never-before-seen applications of the technology specifically geared for sim-racing.

That said, I can see how these evolutions in neurophysical training could lead to similar adaptations for real F1 racing, as well as traditional sports. Neuroscience and neurotechnologies have the potential to transform how elite athleticism is nurtured - with the brain in the center of attention. In this sense I can definitely see how the fiercely competitive eSports industry will be a catalyst for athlete development universally – exciting times!

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Year on year, the pace of neuroscience discoveries is both exciting and relentless. From lab grown mini-brains, to artificial intelligence uncovering evolutionary secrets of the human brain, enjoy these 7 of the most amazing breakthroughs of 2021.

Treating Severe Depression with Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation

A research team at the University of California San Francisco have successfully developed a method using deep brain stimulation (DBS) to adaptively treat depressive symptoms only when they appear. Deep brain stimulation involves implanting electrodes within the brain to deliver electrical currents to alter brain activity.

Previous studies have had limited success for treating depression with DBS because devices could only deliver constant electrical stimulation in one area of the brain. However depression can affect various areas of the brain, and the neural signatures of depression can rise and fall unpredictably.

With the aim of essentially creating a pacemaker for the brain, the scientists decoded a new neural biomarker. This specific pattern of brain activity effectively predicts the onset of symptoms. With this knowledge the team customized a new DBS technology that only activates when and where it recognizes that pattern.

The type of automatic on-demand therapy is impressive because it's functional responses are unique to both the patient’s brain and the neural circuit causing the illness. In it’s first trial, this custom DBS method was tested with a patient suffering from severe depression and passed with flying colors.  Almost immediately, the patient’s symptoms were alleviated, and this continued to be the case long term.

In the COVID era, where anxiety and mental health problems are becoming rife, this approach could prove an invaluable drug-free therapy for hundreds of millions of people.

Beyond Human Hearing

Similar to light waves, humans can only perceive a relatively small spectrum of the sound waves that travel around us. Typically we can only pick up on frequencies between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz, beyond this is considered ultrasonic. This is the frequency range that animals like bats operate in, and also what is put to use in ultra sound medical scans.

A new method utilizing sophisticated technology has been pioneered by scientists at Aalto University, and has led to a device that basically gives humans bat-level hearing. This includes not only the ability to hear frequencies well beyond 20,000 Hz, but also to discern the direction and distance of the sound sources. For biologists for example, it allows people to track otherwise stealthy bats in flight, and locate their positions.

It works by recording ultrasound via a spherical microphone array, which detects ultrasonic sounds and uses a computer to translate the pitch to audible frequencies. It then plays the converted sound waves through headphones in real-time. Being able to perceive normally inaudible sounds could have valuable industrial applications, for example being able to hear and locate otherwise silent gas leaks.

AI Independently Learns to Smell in the Same Way Humans Do

Although neuroscience is a relatively young and fast-growing domain of science, artificial intelligence (AI) is both much newer and growing faster. The potential of combining these two fields of science has been revealed by researchers at MIT.

Using machine learning, they have discovered that artificial neural networks can self-learn how to smell in just a few minutes, actually mimicking the olfactory circuits in mammalian brains. This is profound because the algorithm put to work had no knowledge of the millions of years evolution required to develop smell biologically.

Yet amazingly, the artificial neural network replicated the biological activity of smell so closely that it revealed the brain’s olfactory network is mathematically optimized for its function.

This precise mimicking of the natural structure of circuits in the brain by independent machine learning may herald a new era, whereby AI teaches us the inner secrets of biological evolution. Sense of smell is the starting point in 2021, but who knows where this could lead…

Neuroprosthesis Converts Thoughts into Sentences in Severely Paralyzed Patient

Researchers at UC San Francisco developed a new kind of a speech neuroprosthesis for patients with paralyses that prevents them for speaking. The method was demonstrated successfully on a man with a severely damaged brain stem, causing whole body paralysis.

Somewhat remarkably it works by detecting speech-related brain signals that control the vocal cords. When we speak, the vocal cords require complex motor-function instructions in order to articulate the wide variety of sounds we use when conversing. Even when unable to move, these signals can still get sent from the brain.

Using brain recordings from epilepsy patients, the scientists developed a method for real-time decoding of instructions to vocal muscles, into words. From these neural patterns, they were able to reliably discern 50 different common words whenever the patient was thinking them.  

All that was required was for the patient to wear a high-density electrode array to capture and record neural activity, which recorded signals from the speech motor cortex. This allowed up 18 words per minute to be translated with 93% accuracy. The advantage for the patient was that he simply had to act like he was really speaking and he could communicate hundreds of different sentences from the 50 words vocabulary.

Although this breakthrough seems limited to paralyzed patients, we undergo paralysis every night when we dream (unless we sleep walk). If evolved sufficiently, this approach could, for example, pave the way to translating our very thoughts while sleeping!

Human Mini-Brains Developed with Complex Neural Activity

Technically termed ‘brain organoids’, mini-brains can be grown from induced pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells can be taken from a person’s skin or blood, and the the potential to be morph into any type of cells. The benefit is that cell structures normally very difficult to access, can in principle, be grown and isolated for study. This is especially relevant for the brain, however previous mini-brains had limited functional structures.

This year’s breakthrough by scientists at UCLA has catapulted the structural complexity by growing aggregates of organoids to form complex three-dimensional brain structures. The researchers took stem cells from patients with Rett syndrome (a condition with seizures), and were able to grow mini-brains with functional activity similar to parts of human brains. This meant they were able to safely and successfully observe patterns of electrical activity that resemble the onset of seizures.

This research shows for the first time that some aspects of brain function can be isolated and studied in the lab down to the level of individual living cells. The key advantage is that these mini-brains can be grown to replicate aspects of both normal and diseased brain functions, as well as to test drugs and treatments with no risks to human or animals.

The scale of the human brain is enormous, so there are still clear limitations in terms of the complexity of brain structures that can be studied, but clearly this emerging neuroscience domain has sci-fi like potential.

‘Neurograins’ Used to Develop Next-Generation Brain-Computer Interface

With the exponential growth in growth in computing power in recent decades, microchips have been getting increasingly smaller each year. Tech focused neuroscientists at Brown University have now developed a wireless computer so small it can be easily missed by the human eye. Dubbed ‘neurograins’ - because they are about the size of a grain of salt - they were developed to track and monitor brain activity.  

These ultra-tiny computers are able to record electrical activity from nearby neurons, and transmit their data wirelessly. The goal was to develop a new type of brain-computer interface (BCI) system, where a network of the mini-sensors can collectively track meaningful aspects of brain activity, and send the information to a nearby hub.

In a proof-of-concept experiment, the researchers deployed a network to successfully record a rodent’s neural activity with much greater accuracy than ever achieved before. This recording of brain signals in unprecedented detail it’s still in it’s early stages, but the technological breakthrough holds much promise for being able to convert brain waves into useful real-world actions without any physical effort.

Restoring Functional Vision for Completely Blind People

This year a new type of microelectrode array has been used to create a form of artificial vision via a visual prosthesis. University of Utah scientists at the John A. Moran Eye Center built the device to record and stimulate neuronal activity within the visual cortex.

Implanted within the eye, the array receives visual information through glasses containing a small video camera, with the data processed by specialized software. The device then activates retinal neurons to produce phosphenes, as if they are receiving points of light. In turn allowing basic images of lines and shapes to be percieved by the mind.

Trialed with a completely blind patient, this method proved to be effective, and involved no complications from the surgery or the neuronal stimulation. In this first test, only a single array was used. However, the next goal is to use 7 to 10 arrays to deliver more detailed images that will allow blind people to actually navigate the world visually.

New Injectable Molecular Therapy Repairs Severe Spinal Cord Injuries

A new class of ‘dancing molecules’ has been applied by researchers at Northwestern University to repair tissue in severe spinal cord injuries and successfully reverse paralysis. The dancing part involves manipulating the motion of these molecules to that they can wiggle their way into normally impossible to reach cellular receptors, in order to prompt them to get into gear repairing nerve tissues.

These seemingly magic molecules work by setting-off cascading signals, triggering axons to regenerate and helping neurons to survive after injury by encouraging a variety of new cell types to be born. This is in turn supports the regrowth of lost blood vessels necessary for cellular healing.

Tested in mice, just a single injection of the molecular therapy led to the paralyzed mice being able to walk again in under four weeks. Somewhat conveniently, 12 weeks later (well after recovery is complete), the materials biodegrade into nutrients for the cells without any side effects, effectively disappearing from the body naturally.

VR Delivers Therapy to Overcome Fear of Heights

Virtual Reality (VR) has been used by psychophysicists for decades to investigate how we perceive sensory information. This year researchers from the University of Basel, the oldest university in Switzerland, developed a virtual reality application to actually treat height phobias.

Called Easyheights, the smartphone compatible software provides exposure therapy using 360° images of real locations. Wearing a VR headset, users stand on a platform that starts one meter above the ground, and then progressively rises as the users acclimatizes to each stage of height. It works by increasing sensory exposure to height with without increasingly the level of fear.

A clinical trial demonstrated the efficacy of this immersive form of treatment, producing significant reductions in phobia in real height situations. The benefits were experienced with just four hours of home-based training. This discovery shows how combining neuroscience knowledge with today’s technologies, can clinically improve peoples’ quality of life in ways that are easily accessible.

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Adolescents with severe cognitive challenges are often confronted with important obstacles both at home and school. Although cognitive training has come to the foreground in recent years, there has been a general absence of research investigating the potential benefits for children with neurodevelopmental conditions including intellectual disability, who also often present with difficulty with attention and staying on-task at school. The ability of these children to perform certain tasks is often underestimated, and current cognitive interventions developed for typically developing children are simply not accessible to them. This presents a key challenge, since these youngsters are perhaps most in need of such benefits. Falling behind at school has long term repercussions, both in terms of future opportunities and for social esteem. Here we cover research showing why cognitive interventions show a lot of promise for students with intellectual disability, defined in part by very low IQ.

The Challenge of Training Attention in Children with Learning Difficulties

Attention is known to be strongly correlated to student performance and behavior in the classroom. Accordingly, students typically have poor attention struggle academically. In recent years, studies have demonstrated that  attention can be improved with cognitive training interventions for adolescents diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental condition. However, very little research has been conducted with students who have very low cognitive and/or language abilities, often associated with conditions such as autism and Down Syndrome, for example.

There are a number of reasons debated as to why this is, including the practical issues related to whether a student with intellectual disability can understand task instructions, or the challenges with obtaining parental and school consent for participating in a study. However, perhaps the most likely reason is that children with very low IQ are assumed not to be capable of performing the cognitive training programs currently available, which are generally designed for typically developing adult or actively aging populations.

This seems a valid assumption, given that current intervention programs generally include a panoply of exercises which all have different rules to learn to perform them, often include lengthy verbal instructions, and/or are characterized by superfluous and possibly distracting stimuli that children with learning and cognitive challenges find difficult to process and engage.

Building on Attention Training Research

My research colleagues at McGill University and the University of Montreal previously published a study showing that a cognitive training based on the NeuroTracker software was effective at improving the attentional capacities of children with clinically significant attentional difficulties. This showed for the first time the potential to improve academic outcomes for children and adolescents with different neurodevelopmental conditions. However, in this study the student’s cognitive and language abilities were at a level where task comprehension was not an issue. The question remained if children with severe cognitive challenges – who represent a largely underserved part of students receiving special education - would be able to perform the task.  

About NeuroTracker

NeuroTracker is quite distinct from other cognitive training interventions, in that there is one core training exercise which is relatively simple to understand, yet challenging to do. The task involves remembering and tracking multiple balls moving in 3D space among distractions, and recalling them when they stop after 4-8 seconds of movement. This is repeated 20 times to complete a 6-minute session, with the difficulty of the task adapting on each repetition. Here is a 2D video introduction to the task.

The adaptability of this type of training to individual needs is broad, being used across diverse populations from elite athletes and US Airforce pilots, through to training for elderlies at risk of mild cognitive impairment and for clinical rehabilitation.

With these factors in mind, we decided to conduct a feasibility study in a classroom setting to see if this training intervention could be used successfully and independently by students who have very low IQ.  In comparison to efficacy and validation studies, feasibility studies are rarely conducted to in cognitive research, but can provide valuable insights on both the implementation and viability of a program in a applied setting and/or for a group of individuals with different capabilities.

What Was Studied

We worked with a school in Quebec that specializes in educating children with learning difficulties, and had supported previous research with NeuroTracker. At this school students are not separated according to specific learning difficulties, but instead they are grouped into small classes based on their level of academic ability and behavioral challenges. Each class is managed by a teacher and a student aid.

Students were given the opportunity to participate voluntarily with the consent of their parents. On each training day a research assistant provided the class with iPad tablets setup with the NeuroTracker software, along with custom anaglyph glasses to create stereoscopic 3D. To allow for maximum adaptability in the training difficulty, we opted for a NeuroTracker algorithm which autonomously modifies three variables of the task: number of targets, speed of movement, and duration of movement.

Each student was asked to perform 2 x 6-minute sessions back-to-back, 3 days each week. 15 training days (30 NeuroTracker sessions) were required to complete the overall intervention – approximately 3 hours of total training time on the NeuroTracker task. An active control group of students were also included, who instead of using NeuroTracker, played a simple browser game called Google Chrome Dino.

What Was Found

In terms of the total number of students and parents invited to participate in the study, 58% of parents asked if their child could be part of the study consented (a relatively good percentage). This demonstrated a clear interest in the potential of cognitive training interventions versus other intervention modalities, such as cognitive therapy or cognitive medications.

For the NeuroTracker training, the software adapted the difficulty down to tracking one target throughout the intervention for 53% of participating students. This was the first NeuroTracker study conducted at this low level of difficultly, and reflective of how the program can adapt to the cognitive abilities of participants. The rest of the students progressed to 2, 3, or 4 targets, demonstrating the need for high training adaptability with this population. The students also improved at the task overall, but again the results were unsurprisingly quite variable across participants. Importantly, 100% of students successfully completed all the 30 NeuroTracker sessions, with no missing data for any sessions. In total the sessions comprised 600 trials (or mini-tests), requiring each student to independently input their answers on every trial.

Takeaways

Contrary to the concerns raised over the feasibility of cognitive interventions for children with very severe cognitive challenges, this study showed very promising results. These students weren’t only able to understand and engage with NeuroTracker, they were also all motivated to train independently on this task, completing 5 weeks of distributed training with 100% compliance. Indeed, this training paradigm showed to be highly accessible to students with significant cognitive and language difficulties.

The results suggest that cognitive training that is simple to understand, yet challenging to perform, with a high degree of adaptability to individual needs, could be very suitable for adolescents who struggle to maintain even limited amounts of attention.

These findings show that it is possible to conduct cognitive studies with youth with very low intellectual abilities, and our experience will inform future larger studies to investigate the efficacy of NeuroTracker in terms of transfer to academic skills. If the results continue to be positive, this will open a new opportunity to improve low-functioning students at a neurodevelopmental level, hopefully with long term benefits.

Study Reference

Assessing the feasibility of a classroom-based attention training program targeting academics for students with extremely low IQ

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How strong are you mentally to face eSports opponents in League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive? Part of preparing for competitive gaming is honing your skills. However, mental wellness can help prepare effectively for eSports events. Good mental health may also improve your performance in other competitive activities, including online casino games.

Gaming may require you to sit all day. Thus, eSports players are more likely to be obese and in need of weight loss programs and experiencing sharp stabbing pain in knees than the general population. So, it’s also essential to stay physically active to help you prepare mentally for eSports events. Continue reading to discover how to flex your “mental muscles” when preparing for eSports competitions.  

Take More Breaks

Spending more time doing a particular activity may seem to improve focus. That’s not really how it works. Research shows that taking breaks from activities, such as studying, may improve focus. If your concentration drops during eSports sessions, consider taking a mental break, even if it’s 10 minutes every hour.

You have several options. Try getting a drink, eating a snack, or taking a walk. When you return to your gaming session, you may feel more focused and motivated. Research shows that taking breaks may help students focus better when studying.

Taking breaks seems to improve academic performance. However, further research is needed to determine if taking breaks while gaming produces the same results.  

Practice Relaxation Techniques

Stress is the human body’s response to change, challenge, or demand.  While stress often has negative connotations, learning effective stress management can help counter high-pressure situations. Suppose you’re preparing for an epic eSports event. You can take steps such as muscular relaxation to help you keep calm.

Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing exercises can help lower the adverse effects of stress on your mind and body. Let’s say your stress levels are spiraling out of control before an eSports world championship. Relaxation techniques can help reduce stress to lower levels.

These techniques provide several benefits. For example, they’re often free or low-cost, doable nearly anywhere, and low-risk. Relaxation technicians may provide several physical and mental benefits, including:

● Lower blood pressure

● Slow down the heart rate

● Maintain normal blood sugar levels

● Boost confidence to handle problems

● Improve mood and concentration

● Manage stress hormones’ activity

● Slow down the breathing rate

● Lower fatigue

Get Enough Quality Sleep

Research shows that sleep deprivation can produce a negative effect on cognitive performance. It will help if you get 7 to 9 hours of sleep as often as possible. Getting a good night’s sleep may also help improve other aspects of your health related to physical, mental, and emotional well-being.  

Getting a full night’s sleep may be challenging due to various factors. Some examples include health issues and a busy schedule from preparing for a big eSports event. However, research shows that healthy adults generally need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night.

Here are some tips to get enough sleep:

● Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature

● Avoid heavy workouts right before bedtime

● Go to bed, then get up at roughly the same time daily

● Wind down before sleeping with a warm bath, book, or music

Do a Concentration Workout

Children who have problems focusing often do these mental workouts, although adults can benefit from them. With these workouts, you are required to devote full attention to a particular activity for a set period, such as:

● Tossing a small ball

● Doodling for several minutes

● Blinking as little as possible within three to five minutes

● Focusing on the flavor of hard candy

These concentration workouts are simple activities, making it easy to lose focus. When doing the exercise, take note of when you lose focus and what steps you took to refocus.

Or for something more structured, NeuroTracker is one example of a cognitive training tool used by professional gamers to boost concentration under pressure. Scientific research also shows it can reveal gamers' unusually high-level mental skills.

Try Meditation

At first, meditation may seem to have nothing to do with gaming. However, meditation can help improve focus, enhancing your gaming performance.

Research published in Clinical Psychology Review showed that mindfulness training that focuses on attention may help improve concentration and focus.  

Meditation can involve various activities, including yoga and deep breathing exercises.  

Despite the studies showing that meditation may help improve focus, more studies on meditation and gaming are needed.  

Consume Some Caffeine

Good options for beverages include black coffee, green tea, and raw cacao. Studies show that drinking caffeine may help improve attention and concentration.

Make sure not to consume high amounts of caffeine, as you may experience symptoms such as heart palpitations or jittery nerves.

It would help if you also avoid certain beverages, like sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks. Besides the high sugar content, some beverages include synthetic caffeine.

Exercise Regularly

Besides the physical benefits of doing workouts, you may experience mental benefits that improve your gaming.

Physical exercise may impact the brain’s white and gray matter. These brain cells perform different cognitive functions. In turn, cognitive processes such as thinking, attention span, and memory may improve.

More research is needed on regular exercise’s ability to help improve focus while gaming.

Listen to Music

Sound effects are a significant component of today’s video games. However, playing relaxing music in the background may help boost concentration.

Research indicates that listening to music while studying may help enhance your study sessions.

For example, listening to nature sounds, “spa music,” electronic music without lyrics, and classical music in the background may improve your studying.

When selecting music, consider genres that won’t be distracting. Examples include listening to music with lower volumes, slower speeds, and without lyrics.

More research is needed on whether listening to music may improve focus when playing video games, such as eSports.

Work on Your Mental Focus

Achieving and maintaining focus may help you perform better during eSports events.  

A recent study showed that playing League of Legends for one hour increased focus among subjects.

The study also showed that expert gamers experienced more brain activity than non-gamers.

While short gaming sessions may improve mental focus, other steps and activities may also improve concentration in preparation for eSports events:

Create a focus-friendly environment: Factors such as noise levels and room temperature may affect how effectively you can focus.  

Focus on your top priorities: While having gaming goals is essential, it’s critical to concentrate on the top items on your to-do list. Then you can focus your time and effort on those goals.

Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness is about “staying in the moment” through thoughts, emotions, and sensations.

Set clear eSports goals and a plan: Do you want to win your next game, qualify for an eSports event, or become a professional gamer?

Final Thoughts

Improving your eSports gaming can involve more than long practice sessions. Staying focused, using relaxation techniques, and getting a good night’s sleep can also help make you mentally tougher and ready for your next eSports practice session, game, or competition. Up your game with brainpower!

References

1. How to Manage Stress with Mindfulness and Meditation

2. Relaxation techniques: Try these steps to reduce stress

3. One Hour of Video Gaming Can Increase the Brain's Ability to Focus

4. What is mindfulness?

5. Sleep deprivation: Impact on cognitive performance

6. How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?

7. Does mindfulness training improve cognitive abilities? A systematic review of neuropsychological findings

8. How Meditation Can Help You Focus

9. The science of taking a break

10. Can music help you study and focus?

11. Effects of Caffeine on Cognitive Performance, Mood, and Alertness in Sleep-Deprived Humans

12. Working out boosts brain health

13. Why do we need sleep?

14. NeuroTracker Reveals the Secrets of Pro Gamers’ Brains

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