If you can learn to relax during moments of tremendous physical stress, think how useful such a skill could be in everyday life too.If you can learn to relax during moments of tremendous physical stress, think how useful such a skill could be in everyday life too.

“Try harder! Relax!” Wouldn’t it be strange hearing such a contradictory statement being shouted by an angry coach to an under-performing team of footballers at half-time?

Well, according to some experts and some cultures, such a statement is not, in fact, contradictory at all. It’s commonplace in certain parts of the world.

Of course, it might be hard for many of us to understand, because we grew up and spent most of our lives exposed to the messages that trying harder means gritting our teeth and clenching our fists.

It means digging in, building a trench and being ready to slug it out over the long haul. It means wheeling out the big artillery guns.

These are some powerful images of dedication and increased effort. But do they really help? It would seem such actions may actually serve to hinder performance in some instances and not help it.

Why don’t we think of mobility and speed instead of digging in and holding firm? How about smaller and lighter instead of bigger and heavier? Perhaps where other methods have failed to pull us through in the past, it might be time to try a fresh approach.

Yosemite Sam would always lose in the end to the cool, calm and collected Bugs Bunny

Remember Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam? Bugs Bunny was the smart aleck. He was slippery, confident and always getting the better of Yosemite Sam, the short, red-bearded cowboy who would get so mad that steam would pour out from his ears. He would go red in the face, shout his head off, jump up and down in anger and often reach for his trusty shotgun that would frequently backfire, like so many of his other plans to rid himself of his pesky rabbit neighbour.

Yosemite Sam was the picture of determination and trying harder in the traditional sense, but even in this distinctly western cartoon, the clues were already there, plain for all to see: where did it get him? He would always lose in the end to the cool, calm and collected Bugs Bunny.

It was a famous physical trainer who said recently of the Brazilian national football team that their approach was more about trying harder by relaxing more rather than by gritting their teeth and clnching their fists. Gritting and clenching only serve to create tension in the body, and tension tires us out. It actively works against us.

Whether you’re a competitive athlete or recreational fitness enthusiast, try this next time you’re so tired you feel your heart’s about to jump right out of your chest or before you must produce a colossal amount of force or power: relax.

It always amazes me how some elite Chinese weightlifters step out onto the platform looking like they’re in a meditative stance. Of course, it might be their spirituality that’s helping them produce more force and ultimately lift more weight, but there are some more practical reasons at play here that are far less mysterious. The development of a calmer demeanour will help you perform better for some very sound and unmistakable physiological reasons.

Think about a body full of tense muscles. Now consider the fact that muscles always work in pairs to produce movement, such as when the biceps contract or shorten to bend the elbow, the triceps on the opposite side of the upper arm must relax or lengthen to allow this movement to take place.

Now consider how much harder the biceps must work if they had to perform not only the movement itself but also to overcome the resistance of the tensed-up triceps muscles too. The more residual tension there is around the body, the more difficult movements become. We essentially become less flexible, slower and weaker, the exact opposite of what we are trying to achieve if we are to perform better.

When held over extended periods of time, just like when we are performing cardiovascular training like running or cycling, tension means energy expenditure on work that is not only unnecessary, but is actually hindering our own performance. Muscles are contracting when they don’t need to be, and the muscles we actually need are forced to work twice as hard to overcome them, leading to total inefficiency.

When we are told to relax, then just the muscles that need to work will become engaged and others are more likely to stay relaxed. It’s easier and more productive – and there we have another contradiction in terms.

Remember that relaxing can be as simple as engaging in deep, deliberate breathing and focusing on reducing your mental arousal levels. Breathe, shake off the tension and loosen up. You can physically do this by shaking the muscle, just like athletes famously do before a race or when they set up in their starting blocks.

If you can learn to relax during moments of tremendous physical stress, think how useful such a skill could be in everyday life too. Less tension and stress over the long term means less risk of contracting stress-related conditions and, ultimately, a more positive outlook on life.

So next time you feel like tensing up to rise to the occasion, remember good old Yosemite Sam tearing himself apart and often causing his very own downfall, and relax instead.

If you don’t, further tension might very well backfire. Do a slippery Bugs Bunny, be cool, calm and collected and ease right the way through.

matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt

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