The mental aspect of a warm-up is harder to give scientifically accurate data as the process of a warm-up has a different impact on everyone’s mental game differently. However, there are three common psychological outcomes that appear time and time again.

Choking: this is when an athlete puts themselves under extreme mental pressure to perform and it leads to a negative outcome due to the increased stress and anxiety. This maladaptive stress decreases performance in all areas and has been seen in the sporting industry for decades now. One of the most famous examples of choking was Greg Norman - The Masters (Golf) in 1993 where he had a 6-shot lead and ended up losing by 5 strokes in the final round. (See Video below) Utilising a simple warm-up can help mitigate the effects of choking exponentially as the more you practice a similar warm up the further it helps you get into the correct headspace.

Self-awareness: A warm-up assists in having a small amount of mental practice of how to perform a skill. Let me explain this with an example. Think about a runner, the motion of running is quite a complex skill especially when we are looking at the elite level where we see athletes where their technique needs to be refined to be perfect. If an elite runner performs a small warm-up they are reminding their body of how to complete this task with perfect technique, this means when they go to complete this task in a race or in training they don’t need to focus on their legs and body moving and instead they can focus on the more import actions. The scientific understanding behind this is that athletes performing the same action will strengthen the synapses in the brain (the connections in our brain which will help to complete the task). This then makes it easier to perform the task more accurately and with less mental energy.

Focus: engaging in a warm-up can help athletes block out all of the outside thoughts and distractions. This time allows athletes to visualize and focus on what they are about to undergo, whether that be their first 1km run or their first marathon, all athletes will receive focus benefits from a warm-up.

A warm-up helps to act as a psychological transition point of moving from your daily concerns to allowing your body to focus and perform at your maximum potential. It allows you to focus on what you are going to achieve, this, therefore, prevents choking. Furthermore, it allows you to strengthen the connections in your brain which will make the task easier to complete.

(The physical benefits of warm-ups will be released shortly)