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A New Era of Performance and Well-Being: Mental Health in Athletics
Mental Toughness Has Long Been Celebrated in Sports—But at What Cost? For decades, athletes heard messages like “shake it off,” “grind through the pain,” or “leave emotions at the door.” These mantras encouraged them to ignore their mental health. But today, the cost of that silence has become undeniable. As conversations about mental health in…
Mental Health Education in Sport: Strength-Based Approaches
Mental health education in sport often centers on recognizing distress—signs like anxiety, depression, and burnout. While identifying these challenges plays a crucial role, focusing only on deficits can unintentionally frame mental health as fragile—something to protect rather than develop. A strength-based approach shifts the narrative. It empowers athletes to not only recognize problems but also…
Inside the Mind of a Champion: What Coaches Can Learn from Elite Athletes
The mental and emotional resilience of elite athletes is often what sets them apart from the rest. As a coach, understanding these mental strategies can help you guide your athletes to achieve their highest potential. At SPKN, we are committed to providing insights and resources to help you foster a mentally healthy and high-performing environment…
Failing Forward: Why Losing in Sports Leads to Growth
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris saw thousands of athletes leave without a medal—almost 10,000 to be exact. While it’s easy to focus on the winners, the reality is that most athletes experience defeat. Sports, from youth leagues to the professional level, are designed this way. There’s typically one champion, leaving the rest to…
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Latest Research
Exercise Therapy for Low Back Pain: Evidence, Benefits, and Clinical Recommendations
Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common and costly musculoskeletal conditions globally. This umbrella review brings together findings from 70 systematic reviews—43 of which include meta-analyses—to evaluate the benefits and risks of exercise therapy and physical activity (PA) for both managing and preventing LBP. The findings point to consistent, small short-term improvements…
New insights on mind-muscle connection: motor imagery concomitant to actual resistance training enhances force performance
Motor imagery (MI), the mental simulation of a movement without physical execution, has long been used to improve performance. While most studies focus on isometric contractions in lab settings, this study tested a novel approach: combining MI with the actual execution of resistance training movements in elite athletes. Specifically, researchers examined whether imagining the concentric…
What Is “Zone 2 Training”?: Experts’ Viewpoint on Definition, Training Methods, and Expected Adaptations
Endurance athletes and coaches have long debated the most effective training intensities for maximizing performance. Recently, Zone 2 training has gained attention as a foundational component of endurance programs, yet definitions and implementation strategies vary. While many propose that Zone 2 training should comprise a significant portion of an athlete’s total training volume, there is…
Athlete Mental Health and Well-being During the Transition into Elite Sport: Strategies to Prepare the System
The transition into elite-level sport can expose young athletes to risk factors for mental ill-health, including increased performance expectations, stressors associated with becoming increasingly public figures, and changes in lifestyle demands, such as diet, training loads and sleep. Successful integration into elite-level sport requires athletes to quickly adapt to these newfound challenges and the norms…
Mental fortitude training: An evidence-based approach to developing psychological resilience for sustained success.
Drawing on the body of knowledge in this area, this article presents an evidence-based approach to developing psychological resilience for sustained success. To this end, the narrative is divided into three main sections. The first section describes the construct of psychological resilience and explains what it is. The second section outlines and discusses a mental…
Research methods in sport and exercise psychology: quantitative and qualitative issues
Contemporary aspects of research methods in sport and exercise psychology are discussed in this wide-ranging review. After an introduction centred on trends in sport and exercise psychology methods, the review is organized around the major themes of quantitative and qualitative research. Our aim is to highlight areas that may be problematic or controversial (e.g. stepwise…
All our research is curated and peer-reviewed giving you access to an unmatched library of information all in one place.