Think yourself a better cyclist

By Anna Glowinski

Dream your cycling life into reality

Currently used by elite athletes, brain training is not readily accessible to the average cycling enthusiast. But whilst cyclists can spend a lot of time and money on lighter components, personalised training plans and go-faster diets, missing out on honing the mind can be an oversight of the most important marginal gain

Scientific evidence shows that the human mind can be trained to enhance physical ability, and top athletes are tapping into that. 90% of Olympic athletes use some form of psychological training, and it's also often used by successful people in business.

Here, we give you an exclusive a four-part meditation series, designed to tap into the incredible power of the subconscious, unlocking the mental barriers that you may not even know are holding you back from being the best cyclist. So go ahead, put some time aside for yourself and reap the rewards.

Meditation one: Motivation and the setting of goals

Use the first meditation to imagine where you would like to be, and how you would like to be cycling. Let it drive your imagination and get you inspired to cycle how you would love to cycle.

To get even more benefit from this after listening, write down your current cycling situation, your ideal cycling situation, and exactly what is holding you back from reaching your ideal cycling situation.

Meditation two: Change and doing something you have never done before

Are you trying cycling for the first time? Perhaps you are looking to cut seconds off your performance? This meditation session uses visualisation techniques and engages your imagination to allow you to start making real changes that you previously thought were not possible.

Einstein said imagination is more important than intelligence. The more you can truly feel what you are trying to do, the more it will sink into your subconscious.

Meditation three: Go harder, faster, stronger

Session three is about the journey, going the distance. It's about your strength in overcoming the current situation and going further. This is a classic mind trick geared towards expanding your mind and overriding your subconscious self-limiting beliefs about how well you can cycle.

When you return from your rides, take some time to note down the positive improvements in your cycling as you go further, even just a sentence or two. This is really important for your confidence and progression.

Meditation four: Success, confidence and continuation

By now, you should be experiencing the benefits from the previous sessions. This final meditation will consolidate that success. You are encouraged to keep evaluating - everything changes, including you.

As you cycle up that mountain, you seem to always have yet another peak to get to, and that's okay - your goals will just keep growing as you do. Just make sure you are taking in the ever expanding vista as it opens up, and always enjoy the ride.