It is perfectly natural to be nervous before a competition or a big lift – I recently wrote about that in my blog https://allaboutpowerlifting.com/my-first-attempt-just-destroys-me/. In that article I present some strategies to help you deal with that anxiety. However, I also believe it is worth examining exactly why we, as athletes, tend to feel fear and anxiety. In the NSCA’s…
Skill and Arousal
There is an inverse relationship between skill and arousal level. Skill is the level of difficulty, precision, and motor control that a movement requires. Arousal (no, I am not talking about that type of arousal) refers to the psychic energy one displays – how amped up you are to do something. Too much arousal screws up very high skill things,…