The Element of Fear
by Robb Beams
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| Some riders fear big jumps, others fear the whoops, and even more fear the start. Don't let these fears bring you down. |
Within the world of motocross, you accept the fact that there are numerous external hurdles (i.e. negative people and their associated attitudes & behaviors, time restraints, etc.) that you must over come on a weekly basis to complete your workouts and ultimately cross that finish line. And though these external hurdles take a lot of energy to overcome, you know that by staying focused the benefits (physically and emotionally) far outweighs the (energy) costs.
With this concept in mind, I want to challenge you on the biggest energy consuming hurdle that you have to overcome on a daily basis: FEAR. Recently, a client provided me an article written by Bob Kodzis to review and a couple of concepts jumped out at me.
- Fear is responsible for suppressing and destroying more effort than anything else in your daily world.
- Fear is the core ingredient in athletic failure.
- Fear limits the volume and dilutes the quality of effort you generate within each workout and race.
The most common fears facing individuals (athletes in this situation) are fear of risk, fear of failure, fear of judgement and fear of looking stupid states Mr. Kodzis. "Fear kills courage even before it begins. It creates 'fear of trying' and spawns the 'I can't syndrome'. Most people can't because they don't".
What makes fear such a powerful enemy, is that it is contagious. Like a virus, it can infect every stage of the athletic effort and adversely effect the outcome of each workout. It can grow from a small challenge to completely undermining your efforts in a short period of time. Though there isn't a specific cure for fear, there are several actions and thoughts that you can apply to the daily journey of facing the unknown (a.k.a. fear) and ultimately winning this daily challenge.
In part two, we will discuss how to create a system (of thoughts and associated actions) to effectively control, work with and work through fear and ultimately have the energy of fear facilitate your efforts applied towards your athletic efforts and personal goals.
About the Author: Robb Beams is the founder of the Complete Racing Solutions Program™. Visit CompleteRacingSolutions.com for specific training programs for riders of all ability levels, resources such as the two MotoE Performance Training Facilities in Florida, eBooks on various human performance elements and online instructional video series. To discuss your current program or have a new one developed for you; feel free to contact Robb Beams at robb3@earthlink.net or 407.701.7586 directly.
That's it for now, until next time, good luck with your training and remember, if you have a question, log on to the Virtual Trainer Expert Forum and have your question answered by a panel of experts. In addition, be sure and check out the Racer X Virtual Trainer archive section. Your complete one-stop information zone for motocross fitness. 
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Can't wait for part two...I have been having a big problem with fear after multiple injuries. Thanks VT and Robb Beams for all of these articles, love it.
great article want more I hear your the man
yeah I am really looking forward to the next segment. I am having issues jumping jumps that I have done before, after a pretty good crash and the end of last season.
agreed james i had the same problem..i did the biggest jump on the track before i retried the one i crashed on.. finally i just pushed through and jumped in perfectly..its just getting past that feelin and going for it..its all mental.
After 2 ambulance rides last year I need to get past those crashes. It took me four months to heal each time and another two months of rolling EVERTHING before I willed myself over jumps but the doubt is still there on all sectons of the track, How do I make riding fun again and regaining the confidence to attack all sections of the track ?
Guys, as they say in motocross "I'm super pumped" that you found this article useful. Robb is busy putting the finishing touches on part two and we should be able to get it posted sometime next week.
Man that Bob Kodz sure knows his stuff that is how i feel alot of the time
One of the best articles I have read in a long time. A topic that is rarely discussed in the "tough guy" industry of Motocross. Looking forward to Part II. Great job RacerXVT!