Mental Conditioning
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We're only human, and bad races here and there are inevitable. Here's a crash course in honing your mind to mentally power through a tough day.
The psychology behind why we get so nervous before a race and strategies for coping with the impending pain
As a high-school student, she signed up for an ambitious adventure—and learned the hard way to be upfront about what doesn’t know
After close calls in combat zones and on mountaineering expeditions, the journalist is taking a very different kind of journey
When her son was jailed for a crime he didn’t commit, the former legislator dealt with her pain in isolation. A powerful experience in nature spurred her to turn to her community for support.
In his new book, ‘A Mile at a Time,’ endurance athlete Travis Macy offers key insights about helping his dad endure Alzheimer’s disease
My sport is a huge part of my identity, but I’m not as good as I hoped I’d be. What if this is my peak?
After a frightening accident, the veteran journalist reset her approach to work and life. The result was a surge in creativity.
What’s the difference between overcoming hardship and succumbing to it? Grit.
After a grapefruit-size cancerous tumor nearly killed her, the physician committed to spending as much time as possible doing what she loves most
When the mountain guide was caught in an avalanche, he was sure it was the end. But deep inside himself he discovered the will to live.
We let dogs out to run. We should do the same for ourselves.
After a devastating accident, the mountain biker realized that getting back on the trail meant accepting discomfort and unpredictability
The creative was a reluctant runner until he realized that telling himself stories could get him through any distance—and help him be the person he wants to be
When one of the world’s best crack climbers was grounded by chronic fatigue syndrome—a mysterious illness with disabling symptoms that can include a mix of confusion, headaches, and sensory overload—his life became an uphill struggle just to feel human again.
Whether you’re determined to embrace a healthier diet or finally ride that mountain bike you bought during the pandemic, wellness-focused getaways can help bring those good intentions to fruition. Here are awesome travel-focused ideas designed to do just that.
A new model breaks down the ability to fight through adversity into its constituent parts
Healthy habits are hard to maintain. We sent five writers on long-overdue quests for self-improvement.
After becoming paralyzed from the chest down, the mountain athlete found an unlikely ally in recovery: psychedelics
After suffering a nervous breakdown, mountain-bike photographer Matt Wragg received a surprising opinion from his psychologist
“I have shin splints,” “All of my running socks are dirty,” “I just ate a full rack of ribs and drank six Budweisers”
It's no secret that athletes need to develop their mental game to compete at their best, but a growing number of athletes in many sports are now seeking out expert-led training for their minds
New research on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs highlights the importance of consistency
New research explores whether the performance-boosting effects of positive self-talk can be attributed to more than just the absence of negativity
In an excerpt from his new book, ‘Do Hard Things,’ Steve Magness explains a clever tactic to combat anxiety and free yourself to perform
A team of Canadian Olympic sports psychologists tries to nail down the intangible “it”
After a lifetime of prudishness, our writer tries to become one of those people who bares it all in the great outdoors
We asked a bunch of great writers to bear down, focus, and tell us what makes them giddiest in the outdoors. Join them as they celebrate everything from diving off rocks to adventure flirting to … shivering in a bed between cold sheets? (Hey, don’t judge.) Plus: five scientifically proven ways to up the fun and improve your health.
If chronic overthinking is getting in the way of your next adventure, ask yourself these two questions
What motivates someone to run more than 3,000 miles around a block in Queens, New York? Transcendence.
Drew Petersen seemed like just another free-spirited mountain dude. But the pain he was hiding nearly destroyed him.
New research explores how physical and mental factors affect how athletes raise their game when it counts
Science-backed strategies to help you learn to accept racing discomfort and choose how you react to it
In the past two years, Americans have become disenchanted with work, leading to major strikes and what is being called the Great Resignation. But what if there was a better way? This writer went looking for that ever elusive work-life balance, learning how to get outside more and stress less.
A new study grapples with a familiar question: How much of athletic success is physical, and how much is mental?
He needed something—anything—to cure his winter COVID blues. Science led him to a mildewy steam room and a very cold shower.
Rethink your approach to work, fitness, and process as you head into the new year
After Lawlor Coe lost his brother Hunter to tragedy, he did everything he could to avoid his pain. Then he began to run.
When someone gets hurt in the wild, we know what to do. But what we’ve lacked for way too long are the tools to help people in severe mental distress.
Mike McCastle has found a very unusual way to benefit others: by enduring agonizing physical challenges
Activities such as lifting weights, hiking, or even woodworking teach us humility and keep us grounded in reality
Feeling adrift in a black hole after your marathon? You’re normal, and in good company. World-class runners, coaches and sport psychologists offer their advice.
In this excerpt from his new book ‘The Practice of Groundedness,’ our Do It Better columnist Brad Stulberg gives concrete steps to integrate exercise into your daily life
Over the past few years, McCastle has completed 5,804 pull-ups in a single day, pulled a 5,000-pound truck across the Mojave Desert, and climbed a rope the equivalent height of Mount Everest. How on earth has this Navy SEAL dropout accomplished some of the craziest physical feats in recent memory?
Even after a life-changing diagnosis, I can still experience the thrill of adventure
Oregon voters have opened the door to treating mental illness with substances like ketamine and psilocybin. In a peek at the future, our seeker attends a backwoods retreat where patients get help from a powerful combination of drugs and the outdoors.
In this excerpt from his new book ‘The Practice of Groundedness,’ our Do It Better columnist Brad Stulberg explains how ritualizing exercise benefits your brain and body
Bobsledder Steve Mesler incorporates these practices into training to boost his mental health and physical performance
“You always think you’ll save the ones you love when the moment comes. But he didn’t save her.”
What this Olympic moment can teach all of us about mental health
They’re deceptively straightforward, but if you can follow them, you’ll see the benefits
What we learn from getting way, way outside our comfort zones
It turns out we have a lot in common
Think you wouldn’t benefit from some mental maintenance? Think again.
Why reaching outdoor nirvana means journeying far from the beaten path
Dealing with discomfort isn’t a magical gift. It’s a skill, and you can improve at it.
Kayla Lockhart was desperate for relief from the panic that plagued her. She found it at the edge of a stream.
In an excerpt from his new book ‘The Comfort Crisis,’ journalist Michael Easter travels to Bhutan to learn about how confronting death head-on can lead to a more fulfilled life
Champion endurance athlete Rebecca Rusch figured her quest for enlightenment on the Iditarod Trail would hurt. She was right.
When Joe Stone crashed his paraglider into a mountain, his days as an athlete were supposed to be finished. But Joe had other plans.
What happens when a lifelong fraidy-cat sets out into the wilderness alone?
How to embrace tough situations and use them in your favor
Habits and tips to help you get through anything
Expert advice for getting through the winter with COVID-19 as bad as it has ever been
Develop mental fitness and resilience by learning how to face reality like elite runners
Across the West, fire season lasts longer and has become more intense than any time in history—tens of thousands of structures burn every year, and dozens of people die. But new research is highlighting a different problem: those who survive are never the same.
How Spain's Natxo González prepares his body and mind to tackle the biggest swell on earth
BASE-jumping pioneer Jeb Corliss is one of the original madmen, a fiend for the extreme who has miraculously survived multiple crash landings in a sport that rarely allows second chances. Now, at 44, with a self-diagnosed psychological disorder, he's embarking on his most fraught journey yet: into the depths of his own mind.