In my previous article, I talked about developing a growth mindset by challenging negative thoughts and how this can improve our overall wellbeing, particularly our mental health.
This concept becomes incredibly powerful when we apply it to training and sport.
How often do athletes quit mentally before they are physically exhausted?
How often does fear of failure, fear of discomfort, or fear of looking foolish stop people from pushing themselves further?
Whether you are an elite athlete, a recreational runner, someone learning to swim, or simply trying to become healthier, understanding how your brain responds to challenge can completely change the way you approach training.
The truth is that when we train our body, we should also be training our brain.
Your Brain Is Designed to Keep You Safe
One of the most important things to understand is that your brain’s primary job is not to help you grow. Its primary job is to keep you alive. A small structure called the amygdala plays a key role in detecting danger and triggering protective responses.
From an evolutionary perspective, this makes perfect sense.For most of human history, survival depended on conserving energy, avoiding injury and avoiding unnecessary risks.
Our ancestors did not know when food would be available again. They could not afford injuries that might prevent them from hunting, gathering, or escaping predators. As a result, evolution favoured a nervous system that erred on the side of caution. In many situations, the brain prefers a false alarm rather than missing a genuine threat.
This means that when training becomes difficult, the brain may produce thoughts such as:
- Stop.
- This is too much.
- You’re not capable.
Importantly, these thoughts do not necessarily mean you have reached your physical limit. The brain is trying to keep you safe.
The Brain Regulates Performance
Exercise physiologist Tim Noakes proposed what became known as the Central Governor Theory.
The theory suggests that the brain actively regulates effort to protect the body from catastrophic failure.
Rather than allowing us to push until we collapse or cause serious damage, the nervous system may create feelings of fatigue before we actually reach our true physiological limits.
One of the observations supporting this idea is what athletes call the “end spurt.”
Imagine a runner approaching the end of a 10-kilometre race.
At kilometre nine they may be convinced they have nothing left.
They may feel exhausted and believe they cannot possibly run any faster.
Yet when they see the finish line, they suddenly accelerate and sprint the final few hundred metres.
If their body were truly empty, that final sprint would be impossible.
This suggests that fatigue is not simply a matter of muscles running out of energy. The brain is also involved in regulating performance.
While the Central Governor Theory remains debated among researchers, there is broad agreement that the brain plays a significant role in determining how hard we are willing or able to push ourselves.
Why Discomfort Often Feels Like Danger
Hard exercise creates sensations that the brain can interpret as threatening.
During intense exercise we experience:
- Breathlessness
- Burning muscles
- Rising heart rate
- Physical discomfort
Research has shown overlap between brain regions involved in physical pain, emotional distress, and threat processing.
As a result, the brain can sometimes interpret difficult exercise as a potential problem. This is especially true when the experience is unfamiliar. A beginner runner may panic when breathing becomes difficult. A new swimmer may become anxious when swimming in open water. Someone entering a gym for the first time may feel overwhelmed by the challenge of lifting weights. Experienced athletes, however, learn something extremely important:
This feeling is hard, but it is not dangerous.
That distinction changes everything. Training teaches the nervous system: “I have been here before. This is difficult, but I am safe.”
Training the Brain Like an Athlete
The good news is that the brain can be trained just like the body.
Elite athletes provide excellent examples of this.
Ultra-running champion Courtney Dauwalter often talks about entering what she calls the “pain cave.” Rather than fearing discomfort, she has learned to accept it as part of performance.
Gymnast Simone Biles has spoken openly about using therapy, visualisation, goal setting, and mental preparation to rebuild confidence and trust in herself after withdrawing from events at the Tokyo Olympics.
I have experienced this myself through swimming.
When I first moved from the safety of a swimming pool to open water, I felt genuine panic. The vastness of the environment, reduced visibility, and unfamiliar sensations all triggered fear.
The only thing that changed this was repeated exposure.
Gradually, the fear diminished and my confidence grew. The same process occurs whenever we learn a new skill. We become stronger not because fear disappears, but because we learn that we can function despite it.
I have also experienced this in racing. During one particularly difficult 10-kilometre race, a negative voice repeatedly tried to convince me that I could not succeed. I made a conscious decision not to listen. I kept telling myself I could do it. The result was a much stronger performance than I would have achieved had I accepted those thoughts as fact.
Five Practical Ways to Train Your Brain
The first step is to define your purpose in your training. One reason many people struggle to stay consistent is that they focus solely on aesthetic elements such as weight loss. Weight loss can be a goal, but it is rarely the deepest reason for training.
A stronger purpose might be:
- Being able to walk upstairs without losing your breath
- Playing actively with your grandchildren
- Maintaining independence as you age
- Setting an example for your children
- Completing a challenge you never thought possible
A meaningful purpose gives you something to hold onto when training becomes difficult.
Once you have identified your purpose, these five principles can help train your brain.
- Shrink the threat
Break difficult challenges into smaller, manageable steps.
The brain copes much better when challenges feel specific and achievable.
Focus on the next kilometre, not the entire race.
Focus on the next repetition, not the entire workout.
- Use evidence, not emotion
Just because something feels overwhelming does not mean it is impossible.
When negative thoughts appear, ask yourself:
“What evidence do I have that I can’t do this?”
Often the answer is very little.
Feelings are not always facts.
- Rehearse success mentally
Visualisation helps the brain become familiar with challenges before they happen.
Imagine yourself successfully completing the lift, the race, the swim, or the workout.
Mental rehearsal reduces uncertainty and builds confidence.
- Build trust through repetition
Confidence is not something you wait for.
Confidence is evidence.
Every training session completed, every challenge faced, and every small success contributes to a growing bank of evidence that you can handle difficult situations.
- Reframe discomfort
Instead of thinking:
“This is a sign I should stop.”
Try telling yourself:
“This is effort, not danger.”
The discomfort may remain, but your relationship with it changes.
Conclusion
One of the reasons I love sport is that the lessons extend far beyond physical performance. When we learn to face discomfort in training, we often become better at facing discomfort in life. When we stop automatically obeying fear during everyday challenges, we often become braver in sport.
The two work hand in hand.
So during your next training session, pay attention to your thoughts. Try to notice when the negative voice appears and tells you to stop. Then ask yourself whether you are genuinely in danger or whether your brain is simply trying to protect you from discomfort.
