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WWW.CHANGINGL ANESDIGITAL .COM APRIL | CHANGING L ANES 2 strong is automatically the same as being tough, when in fact the two are distinct qualities. As Erwan Le Corre, founder of MovNat, says, "Some people with great muscular strength may lack toughness and easily crumble when circumstances become too challenging. On the other hand, some people with no particularly great muscular strength may be very tough, i.e., capable of overcoming stress- ful, difficult situations or environments." Toughness is the ability to perform well regardless of circumstances. That might mean performing well when you are sick or injured, but it also might mean performing well when your workout gear includes trees and rocks instead of pullup bars and barbells. "Toughness…is the strength, or ability, to withstand adverse conditions," according to Le Corre. Being able to do that requires both mental and physical toughness. No amount of mental toughness alone will keep you from freezing in cold tempera- tures, but if you've combined mental training with cold tolerance conditioning, for example, then you'll fare much better. Toughness is a Skill It is a myth that you're either born tough or you're not. The truth is, tough- ness, both mental and physical, can and should be trained and cultivated, just like any other skill. There are certain mental techniques that help you cultivate an indomitable will, patience, and the ability to stay positive and focused no mat- ter how bad things look. There are also certain training techniques you can use to condition your body to withstand dis- comfort and tolerate environments that would normally cause injury. Mental Toughness Mental toughness boils down to how you respond to stress. Do you start to panic and lose control, or do you zero in on how you are going to overcome the difficulty? Rachel Cosgrove, co-owner of Results Fitness and a regular contributor to Men's Fitness, stated in an article on mental toughness, "World-class endurance athletes respond to the stress of a race with a reduction in brain-wave activity that's similar to meditation. The average person responds to race stress with an increase in brain-wave activity that borders on panic." Similarly, the biggest determining fac- tor in whether or not a candidate for the Navy SEALs passes training is his ability to stay cool under stress and avoid falling into that fight-or-flight response most of us drop into when we're being shot at. Developing ways to counteract the negative response to stress helps us stay in control of our bodies so that we can maintain the high performance needed to do well in any situation. That is real mental toughness. Another way to look at mental tough- ness is willpower. When everyone else has decided they are too tired, you decide to keep going. In sports, this is called the second wind, when an athlete determines that they don't care about their fatigue and decides to push harder despite it. When a football team is behind two touchdowns but picks up the effort anyway, determined to win despite all signs to the contrary, that's an example of willpower in action. They may still lose, but they are much more likely to make a comeback with this approach. So, how can you cultivate mental toughness? Small Discomforts One of the best ways to develop mental toughness is to accept small discomforts on a regular basis. Take only cold showers or occasionally fast. In the book Willpower, Health Tips Continued 30 www.jobsfor teams.com JOBS for TEAMS | JobsForTeams0514_HealthHelp.indd 2 4/7/14 10:55 AM