What Is Physical Toughness?
Physical toughness in A/P refers to tissue’s resistance to failure-how much can it absorb before meeting ultimate failure point and tear. If you’re deconditioned, your chances of choking, tanking and quitting increase. However, increased physical conditioning doesn’t necessarily increase mental toughness. Otherwise, why is it that we see so many top physical specimens emotionally crumbling under pressure? How often do we see these prima donnas crushed by the underdog who just wants it more than they do? The mental and emotional and spiritual will take you farther than your physical can endure. Mental toughness in sports psychology refers to your ability to resist failure when faced with hopelessness, overwhelming odds, surprise, or shock. Mental toughness builds upon the physical, as Lombardi reminded us long ago: fatigue makes cowards of us all. Without the physical, it’s like a warhorse charging across thin ice. However, mental toughness needs training just as the does the physical.
