JUST ADD GRIT

We have all felt mentally tired, even if ‘mental fatigue’ isn’t a term we use very often. Be it after a particularly long, gruelling ride or a stressful day at work, when you’re mentally fatigued, your concentrate is hampered, and hills become mountains. Training rarely addresses this mental tiredness directly — yet it is possible. The ability to stay alert, resilient and motivated in adverse situations — critical for all cyclists — can be trained. It’s time to find out how.

Sports psycho-biologist Professor Samuele Marcora, who researches mental fatigue at the University of Bologna, points out that “mental fatigue increases your perception of effort for the same power output, and so will decrease your performance.” Therefore, instead of burying yourself to notch up your FTP by a watt or two, improving your