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Fitness

Mindfulness Meditation Increases Performance in Elite Shooters

Competition anxiety and stress can be detrimental to athletes in any sport. New research examined the practice of mindfulness meditation on pre-competition stress.

Mindith Rahmat

Written by Mindith Rahmat Last updated on August 26, 2011

Competition anxiety and stress can be detrimental to athletes in any sport. New research in The British Journal of Sports Medicine examined the practice of mindfulness meditation on pre-competition stress in elite shooters. Researchers evaluated 96 male elite air pistol shooters during a four-week period of mindfulness meditation practice. Measures of salivary cortisol were taken as a physiological marker of pre-competition stress. Researchers asserted that, “salivary cortisol reliably reflect levels of unbound cortisol in the blood, and raised levels of cortisol have been found to be associated with stress.”

After four weeks of mindful meditation researchers found there was a significant decrease in levels of salivary cortisol, and there was a significant increase in shooting performance scores. It is also important to note that the test group of elite shooters evaluated in the study, still demonstrated the positive effects of the mindfulness meditation and the competitive performance improvements at the six-month follow up. Alternative therapies including meditation should be included in any sports training program to enhance and increase mood, performance, concentration and lower stress levels.

Mindith Rahmat

About Mindith Rahmat

Mindith is a born mover. She has spent her life exploring various athletic disciplines, starting with ballet and modern dance from an early age. She went on to become a E-RYT 500 certified yoga therapist and teacher and discovered CrossFit after the birth of her daughter.

Mindith coached CrossFit at a number of boxes near her home in Southern California, which lead to her involvement in Russian kettlebells and Olympic weightlifting. She has coached a wide variety of populations and cares deeply for women’s health, specializing in pregnancy and postpartum fitness. She is currently studying the principles of Natural Movement and Kettlebell Sport, and is working to complete an additional teacher training in the Taoist art of Yin Yoga with Master Paulie Zink.

Mindith founded Breaking Muscle in 2011. Over 5 million people a month have visited the site, hundreds of thousands of them follow Breaking Muscle on social media, nearly 2,000 coaches have written or appeared on its pages, and there are thousands of free, fully-formed training plans freely available. Breaking Muscle has won numerous awards in the industry and is recognized for pioneering new approaches to fitness and coaching techniques. In 2021, Breaking Muscle was acquired by Barbend. Mindith continues to devote time to her kids, pursue her doctorate in psychology, do research, and teach.

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