Editor’s note: this article wraps up a two-part series on sports-related anxiety as it pertains to Zwift. If you haven’t yet read the first part, we highly recommend starting there. Read Part 1 >

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Sport-Related Anxiety Management: A Three Step Approach

Step One: Make Mental Preparedness an Aspect of Your Annual Training Plan

• Learn to identify negative thoughts and avoid having an unrealistic defeatist attitude by putting things into proper perspective.
• Be confident in your inner strength and emphasize the aspects of your daily life where you excel in the face of difficulty.
• Foster and facilitate healthy coping mechanisms and eliminate those which prove a limitation.
• Prioritize the reasons you choose to compete and the enjoyment, excitement, and satisfaction racing your bike provides.
• Create a sound pre-race preparation and start-up routine that through repetition, will eliminate the need for thought or worry on race day.
• Set realistic goals and be fair in your self-assessment and level of expectancy. 

Step Two: In the Days Leading Up to the Event

• Well ahead of race day take care of the practical aspects by pre-registering for the event, scouting and studying the course, assuring that your equipment (mechanical and technology) is in optimal condition, and fostering sound preparation habits.
• Assure your physical preparedness by adhering to a solid training plan and being confident that you have done the work required to maximize your performance.
• Set the groundwork for psychological preparedness by developing healthy patterns of thinking and reflection: 
  • Practice meditation to develop daily habits of calmness.
  • Practice relaxation and deep breathing techniques.
  • Talk through your apprehensions with someone who understands and can provide a supportive, honest, and objective opinion of what you are feeling.
  • Talk yourself through periods of worry by reflecting on past experiences when manageable levels of pre-race anxiety improved your performance. 
  • Visualize yourself successfully achieving your goals by closing your eyes and imagining the physical movements that you will make to do so.
  • Be sure to only dwell upon aspects of the event which are within your control.

Step Three: In the Hours Leading up to the Event

• Leave sufficient time prior to the start of the event for completion of your pre-race checklist and to address any issues which may arise:
  • Final inspection of your bike and its mechanical components.
  • Power up your technology and log in to all required programs and applications.
  • Ensure that all software and firmware is up to date.
• Perform and complete your well-rehearsed and trusted warm-up routine:
  • Monitor your status while being sure to temper your reaction to physical cues with a balance of mellowness and excitement.
  • Tell yourself that it is okay not to feel 100% just before a race and rely upon past experience when that was true and you performed optimally.
  • Utilize the relaxation, breathing, and visualization techniques that you have practiced to control your heart rate and relieve muscle tension.

Risks of Unaddressed Sport-Related Anxiety

Sport-related anxiety is a normal emotion experienced by many that if left unaddressed can lead to more serious psychological disorders.  Recognizing early signs and symptoms (often the responsibility of professionals and peers interacting with athletes on a daily basis) is lacking in virtual competition.  Like many other issues plaguing competition on all levels in all venues, awareness and education are key.  

Sport-related anxiety can cause a spiraling effect on an athlete by:

• Negatively impacting sport performance during practice and competition.
• Leading to increased risk of injury occurrence.
• Delaying and obstructing injury rehabilitation and the return to sport process.
• Increasing subsequent injury risk during post-rehabilitation competition.

Some Nervousness is Good, Too Much Anxiety is Not!

Expert opinions and anecdotal stories from experienced athletes agree that some level of sport-related anxiety is unavoidable.  It is the uncontrolled symptoms and detrimental effect they have upon an athlete’s emotions and performance that require introspection and self-assessment to identify and manage. 

Just like other aspects of cycling, with hard work even that goal is readily achievable.

Your Thoughts

How do you cope with sport-related nervousness?  Share your thoughts below!

Admitting to nervous jitters or butterflies in your stomach prior to a race, important event, or even an exceptionally difficult training session does not make you weak-minded.  Just the opposite is true, in fact: to not feel some level of nervousness prior to a high-priority event would be abnormal.  

Sports psychologists and researchers agree that competitive sport has the potential for high levels of stress and anxiety.  Equally, practicing and employing a range of psychological strategies to combat potential negative emotional states such as sport-related anxiety has become an integral part of a competitive athlete’s performance preparation.¹

Yerkes and Dodson, in early research on anxiety in sport, describe an inverted U-shaped hypothesis to explain the effects stating, “low anxiety leads to decreases in performance, increases in anxiety can facilitate performance up to an optimal level, and beyond that point additional anxiety causes performance to decline.”  

Managing pre-race anxiety to remain within this optimal level is a skill which requires preparation and practice.  Identifying potential anxiety triggers (virtual cycling has its own unique set) and instituting coping mechanisms to eliminate negative performance while facilitating mental wellness can help us find on-the-bike success and off-the-bike happiness.

A Zwift Champion’s Honest Thoughts

Holden Comeau, the 2019 USA National Zwift Champion (see his ZwiftPower profile) and member of Team Saris+The Pro’s Closet has this to say about pre-race anxiety:

“I have anxiety related to performance that is relative to my expectations in a given race.  When my teammates sacrifice it gives me a sense of obligation.  Intellectually, when I think about this scenario prior to a race, the gravity of the whole thing is my greatest source of anxiety.  The anxiety has always been there my whole life, so now I focus on having enough courage to face it head on.  But I’m always nervous!”

A Coach Shares About Anxiety and His Athletes

Shayne Gaffney is the Founder of GC Coaching, a USA Cycling Level 1 Coach, and as the Workout Content Editor at Zwift has a deep knowledge base and unique perspective of virtual racers.

“A very high percentage of my athletes experience pre-race/event anxiety symptoms, but whether that affects their performance and how they deal with them is a different story. The most significant driving force behind experiencing anxiety and how intensely it occurs, in my experience, tends to be: Event Caliber (Local Tuesday night club ride vs. IRONMAN Kona), Frequency of Competition (Has this athlete done this type of event before?), and Experience in Competition (The more experience the better they tend to deal with symptoms).” 

Sports Psychologist on Anxiety in Virtual Cycling

Susan Sotir, Ph.D (see her ZwiftPower profile), a Sports Psychologist who coaches full-time with Breakthrough Performance Coaching, has over 30 years of experience in sport and education.  Dr. Sotir’s perspective as a Zwift beta tester, active competitor, and IRONMAN triathlete is invaluable when comparing the experience of real life to esports.  

“For virtual racing, the unpredictable and uncontrollable factors loom large. You can’t actually see your competition, so your imagination is free to make them physically superior, completely unethical, and willing to cheat. You can’t know everyone, so you have no context for types of strategies or tactics they’ll use, or ability to anticipate their behaviour.  Additional stressors arise from the demands of getting all of the pieces in place to race: the registrations, internet speed, gadget connectivity, and the difficulties in communicating tactics. There are few experienced mentors, so folks show up with more uncertainties than they would racing irl with a team or club.

Finally, people all over the world will see your metrics during and after the race, which can feel threatening to self-presentation, since being ranked leaves all sorts of feelings around where you “should” be versus where you are and now it’s on a global scale, instead of just a local one.” 

Some Common Symptoms

According to Coach Shayne Gaffney, the most common symptoms his athletes experience are:

• Fear: Crashing, not completing the event, not “hitting their numbers,” etc.
• Unwanted Thoughts/Worries: “Do I have enough food?”, “When was the last time I calibrated my trainer?”
• Restlessness/Lack of Focus: Toeing the line, but seemingly unfocused, continually checking their setup.
• Insomnia the Evening Before

The experts agree that sport-related anxiety frequency, and the symptoms seen in virtual athletes, are similar to those who race exclusively outdoors.  They also agree, with confirmation by athletes who have extensive experience competing at a high level in both venues, that the sources take on different forms, with eSports posing a unique set of challenges and sources of potential anxiety.

A Different Kind of Crash

The reliance upon technology as a requirement for success is a potential source of stress unique to virtual cycling and eSports. 

“No longer do we hear the awful sounds of carbon scraping the pavement coupled with agonizing screams of pain,” states Daniel Wisner, an A racer who now competes exclusively on Zwift (see his ZwiftPower profile) following a long successful career as a Cat 2 racer on the road.  The blaring sound of silence is deafening when your app or computer system drops in the final race of a series like the ZRL, leaving you with much frustration and no result.

A Different Sort of Mechanical

“There is nothing worse than that tiny squish underneath you when riding,” remembers Daniel upon the realization that you will never rejoin the peloton due to a puncture when on the road.  “That same sensation for me is a trainer disconnect.”

As Michael Hutchinson whimsically wrote in a recent article published in Cycling Weekly when describing his experience of a Bluetooth drop out, “Give it another couple of months and it will be perfectly normal to have a team car alongside you out there in the garage with a spare trainer on the roof.”²  Unfortunately, I don’t think so.

An Inconsistent and (Potentially) Uneven Playing Field

When racing in real life, the course is constant when all variables are considered, and your competition is kitted up directly beside you, leaving little to the imagination.

In contrast, continual underlying trepidation of inconsistencies in the virtual cycling experience (such as variation in pack dynamics, drafting which doesn’t seem quite right, and a ‘stickier’ sticky draft) are always in the subconscious.  In addition, the anonymity of virtual competition lends itself to less accountability for those choosing to cheat, misrepresent themselves, or sandbag. This breeds a general distrust of the competition, fostering an attitude of defeatism.

The New Normal

When asked if there are a greater number of potential sources of pre-race anxiety when competing virtually, Daniel replied, “I guess it has mostly been a paradigm shift.”  He notes that the mechanical issues which often plagued him on the road are replaced by technological failures, conceding, “They’re just my new normal.”

Holden Comeau had an interesting take when asked:

“I’d say the sources of stress are less diversified.  There are more logistical risks to deal with and prepare for outdoors.  But the overall stress is the same with indoor, it’s just channeled out of fewer sources.  And in fact, the anxiety feels even more intense because it’s all about the performance part.”

Thoughts of a Coach With Pro and A+ Zwift Race Experience

Ben Wolfe (see his ZwiftPower profile), former pro racer for Jelly Belly and current A+ racer on Zwift provided his point of view as a USA Cycling certified coach for Charles Coaching and Nutrition Services when asked to compare virtual cycling with real life:

“A technology mechanical is sometimes even harder to recover from than an IRL mishap, so I get stressed about my connections a lot, and I worry about how fast the sprint start is going to be and maintaining position if the first climb comes quickly.  An IRL race has a calmer start and I can rely upon my bike handling for positioning.  Without that to fall back on I get incredible pre-race anxiety due to the need to be at my best, right away!”

Up Next

Read part 2 of this series, where we look at the risks of unaddressed sport-related anxiety and explain a three-step approach to dealing with sport-related anxiety.

Questions or Comments?

How do you cope with sport-related nervousness? Share below!

After a very successful “Couch to Cat C” project, Boone is now well into his “C to B” training block, where the goal is to see him hit 3.2 w/kg in his ramp FTP test and thus qualify as a B racer.

Many of you who have been following Boone’s training story asked what happened to the series, with no updates after week 5. What happened was: Boone went on vacation! First hunting, then skiing. He tried to stay fairly active by doing some jogging in the first (hunting) week, and his diet was fairly disciplined that week as well. For his ski week, he counted hitting the slopes as his training, and was pretty loose with his diet plan.

And that’s OK – after 5 weeks of disciplined training and dieting, it’s nice to give your body a break. By the end of his vacation, Boone told me, “It’s hard to believe, but I miss being on the bike.” Warmed this cyclist’s heart.

This first week back wasn’t anything huge – it was all about getting back in the swing of things. Here’s how it unfolded…

The Plan

As a reminder: the basic plan we’ve settled on for the 6 weeks contains a mix of five different types of rides. (Many thanks to Alan Dempsey of HPP Coaching for giving us solid advice that sets Boone up for success).

• Races: Boone will race the C’s every week or two to check his progress, work on race craft, and of course get in a good workout.
• VO2 Workouts: this will be the cornerstone workout of each week. Nobody likes VO2 work, but we both agree Boone is getting a lot of benefit from these.
• Pace Partner Intervals: we’ll use the Pace Partners (C. Cadence or Bowie Brevet) to anchor a fun, interactive interval workout. Warm up with the pace partner, then sprint off the front for 15s. Or drop off the back, and put in a measured 2-minute effort to get back on. Lots of options here.
• FTP Ramp Tests: we’ll do at least two ramp tests to measure FTP progress.
• Recovery Rides: some days, Boone will just need an easier effort in the saddle. Since he’s still a beginning cyclist, even easy efforts are far from wasted.

Running?! Is Someone Chasing You?

One new addition to Boone’s training regiment is running. That’s right: he’s started doing more running (outside) on his non-ride days. Like myself, he found that when he dropped some weight and built cardio fitness on the bike, running became much more enjoyable. He’s even considering training for a half marathon!

My strongest advice for him has been to make sure he’s allowing his body to recover between hard workouts. He’s getting to the point where he can push himself hard enough in a tough run or ride that his next day needs to be an easy recovery effort, to allow his body to adapt and rebuild from the hard workout.

Because we don’t get stronger during hard workouts. We get stronger after those workouts, as our bodies rest/recover/rebuild.

If all we do is go out and push hard every day, we end up with hard workouts that aren’t actually hard enough, and “recovery” workouts that don’t help us recover at all.

Ride 20: Cruising with Cadence

Most riders will tell you that going out and smashing it after a couple weeks off isn’t the best plan. While basic logic may say, “My legs are perfectly rested and ready for a hard effort” the actual truth is that you’ll usually ride better if you’ve “blown out the cobwebs” a day or two earlier – especially if you’re talking about shorter (less than 1 hour), harder efforts.

With that in mind, we opted to have Boone just put in a solid hour+ with C. Cadence. Simples.

Her and her roadies (groupies?) were on the Tick Tock route, and Boone hung with them for a bit over 50 minutes before easing up and spinning it out for the final 15 minutes.

See this ride on Strava >

Ride 21: More Cruising

Today was a fast day for Boone (“fast” referring to not eating), so we wanted to do another steady ride. This ride was very similar to his previous effort, except he hung in with C. and her roadies for 73 minutes before dropping off and spinning it out for a while.

See this ride on Strava >

Ride 22: VO2 Steps

The week wouldn’t be complete without a butt-kicking VO2 workout, so that’s what Boone tackled today. But first – we adjusted his weight down a couple of pounds, which is always fun! He’s now at 214.2, and hoping to hit ~195. Less than 20 pounds to go!

For today’s VO2 session, we decided to try something our coach/advisor Alan Dempsey had recently mentioned: using “stepdown” intervals instead of steady intervals, in order to get the heart rate up faster then keep it there.

With a typical 3-minute VO2 interval, your heart rate may take 90 seconds to reach the target level. If instead you begin with a harder 1-minute effort, your heart rate will jump up to that target level within, say, 45 seconds, then remain there for the next two 1-minute intervals. The end result: you spend more time at that target heart rate.

We weren’t sure how Boone would perform on this style of interval, so we decided to mix them in with our standard 3-minute steady intervals. You can see the workout below:

So how did he do? Well, the split interval definitely got his heart rate up faster than the steady ones. But they were also tough! He threw in the towel on the third minute of the 4th VO2 section, then we had to lower the final segment in order for him to finish it.

Did he hit the wall because of the stepped intervals… or because he had logged 12k steps that day, running electrical wiring in his real job? Hard to say. But we’ll give this workout another try for sure.

See this ride on Strava >

Week 6 Takeaways

One really interesting takeaway from this week has to do with just how much your weight can fluctuate between training weeks and vacation weeks.

Boone lost 13 pounds in less than 5 days, from his “end of vacation” weight on Sunday to his Friday morning, “I’m back in the saddle again” weigh-in. Of course, that’s not 13 pounds of fat – it would be mostly water retained due to eating salty and higher-carb foods. But the lesson here is: a few days of relaxed eating won’t kill your weight loss goals, as long as you get back in the saddle. In fact, taking a bit of a “diet break” may be very good for the soul.

Other than that, this week was fairly unremarkable. But after three workouts, Boone is primed and ready to hit it hard and make real progress on his journey to cat B. Hup hup!

Questions or Comments?

Post below!