I was going to divide them into “sport” and “life” but as Dan Millman often mentions, if your life is in a state of “dis-ease” so will be your athletic performance. So, in my humble opinion, all/any of these books will have a profound effect on your life and your mountain biking.
Pick ONE that sounds interesting to you, read it, study it, apply what you have learned in your riding/life, reread to find all the nuggets you missed (or were not ready for yet).
The New Toughness Training for Sports: Mental, Emotional, and Physical Conditioning from One of the World’s Premier Sports Psychologists
by James E. Leohr, Chris Evert, Dan Jansen,
Excellent book with worksheets to help you practice what it teaches.
The Mental Edge: Maximize Your Sports Potential with the Mind/Body Connection
by Ken Baum, Richard Trubo,
Excellent book with worksheets to help you practice what it teaches.
Body Mind Mastery: Creating Success in Sport and Life
by Dan Millman,
Really, really great book that goes a little deeper into why you compete in sports and helps you integrate sport and life (helps you see and create balance in your life so the sport does not take over your life).
Way of the Peaceful Warrior, 20th Anniversary Edition: A Book Those Changes Lives
by Dan Millman
Not really a mental training book but a book that gave me a much better outlook on life.
The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How.
by Daniel Coyle
Fascinating book on how your body/brain/nervous system respond to practice and how to “grow” your talent.
For Your Back!
Foundation: Redefine Your Core, Conquer Back Pain, and Move with Confidence
by Eric Goodman and Peter Park
The exercises in this book fixed 16 years of back pain and are the sole reason I can still ride for more than a half hour without major pain (actually, should have said “I can again …”, as from 2012 through 2016 I could not do that)! Well worth the $12.95!
For Your Balance!
Balance is Power
Jim Klopman and Janet Miller
Extra Credit Books
Flow and Flow in Sport/s
By Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
I have this on audio, really interesting research on the “flow” (or zone) state. Not as helpful as the above books but interesting.
Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
by Geoff Colvin
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
by Chip Heath
Outliers: The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell
Slow Practice Will Get You There Faster
by Ernest Dras
A short, easy read that first explained most/all the concepts in Outliers, Talent Is Overrated, Mastery and The Talent Code but written by a coach in laymen’s terms. When reading the books mentioned above I kept saying to myself, “hey, that backs up what Ernest Dras said in his book!”
The Untethered Soul
by Michael A. Singer
This is the most amazing book I have ever read! It is like an advanced The Way of The Peaceful Warrior (in that it is changing my life, content is much different), it is truly changing my life (as The Way of The Peaceful Warrior did 20 years ago). I am very slowly and deliberately reading and practicing what this book teaches.
Peace is Every Step and You Are Here
by Thích Nhất Hạnh
Two great books that explain how to be happier, more peaceful and more grounded using Buddhist principles in our “Western Society”
I hope you get as much as I did our of them.
Have you read a book that helped with your mental game? A book that changed your life? Let us know below!
Feel free to share this article with anyone you know who could benefit from it.
Create your best ride yet,
Gene
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