We’ve all heard it before—mental toughness is the key trait that helps you reach your fitness goals.
But how do you—a cyclist or runner—build and train mental strength? Enter this list of best mental toughness books that can walk you through building these essential skills.
Whether you’re a runner looking for running tips or a cyclist searching for cycling advice, this site is here to help you elevate your fitness game.
THE BEST BOOKS ON MENTAL TOUGHNESS
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The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
The Inner Game of Tennis doesn’t just stick to the court; it jumps into the world of mental toughness, bringing its insights into a variety of sports.
Within its pages, you’ll learn:
- Performance mastery: Where you’ll discover practical strategies that will help you navigate and conquer those habitual roadblocks hindering your performance.
- Inner wisdom: You’ll learn how to tune into your inner, wiser self. You’ll see how embracing this silent guide can amplify decision-making, bolster confidence, and fortify your mental resilience.
- Tame your inner critic: Equip yourself with tools to silence the persistent inner critic threatening to overshadow your thoughts.
How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle
How much do you want to succeed? Whether that’s in cycling, running, or more broadly—life, this one question lingers: How bad do you want it?
Do you need to physically train harder? Or do you need more mental tools at your disposal? In this book, Fitzgerald dives deep into the interplay between mind and muscle. And the insights can help you tap into getting the most out of your full potential.
PRACTICAL TAKEAWAY FROM ‘HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT’
What I found most interesting about How Bad Do You Want It? is the concept of bracing yourself.
Bracing yourself means embracing the challenge of a workout or race. So instead of hoping for an easy race, brace yourself and anticipate the challenge.
Why do this? It’s counterintuitive, but prepping for how difficult a challenge is can help you through discomfort and perform better.
The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life Master Any Skill or Challenge by Learning to Love the Process
If you’ve ever fixated on a desired outcome, like a time goal, and felt the sting of boredom, frustration, and impatience because it remained elusive, then this book is tailor-made for you.
Why, you ask? Because sports, much like life, is an enduring training session, demanding us to continually master one skill after another.
The core message is simple yet powerful: remain present and embrace the journey.
While you might be acquainted with the idea of cherishing the process, this book goes beyond the familiar. It arms you with concrete, actionable tips that you can put into practice today.
Here’s what you’ll discover:
- A four-step method—simplify, small, short, and slow—that guides you in focusing on the process.
- An additional exercise—do, observe, correct—that serves as a valuable tool for enhancing your training.
The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion
If you resonate with thoughts like:
- ‘I’m not a cyclist/ runner‘
- ‘I don’t think I can‘
- ‘This is too tough‘
The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion empowers you to navigate through uncertainties, transforming doubt into the foundation of your mental strength as an athlete.
The Champion’s Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train, and Thrive
This read goes beyond just catering to endurance athletes. In The Champion’s Mind, dive into the experiences of professional athletes across diverse sports, discovering how they leverage precise mental skills.
Unlock the secrets with practical, step-by-step instructions on applying these mental tips.
It stands out as one of the premier mental toughness books for athletes, offering digestible chapters that allow you to absorb the lessons gradually and apply them instantly.
Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
Prepare for an enthralling journey with Endure.
Over nearly a decade, Alex Hutchinson delves into the realms of endurance, exploring the experiences of ultra runners, cyclists, and free divers.
At the heart of Endure lies a compelling question: Do our limitations reside in our physical bodies or within the depths of our minds?
Hutchinson skillfully unravels the intricate dance between the mind and body by recounting the captivating tales of individuals who have stretched their boundaries in truly extraordinary ways.
The revelations within are nothing short of astonishing.
Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory
Co-authored with sports journalist Michelle Hamilton, this book transcends the typical sports memoir, offering a powerful exploration of the mind-body connection in running.
As the pages unfold, Kastor invites you into the intimate corners of her personal and professional life.
What sets this memoir apart is its spotlight on positive psychology. Kastor doesn’t just share victories; she opens up about the mindset shifts that paved her path to triumph. The narrative unfolds like a conversation with a trusted friend, offering both vulnerability and wisdom.
But “Let Your Mind Run” is more than just Kastor’s story. It’s a treasure trove of practical mental tips that transcend the world of running.
So whether you’re a seasoned marathoner or an aspiring athlete, this book offers strategies that yield not just physical strength but the speed of thought.
Thinking Body, Dancing Mind: Taosports for Extraordinary Performance in Athletics, Business, and Life
Thinking Body, Dancing Mind delves into the intricate harmony of mind, body, and spirit crucial for excelling in endurance sports.
This masterpiece introduces you to TaoSport, a unique approach blending Western psychology and Eastern philosophy, specifically Taoism. Taoism, with its core principle of responding with ease rather than force, becomes the guiding light.
Within these pages, you’ll go on a journey to navigate the challenges that every athlete encounters—whether it’s the looming fear of failure, the grip of fatigue, or the specter of injury.
Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries
This is a robust guide for those navigating the challenging terrain of sports injuries.
Dealing with an injury-induced sideline can be tough, but within the pages of Rebound, you’ll discover a wealth of mental skills and drills designed to aid your journey to recovery.
Here’s how Rebound empowers you:
- Move through the spectrum of emotions tied to your injury.
- Skillfully navigate the uncertainties that arise during the recovery process.
- Ground yourself in the present, sparking the momentum you need to propel you forward.
- Effectively manage and alleviate the stress and anxiety with the injury experience.
Consider this book a valuable mental toughness partner, specially tailored for athletes grappling with injuries. It’s a reference guide you might want to keep within arm’s reach on your bookshelf.
Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success
How do you get the most out of yourself in a healthy, sustainable way? In Peak Performance, you’ll find out how.
You’ll learn:
- How to use stress to help your performance.
- How to rest and the benefits of different breaks—whether it’s a refreshing walk, a rejuvenating nap, fostering social connections, or embracing the vital role of quality sleep.
- How to use routines to improve your performance
PRACTICAL TAKEAWAY FROM PEAK PERFORMANCE
Stress can motivate you to achieve goals you thought were unreachable.
You need some stress when you’re training for a half marathon, eyeing those longer runs or plotting epic cycling routes.
But stress is a tricky beast. It can help but too much can lead to burn out. The challenge? Striking the balance between stress and rest.
Think of stress from your workouts as one part of the equation and it needs a partner: rest.
It’s in those moments of recovery that ensures you’ll repair your muscles, avoid overtraining from running, burnout from cycling, and fend off injury.
10-Minute Toughness: The Mental Training Program for Winning Before the Game Begins
In search of a book to fortify your mental strength? Look no further.
If you can spare just 10 minutes for mental toughness training, you’re already on the path to cultivating robust mental strength.
In 10-Minute Toughness, Jason Selk presents a mental strength training program brimming with bite-sized, actionable tips. These nuggets of wisdom are designed to sharpen your mental edge and spur you toward peak performance.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
Atomic Habits isn’t a regular guide to building habits—it’s a roadmap to mastering intentional and transformative change.
Let’s be honest, forming a lasting habit can feel almost impossible. But with this guide you’ll get:
Science-backed habit strategies: You’ll gain insights into habit formation and practical techniques that will help you weave new habits into your daily routine.
Mindset shifts: Discover mindset strategies that encourage you to persist, even when you’re faced with temporary setbacks.
One of the most inspiring lessons in this book is that success doesn’t come from big, sweeping changes.
But instead, it’s the small, seemingly insignificant steps that nudge you onto the path to long-term habits.
PRACTICAL TAKEAWAY FROM ATOMIC HABITS
Do you want to create a regular habit of getting out the door for a run? Or a bike ride?
Then start with the one small inconsequential step. That may be simply lacing up your shoes or gathering your cycling gear.
So why is that so important? It’s really all about about mastering the art of showing up. After all, showing up is the key to making these activities a regular part of your routine.
The Comeback Quotient: A Get-Real Guide to Building Mental Fitness in Sport and Life
Have you as an athlete faced a setback? Maybe you’ve pushed yourself into overtraining, or maybe you caught a cold that derailed your training plans.
How do you bounce back from it?
In The Comeback Quotient, you’ll read and learn how athletes—ultrarunners, triathletes, cyclists, rowers, and more—build and use mental skills to overcome their challenges to stage a strong comeback.
