Pathway to Peak Brain Performance
Peak brain performance is achieved when an individual’s cognitive functions operate at optimal levels. The high-performance brain is built to effectively adapt to its changing surroundings and respond with precise results. Individuals who remain elite performers in their fields frequently train their brains in different ways in order to achieve peak performance. This is done by adopting healthy habits as well as focusing on activities to challenge the brain in different ways.
Healthy Habits of the High-Performance Brain
Whether you are in professional sports, academia, or any other field, it can be important to strive towards achieving peak brain performance. Developing healthy habits forms the foundation of taking your performance to the next level. A few examples of these habits include discipline, consistency and time management. Effectively incorporating these traits into your daily routine is important and can start right at home.
Discipline - The practice of training the mind to follow-through with obeying rules and achieving set goals. Discipline can be improved by creating and embracing activities that allow the brain to remain focused and goal-oriented. An important way to begin improving discipline is to remove all distractions from your environment. For example, if your goal is to eat healthy, try to remove all other temptations such as junk food. To improve you focus on a specific task, start by turning off your phone and removing all social media distractions for that particular time period.
Consistency — The ability to maintain regularity and constantly follow the same pattern of behaviour. Consistency and repetition is not only key to learning new things, but can also help you adopt certain patterns of behaviour helpful for achieving optimal brain performance. For example, maintaining a constant sleep and wake schedule can have a significant positive impact on your productivity during the day. Some also find that writing down a schedule or to-do list for the day can serve as an effective way to practice consistency.
Time Management - The process of organizing and planning how to divide your time effectively between different activities. The Pomodoro technique is a popular time management method where you break down your time into intervals separated by short breaks. With this method, your brain can stay focused during those short bursts of time leading to reduced fatigue and increased productivity.
High-Performance Challenges
It is not surprising that elite performers must look and think beyond simply introducing healthy habits into their lifestyle. The plasticity of the brain is one of its most valuable qualities and by challenging the brain, we form new connections that enhance our cognitive abilities. Brain training programs are a great way to challenge and enhance different areas of our cognition.
For athletes looking to achieve peak performance in their field, virtual training programs such as those offered by Lenica are a key tool for allowing athletes to train as if they were in the real game. The platform utilizes a fully immersive cognitive training program designed to enhance cognitive and visual skills. It was developed using 3D Multiple Object Tracking research which has been shown to improve attention, processing speed, complex movement perception and working memory. These cognitive attributes improve reaction time and decision-making accuracy in athletes helping them achieve peak performance.
