When the motivation to practice sports raises questions

It’s been 20 years this year since I’ve had the pleasure of practicing my profession, and exploring the labyrinths of the human psyche when it comes to sports. And 20 years of practice hasn’t stopped me from still being amazed at what I can sometimes hear, when those I accompany dare to speak out in all sincerity.

Twice this year, I’ve been approached by consultants who have raised fascinating questions about motivation , prompting me to delve back into my sports psychology books and search for recent scientific articles.

Let’s delve into Sophie and Lionel’s stories to discover some of the forces behind our motivations.

Sophie: is there meaning beyond performance?

Sophie is 35 years old. She contacted me in May, following her last ultra trail, which was a real nightmare. She says she suffered the race from start to finish, with the feeling that the kilometers were endless and didn’t go by. It almost traumatized her, and she vowed never to go through that again.

She’d like to understand what happened, so that she can make the most of future races. When I ask her about her sporting activities, I sense that performance is particularly important.

On the other hand, when I ask her what she likes about running, she talks about her love of the mountains and the pleasure she gets from running in beautiful landscapes. At no point, however, does she mention anything about the pleasure she finds in the activity of “running”.

To go further in exploring his motivation, I suggest he keeps a positive logbook, a tool I introduced to you in this article.

When we debriefed her after two weeks’ use of the logbook, it became clear that the level of pleasure felt was relatively low, with Sophie awarding marks of between 2 and 5 out of 10 to her outings. She found it very difficult to perceive pleasant elements, and focused on performance-related evaluation elements , such as her heart rate being too high, her pace being too slow compared to what was defined on the plan given by her coach, the feeling of having heavy legs and of dragging herself.

Naturally, I suggested that she ease up on her training, because it was clear that these elements were indicative of an excessively high level of fatigue, and I encouraged her to consult a sports doctor, which she did a few weeks later.

She accepts the idea of lightening her training a little. I take the opportunity to suggest another experiment to shed some light on what motivates her to run. The idea would be to go for a run without her connected watch (i.e. without a pace indicator), on a known route of a few kilometers, with no objective other than to be curious about the evolution of her desire and sensations. This would also mean an outing that would not be published on social networks.

His reaction was swift: ” It’s out of the question. I don’t see why I should do it, there’s absolutely no point! “

None, indeed, unless you enjoy the activity of running for its own sake, or appreciate the scenery. At this point, I can’t help but be surprised by the fact that this woman devotes 90% of her free time to an activity that gives her no pleasure in itself.

I think back to my discussions with runners a few years ago. Many of them talked about the fact that what they were looking for in their running was above all a sense of well-being after the session. Others forced themselves to put on their sneakers, telling themselves they had to do something to keep fit. And it was not uncommon to hear around the stadium that running made it easier to indulge in the little pleasures of daily life.

In all these speeches, running was basically just a means of obtaining a satisfaction that was not provided by the race itself.

Lionel: obsessed with lap times

A few weeks later, I see Lionel, 32, a road racer for 6 years. Lionel comes to me with sleep problems that he’s been experiencing for about a year. At first, he couldn’t identify any specific cause. But as our discussion progressed, it became clear that his insomnia was systematically occurring during the week preceding each of his races. This affects his cognitive abilities at work, and is what bothers him most.

As in the previous example, something tells me there may be a link with Lionel’s reasons for running and the goals he sets himself. I dug into this and it quickly became apparent that Lionel’s main goal was to improve his times in training and racing. Clearly, he has good qualities, and the results came quickly after his debut, which encouraged him to continue and to seek the satisfaction of progress. So it’s the quest for performance that gives meaning to his practice.

When I ask him if he really likes running, he’s a little unsettled and has trouble answering. So I ask him to imagine a fictitious situation: his usual training session at the stadium has been cancelled, the weather’s fine, his connected watch has broken down and his phone is flat. Would he go for a run? He’s frank enough to answer ” no” , and I can sense in his attitude that there’s a real awareness here. It would be pointless, since nothing would be measurable and his output could not be evaluated.

I sense that he’s a bit overwhelmed, so I ask him to tell me about his sporting activities when he was younger. Before long, he’s smiling again, telling me about playing volleyball and badminton with his friends, and it’s clear that the pleasure aspect is present: “It’s a pleasure to play,” he says. it was really great! I really liked the sensations of these two sports, and also the playful dimension, having fun together. ”

Spontaneously, he makes connections, and tells me about his girlfriend, Léonie, who doesn’t run in a club, but loves to run. He tells me that she goes jogging when she feels like it, without her watch, and that she never takes part in races. She just likes running.

He has the courage to admit that, deep down, he doesn’t like running. All he’s looking for is the satisfaction of performance.

I then suggest that, in parallel to his practice, he should once again take up sports that really appeal to him, that he could enjoy, and that he could share with friends. We talked about badminton, padel and bouldering. And finally he says to me: ” you know, I think it’s a great idea. Yes, it really makes me want to! I’m going to organize it in the next few weeks, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep running… . » Et, forcément, il n’est plus question de ses troubles du sommeil 😊

Were you surprised to read these examples? For my part, I must confess that I was already fascinated by the concept of motivation when I was a student. I’ve always been fascinated by understanding what drives an individual’s behavior, especially when it comes to sports.

Intrinsic or extrinsic: what drives us forward

A great deal of research has been carried out to better understand how motivation works. In the early 2000s, Deci and Ryan developed a model of understanding that I like very much, called self-determination theory. This theory has given rise to a tool, the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS), which identifies an individual’s main sources of pleasure in his or her practice.

For Deci and Ryan, there are always multiple reasons why a person chooses a sporting activity, and they distinguish three main types of motivation organized along a continuum: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation (or absence of motivation).

• Intrinsic motivation is inherent in activities that are carried out for their own sake, and for the satisfaction and pleasure they bring. This is the type of motivation previously found in Lionel’s girlfriend Léonie.
• In extrinsic motivation, sport is practiced to achieve something. For example: to lose weight, to stay in shape, to see a lot of people at training sessions or competitions, to win medals, to get likes or positive comments on social networks, to please your coach or family, to have the status of top-level athlete, etc.

It’s the latter type of motivation that is preponderant in Sophie and Lionel’s case, which explains why they are extremely dependent on their connected watches and find no interest in running if their sessions are not measured, recorded or exposed on the networks. For them, it’s the numbers that make their training and running worthwhile, far more than the pleasure they get from running.

As you can see, this type of motivation inevitably generates much more stress than intrinsic motivations, especially when it exists in athletes who associate their own value with that of their performance. In this case, it’s easy to understand why the prospect of a race generates so much anxiety that it’s hard to sleep, since what’s at stake is our self-esteem. If you don’t reach your goal, your self-esteem plummets, and that’s often very painful.

Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is associated with much lower stress levels, more positive emotions and better long-term performance.

Reconnect with your original motivations

However, it is not uncommon for an athlete who starts an activity for the pleasure it generates to switch at some point to a motivation determined essentially by external factors, particularly when he or she starts to achieve good results and these are valued by people close to him or her. This is particularly true of teenagers. The challenge is to become aware of what’s going on, and try to reconnect the initial motivations.

In the final analysis, it’s always more beneficial to engage in a sporting activity that gives us real pleasure, apart from any “reward”. And then, it’s a good idea to regularly ask ourselves about our motivations and the meaning of this practice. If the prospect of cycling, running or hiking without a watch no longer appeals to you, it may be a good idea to seek advice, either to turn the page on this practice, or to reappropriate it by rediscovering intrinsic motivating factors.

In any case: take care of yourself, and make sure you have a practice you enjoy above all for the pleasure it brings you. 😊