Relaxation - Sports Psychology

Progressive Muscular Relaxation is a great way to achieve relaxation in a stressful environment.

PMR (Progressive Muscular Relaxation)

PMR (Progressive Muscular Relaxation is a great way to achieve relaxation in a stressful environment. Practicing this technique prior to competition or when feeling tense will help you relax.

At first this relaxation technique may take 10 minutes and needs to be practiced in the quiet of home. With practice this technique can be used to relax more quickly before a competition or similar stressful event. Lie on the floor, and progressively tense and relax certain muscle groups.

  1. Start with the arms, make a fist and tighten all the arm muscles (try and focus on relaxing all other muscles whist doing this) keep tensed for approximately 5-7 seconds then relax for 30 seconds.
  2. Do the same for the neck, face shoulders and upper back, then the stomach and lower back, then the hips and legs.
  3. Finish off by tensing all muscles then relaxing fully.

As you become good at this you may only need a few minutes to fully relax your muscles.

This technique can be incorporated with the mental imagery story as outlined through the link below.