Flow 255® mental performance fitness
Mental fitness training 101
Learn about the evolution of a mental performance approach that works under pressure because you train under pressure.
The distinction
Performance and well-being through mental fitness
It’s not what you know that makes you fit; it’s about how skillful you are in translating knowledge into action.
Mental health refers to an individual’s or community’s emotional, social, and psychological condition. The World Health Organization defines mental health as the state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn and work well, and contribute to their community. Mental fitness is the component of mental health that can be affected by training.
Mental fitness refers to our cognitive and emotional capacities to address challenges. Just as physical fitness is a component of physical health, mental fitness is a component of mental health. Mental fitness not only affects mental health, but it is also a key determinant of performance. Mental fitness is optimized by training mental skills and attributes. Mental performance fitness focuses particularly on the skills and attributes that impact the ability to thrive under pressure.
Skills and attributes
Zooming in on mental performance fitness
A fitness level depends on the functional applicability of skills and attributes under pressure. Like physical ones, mental performance skills and attributes improve with training and deteriorate without it.
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Mental performance skills
Abilities that originate in the brain. Reaching a functional level that translates to performance takes training that progresses in technical difficulty — the skills to calm thoughts and emotions, relax the body, reason with clarity, visualize vividly, or focus intensely.
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Mental performance attributes
Cognitive or affective properties that affect behavior. Where skills change through training, attributes tend to be more sensitive to insight — determination, confidence and a growth mindset are cognitive; gratefulness, lightheartedness and curiosity are affective.
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EdgeCheck™
2Mynds’ mental assessment solution, evaluating the core skills and attributes that affect performance under pressure. It covers Mental Quality of Life, Performance Readiness and Core Edge Components.
Training principles
Redefining mental training
The problem with most mental training is that it is not training. Training oneself, in a general context, can be defined as developing fitness related to functional competencies. In exercise physiology, specific criteria determine whether an activity should be considered training — the training principles below, in logical order.
A careful examination reveals the issue with referring to many clinical and performance psychology exercises as training, as most training principles do not apply. The two most important ones, progression and overload, are rarely applied in modern mindfulness-based approaches. Progressive overload has been the backbone of physical performance training for decades, but it remains relatively uncommon in mental performance training.
Journaling addresses cognitive attributes — what you understand about yourself — and does not train specific mental skills, except perhaps the skill to articulate experiences.
Guided meditations rarely progress systematically to challenging levels, so a series without an escalating challenge cannot be considered training a skill. That does not make them useless — they produce insights and experiences — but without adherence to training principles, meditation cannot lead to the mental fitness required for performing under pressure.
The argument
Changing the paradigm
While mental health support has become a hot topic and addressing issues has become less stigmatized, the problem is that we are still addressing issues, not preventing them. We are reactive and therapeutic, with interventions that are almost invariably gentle and supportive. The paradigm is still to wait until we break and then limit the damage. This is very different for physical health, where we train to prevent issues and increase fitness over time by continuously increasing the training stimulus.
The prevailing answer to our mental health crisis has been more therapists and more 24/7 support apps. Throw in the occasional inspiring video or motivational talk, and it may seem we’re on the right track. However, epidemiologic reports of mental illness incidence paint a different picture.
It’s time to learn from the successes of performance fitness interventions in physical health: to integrate exercise physiology into psychology and move the emphasis from therapy to training. From diagnostics to early screening. From reactive to proactive. For therapists and performance coaches, providing training is distinctly different from giving therapy. For someone struggling, a training regimen is very different from a consulting session. And for someone without mental issues, mental fitness training is not the same as hitting the gym. That is why screening and training tools have to fit inside the toolbox of therapists and coaches and, at the same time, integrate easily into existing activities.
The method
Flow 255® — an innovative approach to mental fitness
2Mynds has pioneered a unique mental fitness training approach: Flow 255®. It integrates exercise physiology into mental fitness training, delivering testing, training and thriving content within a gamified online ecosystem, focused specifically on the ability to operate optimally under pressure.
Flow 255 refers to two states of mind, five core skills and five core attributes. It begins with tests and analytics using proprietary psychometrics (SPE-20®, Mental Edge Index) and performance metrics. Training content is delivered via audio guides called Mind Flows, which first isolate mental techniques and then integrate them into skill flows. These mental workouts fit into the cool-downs of physical workouts, and training takes place under increasing levels of adrenaline, making the skills highly transferable to real situations of pressure. The last step, from fitness to performance, is approached equally systematically through routine-building.
Who it is for
Mental performance fitness for everyone
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Individual performers
Whether it is sport, performing arts or school, brains respond more rationally to adversity when they are not hardwired to react poorly. How the app is used is fully customizable, from high-intensity programs to weekly support that maintains relaxation and refocusing skills.
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Professional and high-performance sports
A demanding environment becomes mentally exhausting without periodization that includes mental development and recovery. The app gives athletes the training tools and gives coaches and sports psychologists scalable tracking.
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Corporate high-stakes professions
The physiology of stress is no different for a professional making critical decisions, a surgeon performing cardiac surgery, or an athlete competing on television. The methodology is identical; the applications are not.
In their words
What people say
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Uniquely engaging!
The 2Mynds system is providing my students with a fun and engaging way to work on the mental skills that they need to compete at a high level.
Nick Fustar Head coach / Eagle Fustar Tennis Academy -
Very impactful!
2Mynds has helped me activate the energy I want to bring to the court daily.
Kaitlyn Christian Professional Tennis and Pickleball Player / USA -
Great for college players!
The progress-to-stress approach really ties in well with the roller coaster of emotions that comes from college tennis.
Roger Follmer Head coach / Washington University Men's Tennis
Start with a conversation
If you want to know where your mental fitness actually stands, that is what the assessment is for. If you would rather talk it through first, book a conversation.