Kara Winger: I’m Kara Winger, your host for the TrueSport Expert Series 2022. We’re here at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs.
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Yeah, we got the scoreboard behind us and everything, don’t we?
Kara Winger: This is the scoreboard from the 1980 Olympic Games where the U.S. hockey team beat Russia in the final moments. Historic moment.
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Yeah for sure.
Kara Winger: So, our episode today with Dr.Kevin Chapman is titled, “It Takes One to Know One. What does that mean?
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Yeah. So, that’s a loaded topic because it’s really a double meaning honestly. So, when we talk about it takes one to know one being a license psychologist, I specialize in emotional disorders and anxiety and things like that. So, I did a webinar at one point and I really illustrated how if you think about one emotion, you can understand all emotions because there are significant overlap across emotions. So, in that particular webinar, I was talking specifically about men who struggle with anxiety, sadness, and anger. And at face value you really don’t see those as being very similar, but ultimately being a man myself, but also recognizing that sadness, anger, and anxiety, if you understand the function of an emotion, meaning why you have emotions, it’s really easy to understand all of them because they all serve an adaptive purpose in our lives. If we know how to pay attention to them.
Kara Winger: And maybe like where they sort of manifest in your body, like it sounds like those three emotions could be pretty similar in terms of how you react to them. Everyone is different, obviously, but once you feel the sensation of an emotion, you might be more familiar with the ones that are coming down the pipeline.
Dr. Kevin Chapman: And that’s precisely the point, right? Your point is well taken is that if you think about all emotions they have three parts. Most people talk about feelings. They’re like, I feel like you shouldn’t have said that to me. That’s not a feeling. That’s actually a thought. But most people in society talk about emotions like they’re feelings but when in reality, all emotions have three parts. We have thoughts, we have physical feelings in our body, and we have behaviors. So, when you understand that all emotions have those same three components and they’re interrelated, then you have a better understanding that the physiological arousal of anger and anxiety and fear and disgust and things like that are all pretty heightened. Right? But with sadness, they all go down because it serves a different purpose.
Kara Winger: Yeah, very cool. I’ve never been afraid of feeling my feelings, but maybe I’ve never been afraid of thinking my thoughts.
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Right. That makes sense.
Kara Winger: Wild. How does understanding the source of your emotions, like you said, there are three parts. How does, maybe understanding that, help a youth athlete grow in handling them?
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think in many ways when we think about emotions, most people kind of play the victim. And what I mean by that is we assume that things cause our emotional experiences when in reality things trigger our emotional experiences. So, it gives me a sense of control if I’m able to regulate and understand that the reason I’m experiencing anger, which is normal, is because this event precipitated it, right? Or if I’m anxious, it’s normal to be anxious about competition. Right? I had a football coach here in high school used to say, “If you ain’t hype, something ain’t right.” And that’s recognizing that anxiety serves an adaptive purpose. It’s a matter of how you regulate it and allow that to help you respond to have an optimal performance. So, it’s not a matter of not having the emotion, it’s where am I with the emotion so that it helps me navigate any situation that presents itself.
Kara Winger: Right. My high school javelin coach would say, “It’s OK to be nervous. It means that you care.”
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Exactly.
Kara Winger: Yes, and I’ve been all around the world throwing the javelin. I still get nervous. That’s kind of always my cue that like this, this is still really important to me. I love it. And it’s OK to feel these feelings because it’s my cue that it’s a big deal.
Dr. Kevin Chapman: That’s a great point. You should be nervous, right? Because if you’re not, you’re going to go out there and be like, oh, here we go, right? And you’re not going to have a good throw. But if you’re too nervous, you’re going to be tense and tight and mechanics will be off. But if it’s optimal, that’s when we PR and things like that.
Kara Winger: Yeah. So, knowledge is power, right? If you know how emotions work, if you know maybe how your body reacts to certain emotions or that nervousness, you can then take action to like not necessarily combat it, but make those physical reactions to that emotion work in your favor.
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Indeed. Right. So, it’s about regulation. It’s not about getting rid of, suppressing because that backfires anyway. And if I push an emotion away basically it maintains it, it makes it worse long term. So, it’s a matter of how do I use it and respond to what it’s trying to tell me. Emotions are trying to communicate important information. So, when we recognize as an athlete that anger, anxiety, sadness, all of those emotions serve a purpose. We have to learn to pay attention to it as a young athlete. And that’s going to make us better adults later.
Kara Winger: Right. You know, I feel like I did OK at this sports psychology stuff for a long time, but I’m going into my last season as a javelin thrower. I started therapy right before New Year’s. And it’s been wonderful because I can separate kind of me as a whole human being from this athlete life that I’ve led and think about my emotions in a different way and then apply them back to this last season that I want to get everything I can out of it and just really pay homage to the 20 years of my career.
Dr. Kevin Chapman: That’s an excellent point. Well, obviously I’m a fan that you’re doing that, right? Because ultimately there’s a big I with you care. And what I mean by big I’s that you’re a lot of things. You’re not just an athlete, you’re a whole lot of things, right? You’re a spouse, you’re a daughter. And when you can understand, right, that I have these aspects of me that’s not just an athlete, that’s a part of my identity. But that’s not the only part of my identity. It makes you complete in that way. So, that’s good.
Kara Winger: And then you bring your whole self to the runway instead of just this piece of you. And I really have enjoyed kind of giving myself that space.
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Yeah, that’s good.
Kara Winger: Yeah. So, it’s been really excellent. So, I felt really lucky in my career of many different coaches. But actually very specifically, my strength coach of the last 12 years is a really good friend of mine. His wife Maggie was my matron of honor, like really close friends. Jamie Myers, my strength coach helped me in so many different ways, like as a friend and navigate emotions that kind of we both grew in this sport as coach and athlete together, and I’m so lucky to have him, but also other really great coaches that helped me manage my emotions. Like what are some tools for coaches to be able to do that effectively?
Dr. Kevin Chapman: You know, it’s a great question, Kara, because I think in many ways many coaches lack the knowledge and the skill set honestly.
Kara Winger: The emotional intelligence?
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Indeed, emotional intelligence. That’s a great point. Right. And I think many times we don’t really see coaches knowing how to navigate that because it’s not something in their tool belt, so to speak. So, what I like to tell coaches on a regular basis is that, first of all, recognizing that emotions again have three parts, but we’ve got to make emotions a regular part of the conversation. So, one strategy I like to talk about a lot is very easy, athletes like numbers, so it’s easy to remember this is what I call a three point check. All emotions have three parts. Some kids coming off the field, they’re salty, they’re upset. Something bad happened it’s like saying, take a deep breath. They take a deep breath, and then they say to themselves, what were you thinking right now? What are you thinking? What are you feeling right now in your body? What are you doing or feel like doing? That acknowledges in a very non-judgmental way what emotion I’m having right there in real time. Once they’re honest with themselves and accept that emotion, then the coach can simply say, “So what can you do right now to respond to that emotion more effectively?” Money, right? So if a coach tells a kid to do that, not only did they accept the emotion as part of the sport, but now they’re able to channel that emotion into an adaptive performance in many ways. And that’s a really quick hitter, really, a three point check.
Kara Winger: Yeah, I love that ability to process something not necessarily quickly, but in a way that allows you to still be a part of the experience with your team. So yeah, that’s not necessarily a natural thing to, like, walk away, collect yourself, come back. But if you have a coach modeling that for you or even just making that very simple suggestion, that can go a long way. In my Olympic career, you know, making four Olympic teams is amazing. But the outcome at those Games was not necessarily the dream that I had in mind and I had a captain of a college team recently ask me how do I deal with my own disappointment and still be a leader?
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Right.
Kara Winger: And for me, there isn’t really a choice like you’re either going to storm off and be upset and there’s a time and place for that for sure. You definitely have to work through those emotions like we’ve been talking about. But if you don’t go back, you don’t get to support your friends. You don’t get to be a part of other people’s experiences. And that’s been such a pleasure and privilege for me to be a part of other athletes lives. And if I just spend all my time feeling sorry for myself without dealing with it and coming back to support, I would have lost out on a lot.
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Yeah, and that’s a great point. And to your point about disappointment and being a leader, I think it’s essential for a real leader to express when they have disappointments, hang ups, and mistakes because number one, they look up to you, but also because you’re transparent and honest and approachable. So, in many ways, if I express, guys, I let you down. I’m disappointed because label that emotion right? Disappointment, which is a normal part of competition. You know that. Right? And then saying that and saying, but I’m going to make up for it. I’m going to do this and I’m going to respond differently. They’re going to be able to say that, oh, wait a second, he’s human just like I am. She’s human just like I am. If I’m disappointed, that’s a sign that I’m a human being and I can still pick myself up and go out and perform better the next time.
Kara Winger: Yes, modeling that behavior and being vulnerable so that other people can be vulnerable and grow together.
Dr. Kevin Chapman: Yes, indeed.
Kara Winger: Fabulous. Excellent advice. Thank you, Dr. Kevin Chapman. – Yeah, thank you. Absolutely. – This has been another TrueSport Expert Series in 2022.
Dr. Kevin Chapman explains that knowing one emotion means knowing them all. In this episode of the TrueSport Expert Series, he offers guidance on how to coach athletes to better manage and communicate their feelings.
Learn more about Dr. Kevin Chapman
Hi. I’m Trevon, Trey, Jennifer. Team USA wheelchair basketball player, paralympian, and true sport athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about goal setting. And there are three things that I would like you to know. First, successful athletes set goals and a planned roadmap. Second, goals should be written down, assessed over time, and changed if necessary. And third, goals need to be challenging in order to be worthwhile. As a freshmen at Edinboro University, I was a part of a team that made the national championship game. And at that time I recognized I was the low man on the totem pole, but I felt in my heart that I knew my dreams were so much bigger than winning a national title. I wanted to make Team USA. I knew what achieving my lofty goal was not going to be easy and that I would need to work hard every day.
So, as a reminder, I created a pyramid of goals that I kept right above my bed. This pyramid reminded me of the accomplishments that I was working towards and visually represented my need to create a solid foundation underneath me before reaching the top. In the bottom roll of my pyramid of goals I listed goals such as obtaining my bachelor’s degree, becoming a scholar athlete award recipient, and becoming an All-American. The middle row listed winning a national title and playing for a professional team. And at the top row, the most challenging of them all, I listed becoming a gold medalist for Team USA.
By understanding that there are smaller stepping stones to achieving my ultimate goal of being on Team USA, I was able to stay motivated and to stay focused on completing the smaller stepping stones fully before moving onto the next one. Now I’ll be the first to admit that not every goal that I listed on my pyramid was accomplished, but seeing my goals every day when I went to bed, I was able to push through the days that I felt like doing nothing in hopes of achieving the bigger picture. Remember, create a clear goal roadmap, assess your goals often, and continue to challenge yourself. I hope that you never stopped dreaming big or reaching for the stars. And I look forward to seeing where your roadmap takes you.
Hi, I’m Kara Winger, Olympic javelin thrower, and true sport athlete. Today I want to talk to you about body image and I have three things I’d like you to know. First, healthy thoughts often lead to healthier bodies. Second, there are varying body types and no one’s body is exactly like another. And third, true beauty goes deeper than the skin. As a multi-time Olympian, I’ve experienced a lot of variation and progression in my training. My coaches and I adapt to my training frequently, all with the goal of supporting my long-term success and health in the sport of javelin. I’m talking to you about body image today because sometimes even with the best of intentions and a common goal in mind, the changes you make to your training habits can prove to be detrimental if made for the wrong reasons. In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic trials, I was told in order to improve my performance on the field, I should try to become a leaner, skinnier version of myself.
So I changed my diet. I went along with what I was being told to do, even though I’d had great success at a slightly heavier weight and higher body fat percentage, and became much leaner than ever before. It seemed like a successful change at first, but I didn’t have nearly the results I’d had before. And I believe becoming leaner than my body naturally wanted to be was what caused my ACL to tear. In the end, it cost me heavily going into the 2012 London games. The takeaway for me, and hopefully for you, is that it’s important to know what works for you and your body and to not compare yourself to others. You should do your research and experiment with your diet to find what makes you feel the best, rather than focusing on what you look like. Today, if I feel like having a chocolate chip cookie, I have one, just not every day.
I’ve learned what a properly balanced meal for my body looks like and I recognize food as the fuel that keeps me throwing. I hydrate and allow myself time to recover. And I listen to and communicate with my body so that I can be the best version of myself. In the end, you are in control of how you see, treat, and respond to your body. We only get one and it’s amazing to discover how many things our bodies can do. Be a true sport athlete. Love who you are in this moment and get excited for all the places your body will take you.
Hi, I’m Izy Isaksen, Team USA, Modern Pentathlon, Olympian, US Army Sergeant, and True Sport Ambassador. Today, I want to talk to you about being a good sport. There are three things I’d like you to know. First, real winners act the same toward their opponent, whether they win or lose. Second, follow the rules and be a gracious winner and respectful loser. And third, sportsmanship reveals your true character.
I started competing in Modern Pentathlon eight years after my older sister and three-time Olympian, Margaux Isaksen, began competing. I soon realized that people often compared the two of us. I would overhear spectators and teammates asking, “Who’s the better athlete,” and “Who’s going to beat the other.” Instead of letting outside pressures create a negative experience for us, I chose to practice winning and losing with grace and respect. I know that it would have been easy to let our hyper competitive mindset affect our relationship, but instead we decided to support and cheer for each other, regardless of our own performance. My experience of competing against and being compared to my older sister, taught me to focus on how to perform at my best, rather than putting wasted energy into wishing for others to fail.
I believe that sportsmanship reveals true character. So, no matter what situation I encounter during competition, I know it’s important to always treat people with respect and be a good sport. Remember, be a fierce competitor, find grace in all your victories and losses. And I hope to see you out there.
Edwin Moses: You’re a coach. Maybe what you want is very simple, for everyone to just run in the right direction, score for their own team, to try and try again and again. Maybe you want your athletes to become all stars. You want them to earn trophies, medals, win titles. You want them to reach the highest height their sport allows. And wanting all of that, of course, that’s good. But as every great coach discovers, developing a great athlete means nurturing, nurturing the even greater person within. Truth is, you have even more influence than you know.
You have the ability to affect even deeper change, to take what’s in your hands and do something even more extraordinary. You can be both the coach who provides the skills needed to win the game and the coach who helps them learn and succeed beyond the sport, to become all stars wherever they land in the future, and to enjoy their lives more now, because the confidence and courage they find working with you will stay with them when they need it the most. There are games to be won, lives to change. Coaches have the power to do both.
I’m Edwin Moses, and the lessons I’ve learned through sport have challenged me, guided me, and shaped my life forever. What kind of coach do you want to be?
At first glance, dietary supplements look the same. They seem safe and healthy, but just because the label says a product is a dietary supplement, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. Unfortunately, you can’t tell whether a product is safe or not just by looking at the label. Most vitamins, minerals, fish oil, and other supplements containing nutrients are probably just fine, but supplements are not evaluated or approved by FDA before they are sold. Although it is rare for vitamins or minerals to be contaminated with drugs, there has been at least one case of a vitamin containing an anabolic steroid.
At the other extreme are products that contain drugs, stimulants, anabolic steroids, or other hormones. Even though these are not technically dietary supplements, many of them are labeled as supplements. For example, body-building products sometimes contain anabolic steroids or Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, known as SARMs, or other hormones. Some pre-workout or energy products contain illegal stimulants like DMAA, ephedra, or other amphetamine-like stimulants. Weight loss products might contain prescription drugs like sibutramine, or hormones, like human chorionic gonadotropin, also known as hCG. All natural or herbal sexual enhancement products might contain hormones or Viagra-like drugs. Products like these can harm your health and career, but they’re for sale online, in some nutrition stores, and they’re labeled as dietary supplements.
When you pick up a supplement, especially one that promises performance enhancement, you don’t know if it belongs in the “Mostly O.K.” pile or in the “Dangerous” pile. After all, two products might look the same, but one might contain just amino acids and other legitimate ingredients, while the other also contains anabolic steroids. Because of this, FDA has issued a warning about certain categories of supplements: body building products, weight loss products, and sexual enhancement products. Be extremely careful when considering a supplement in one of these categories. We strongly recommend that you avoid products in these categories.
Even when FDA tests supplements and finds dangerous ingredients, companies sometimes refuse to recall them. Sometimes, they simply repackage their product and continue selling it under a new name. Just because a product is on a store shelf doesn’t mean it is safe. You need to do your research and be an informed consumer. The dietary supplement industry is enormous. Supplements that appear to be safe could actually be dangerous products in disguise. If you use dietary supplements without doing your research, you may be taking serious risks with your health and your career. Please visit USADA’s Supplement 411 for more information about dietary supplements.
