--- product_id: 18922417 title: "How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle" price: "AR$73243" currency: ARS in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/18922417-how-bad-do-you-want-it-mastering-the-psychology-mind store_origin: AR region: Argentina --- # How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle **Price:** AR$73243 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle - **How much does it cost?** AR$73243 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.ar](https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/18922417-how-bad-do-you-want-it-mastering-the-psychology-mind) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description The greatest athletic performances spring from the mind, not the body. Elite athletes have known this for decades and now science is learning why it’s true. In his fascinating new book How Bad Do You Want It?, coach Matt Fitzgerald examines more than a dozen pivotal races to discover the surprising ways elite athletes strengthen their mental toughness. Fitzgerald puts you into the pulse-pounding action of more than a dozen epic races from running, cycling, triathlon, XTERRA, and rowing with thrilling race reports and revealing post-race interviews with the elites. Their own words reinforce what the research has found: strong mental fitness lets us approach our true physical limits, giving us an edge over physically stronger competitors. Each chapter explores the how and why of an elite athlete’s transformative moment, revealing powerful new psychobiological principles you can practice to flex your own mental fitness. The new psychobiological model of endurance performance shows that the most important question in endurance sports is: how bad do you want it? Fitzgerald’s fascinating book will forever change how you answer this question and show you how to master the psychology of mind over muscle. These lessons will help you push back your limits and uncover your full potential. How Bad Do You Want It? reveals new psychobiological findings including: Mental toughness determines how close you can get to your physical limit. Bracing yourself for a tough race or workout can boost performance by 15% or more. Champions have learned how to give more of what they have. The only way to improve performance is by altering how you perceive effort. Choking under pressure is a form of self-consciousness. Your attitude in daily life is the same one you bring to sports. There’s no such thing as going as fast as you can—only going faster than before. The fastest racecourse is the one with the loudest spectators. Faith in your training is as important as the training itself. Athletes featured in How Bad Do You Want It? : Sammy Wanjiru, Jenny Simpson, Greg LeMond, Siri Lindley, Willie Stewart, Cadel Evans, Nathan Cohen and Joe Sullivan, Paula Newby-Fraser, Ryan Vail, Thomas Voeckler, Ned Overend, Steve Prefontaine, and last of all John “The Penguin” Bingham Review: Coping Skills for Endurance Sports - This book explains the latest theory of how the brain regulates endurance performance, the psycho biological model. The thesis is that decisions about pacing or quitting are taken by the conscious brain and that these decisions are primarily based on the conscious decisions of how hard, heavy and strenuous exercise is, a feeling called perception of effort, or body's resistance to the mind's will. Endurance performance is a self-regulated behavior on which thoughts and feelings can have profound influences. Perceptions of effort limit endurance performance. The book describes how conscious self-regulation of thoughts, emotions, and behavior can have a dramatic influence on endurance performance. In other words, mind and body are interconnected with the body distinctly subordinate, or as the great Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi opined, "Mind is everything. Muscles-pieces of rubber." Fitzgerald states the thesis of the book, "One cannot improve as an endurance athlete except by changing one's relationship with perception of effort." The author proceeds to devote the remainder of the book to examples of how athletes changed their relationship to perception of effort. As he states, "the best source of knowledge concerning the most effective methods of coping...is the example set by elite endurance athletes". Subsequent chapters describe how these elite athletes learned to cope. Jenny Barringer demonstrates the need to learn to brace yourself; Greg Lemond the efficacy of time based goals that are targets, not limits, Siri Lindley transcending self-consciousness to become absorbed in the task at hand; Cadel Evans turning low points into turning points, or angry resolve; Paula Newby-Fraser the importance of believing in yourself and ignoring what your competition is doing; the American contingent who participated in the 2013 World Cross Country championships and placed second,the positive effect of running as a team or behavioral synchrony; Thomas Mancebo and the audience and success effects; Ned Overend and the phenomena that if passion endures so will you; and finally, Steve Prefontaine, who wrote that the value of the suffering involved in racing was what you learned about yourself. The author writes that the purpose of the book is to help you become your own sports psychologist, that "in a race the job of the muscles is to perform, the job of the mind is to cope. But here's the hitch: the muscles can only perform to the degree that the mind is able to cope", The author cautions that "The only way to become really good at coping with the discomforts and stresses of endurance sports is to experience them." The value of Matt Fitzgerald, whether you agree with him or not, is that he inspires you to look at subjects in a way different from how you have previously. Matt continues to inspire. Review: Mental Skills, Perceived Effort and Great Stories for Endurance Athletes of all Levels - Matt Fitzgerald has written a very interesting and enjoyable book on the role of mental training for endurance athletes. I recommend this book to all endurance athletes and those who enjoy interesting narratives about individuals who have overcome challenges to become successful. The book can truly be enjoyed on 2 different levels: • Stories of Elite Athletes who have achieved their best through development of better mental training skills and mindsets – these are truly inspirational stories of courage, resilience and are very enjoyable to read • A deeper understanding of the psychobiological model – how the mind and body interact for endurance athletes – that can be used to help each person better coach themselves in a true journey of self-discovery to see what they are truly capable of, regardless of their level of athletic ability (these skills are helpful in other area of life as well). I learned a lot in each chapter of the book but would like to share a bit from 2 chapters that I found interesting and compelling: • In the chapter “The Art of Letting Go”, Matt chronicles the story of Siri Lindley (triathlete) and her struggles and triumphs. The chapter has some very interesting information on choking during big performances. Perceived effort is heightened by self-consciousness - which then leads to decreased performance. The solution is to reach a state of flow – complete immersion in a purposeful activity – that allows one to be in the moment. A key passage from the chapter: “Paradoxically, it may seem, Siri had to let go of that dream and find contentment in the moment-to-moment process of chasing it in order to complete the personal transformation that was her deeper ambition.” • In the chapter “The Gift of Failure”, we learn the story of Cadel Evans (Cycling) and secondarily of Nick Symmonds (800M runner) and the valuable coping skill of resilience. There is a cycle of frustration that can cause an athlete to feel defeated or angry. They can use the anger to reach “sweet disgust” – a determination to fight back that fuels positive change. Additionally, the story of Willie Stewart – “The Workaround Effect” - is one of the most remarkable and inspirational I have read. Stewart lost an arm and still became an elite triathlete by using the coping skill of adaptability – you will not want to miss this story! The best part of the book is that the author realizes that the path to mastery is unique to each of us. There are general coping skills that work well but how we fold those into the fabric of our lives is something we must figure out on our own. This book gives stories of how other have done it and insights into the coping skills and mindsets that can help each of us perform at a higher level. I will close with the way Matt explains it toward the end of the book: “The path between you and the best you can be is unexplored territory. You are on your own, to some extent, to discover not only what motivates you to ‘leave it all out there’ but also your special formula for maximum mental fitness. This is what it means to become your own sports psychologist.” ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #35,114 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #8 in Triathlons (Books) #13 in Cycling (Books) #22 in Extreme Sports (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,372 Reviews | ## Images ![How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71VCrtLBkxL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Coping Skills for Endurance Sports *by G***Y on November 24, 2015* This book explains the latest theory of how the brain regulates endurance performance, the psycho biological model. The thesis is that decisions about pacing or quitting are taken by the conscious brain and that these decisions are primarily based on the conscious decisions of how hard, heavy and strenuous exercise is, a feeling called perception of effort, or body's resistance to the mind's will. Endurance performance is a self-regulated behavior on which thoughts and feelings can have profound influences. Perceptions of effort limit endurance performance. The book describes how conscious self-regulation of thoughts, emotions, and behavior can have a dramatic influence on endurance performance. In other words, mind and body are interconnected with the body distinctly subordinate, or as the great Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi opined, "Mind is everything. Muscles-pieces of rubber." Fitzgerald states the thesis of the book, "One cannot improve as an endurance athlete except by changing one's relationship with perception of effort." The author proceeds to devote the remainder of the book to examples of how athletes changed their relationship to perception of effort. As he states, "the best source of knowledge concerning the most effective methods of coping...is the example set by elite endurance athletes". Subsequent chapters describe how these elite athletes learned to cope. Jenny Barringer demonstrates the need to learn to brace yourself; Greg Lemond the efficacy of time based goals that are targets, not limits, Siri Lindley transcending self-consciousness to become absorbed in the task at hand; Cadel Evans turning low points into turning points, or angry resolve; Paula Newby-Fraser the importance of believing in yourself and ignoring what your competition is doing; the American contingent who participated in the 2013 World Cross Country championships and placed second,the positive effect of running as a team or behavioral synchrony; Thomas Mancebo and the audience and success effects; Ned Overend and the phenomena that if passion endures so will you; and finally, Steve Prefontaine, who wrote that the value of the suffering involved in racing was what you learned about yourself. The author writes that the purpose of the book is to help you become your own sports psychologist, that "in a race the job of the muscles is to perform, the job of the mind is to cope. But here's the hitch: the muscles can only perform to the degree that the mind is able to cope", The author cautions that "The only way to become really good at coping with the discomforts and stresses of endurance sports is to experience them." The value of Matt Fitzgerald, whether you agree with him or not, is that he inspires you to look at subjects in a way different from how you have previously. Matt continues to inspire. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mental Skills, Perceived Effort and Great Stories for Endurance Athletes of all Levels *by M***S on October 18, 2015* Matt Fitzgerald has written a very interesting and enjoyable book on the role of mental training for endurance athletes. I recommend this book to all endurance athletes and those who enjoy interesting narratives about individuals who have overcome challenges to become successful. The book can truly be enjoyed on 2 different levels: • Stories of Elite Athletes who have achieved their best through development of better mental training skills and mindsets – these are truly inspirational stories of courage, resilience and are very enjoyable to read • A deeper understanding of the psychobiological model – how the mind and body interact for endurance athletes – that can be used to help each person better coach themselves in a true journey of self-discovery to see what they are truly capable of, regardless of their level of athletic ability (these skills are helpful in other area of life as well). I learned a lot in each chapter of the book but would like to share a bit from 2 chapters that I found interesting and compelling: • In the chapter “The Art of Letting Go”, Matt chronicles the story of Siri Lindley (triathlete) and her struggles and triumphs. The chapter has some very interesting information on choking during big performances. Perceived effort is heightened by self-consciousness - which then leads to decreased performance. The solution is to reach a state of flow – complete immersion in a purposeful activity – that allows one to be in the moment. A key passage from the chapter: “Paradoxically, it may seem, Siri had to let go of that dream and find contentment in the moment-to-moment process of chasing it in order to complete the personal transformation that was her deeper ambition.” • In the chapter “The Gift of Failure”, we learn the story of Cadel Evans (Cycling) and secondarily of Nick Symmonds (800M runner) and the valuable coping skill of resilience. There is a cycle of frustration that can cause an athlete to feel defeated or angry. They can use the anger to reach “sweet disgust” – a determination to fight back that fuels positive change. Additionally, the story of Willie Stewart – “The Workaround Effect” - is one of the most remarkable and inspirational I have read. Stewart lost an arm and still became an elite triathlete by using the coping skill of adaptability – you will not want to miss this story! The best part of the book is that the author realizes that the path to mastery is unique to each of us. There are general coping skills that work well but how we fold those into the fabric of our lives is something we must figure out on our own. This book gives stories of how other have done it and insights into the coping skills and mindsets that can help each of us perform at a higher level. I will close with the way Matt explains it toward the end of the book: “The path between you and the best you can be is unexplored territory. You are on your own, to some extent, to discover not only what motivates you to ‘leave it all out there’ but also your special formula for maximum mental fitness. This is what it means to become your own sports psychologist.” ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ awesome! *by T***L on February 7, 2025* This book was truly motivational and inspiring, seamlessly blending scientific insights with real-life experiences to create a powerful and engaging read. The author masterfully used research-backed concepts to explain personal growth while sharing relatable stories that made the message resonate deeply. It was both educational and uplifting, encouraging the reader to embrace challenges, rethink limitations, and take actionable steps toward success. The combination of science and personal narratives made complex ideas easy to grasp, leaving a lasting impact and a renewed sense of motivation. ## Frequently Bought Together - How Bad Do You Want It?: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle - Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance - Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/18922417-how-bad-do-you-want-it-mastering-the-psychology-mind](https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/18922417-how-bad-do-you-want-it-mastering-the-psychology-mind) --- *Product available on Desertcart Argentina* *Store origin: AR* *Last updated: 2026-10-16*