{"id":80579,"date":"2024-10-21T21:10:56","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T01:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=80579"},"modified":"2025-03-25T14:53:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T18:53:42","slug":"max-performance","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/magazine\/articles\/2024\/max-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin magazine-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-primary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1000\" height=\"1499\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"From L-R Anna Ward, Edson Filho, Carly Block standing and smiling on a set of bleachers\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-768x1151.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-551x826.jpg 551w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-229x344.jpg 229w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-353x529.jpg 353w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-455x682.jpg 455w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-688x1032.jpg 688w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-881x1321.jpg 881w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-459x688.jpg 459w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-706x1058.jpg 706w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-910x1364.jpg 910w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/24-1328-WHEELPROLAB-013-667x1000.jpg 667w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photo by \u00a0Michael D. Spencer<br><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Research<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMax Performance\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">At the <strong>BU Wheelock PRO Lab<\/strong>, researchers are looking for the keys to excellence in athletics\u2014and beyond<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar magazine-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">October 21, 2024<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-comments\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#comments\" class=\"wp-prepress-component-comment-counter label has-no-comments\"><span class=\"wp-prepress-component-comment-counter-zero\"><span>0<\/span><\/span><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/bu-author\/marc-chalufour\/\">Marc Chalufour<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p><strong>The 2026 Winter Olympics are more than a year away, but thousands of Olympic hopefuls are now making the decisions that will determine gold, silver, and bronze. <\/strong>As speed skaters build endurance, ice hockey goalies sharpen reflexes, and alpine skiers visualize the descent of Italy\u2019s infamous Stelvio slope, they\u2019re also trying to avoid the pitfalls that could derail their Olympic dreams, including injury, anxiety, and clashes with teammates and coaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Athletes have unique stressors and challenges that are different from the everyday person: having to perform under pressure, having spectators watch and judge every moment,\u201d says Carly Block, a lecturer in sport, exercise, and performance psychology. Block is a member of the team at BU Wheelock\u2019s Performance Recovery &amp; Optimization (PRO) Lab, where faculty and students study the complexities of human performance\u2014and how to maximize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter columns-1 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-1500x1000.jpg\" alt=\"BU women's lacrosse players playing on a field\" data-id=\"80587\" data-full-url=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/?attachment_id=80587\" class=\"wp-image-80587\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-992x661.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-1984x1323.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1151-LAX-107-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">The research coming out of BU\u2019s PRO Lab certainly helps Terrier athletes perform at a higher level, but it can be applied to other high pressure pursuits such as music, dance, emergency response, and military service.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Edson Filho, an associate professor of sport, exercise, and performance psychology, established the PRO Lab in 2020 with a vision of making BU Wheelock an international hub for sport psychology. \u201cWe need to be doing research at the highest level possible, meaning it has real-world implications and real-world impact,\u201d Filho says. \u201cAnd you really need a lab to move things forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Filho set up the lab as both a consultancy\u2014to work directly with athletes, coaches, and teams\u2014and a research center. He, Block, and Anna Ward, a lecturer in sport, exercise, and performance psychology, along with PhD candidates Piotr Piasecki (\u201927) and Dhruv Raman (\u201921,\u201928), make up the lab\u2019s staff. In addition to their own research, they mentor a growing group of student researchers\u2014mostly graduate students, though Filho hopes to involve more undergraduates over time.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lab has brain-imaging and biofeedback technology. Ongoing projects on topics like mindfulness, body image, and peer leadership require data gathered from athletes. Block, whose research interest is the psychology of goalies, relies on one-on-one interviews and surveys to better understand soccer, ice hockey, field hockey, lacrosse, and water polo players tasked with keeping the ball or puck out of their own net.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The community forming around the PRO Lab is as important as the infrastructure, Filho says. \u201cThe most important resource is human resources,\u201d he says. And that takes the form of mentorship from faculty as well as frequent opportunities to share work and get feedback from peers. Filho sums up the lab\u2019s model with a sports analogy: \u201cYou need good coaches, but if you\u2019re playing with the best kids your age, they also raise your game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Beyond the Playing Field<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of the lab\u2019s biggest projects so far have been developing and testing intervention programs. With a 2022 NCAA Innovations in Research and Practice Grant, Filho and doctoral students at the PRO Lab designed a program to help student-athletes build mental health skills over time. \u201cPerformance Recovery and Optimization for Wellness\u201d includes eight workshops focused on themes like goal-setting, dealing with injury, preventing burnout, and practicing mindfulness. The BU team tested the program with 104 student-athletes from hockey, soccer, and swimming and found that it improved individual athletes\u2019 well-being and had a positive impact on teams. They presented their results at the 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) convention, and Filho expects the paper to be published soon.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The impact of the lab\u2019s work could reach well beyond athletics. The psychological community, slow to recognize the unique demands of athletics, has been expanding the field to embrace other high-pressure pursuits. The American Psychological Association, which was established in 1892, didn\u2019t recognize sport and exercise psychology with its own division until 1986. \u201cPerformance\u201d was added to the division in 2015 and covers other activities where perfection is often the goal, including music, dance, emergency response, and the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"698\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1029-MENSBEAN-281-1.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of BU Men's hockey team at the Beanpot\" data-id=\"80589\" data-full-url=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1029-MENSBEAN-281-1.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/?attachment_id=80589\" class=\"wp-image-80589\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1029-MENSBEAN-281-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1029-MENSBEAN-281-1-860x600.jpg 860w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1029-MENSBEAN-281-1-768x536.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1029-MENSBEAN-281-1-493x344.jpg 493w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1029-MENSBEAN-281-1-758x529.jpg 758w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1029-MENSBEAN-281-1-977x682.jpg 977w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2024\/10\/18-1029-MENSBEAN-281-1-986x688.jpg 986w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">The psychology of goalkeepers-in ice hockey, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, and water polo-is the research focus of Carly Block, a lecturer in sport, exercise, and performance psychology.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s the universality of seeking excellence that excites Filho. \u201cA lot of youth won\u2019t make it to the Olympics or to the soccer World Cup,\u201d he says. \u201cBut if they learn how to set goals, about leadership and mindfulness\u2014those skills have the potential to change lives for good.\u201d Those lessons don\u2019t just help an athletic team succeed; they can, as Filho suggests, improve a hospital or an entire healthcare system.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAt some hospitals, surgeries have a very high percent success rate. And at some hospitals they don\u2019t,\u201d he says. When a mistake happens, \u201cdo you change the health system? Do you help the doctor? Sport and performance psychology addresses all of that and helps to transform people and systems. And BU needs to be at the forefront.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2024, PRO Lab hosted the BU Wheelock Forum, one of the school\u2019s marquee annual events, and celebrated the growth of the field. The event convened academic, sports, music, law enforcement, and military leaders to explore topics related to individual and team performance. Oscar Gutierrez, a mental performance coordinator for the Boston Red Sox, Jennifer Bill, a lecturer in music who teaches saxophone at the BU College of Fine Arts, and Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at BU Wheelock, spoke about improving teams and systems; Robert Lowe, BU\u2019s police chief, Dennis Via (\u201988), a retired four-star general in the US Army, and Tanesha Beckford, a senior emergency medicine resident at Boston Medical Center, spoke about leadership in high-pressure situations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the forum, the NCAA grant, and the growing alumni base, Filho is already seeing BU Wheelock\u2019s growth as a leader in sport and performance psychology. He recently hosted a postdoctoral scholar from Germany and is welcoming a visiting professor from Spain in fall 2024. He\u2019s received research inquiries from Hungary, Italy, Japan, and Turkey as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the Paris Olympics have come to a close and the international athletics calendar has turned over to the next Olympiad.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s such beauty in sport,\u201d says Block. \u201cIt teaches so many transferable skills: how to find support, how to have teammates, how to be disciplined, how to be a leader. So much good comes out of it.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 Winter Olympics are more than a year away, but thousands of Olympic hopefuls are now making the decisions that will determine gold, silver, and bronze. As speed skaters build endurance, ice hockey goalies sharpen reflexes, and alpine skiers visualize the descent of Italy\u2019s infamous Stelvio slope, they\u2019re also trying to avoid the pitfalls [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20791,"featured_media":80595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Research","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[6464,6455,5900],"bu-publication":[6613],"magazine-article-category":[6679,6804,6628],"magazine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[7093],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/80579"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20791"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80579"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/80579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82169,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/80579\/revisions\/82169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80579"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=80579"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=80579"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=80579"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=80579"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=80579"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=80579"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=80579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}