Overcoming Pre-Race Anxiety: Inverted-U Theory & 4-7-8 Parasympathetic Breathing

Pre-race somatic anxiety elevates autonomic arousal past the optimal Yerkes-Dodson Inverted-U performance zone.

Executing structured 4-7-8 vagal nerve stimulation breathwork normalizes resting heart rate, anchoring focused calm prior to the starting gun.

Section III: First-Person Neuromuscular Mental Imagery Visualization

Mentally rehearsing race scenarios from a first-person perspective pre-activates motor cortex neural pathways.