Mind Games
Although weight training is obviously a physical activity, the mind makes the true difference as to whether you will simply be going through the motions or lifting with a purpose. Your ???mental??? workout needs to get started before you ever even set foot in the gym so by the time you are ready for your physical workout you are optimally charged. Here are a few things you can do to set your mind properly for the upcoming assault on your body:
1.Prepare: Think about the workout ahead and exactly what you want to do. Make a plan. You probably are on a set schedule so that you know which bodypart(s) you will be training, but you need to decide exactly what you want out of the workout and what you need to do to accomplish it. Decide each and every exercise ahead of time, but also prepare an alternate plan in case the equipment you want is occupied or out of order. Also think about what type of rep range you will be using and if there are any personal records you are looking to surpass.
2.Visualize: Think about the entire workout that you have now prepared and go through it step by step in your ???minds eye.??? See yourself performing each exercise with complete focus and concentration, each rep with the utmost of intensity. Hear the gym, smell the gym, taste the gym in your head. Run the workout through your brain like a movie. Imagine how pumped you are going to get and the burn you are going to feel. If you are shooting for a personal record, see yourself successfully achieving it over and over, until its completely real for your brain! If you do this right, you should already be sweating.
3.Adjust the Attitude: Don???t even leave for the gym unless you are excited and psyched to be there. Tell yourself that THIS workout will be the best one you ever had. Think only positive thoughts. Get a little aggressive, even angry that you are not big enough, and channel that into the workout. At the same time, stay in control and center yourself. Prepare your mind to reach the utmost levels of concentration and focus toward the task at hand. You have a job to do, and it will not get done if your mind is on other things.
The mind is unbelievably powerful, and the body will tend to follow it. If you think negatively, your body will tend to weaken. If you think positively, your body will be energized. So, do a mental workout before the physical one, and the results you achieve in the gym will be optimized.
Although weight training is obviously a physical activity, the mind makes the true difference as to whether you will simply be going through the motions or lifting with a purpose. Your ???mental??? workout needs to get started before you ever even set foot in the gym so by the time you are ready for your physical workout you are optimally charged. Here are a few things you can do to set your mind properly for the upcoming assault on your body:
1.Prepare: Think about the workout ahead and exactly what you want to do. Make a plan. You probably are on a set schedule so that you know which bodypart(s) you will be training, but you need to decide exactly what you want out of the workout and what you need to do to accomplish it. Decide each and every exercise ahead of time, but also prepare an alternate plan in case the equipment you want is occupied or out of order. Also think about what type of rep range you will be using and if there are any personal records you are looking to surpass.
2.Visualize: Think about the entire workout that you have now prepared and go through it step by step in your ???minds eye.??? See yourself performing each exercise with complete focus and concentration, each rep with the utmost of intensity. Hear the gym, smell the gym, taste the gym in your head. Run the workout through your brain like a movie. Imagine how pumped you are going to get and the burn you are going to feel. If you are shooting for a personal record, see yourself successfully achieving it over and over, until its completely real for your brain! If you do this right, you should already be sweating.
3.Adjust the Attitude: Don???t even leave for the gym unless you are excited and psyched to be there. Tell yourself that THIS workout will be the best one you ever had. Think only positive thoughts. Get a little aggressive, even angry that you are not big enough, and channel that into the workout. At the same time, stay in control and center yourself. Prepare your mind to reach the utmost levels of concentration and focus toward the task at hand. You have a job to do, and it will not get done if your mind is on other things.
The mind is unbelievably powerful, and the body will tend to follow it. If you think negatively, your body will tend to weaken. If you think positively, your body will be energized. So, do a mental workout before the physical one, and the results you achieve in the gym will be optimized.
I am there on most of that stuff but to see it written out like that is top notch 
