The Mental State of Fitness

When it comes to fitness, often the physical components come to mind.  The sweat, exhaustion, and soreness are usually thought of when working out.  If I asked you what it takes for you to reach your goals, what would you say?  Would you consider your mental state?  In order for you to reach maximum results, you must be mentally prepared.  I can tell if one of my clients is going to have a good workout or not by judging their focus.  I see a lot of people come into the gym and really get nothing out of it besides going through the motions.  I am in this business because I want to help people achieve maximum results.  I try to share my knowledge of working out with my clients as well as the mental prep that goes along with it.  This could be the difference between seeing results and not seeing them.  Let's talk about three areas of the mental state of fitness where you can improve your results.

First step is mental focus.  Mental focus is crucial for your body to respond to the demands that are put upon it when working out.  From the moment you step into the gym, you must have a goal in mind for that particular workout.  Stay focused on the task at hand.  Be specific.  Push/pull, upper body, lower body, muscle groups, splits, cardio,or whatever the workout may be.  Don't look at the big picture just yet.  Just know that you are working towards it.  Don't get distracted by what may be going on at the gym.  You are there for a purpose so get it done!

Next is mental imagery.  How do you expect to get there if you can't see yourself getting there.  It has been often thought that mental imagery can even shape your muscles for you.  Arnold used it back in his bodybuilding days before acting and politics took over.  I used to read how he used to imagine his biceps as mountain peaks when doing bicep curls.  Imagine how you want your body to look or whatever you want to get out of the training.  I was taught to use if you had one person that you want to look like who would it be.  Or imagine yourself in that wedding dress walking down the aisle.  Although cheesy, this is a very powerful motivator for people.  Imagery can be used for form as well.  Imagine how the exercise should look and mimic that movement.  If it doesn't look and feel right, it probably isn't. 

Last is mental toughness.  Working out and being fit is not the easiest thing in the world.  If it was, everyone would be healthy and fit.  It takes toughness to get through rep after rep, set after set, and workout after workout.  I always tell my clients there is no such thing as fatigue.  Your body can often keep going but it is your mind that is telling your body to stop.  By being mentally tough, you can push past many thresholds that may hold you back.  One more rep, two more, three more........trust me you can do it!  Push yourself to new limits with each workout.  Staying strong mentally is the only way to do this.