Long story short, the other day I had someone interview me. One question they asked was, “Where do you get the motivation to train and eat like you do every day? Saying so, I thought I would post one thing I talked about with her.
This post isn’t going to give you a plan of attack for the gym. It will not explain what movement patterns or muscles to train, and it will certainly not teach you how to structure a nutrition program. What it will tell you is one war I am able to eat right and train hard according to my goals day consistently.
No matter what, when, or where I have to eat or train I’m preparing myself mentally from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. If you’re not feeling like you’re on top of your own world, how do you expect to complete each day with passion and excitement, let alone try and teach that same feeling to others?
For example: If I know I have a heavy deadlift day ahead of me, I see myself preparing for the lift and going through the movement over and over again until I actually get to perform it in ”real” time. I put myself in the exact gym I will be training at and take in all of the senses around me. The sounds, environment, and senses of the facility to namee a few. I can feel my heart rate increase rapidly at this exact moment of “visualizing”.
It’s also almost like that first date you go on with a girl you “think” you like. You get butterflies, and you wonder what’s going to happen when you make that first move. I’m talking about that nervous, anxious feeling of readiness.
On a “first date”, you should act with confidence, have great body language, and be strong. The same thing goes with training. You have to dig deep, visualize the weights going up, and have confidence to achieve success. Otherwise you will fail.
But In contrast to a first date, getting nervous to lift a weight is a good thing sometimes. Getting a little “scared” before an exercise lets you know what you must do to complete it. If you don’t dig deep you can say goodbye to a successful lift.
Right after I’m done with one training session I imagine and feel what I will look like after the days, weeks, months and years of hard work. I mentally prepare my body before it gets stressed. I can hear the weights clinking, feel the coldness and weight of the plates, and can smell the exact atmosphere I’m surrounded with. Yes, I can also smell the odor of the guy walking past me.
But I challenge you. Go on that “first date” and let me know how it goes. Visualize your workout. Imagine yourself under the bar, on the track, and or challenging yourself to be better than you were last time. Imagine what you’re doing tomorrow until you can actually make it to your training facility “real” life.
See if you get nervous.See if you feel the muscles getting worked. See if you can sense, touch or smell the atmosphere. Then compare your previous session and see if you performed better than ever. You might even notice some cool things happen that I didn’t mention as well. I recognized some pretty amazing goes thoughts run through my head even before I start. Good luck to you all, and if you need practice your visualization skills I will be posting some more articles to help you do so in the future.
