Mental Game: Why Your Training Suffers and How to Fix It
Confession time today.
Anyone that has been in the gym for any length of time has spent some time in the dumps about their training.
It’s happened to the best of us, yet we persevere day in and day out.
But what happens when you get down in the dumps and lose your mental edge for training? What happens when the gym is a struggle to get to?
Well, it’s a couple of things.
Change it up
You may need a change of pace to your routine to make it more challenging. Straight sets and reps only do the job so long. You may have been a former athlete and want to add in some functional or more athletic based movements. Add in a run here or there. Hell, you may even want the challenge of a full blown fat loss diet. Just something small to mentally engage you in your training can go a long way.
Motivational immersion
Back in the day, we had to rely on magazines for motivation. I’d look at my favorite bodybuilder in a magazine, training the same body part I was about to go in on later that day and get fired up. Thank God for the internet because you have pics and videos at the drop of a hat.
“Motivational immersion” is good because you can just watch video after video of those you look up to. Got a couple minutes? Look up that video of Candance Keene training. Got chest fellas? Look at Dennis James incline pressing.
Point is, don’t be afraid to just immerse yourself in motivation online or on social media. But that leads me to my next point…..
See the Forest For the Trees
It’s natural to want to compare yourself to others, especially in money, success and fitness. But do know that while the level you aspire to be is high, the level you’re at now is better than where you were before. Don’t compare yourself to an Olympia champion if you’re only at the local level. You are fine where you are right now, but don’t become comfortable where you are. Keep pushing!
Keeping in shape is not an easy thing. Sometimes it takes all your mental power to get up and go. Keep sharp, try some new things and keep moving in a positive direction