Back to Mind Power #1
Welcome once more friends. After I talked in my previous article about
what
factors of your mind power determine what will make you a
very good bodybuilder, or just an "average" Joe, today I will talk
about
what you can do, and what steps you have to follow, in order to improve
your
mind power.
Positive Programming
THESE ARE THE 10 BEST STEPS THAT YOU NEED TO FOLLOW!
Ninety percent of the people that give up bodybuilding do so because
they
have unrealistic plans. They are getting very frustrated very fast
because
they could not be
as good as they wanted to be. But don't forget that if it was so easy
to
get a very good body, then everyone would look great!
Think more
deeply
and ask: "How many people have I seen in REAL life that have a very
good
bodybuilding body?" Maybe one friend of yours, maybe one guy that
lives
in
your neighborhood. Maybe 2-3 more guys in the gym you belong
to.
And what about the vast majority?
Do they look like they want to? Or is
it
that most of them can not apply the right principles in order to reach
their
dreams? You
have to follow some small (but extremely important) steps in order to
be on
the level that you want to be.
Let's see each one of these 10 steps, and what you can do in order to
have
your mind balanced with your body.
Step #1: Keep a diary!
I know that maybe this sounds boring to you, and maybe some of you are
saying now: "C'mon John, I am a bodybuilder, not a 10 year old girl! I
don't
like to keep a diary of whatever I do!" But keep in mind, that every
world
class bodybuilder is doing that in order to have as accurate
information
about himself as possible.
You should have specific plans BEFORE, and AFTER your workout, till
your
next
one. You should write EVERYTHING that you do in order to have the best
results
possible.
I know that maybe this sounds boring to you.
To help you realize the importance, think about something. When do you
have
the best
results in your school/college or work? When you have everything
prepared
and you always know what to answer about anything that your boss or
professor
asks? Or when you don't remember what you have to do and you
are
just
trying to figure out what you SHOULD have done?
The same things that you should do in your work or in college, you
should
apply to bodybuilding.
Isn't it better for you to know your personal records? Isn't it a very
useful weapon
for you to know how many reps and pounds you can lift in every
exercise?
There
are more than 100 exercises for all your bodyparts.
Even if you have
not
done them all, from time to time, you change some
exercises. Don't you think that it would be almost impossible to
remember
for every exercise, how many pounds you can lift, and how many reps you
can
do?
And your personal diary is not stopping there.
You should write even
some
other
important factors that affect you. It is very good when you make a
personal
record, to write everything that had happened to you
the last couple of days. (What you ate, how much you slept, what new
supplement
you were taking, and generally what other factors had
psychologically affected
you that day.)
In a few words, a prepared and organized bodybuilder, has a much better
chance to succeed than some other bodybuilder that has no clue what he
has
to do.
Step #2: Don't rush things!
As you might have heard, a 10,000 mile road starts from
just one small step. Apply what that means to bodybuilding. Simply,
your
life dream bodybuilding plan should go step by step. Never
think "I want 20 inch arms, a 50 inch chest, 30 inch legs, and a 31
inch
waist." Always say, "I want
to increase 1 inch in all my bodyparts in the next 6-12 months, and to
decrease 1 inch in my waist."
From a psychological perspective, it would be much easier for you to
have
short term plans, and to do your BEST, in order to make your long term
plan
come true.
Step #3: Stay focused!
I talked about this in my previous article, but since it's one of the
most
important factors, I want to remind you again. Go to the gym ONLY to
train
and not to "socialize".
When you lift weights, NOTHING and NO ONE should distract your
attention.
Visualize that you have Dorian Yates back
when you do exercises for your back, or Kevin Levrone's shoulders when
you
train your shoulders, etc. Just think about your favourite
bodybuilder
when you
lift weights. Maybe you can not lift the same weights, but be sure that
you
can have the same intensity. The higher the intensity the better the
results.
Step #4: Think positive!
You will never reach your goals if you think you will never reach your
goals. You should always feel confident before each workout session.
You
should
always think that you will have a great workout no matter what Avoid
any
person
that affects you negatively, and welcome friends that can motivate you
to be
one step closer to your personal goals. Also, a good training
partner in the gym is a very important weapon. One more rep, when you
have
your training partner saying to you "Don't stop now, you can do one
more
rep" is not something meaningless.
Also, a good training partner knows
how
much should help you with your last "impossible" rep, or how much
should let you rely on your own power.
Step #5: Determine your desired objective!
It has happened many times in the gym where I am working. Some new guy
is
coming to me
and telling me: "Hey Johh, I want to get as huge and as ripped as
possible!"
Sorry, but bodybuilding is not working like that. You should determine
what you want to do first. Do you want to get bigger? Sure!
Make a 12
week
(or more) plan, increase your caloric consumption, and avoid cardio.
You
want to get ripped? Make again a 12 week (or more) plan, reduce your
caloric
consumption,
and include some cardio workouts each week. (For more info about how
you
can
do each one of them read my 5th or 6th article).
As you see, one contradicts the other. You can not do both things
at
the
same time.
Remember always that you should be patient. No one can get
a
great
body in just a few months (or even years) of weight training.
Step #6: Control your desires!
Maybe this is the most difficult thing that a bodybuilder MUST do in
order
to have the desired results. As I have said in my previous article, it
is
not easy to say "no" to some friend (and even more difficult to some
girlfriend),
when he/she asks you to go out to have some fun. Also it's
not
easy at
all for people that live with their families to see the other
people in the house, eating a delicious pizza with extra cheese or a
mouth-watering
chocolate cake, when they have to eat another "boring"
chicken breast with
some rice and lettuce.
But remember, that's why you
will
never find many
guys having a great body. That's why most people have
an
"average" or
"awful" body. They can not control their desires.
That's why you have to make some sacrifices since you want to be
the
exception and get a great (and healthy) body.
(Hey also don't forget that you will always have one junk day per week
and
to do whatever you want to do, so you should not feel too bad!)
Step #7:
Find the optimum balance between your mind and your body!
Training hard is good, but training way too hard is not good. Mind
power
does not mean that you have to train 7 days per week with 101%
intensity.
You want to
train hard but you don't want to overtrain. (You should always avoid
overtraining like the plague). In a few words...
listen to your body.
Never stay in two totally extreme sides.
It's not good to say: "Hey I
feel
too sluggish to train today. I trained 5 days ago for the last time, I will
go
again to train the day after tomorrow."
Also it is not good to say: "I trained like a real warrior 5 times
this
week. I feel very tired but I will go again to the gym tomorrow because
I
want to continiously train very hard".
In the first case, you are undertraining because your mind is not
giving
you
enough "motives" in order to train more. But in the second case, your
mind
seems like it does not know where it should stop.
Also learn you have to avoid training when you have some small or big
injury.
Believe me, it is totally worthless to go train when you have
some
minor,
or even worse, major injury.
Doing that, what you do is to
injure
your
body more and more every time you train, and the end result will
be to
stay away from your gym for weeks, maybe even months.
So train
smart. Listen to your mind, but don't forget to also listen to
your
body's
limits. Don't exceed them, if you want to always have very
good and
productive results.
Step #8 Don't try to find excuses!
I am sure it had happened to you. You had an unproductive workout and
you
were blaming anyone else but yourself.
I hear very often people saying "I did not sleep good, I did not eat
right,
I had a bad day at work, I was very tired, I fought with my
wife/kids/dog
etc."
You should analyze everything that has affected you.
The best judge is always yourself, and you should be as honest as
possible
with yourself. You did not have a good workout for A or B reason?
Ok, it happens from time to time, and you should do what you think is
best
in order for this not to happen again.
Don't blame others for your poor
results. Be
responsible, take some action, and try not to make the same mistakes
again
and again. Correct everything you think is wrong about your training,
nutrition,
recuperation and supplementation.
Step #9 Don't believe everything you read or hear!
You are out with some "bodybuilding" friends, and you talk about (what
else?) bodybuilding. One of you is saying: "Hey man, I read in the
latest
issue of one bodybuilding magazine that Lee Priest is doing 35 sets for
his
biceps, in
order to make them always pumped! If it worked for him, it should work
also
for us!"
Sure Priest is a great bodybuilder, but don't even think that so many
sets can have a good effect in 99% of the cases. Don't even think to
follow
any professional bodybuilder's program. You will get overtrained in no
time!
Or maybe when you read your favourite bodybuilding magazine and you see
some
advertisement of some supplement with "before" and "after" pictures.
The guy always seems "miserable" in his before picture, looking only
one
step away from committing suicide, but after a few weeks with taking
the
new
"be in 30 days like
Coleman" supplement, it seems that he has a totally new and perfect
body
since he appearead that he lost 30 fat pounds, and he got 20 muscle pounds.
Also he has
money, girls, friends, and anything else he might desire.
That guy claims later that his testosterone levels increased by 1000%
and
his
growth hormone levels increased by another 1000%.
Your mind is always tempting you to take this new wondrous supplement.
It
says: "C'mon, go and get it now, and you will be just like these
successful
guys!" But remember, the more "outrageous" results you see from some
ad,
the less you should believe it.
Supplements do play an important role
in
your
bodybuilding goals, but never count solely on them. And don't spend your
hard
earned money to buy any supplement that's advertisement is more
than
exaggerated. It's 99% probable that it's a "bogus" supplement.
Step #10 Try to do everything right!
That means that you have to follow all the previous 9 steps in order
to succeed. The best results are always coming with the best program. A
great
bodybuilding body is not something that you can have from one day to
the
other as I said. You have to have the desire, the motivation, the mind,
the
plan, and many other factors that can affect your life. Bodybuilding
is
a
way of life, and what you do affects it. (And the opposite. Everything
that
happens in your life affects also your bodybuilding goals.) Keep the
good, leave the bad!
I hope that after you read the 10 steps to success friends, you will be
able
to better control your mind power. And as I promised you, in my next
week's
article (which will be the last for this year), I will talk about some
good
mind and memory enhancers on the supplement market. Stay tuned!
Back to Mind Power #1
Take care all,
giannis@bodybuilders.com
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