By: Josh Hewett

“True strength comes from within”.

We’ve all heard similar sayings. Most successful athletes know that their mentality plays a strong role in their performance. Many recreational athletes and trainees also realize on some level that their thoughts and moods affect their workouts. But very few actually dedicate sufficient time to their Mental Conditioning (to “train their brain”).

The fact is that the mind (especially the subconscious mind) actually has INCREDIBLE power that many don’t acknowledge. Our mind has the ability to make us stronger, more muscular, more athletic, more powerful, even wealthier and happier! Sound unbelievable? As this article will explain, your inner world creates your outer world.

The intention of this article is to share some of the basics of exercise and sport psychology and to illustrate the importance of our thoughts and emotions relative to our physical goals. I will also describe some simple techniques that you can use regularly to improve you performance.

This information is directed to those readers who are already participating in a regular bodybuilding or strength training program and are motivated to achieve greater results.

The truth is that it’s our mind that determines what results we will achieve.

The process goes something like this:

Your thoughts and beliefs lead to your emotions, which in turn lead to your actions, which cause your results. Unfortunately, most of us put up our own psychological barriers that interfere with our performance and limit our success. The four-minute mile was a famous example of a psychological barrier.

For years runners were apparently not able to run a mile in under four minutes, although many came close. That led to the common belief that this was physically impossible.

Incredibly, within a year and a half after Roger Bannister’s famous breakthrough, 16 other athletes accomplished it! It wasn’t because these athletes were suddenly training harder. They were no longer limited by their beliefs once Bannister had demonstrated what was possible.

	Roger Bannister: 1 Of 3 A medical student at Oxford University at the time, Bannister ran the mile in 3:59:4 at a local meet at Oxford’s Iffley Road track.

What I’m saying is that with a bit of mental conditioning you can expect far superior results from your training, and in many cases it’s all that’s holding you back.

The four basic principles of mental conditioning are as follows:

1. Set SMARTER Goals.
2. Create a strong, clear mental picture of these goals using Visualization and Imagery training.
3. Reinforce these ideas often using Affirmations.
4. Maintain a positive focus on your objectives and employ interventions such as negative thought-stopping techniques.

The field of exercise and sport psychology is significantly more involved than this, but these principles provide a great starting point for developing a mental training program.

Mental Conditioning.

1. Setting SMARTER Goals:

Studies have shown that appropriate goal setting leads to performance enhancement, with moderate to strong effects. To remember the key principles of effective goal setting, think SMARTER; your goals should be:

• Specific – Indicate precisely what is to be done. Avoid vague alternatives
• Measurable – You should be able to quantify your goal
• Action-Oriented – develop concrete plan of actions required to move toward your goals
• Realistic – start with moderately difficult goals, rather than too easy or difficult to reach
• Time-Constrained – Set specific time limits for both short term and long term goals
• Evaluated – Record and monitor your progress regularly
• Reversible – In cases of injury, or failure to achieve a difficult goal, reset goals as needed

Take some time right now to write down your short term goals as well as your long term “dream” goals (the ones that may seem a long way off and harder to achieve). Writing your goals down is the basis of a contract with yourself. It also helps to publicly acknowledge your goals.

RELATED ARTICLE

The SMART Way To Set Goals! The SMART Goal Setting principles will help you reduce your chances of setting goals that you wouldn’t be able to obtain even if you had some sort of superhuman powers.

Short-term or daily goals are the most important because they provide a focus for our training in each and every session. Past research on elite athletes found that setting daily training goals was one factor that distinguished the successful performers from the less successful.

Many have also found it useful to write a Mission Statement for themselves, which summarizes their basic goals and primary objectives in their life.

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