If you truly want to make a dramatic physique change, you need to make sure your brain is on board.
It has been my experience that virtually every person I have encountered that is successfully working towards their bodybuilding goals is using the following mental bodybuilding techniques to some degree or another, whether they do so consciously or not.
- They have positive attitudes.
- They utilize visualization and imagery to see themselves successfully performing workouts and attaining their goals.
- When they workout, they do so with a definite focus, the mindset of a warrior.
When trying to achieve results quickly, to build muscle and gain weight fast, these mental bodybuilding techniques should be incorporated into your program.
Positive Attitude
You’re not very likely to start a weight training program without expectations of success. In other words, at least at the beginning, you have a positive outlook. You believe you will succeed in building muscles. That is what propels you to start. This positive attitude can be difficult to keep up if you are not a naturally positive person or if you do not actively work to sustain it.
Undoubtedly, before your goals are met, you will experience setbacks, you will experience periods of time where progress isn’t easily identified. A negative person will see these setbacks as insurmountable obstacles that will prevent them from reaching their goals, lose confidence and ultimately quit.
A positive person will see the same setback and declare it a learning experience, a chance to improve on their bodybuilding techniques. They will find ways around it, maintain their positive outlook and ultimately reach their goal of building muscles.
Which person do you want to be?
Of course you want to be the person who meets their goals. And whether you believe it or not, it really is as simple as choosing to be that person. The way a person thinks is a habit, something that is developed over time as a result of experiences. Inevitably, bad things happen to all of us and it is very easy to get into the habit of negative thinking.
But you can choose to think positive.
It will take practice to perfect the technique of becoming a proficient positive thinker but the results can be life-changing, not just in terms of building muscles and creating the great physique you want but in every aspect of your life.
To think positive and maintain this positive attitude, set realistic, attainable and definable goals. Set short term and long term goals.
Short Term Goals – For muscle building, a time period of ten to twelve weeks works great for short term goals, an example goal being to gain ten pounds of muscle in that time.
You can always do better, meet your goal ahead of time and have to make a new goal – tough problem to have, eh?
- Long Term Goals – A long-term goal may be to have those muscles defined and ready for the beach in six months or a year.
Practice believing in your ability to achieve your goals. When you hear self-doubt creeping into your mind…
Stop right in your tracks and remember where this type of thinking has gotten you in the past and realize where it is going to get you in the future unless you change it.
Realize that this type of thinking is natural but nothing more than a defense mechanism of the mind, meant to soften the blow of the feelings of failure. Realize that this is an unproductive habit and that to meet your bodybuilding goals you must change it.
So stop and reset your mind. Force it to think positive and in time it will know no other way to think.
Think of the successful people you know. Are they can’t-do people or can-do people? Keep in mind the famous quote from Henry Ford…
“Whether you think you can or
think you can’t, you are right.”
If you think you can’t achieve your goal to gain weight fast, you are right. If you think you can achieve your goal to gain weight fast, you are right.
Visualization and Imagery
It is said that Michaelangelo had a picture in his mind of a completed sculpture, the finished masterpiece, before he ever picked up a chisel.
Visualize yourself with the physique you will have after you attain your goals, the complete finished masterpiece.
Within your mind, feel the new muscles, flex them, pose them for yourself.
You should think of these images often, park them in the forefront of your mind and bring them up in spare moments. This will help keep you focused on your muscle building goal and the coming reward for all the work you are putting towards it. It will remind you of the reasons you have this goal and help move you towards it in a positive way.
If you have trouble imagining yourself looking vastly different, choose someone who has the physique you want to have and get a picture. Put that picture in a place where you will see it every day.
Be realistic here, if Danny Devito chose Arnold Schwarzenegger’s physique to place on his wall and work towards, he would end up very frustrated. It just isn’t going to happen. Arnold and most other professional bodybuilders are not realistic goals for the genetically non-gifted, 99% of us.
The above is an example of long-term visualization but perhaps most important to your success will be short-term visualization, where you visualize yourself performing workouts.
There are studies that show people are much more capable of performing tasks correctly when they have first performed that task in their minds. Form is critical to weight training success. Visualization is a very effective bodybuilding technique for helping to create and maintain good form.
Before each workout, perhaps the night before, take ten minutes to visualize it.
Close your eyes, relax your body and visualize yourself performing each exercise. Actually run through a set of each exercise you will perform in your workout inside your head. Concentrate on your form, your breathing, your counts and successful completion of each set. Introduce as much detail as you can into your visualization, note the way the barbell feels in your grip, feel the burn on your muscles as they slowly lower the weights. This will help the mind be prepared to handle the actual workout and can do wonders for your form.
Another good time to practice visualization bodybuilding techniques is during an actual workout, right before you perform an exercise, during the rest interval from the previous set. This is a great way to keep your mind from wandering to unproductive topics and keep your focus where it has to be – on getting a quick and effective workout.
The Warrior Mindset
If Lennox Lewis entered the ring against Mike Tyson and at the same time tried to figure his taxes in his head while working to make eye contact with the pretty woman in the third row, it wouldn’t be long before he was out cold on the canvas.
During a workout, you must keep your focus completely on your workout.
If you are basically going to the fitness center to socialize, if between sets you are trying to secure phone numbers from the hotties, you can forget about accomplishing your goals to gain weight fast or any other significant fitness goal. If done correctly, your workout won’t last more than an hour and it will take nearly all of your energy.
Approach a workout as a warrior would a battle.
It may seem you don’t have as much to lose as a warrior might but without focus gym accidents can and do happen causing serious injury. Beyond safety, it is important to remember that a key to gaining mass is to extend maximum effort in the limited time you have to effectively work your muscles. You can’t do this without an intense focus on your goal for that hour.
To build muscle fast, you must do as much right as possible. Developing an impenetrable focus when you walk into the gym is one way to increase your odds of accomplishing your goals.
Zone out all distractions. For that hour-long workout, be totally self-absorbed.
Use your mental bodybuilding techniques. Think about your muscles. Use visualization bodybuilding techniques, both long-term and short-term. Think about your future physique. Remind yourself of why you are doing this. Imagine yourself performing upcoming lifts. Feel your muscles burn. Welcome the pain. Enjoy the pump. Concentrate on using the muscles you are targeting with each lift. Concentrate on your form. Focus in on your breathing.
Don’t let anything or anyone into your world for that hour. During the rest of the week, you will have 165 hours to deal with the rest of the world. That’s plenty, don’t you think?
Mental Bodybuilding Techniques Are Great, But…
What about some bodybuilding training techniques?
The mind is a powerful training companion but it can’t do all the work. Here are a few bodybuilding techniques to consider when you hit the gym… The Bodybuilding Tips Checklist
Couple more articles you may like…
The Weight Gain Plan (Pt. 2): Four Mindset Factors for Success
Discover the 4 factors in how you approach your training program that can make it or break it.
Modeling Your Way To Major Muscle Gain
Learn to use this underutilized but very effective tool for quick physique change.
