80% mental, 40% physical

Don't worry, I know math.  But it wouldn't grab your attention as well if it were correct...

So This week I was working with a younger client of mine and I've learned something about his performance.  He is a beast.  Unfortunately, most training sessions he likes to "hibernate" through certain drills, mainly because he doesn't like them.  We finished our session with a circuit of:

30 elevated leg crunches

10 pushups

single-leg ladder run

sprint to finish

Now, you have to know, this guy HATES crunches...not that he can't do them, he just doesn't want to. (fancy that)  Round one, he clocked in at 58.6 seconds.  I didn't like those results.  Round 2, 56.3 seconds.  Improvement, but still lacking.  I then told him every round he doesn't beat the previous round's time, he has to add 10 more crunches (keep in mind that his time STILL has to beat the previous run).  He got inspired.  Round 3...41.6 seconds., Finally, round 4 he hit 38.4 seconds!!!

Not only did I learn something about him, but he learned something about himself.  He was pushing himself mentally.  His body was going through the motions, but his mind was sluggish.  He wasn't concerned about being the best, but instead just getting the job done.  When he was faced with a challenge that could potentially end up with painful circumstances, his beast mode kicked in.  His mind then told his body "we gotta get to work" and he cranked almost 20 seconds off his first mark.  What if you knew that if you didn't finish your exercises full speed you'd have to keep doing more and more until you got there?  Would you be motivated?  What if you knew that being lazy in your workouts would shorten the length of your life?  Motivated now?

Most people who are at the gym, or exercises at home are already beyond the majority of our society.  You're trying.  I'm not going to knock that at all.  I actually think that's awesome.  But now it's time to kick it up a notch.  Instead of doing the same ole 40 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes of bicep curls, maybe it's time to push yourself...and it's not always easy.  Your mindset changes how intense you train. If you've had a slow day, you're more likely to take it slow and not work too hard.  If you've had a stressful day, you may either give up entirely, or be pushed to drive yourself to pass out (people deal with stress in different ways).  

Whatever it is, before you take that first step in your workout, try getting your mind focused.  Listen to some good workout music (for me, it's classic rock on Pandora).  Take several deep breaths.  Think about what you're about to do, and assure yourself that you CAN do it.  Then make it happen.  You'll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish when you get your mind set on it.

Stay Strong,
Chad