3 Ways to Expand Your Mind…
The power of the mind can unlock massive gains in strength, muscle growth and athletic performance (aerobic/anaerobic power)…
So how much do you care for your brain?
I’m going to show you three incredible ways that I’ve used with myself and my clients to help the mind expand into new beliefs, behaviours and strengths that will take you to a higher physical level that you are on right now.
#1 – Take a Walk
The modern weekday is full of too much stress. Your work, personal goals, relationships, family, friends, commuting, shopping, training, eating and on and on…
It can be too much to take sometimes.
So…
Take a walk, and reflect on each day to note your successes, think about how grateful you are for every person in your life and take a few minutes to think about how lucky you are to live in an advanced country like ours.
Drop all those ‘first world problems’ and you might just be able to relax!
Not to mention walking is an impact free, easy way to burn up some energy and is great for recovery from more intense training. So take a walk, decompress your mind and take 20-30 mins each day to look after yourself.
#2 – Write down your goals
It is WAY too easy to get yourself all hyped up for an incredible year of training and nutrition – saying things like “This year is THE year” and other such nonsense – yet what really happens is you lose your focus after about 3 weeks.
In fact, 3 weeks is the MINIMUM time necessary to commit to a new habit becoming permanent.
So in order to change your behaviour you MUST stay focused for longer than 3 weeks.
But how do you do that?
Simple.
Just write your goals down. A seemingly trivial action such as this can lead to twice as much more success. That means that if you have a piece of paper stuck on your fridge that says, “I am going to eat healthy 90% of the time this year in order to lose 3 stone of fat and keep it off forever”, then you’re much more likely to do so compared to just saying it to yourself.
You will literally FORGET to stay on course to smash your goals.
Writing your goals down is like a compass, just nudging you constantly in the right direction.
#3 – Ignore Your Feelings
Your mind is wired to keep you safe.
So putting a heavy bar on your back in order to complete a killer set of 20 reps of back squat will inspire your brain to talk you out of it.
Ignore it.
When you’re running the last kilometer of a 5k and your muscles are screaming for you to stop and take a rest.
Ignore it.
When the barbell is loaded to a NEW PB for deadlift and you’re stood there, getting psyched up and preparing to lift and break some records. A little part of your brain will whisper that you can’t do it…
Ignore it.
Training and nutrition in these modern times is EXCEPTIONAL. If you do what an expert tells you, you WILL get in shape. You will get stronger, leaner, faster, bigger or whatever the hell you’re training for.
But the very process of change is painful for both the body and the mind.
Stay safe, but don’t be afraid of ignoring the little voices inside your head.
Who knows, you might actually be successful.
* * *
So try these 3 things. I’ve really noticed a difference since using each of these tactics regularly, with both an increase in strength, muscle size and a relaxed feeling in my mind because I know that I can achieve anything.
You just have to convince your mind that you can achieve MORE than you are right now.
Ant
Anthony Shaw
Head Coach
Raw Strength Gym, Birchwood Park, Warrington.