Control Your Mind

If you don't control what you think, you can't control what you do.
--Napoleon Hill

Training is as much a mental endeavor as a physical one. I'm not talking about the habit of training and the discipline of doing your best each session. I'm talking about handling the self-doubt, the little voices, and all the fears that come with getting better. Whether you're training to be a powerlifter, an elite level competitive athlete, a weekend warrior, or just the better-than-average Joe or Jane, getting your mind in-line, or more accurately, out of the way is critical. No lifter is unique; no runner excused. We all have voices and self-doubt.

As a beginner, we've all pushed ourselves and thought we reached the edge because we allow our mind to say so. We thought we would pass out if we did any more. If you haven't run so hard you see stars or ground out a rep that you thought could kill you, you are either a freak in the training world or you've got more in the tank. We all have to find ways to control the voice that stops us from pushing harder and tells us to quit long before the muscle does. We have to quiet our minds if we want to push our limits. How we do it may be unique, but doing it is crucial to becoming our best.

Some people will work themselves into a frenzy with music. Others will sniff some nose tork, get slapped a few times and yell. And then there are some that go to a calm, quiet place, and visualize the machine doing exactly what it needs to do. The one thing all these people have in common is they have found a way to control the voice that tells them "you can't" or "it's too much"; the one that causes fear and makes you back down. They've found a way to ignore the discomfort that comes with pushing the limits and make the movement automatic. They're determined to make progress, and when it's time, they get out of their own way.

I used to think I knew what it really meant to push myself. I thought I knew how to silence the voices, but that can only come with experience. I was fortunate enough to train with some tremendously strong and extremely knowledgeable people. They taught me a lot of cues and techniques and how to get out of my own way. They also pushed me to the point where I continued to work far beyond my self-doubt. To make a long story short, I thought I had reached the top weight for my working sets and was ready to do my back down sets. Instead of dropping weight, my training partner had me put more on. It didn't matter that I had doubts I could do the set; it didn't matter that I thought I was done; it only mattered that somebody with more experience was teaching me a free lesson. The lesson that "I've got more." I did the set despite feeling like I could collapse at any time with the doubts and fears. At some point in that set, there was no more voice; no more "I can't" or "I'm too tired" or "I might get hurt"; it was just silent. That was when I learned the power of a quiet mind and that I had much, much more. After that day, and with a lot practice, I've been able to reach that state with great frequency.

We all have that little voice, that self-doubt, the momentary "oh shit" where we question ourselves. It's the one that makes us give up on a grinder, slow our pace when we're running, or not even attempt a weight. It's the voice of our comfort zone holding us back. It's the voice of fear stopping us from progress. If you really want to get better, than you'll find a way that makes it happen for you. For me, I go through a 6 step process to clear my mind, calm the voices, and take a step towards progress.

1. Acknowledge the Fear - There was a company called "No Fear" a few years back. It isn't that you can't have fear, but that you learn to control it. No matter how good the technique, how good the spotters are, how far you've run, or how strong you are, injury is possible. Everybody has fears, acknowledge them and move on.
2. Deep Breaths - I take 3 to 5 full calming breaths before I even approach the bar. It's the same when I go run 5 miles. It slows my heart and as I focus on my breath, my mind starts to clear.
3. Visualize - The mind is powerful. Visualize a failed lift and it's bound to come true; visualize success and you are more likely to find it. See the technique, from addressing the lift all the way through completion. Allow your body to feel the rhythm.
4. Go - As soon as you finish it in your head, get set under the bar with the same positive view, take those deep breaths, brace, and go.
5. Stay Blank - Keep the mind free. Don't think about the weight or the number of reps, just do them. Keep pushing and finish.
6. Be Proud - Yes, this is important. You just did something that you might not have done if you listened to the voice, so be proud that you not only did the deed but that you controlled the voice.

Work hard, be present in the moment and remember, "you've got more."

Practice Discipline Every Day

"Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day" - Jim Rohn

There are a lot of articles about how to choose a good trainer but few on how to be a good client. I understand that not everybody reading this email is a former or current client of a trainer, but if you're planning on becoming a client or are a client, this could help you out. There are two basic roles, the trainer and the client, which we all know. In many ways, the trainer is held responsible for the success and failure of their clients. Whether it is choosing the wrong type of programming, the wrong nutrition, or just being a bad match, the trainer is most often the one to take the blame. At the same time, when things go alright, the trainer takes some credit. Nothing new here so far, right?

 

Here's the twist, we all want you to be successful. Surviving in the fitness industry is done by marketing a successful product, so no trainer wants to see you fail. A failure for you means bad publicity for us. Sometimes things don't work out and the trainer doesn't get you where you want to be. Sometimes they make a bad choice. Sometimes they are "too busy" for their own good and neglect you. Sometimes is has absolutely nothing to do with them.

 

Like I said, we want you to be successful and here are 5 simple things you can do to get the most out of your trainer:

1. Communicate! I've had clients tell me they feel like they're bothering me. Nonsense! It's my job, so send me that text, e-mail, or posted message when you have a question. I'd rather you ask so I can plan and advise you then you guess and sabotage yourself.
2. Be Honest! Not just with me, but with yourself. Our relationship and your success depends on it. Now that you're communicating, make it count so I can adjust to give you the best I can.
3. Give your Best Effort! This is pretty self-explanatory. If you give your best effort, you get the best results you can get.
4. Follow the Plan! Unless your trainer is flying by the seat of their pants or has no progression laid out to reach your goals, improvising or including things they don't know could not just hinder progress, it might stop is altogether. Wanting to participate in your plan is great (and goes with Rule No. 1), but questioning and redesigning every single step is not.
5. The other 23 Hours Count! I get 1 hour to help you get better. You have 23 more hours to rest, recover, eat, and take care of yourself. Use them wisely.

If you're doing these 5 things, you can honestly say you've given your trainer what they need to help you be successful. Now it's time for them to uphold their end.

Today, Not Tomorrow

"What you do today can improve all your tomorrows" - Ralph Marston

I once read a book on handling anger.  One of the activities was to remember the event that caused the anger and to re-live it over and over again, each time trying to see the event as an outsider, not a participant.  Each time, the goal of the drill was to alter our feelings a little more by overpowering our memory.  As humans, we have the ability to create memories and use them to our advantage.  We also have the ability to use the memories to create a seemingly insurmountable disadvantage.  Dave Tate, the founder of EliteFTS, talks about how our minds cause a lot of our lifting problems because we condition ourselves to miss at the same point of a lift.  In a similar way, our attempts at changing to healthy eating can be hindered by what we believe about ourselves.

I've talked with family members, friends, and clients that were all looking to change their eating and the vast majority tell me "I've tried eating healthier, but I just keep messing up."  I've worked with athletes that won't even make attempts because "I always miss."  These statements are the ones that drive me crazy; the future action and potential success is controlled by our memory of a passed event.  Our memories don't have to be an angry memory, a failed memory, or a celebratory memory, they just have to be "memories."  And if we can de-personalize the memory with practice, we can put it to work for us, especially in the gym and in the kitchen.

It seems hard, and it will take some practice, but each day, reflect on how your journey went today.  Every time you encounter a bad memory, look at it as an outsider (not Uncle Bill that thinks dieting is crazy or your mom that thinks you lift too much) that knows how to accomplish your goal.  Use those eyes to detach yourself and acknowledge what you can do better.  And then when you wake up the next day, make that action happen.  I do this in about five minutes before bedtime.  It's that fast to walk through a day as it pertains to health and fitness, and really, it could even be done in a commercial break.

We've all heard the sayings about the past, present, and future, but really, none of us "forgets."  With practice, we can take a potentially damaging memory and just make it a memory.  Doing something today to improve tomorrow isn't just forgetting the "bad" things, it is maintaining good memories of things we've done right, correcting the actions we know we can fix using other's eyes, and giving ourselves a clean slate when things go horribly wrong.  We fight enough battles to change our habits; we don't need to fight our memories as well.

Give it a try tonight...better yet, do it right now.  Reflect back to yesterday and if there is something you don't like, push away from it, see it from the outside, visualize the right action, and put it in the game.  It's going to take practice, but trust me, it will be worth it.