Want that dream body? You’ve gotta work your mind as well as your body!

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 I'm a guy in my early thirties experiencing the best physical condition of my life thanks to Musclehack, intelligent training and nutrition. Currently based in Japan and through necessity I'm really into cooking and healthy recipes. Recently I started the recipe site www.fitfastmeals.com. Additionally, I like to track my workout progress and thoughts on exercise and bodybuilding on my blog at www.flabbomb.com. Read more from this author

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Let’s suppose you had a thoroughbred race-horse horse valued in the millions of dollars. Would you let it stay up all night eating junk-food, drinking booze and smoking cigarettes? Not likely. You’d probably pamper, feed and house the animal as best you could to make sure that it reaches its potential. And why wouldn’t you? This animal is an asset that could earn you millions. I’m pretty sure most of us would do our utmost to look after that million dollar horse, yet the majority of us will continue to abuse our own billion dollar body throughout our lives.

I’m paraphrasing Zig Ziglar here. In case you don’t know, Zig Ziglar is a motivational speaker and leadership coach. The horse story is a great little illustration of why we should be taking care of our bodies. I recently got into reading and listening to some of Zig Ziglar’s stuff through a friend. Obviously, I’m very interested in how to take care of ourselves physically. More and more though I find myself intrigued by how the mind and body effect one another. Today I’m going to share a few bits and pieces I’ve learned that will hopefully help you build that healthy body you’ve always wanted and feel good doing it. A lot of it is just plain old common sense and many of you will already know this. If so, a refresher and review course never did anyone any harm.

Knowledge!

One of the reasons I took up bodybuilding as a hobby was because of a guy named Mike Mentzer. Mike Mentzer was a multi-award winning professional bodybuilder in the 1970s. Apart from his impressive physique, Mike was credited with the title “the thinking man’s bodybuilder.” After retirement from professional bodybuilding Mike often resembled more of a philosopher than a bodybuilder. Several came before him but Mentzer was the first person I can think of to popularize High Intensity Training ,which he later marketed as “HIT.” HIT was probably the first really popular weight-training system that delved heavily into science and medicine to back up its principles. In a nutshell HIT advocates that the body needs progressive overload to stimulate muscle growth as well as an appropriate amount of rest to allow for said growth. Mentzer and his associates poured years of research and trials into the HIT method. Mentzer has his detractors but the system tends to work.

My point here then is that Mike Mentzer was a shining example of just how important knowledge is in the pursuit of our goals. It’s often not enough to just follow someone’s advice. As intelligent beings we have the duty to do due research and figure out if that advice is sound and beneficial to us. Mike Mentzer frequently got calls and letters from guys doing the “Scwarzeneggian” method of training whereby they’d train for hours a day, five days a week but hadn’t made a gain in years. They’d gotten themselves in this rut because they hadn’t done their homework.

That old line “knowledge is power” may sound cheesy but it certainly is true. The more knowledge you seek on your goal’s topic, the more likely you are to achieve that goal as well as get there quicker. If you are new to bodybuilding/weight training, read as much as you can on the topic. Don’t just read bodybuilding magazines. Those things are merely supplement catalogs, and above all else don’t just do what some guy in a magazine or down the gym said.

Accentuate the Positives!

Positive thinking gets a bad rep sometimes. Just mentioning the topic can make us think of cheesy self-help books written buy equally cheesy characters, but brush all that aside because it really does work. Keeping a positive frame of mind is essential for maintaining your motivation.

I started working out almost two years ago. I started working out with intelligence and intensity just over a year ago. I’ve kept up a high intensity exercise regime at least three times a week  all this time because I’ve stayed positive. Positivity creates enthusiasm which creates intensity which creates results which creates positivity and so on.

Here’s a little example of how I overcame a problem in my exercise routine recently. Last week I was suffering from a cold. It sapped a lot of my energy and I just couldn’t work out. I waited a week until I was feeling a lot better and was itching to get back in the gym. Just the other day I went to do my leg routine. I did three sets of squats. The first two sets were great. I added a rep on my previous effort two weeks ago. The third and final set did not go so well. I barely squeezed out seven reps at a light weight. By the end of the set I felt dizzy and needed a few minutes before I contemplated the rest of my workout. I tried to progress onto my other exercises but couldn’t. I was weak. I didn’t want to bail on a workout but I had to. The virus was still in my body and it was still affecting me. I could’ve beat myself up about it but instead I remembered how good it felt to add that extra rep in my first set after a two week lay off. The next day my legs were as sore as hell indicating that I had really worked them well. I may not have done a full leg day at the gym, but I had done three sets of really good squats. I went back to the gym today for my back and bicep routine and had a great workout overall.

But wait! There’s more!

Well, soon anyway. This post is already getting long so I’ll end it here and continue the topic in another post very soon. Hopefully it’s given you food for thought already. I look forward to your comments and feedback.

 

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