Very few people consider the critical role of the mind when it comes to making meaningful muscle building progress in their training. Most avid lifters are extremely careful to make sure they consume their pre-workout meal at a specific time, as well as their glutamine, creatine, BCAA’s, NO2, stimulants, etc. Some go so far as to make time for a nap before they train so they can wake up refreshed and ready to hit the weights with maximum drive and focus.
Get Visual
Don’t get me wrong, all of those things are essential to optimizing your time in the gym. However, if you truly wish to realize your “intensity potential,” then its time you start using visualization. This is a tried and true technique that is utilized by many top professional athletes and Olympians to bring about their best performance on game day. You too can use it to help manifest your best performance in the gym. It is easy to do, and only takes a few minutes.
I believe that the best time to use visualization is before you go to sleep at night (to maximize the following day’s workout), and/or right before you take a pre-workout nap (or at least at some point before leaving for the gym). Visualization can also be used while at the gym, right before performing a lift that you particularly want to improve upon.
Ok, so now that you know you need to go ahead and VISUALIZE for SIZE, you are probably saying, “So what do I have to do?” Below is how I like to approach visualization, although with practice you might find other ways to enhance the experience.
Relax. Lie down. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply. Clear your mind and calm your body.
Picture yourself in the gym. See the equipment and the people. Hear the music, smell the sweat, and engulf yourself in the atmosphere.
See yourself how you wish to be. Bigger…more cut…more vascular…more athletic. The best version of you!
Think about each lift you will be performing and picture the perfect set. See the weight on the bar that you wish to use and imagine yourself lifting it with ease, as if it were a feather.
Experience the incredible pump the workout will provide and the satisfaction it will bring about.
“Feel” your muscles responding and growing.
Please do not neglect the power that the mind has over the body. Pre-program your mind for success and your body will follow.
