JoeJustice
12-19-2008, 11:13 AM
GET STOKED! GET PSYCHED! YEAH!
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFiles/picture/486585/433396.jpg
That's one psyched up baby!
I think a big key to fitness success is getting yourself psyched for a workout. There are a lot of folks out there that will tell you that you need to get into a Zen state of moving mediation. And yeah, there’s something to that, there’s the yin and the yang energy you need to balance the intense with the mellow. But you still need the intense! Balance it out later, right now it’s time to get stoked!
Psyching yourself up is a mental exercise, you need to find ways to light that fire in your belly that makes you want to push hard even when you’re exhausted. There are a few tools that are good for doing this, I think. A few things you can use: a full length mirror, some photos of people who have the kind of build you want, a “before” photo of yourself and some fast music and a good warm-up.
Take a look at yourself in the mirror, flex and pose, whether you’ve already come a long way or have a way to go, use it! Say to yourself, “Look how far I’ve come!” Or, “I got a way to get, better get started!”
Look at the pictures of fit people and take inspiration off of them. They didn’t get fit by sitting on their butts! SO GET OFF YOURS!
Look at your “before” picture and appreciate how far you’ve come. If you are overweight, enlarge the picture and put it on your refrigerator and pantry door. Take new pictures every month and compare. Think there’s not much of a difference? Not changing fast enough? Don’t get discouraged, get psyched! Turn any feeling of depression into empowerment. “Looks like I need to step it up!” Take control of the change. Accept the responsibility. Whether it’s positive or negative; OWN IT!
And when it gets down to it, when you’re ready to start your workout, crank up the music and get the blood pumping! Check out www.pandora.com and find some fast music you enjoy. Do some jumping jacks, arms circles, mountain climbers, trunk twists, V-Ups and other non-power calisthenics. This will get the blood moving and the heart beating. When you get that going, then digging your heels in and doing the harder work will come a lot easier.
But the most important tool you have, if you ask me, is your imagination. Read any athlete’s book, from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Tiger Woods, and you’ll come away with the same thing; they all use their imagination to help their physical performance. Arnold has written about imagining the muscles he was working growing and growing and cartoonishly filling the entire room! Tiger uses his imagination to visualize every shot, rehearsing it in his imagination. And of course John Peterson and Greg Mangan teach to use your imagination to generate great tension and focus into your muscles! If people at the very top of their game are using their imagination, WHY AREN’T YOU?!
The bottom line is, not matter what technique you use, YOU GOTTA GET PSYCHED! Think of yourself as a battery and psyching up is charging up. Build up that energy and put it to use! The more you put into your workout, the more you’re going to get out of it.
Now! Who else has some ideas on how to get psyched? SPEAK UP! :)
-Joe
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFiles/picture/486585/433396.jpg
That's one psyched up baby!
I think a big key to fitness success is getting yourself psyched for a workout. There are a lot of folks out there that will tell you that you need to get into a Zen state of moving mediation. And yeah, there’s something to that, there’s the yin and the yang energy you need to balance the intense with the mellow. But you still need the intense! Balance it out later, right now it’s time to get stoked!
Psyching yourself up is a mental exercise, you need to find ways to light that fire in your belly that makes you want to push hard even when you’re exhausted. There are a few tools that are good for doing this, I think. A few things you can use: a full length mirror, some photos of people who have the kind of build you want, a “before” photo of yourself and some fast music and a good warm-up.
Take a look at yourself in the mirror, flex and pose, whether you’ve already come a long way or have a way to go, use it! Say to yourself, “Look how far I’ve come!” Or, “I got a way to get, better get started!”
Look at the pictures of fit people and take inspiration off of them. They didn’t get fit by sitting on their butts! SO GET OFF YOURS!
Look at your “before” picture and appreciate how far you’ve come. If you are overweight, enlarge the picture and put it on your refrigerator and pantry door. Take new pictures every month and compare. Think there’s not much of a difference? Not changing fast enough? Don’t get discouraged, get psyched! Turn any feeling of depression into empowerment. “Looks like I need to step it up!” Take control of the change. Accept the responsibility. Whether it’s positive or negative; OWN IT!
And when it gets down to it, when you’re ready to start your workout, crank up the music and get the blood pumping! Check out www.pandora.com and find some fast music you enjoy. Do some jumping jacks, arms circles, mountain climbers, trunk twists, V-Ups and other non-power calisthenics. This will get the blood moving and the heart beating. When you get that going, then digging your heels in and doing the harder work will come a lot easier.
But the most important tool you have, if you ask me, is your imagination. Read any athlete’s book, from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Tiger Woods, and you’ll come away with the same thing; they all use their imagination to help their physical performance. Arnold has written about imagining the muscles he was working growing and growing and cartoonishly filling the entire room! Tiger uses his imagination to visualize every shot, rehearsing it in his imagination. And of course John Peterson and Greg Mangan teach to use your imagination to generate great tension and focus into your muscles! If people at the very top of their game are using their imagination, WHY AREN’T YOU?!
The bottom line is, not matter what technique you use, YOU GOTTA GET PSYCHED! Think of yourself as a battery and psyching up is charging up. Build up that energy and put it to use! The more you put into your workout, the more you’re going to get out of it.
Now! Who else has some ideas on how to get psyched? SPEAK UP! :)
-Joe