What separates the women from the girls during athletic competitions?

It’s their attitude towards what they are doing that spells the difference. Our bodies can do amazing things when we are driven by a clarity of purpose.

Have you ever heard of people incredibly lifting heavy objects during fires and disasters?

This is made possible because of an adrenalin rush which is induced by your mind commanding your body what to do in such a situation. The same goes for preparing for or engaging in physical activity.

Unlike having a mindset such as that which athletes use in competition, where they psyche themselves up using an end-goal of winning the crown, you have to keep tabs on small successes by focusing on one training session at a time.

Before you even started with your program, you knew the reasons why you decided to work out – it may be because you’re looking at a particular target weight, you’re preparing for a strenuous activity, or you simply want to improve your heart rate for better health.

To help you stay focused on your goals, you can try various techniques such as Imagenics (the creation of mental pictures of what you want to be) or Centering (helping an athlete “stay in the moment” and not worry about future thoughts and worries).

You can also study focusing techniques using the concept of intrinsic motivation.

When this type of motivation is applied to any physical activity, a person could derive fun and enjoyment from the said activity rather than drudgery and fatigue. This then makes the experience worthwhile and entices the person to “keep coming back for more.”

There are four psychological concepts that can help an individual become more “intrinsic” with her physical activity, making it more enjoyable and easier to adopt as a routine:

1. Vision This is the first step and it helps people “reach into the future.” One should have the ability to visualize herself as an exerciser by first imagining her future physical self. A person should be able to first see herself exercising before actually doing it – doing so would make exercise personally meaningful.
2. Mastery This focuses individuals on the exercise experience itself.As one develops mastery, she can then bring in her natural longing to improve and grow. With mastery, people can base their successes based on their own criteria and not on checklists provided by others. This also helps them achieve a mindset that enables them to exercise under any condition – whether good or bad.
3. Flow This is the third secret to becoming an intrinsic exerciser. It is defined as an optimal psychological state that involves total connection to an activity.When you get into the flow of exercising, you will acquire a sense of self-expression and consequently achieve self-satisfaction. Flow is important to keep you from being distracted. All there is and all that’s important is the task at hand.
4. Inergy This refers to the energy that emanates from the inside. It is based on the philosophy of well-being, which extols what is natural in each person.Once inergy is established, the body-mind-spirit connection is roused. This works on the principle that “a life without movement is not really worth living.”

When these 4 key concepts are learned, exercising becomes a welcome activity, and adherence to a program is easily achieved.

M. Jamal

P.S. For me personally, ‘Vision’ and ‘Flow’ can make a big difference when it comes to mental focus throughout my workout. It’s like those few minutes I spend while warming up… imagining how good of a workout I’ll have, how easy it’ll be to perform each repetition, each set with great form.

Have you experienced the difference this makes or do you simply overlook it and jump straight into your workout? Or maybe you’ve got little mental tricks that take you back in focus during a workout? (Let us know, hit ‘comment’)

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