Category: Motivation

5 Steps To A Better Fitness Mindset

5 STEPS TO A BETTER FITNESS MINDSET

It can happen all too often when you step into the gym, and you’re feeling a lack of motivation. We’ve all had this happen one time or another and it’s extremely deflating for your workout. You think, Man! I was feeling so good this morning but now the drive just isn’t there. Although this problem can easily be fixed through some sort of energy source or pre-workout stimulant, I believe the best fix for this is in the mind. The following is 5 things that I like to do before my workouts to ensure that I’m focused, determined, and most importantly, deserving of stepping foot into the “fitness sanctuary”.

Stretch

Whether it’s before you get to the gym, or right when you walk in, the first thing you should do is stretch. Stretching is definitely important for preparing your muscles for the thrashing you’re about to give to them, but I also view this time as a moment to mentally prepare yourself for what is ahead. As you stretch out your muscles, visualize what workouts you’re going to be doing next. See it in your mind and apply this as part of your motivation in what you hope to accomplish.

Music

One of the biggest philosophies I like to live by is FIND SOMETHING THAT MOVES YOU. Music is a great tool for building and creating that passion, determination and motivation to power through your workouts. The best way to ensure you feel this motivation throughout your entire workout is creating playlists. I personally have many different playlists, and each one is dedicated to whichever type of mood I may be in. As an example, screamo/hardcore rock for when I’m feeling strong, hip-hop/rap for when I have a slight chip on my shoulder, and a much slower, steady mix of rock for when I’m doing cardio to help me focus. Whichever the case for you, have your music ready for a strong fitness mindset!

Pre-Workout Meditation

Whether you’re new to working out or an experienced veteran, the benefits of meditation are exponential on many different levels. Where the gym is concerned, I view meditation as a time to focus all of my thoughts strictly on the gym and my fitness goals, as well as creating a time to pray and thank God for giving me the time to make myself better, mentally, physically, and spiritually. I strongly recommend practicing some sort of meditation at some point during your day to enhance your overall health!

Motivational Videos/Images

One thing I personally like to do before workouts, especially if I’m not feeling quite 100% is find something to get me pumped up. Nothing works better than visiting YouTube and looking up some insane bodybuilding/fitness videos. This may not suit everyone, but it certainly aids in giving you the strong motivational push to get through your workout and to succeed with all your goals. We also have the Motivation link here at MindsetFitness.Net if you’re looking to find more motivational music and videos!

Gym Apparel

I’ve saved the most important one for last. You may not think that what you wear to the gym has anything to do with how your workout will turn out but take a minute and think about it. Why do most gyms have mirrors on the walls? First, mirrors help you see what you’re doing and second, to ensure you’re using correct form. This may be the case but they also can be very distracting to some people. I think I can speak for most of us when I say it’s great seeing your fitness progression but if you really want progress, wear apparel that doesn’t allow you to become distracted in the mirror at the gym! I’ve found that since I’ve switched to a wearing a long-sleeve hoodie during my workouts, my focus is taken off of how big and ripped I may look and placed where it is most important: the workout itself! Focus for your fitness mindset is key.

Now that I have shared my 5 steps to a better fitness mindset, it’s time for you to apply what you think may help you on your road to fitness success. Stay focused, stay driven, have faith and hit the weights!

Matt Muller

CTO – MindsetFitness.Net

 

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The Top 8 Keys To Intensity

Using Visualization To Increase Mass

Using Visualization To Increase Your Mass

using visualization to increase your massUsing Visualization To Increase Your Mass!

We now move into an area that is far too neglected by mainstream health and fitness professionals, the mind. Most books or courses concentrate on the physical side of weight gain and completely neglect the mental side of things.

Visualization can play an important part in gaining weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Gaining weight can be difficult for many people who don’t use their minds to help in the process.

Visualization is a powerful technique that can help you make lasting lifestyle changes. Just by “day dreaming”, you can significantly improve your chances in achieving your goals.

Visualization is a great weight gain tool and its as simple as visualizing your body as you want your body to look like. This mental image of yourself is then transferred to your subconscious mind, which in turn starts to work on your body, shaping it in accordance with your mental image.

This means that if you program your subconscious with a mental image of yourself as a more muscular person, through persistence your mind will accept this and aid your body to conform to this mental image.

Once your mind is programmed with the proper mental images, it will start to work in assisting you to gain weight. I can’t stress enough how important it is for you to believe in your visualization goals. You have to let go of your past failures and refuse to entertain any negative images that come into your mind.

If you can visualize your body at its perfect proportions, the subconscious mind will work to make it become a reality. It will then begin to positively reinforce your body into aiding the metabolism and eating habits.

Programming your mind into believing that you can gain weight, and to visualize yourself with your perfect proportions is of the greatest importance.

Try to think of a different image of yourself, then let your subconscious do the work for you. If you think of your body as being out of shape all the time, then the subconscious mind will find ways to make it so.

The sub-conscious looks after all of all your vital functions, it is the cause of all your good and bad habits, and also regulates the muscles of the body (The muscles are controlled by the sub-conscious) and body-fat composition on the body.

Try to visualize your body as lean and as muscular as you would like, and your mind will work on that image. The mind can be a great partner in gaining weight.

Relaxation

Relaxation the best way to reach the sub-conscious and will slow down the mind, turn off the exterior world so as to tune in to one’s inner self. The best times for these sessions are in the morning and late at night right, just before going to sleep.

Perform two sessions, one in the afternoon (Primary) and the other before going to sleep (Secondary) but once a day is quite sufficient. Sessions usually last 20 minutes, which isn’t time consuming especially when taking in the benefits received.

It has been stated that one of these sessions is equivalent to 2 hours of deep sleep and upon waking you will feel revitalized and full of energy. Believe me instead of worrying about time constraints; you will be looking forward to the next session.

When you begin your relaxation sessions, make sure you won’t be disturbed – lock the door, take the phone off the hook and loosen all clothing. Now find a comfortable position, whether it is lying down or sitting in a comfortable chair.

Sitting may be preferable as you may fall asleep if you become too comfortable. You want to be conscious and not asleep in order to tap into your sub-conscious mind.

Try to exhale all the air from your lungs completely and then breathing in through the nose. Take ten seconds to fill the lungs with air (not to capacity, but comfortable) hold for ten seconds and then exhale slowly through the nose for another ten seconds.

Each one of these breathing cycles should last for 30 seconds, complete five cycles and after each cycle you will be feeling more and more relaxed.

Having reaching this calm relaxed state, start your visualizations. Put together images that power your emotions. Make them alive and colorful. Make the scenes as real as possible and imagine yourself as muscular and toned as possible.

Visualize your family and friends complimenting you about how good you look. Try to view the scene as it is happening this instant – in the present, not in the future.

Using this type of visualization you can construct in your mind any scene that you desire. See yourself exercising, socializing, in the company of friends. Try and hear people complimenting you about your new muscular body, and watch their admiring glances. Make the mental image as real as possible.

Remember set a goal for your ideal weight

You must want to gain weight

Visualize yourself at your ideal weight

Use positive images at every opportunity

Combine the amazing effects of hard work in the gym and strong mental visualization and watch your progress unfold.

Back To Basics: Foundations of Fitness

back to basics

Back To Basics

Ok, so I’m writing this article for those of you who are new to working out and obtaining a healthy lifestyle. Most people don’t know where to begin which can be completely frustrating, I know.  With all the fad diets and workout routines available today, it is extremely easy to receive false information. So I’ll outline 4 different aspects of fitness that MUST be met to achieve your desired goals, whatever they may be. It’s time to get back to basics. 

Back To Basics Rule #1 | Diet/Nutrition

This is the single MOST IMPORTANT piece of the fitness puzzle. Without proper nutrition, your body will not build muscle, or burn fat or do anything you want it to, except try to stay alive. Our body’s number one goal is to maintain homeostasis. When something alters this balance, the body will automatically adjust to correct it. It has no interest in helping you build muscle, and it doesn’t care about what size jeans you can fit into. All it wants is to remain neutral and keep you breathing.

In order to lose weight, you must burn off more calories than you take in on a given day.

 

In order to gain weight, you must take in more calories than you burn off.

It can’t get much simpler than that.

 Back To Basics Rule #2 | Cardio

Cardio will not only strengthen your heart, but when done correctly, may be one of the best ways to achieve fat loss. The act of performing “cardio” can include many types of running, sports, interval training, and basically any form of activity that increases your resting heart rate. I will always encourage my clients to continuously change their form of cardio every few weeks to keep the body guessing. At the same time however, it is always better to pick something you LIKE to do. If basketball is your favorite, then by all means play basketball! Just remember that your body must be given different options from time to time. About 2-5 times a week should do the trick, but specific amounts will depend on your goals.

Back To Basics Rule #3 | Resistance Trainingback to basics

Study after study has shown that the more muscle mass that the body carries, the more calories that body will burn each day; so it only makes perfect sense to incorporate weight training into your fitness regimen.  Adding muscle mass is great; however it doesn’t happen all at once! The body must continuously be pushed to new ground and past previous barriers in which it is accustomed to working. Progression is the name of the game.

Ladies! Let me explain something to you…

If you train with heavy weights, YOU WILL NOT GET BIG LIKE A MAN! I understand that this is a huge fear for women everywhere, but this myth is completely untrue. Here’s why: A woman’s testosterone levels at its extreme peak are STILL around 16 times lower than that of a man’s testosterone levels at his highest. If all you did was train with heavy weights, the MOST you would see is a toned muscle.

If you are just starting out, and your muscles get pumped up a little after a couple weeks, don’t worry! This is completely natural. Your body is just adjusting to this new change you’ve given it. Sometimes extra weight will come from water as well so keep that in mind.

One of the things I hear all the time from women is, “can we train triceps today? I want to get rid of the flab underneath my arm,” or a similar statement, but referring to the butt, thighs or midsection. You must understand that the only way to get rid of those problem areas is from dieting and cardio! Working out the muscle will only WORKOUT THE MUSCLE. It will not target the fat on TOP of the muscle. I hope that makes a little more sense…

Back To Basics Rule #4 | Supplementation

Last we have supplementation. Supplements are exactly what their name implies; they supplement your daily needs from a nutrition standpoint. Some supplements are critical, and some aren’t. It is nearly impossible to get all of the nutrients your body needs each day from JUST food alone. This is why supplements are a great alternative when you need a quick meal replacement, or you’re lacking in your daily vitamins. Basic multi-vitamins in my opinion are a daily necessity. I’ll list other important supplements in the supplement section for your reference.

Each of these four aspects of a fitness lifestyle are great by themselves, however to achieve your desired goals, they must ALL be accounted for! Hoped this helped you guys out. Send me an email with any questions you may have.

-Mitch Muller

MindsetFitness.net

Pushing Past Mental Barriers

pushing past mental barriers

Pushing Past Mental Barriers

The mind can be a powerful thing. Without it, your muscles wouldn’t function. They wouldn’t be told when to contract or when to release. Your body would be useless. And what good is that when our primary goal is to train our bodies into better shape and condition? It only makes sense to train your mind just as much as your body.

Through this last year I’ve seen more and more emphasis put on the “power of mind” concept. At first glance it seems simple, but if you’ve trained for awhile and you’re looking for pushing past mental barriers, then you are well aware of just how much your mental focus can affect your workout. Going through the motions may help maintain your current progress, but if you’re striving to push past your barriers then your mind must be set to limitless. Take this quote from pro bodybuilder Kai Greene:

“There’s a success that you’re able to walk away from this experience with, and it’s your responsibility to use it effectively. Be encouraged when you see someone else achieve something; make sure you understand what is at the core of their success… At this moment, I’m encouraging each and every one of you understand that the POWER OF MIND, the power of the ability to make a decision, the power to decide and to be, and tap into my better resources, are at the core of my success today. The portrait of my life that I choose to create is done so by MY MIND. Realize today that you have power, as do we all.”

Pushing Past Mental Barriers: THE TEST

I’d like to share a test that I used on a few clients of mine. The results were extremely motivating and shocking to say the least. The reason why this test was so successful is because they unknowingly were pushing past mental barriers that they set in their own minds.

I used a male and female client, both in their 30’s and in fairly good shape. After testing their maximal strength on a standard chest press machine during the previous week, I took them through a chest workout. I informed them that they will be performing 3 sets of 12, 10, and 8 reps respectively, each using a pyramid-style of training going up in weight each time.

The second week I took them through the exact same workout with only one small difference: The weight we used was heavier than before. I instructed them that I was going to start out with the same weight as last week, while simultaneously leaving out the fact that I would be increasing each set by 10-15 pounds instead of five. I emphasized only putting forth 100% effort and to do their absolute best, as I do with every workout.

pushing past mental barriers

The trick here is that they believed completely in their mind that they were lifting the same weights as the previous week. This completely took any possible negative thoughts out of their heads given the awareness that they already completed this particular weight before. The only thing left to do was lift the weight!

The results were incredible. Not only did both of them complete the exercise with the same reps (12,10,8) but they used about 20% more weight than before! It’s truly amazing how the mind can make or break pushing past mental barriers and just how successful you can become.

Pushing Past Mental Barriers: Conclusion

If you’re looking to achieve anything, regardless if it’s in the gym or not, your mind must first BELIEVE it is possible. Setting a mental barrier for yourself will only hold you back from life’s successes. In relation to the gym, I challenge you to allow your mind to be strengthened along with your body.

“Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy.” – Mike Ditka

-Mitch Muller

CPT – MindsetFitness.net

Pushing Past Mental Barriers

Bodybuilding Motivation

Darkness Into Light…

It’s early morning; earlier than most training days. The roads are empty, and the air is cold and calm. As the world sleeps, my determination has already started. The gym is dark and quiet as I walk in. Shadows fill the rugged corners of this Iron-filled room. The sun is yet to rise, but who says the sun must dictate my level of motivation… I welcome this loneliness. It is here where the weak are shattered and the strong become immovable. Nothing stands in the way of an Animal whose cage is broken. I am the maker of my choices, and the servant of the One true God. He alone makes my path straight. With my eyes shut to this world, my focus now becomes my power, and my faith becomes my Mindset. I am here to achieve. That is all I ask of myself. Content is the man who risks little, in hopes to sustain average rewards; but mighty is he who risks everything, in determination to reap the benefits of his sacrifice. This dark place is now my home, and my God alone is my refuge. Sitting here in this empty corner, Your Word is cracked open, laying here in my hands. Your righteousness shines off of each page, and Your strength fills me. This room that was once dark and silent now shines with your never-ending glory. Everything is bright now; the shadows creep away. Success is here for the taking, this power runs through my veins. As I open my eyes, I hear the weight calling my name. It’s time to begin…

Steps to Enhancing your Fitness Lifestyle

enhancing your fitness lifestyle

5 Steps To Enhancing Your Fitness Lifestyle

I think it’s way easier said than done to keep everything in order each day when it comes to enhancing your fitness lifestyle. Preparation alone takes up hours in the day just so you can turn around and have a step ahead the very next morning you wake up. But in turn, you just end up preparing yourself for the next task or meal or the next day after that, and the revolving circle goes round and round. What happens when the days start to blend together, or your enthusiasm tends to disappear and your energy is nothing short of nonexistent? Being a bodybuilder or a gym rat doesn’t mean you’re immune to days or weeks like this. We’re human, and sometimes we need change to keep the fire burning. I’m a simple man and my simplicity tends to bleed over into many aspects of my life. So I’d like to share some things that will help keep you motivated and ready to get to work when the gym starts calling your name.

Enhancing Your Fitness Lifestyle Step #1 |  Home Away From Home

Using myself as an example; I work at a gym, and I get asked all the time, “you’re here all day long, how do you still stay here and workout after?” The simple answer to that one is: I don’t. Very rarely do I work out at the gym that I train my clients. As many of you may know, being in the same place for a long time can make the simplest of people go stir crazy. If you are a member of a gym that has multiple locations with different equipment, then take advantage of it!

Enhancing Your Fitness Lifestyle Step #2 | Diet Preparation

Sometimes that hardest thing about enhancing your fitness lifestyle isn’t the hour or two that you spend in the gym each day; it’s the remaining 22 hours. We all know the importance that a well-structured diet plays in our fitness results, so the preparation of our food is essential to KEEP this process structured and avoid any dietary setbacks that may occur. A great example of this would be: running out of a specific food you need, and replacing it with something convenient on your way home because time has become an issue.

For some reason, life tends to get crazy and hectic the minute we commit to our diets. For my personal gain, I like to view this as a challenge, instead of just counting the reasons why I won’t be able to stick to my new plan. My advice to you: make time to cook your meals, to go to the grocery store, or to buy your supplements. You’ll only get out what you put in. They don’t call it hard work for nothing. Establishing cooking days or grocery shopping days will give your diet better consistency, and without a doubt, help your mind from going nuts when life starts wearing you down. Enhancing your fitness lifestyle is not easy, but completely worth it.

Enhancing Your Fitness Lifestyle Step #3 | New Routines

I’ll get right to the point: Don’t get caught up in doing the same routine just because it feels the best. Just because it’s Monday doesn’t mean that the bench press is your best friend. Try something new! You must constantly place new resistance and overload on your body for it to adapt and progress to the next level. Try doing back on Monday, or shoulders.

Enhancing Your Fitness Lifestyle Step #4 |   Beware of Overtraining

Sometimes the answer to constant fatigue or lack of interest in your workouts may be right under your nose. BEWARE of the initial signs of overtraining! If your body just seems warn out, or you’re experiencing more fatigue than normal, or your muscles have hit a plateau, you’re most likely overtraining. Other signs include: loosing leanness despite increase exercise, working out hard every single day, restlessness or unable to sleep, your joints or limbs hurt, or lack of appetite.

Enhancing Your Fitness Lifestyle Step #5 | Positive Reinforcement

Don’t be a Debbie-downer. It has been shown in numerous studies that a positive flow of energy or mindset will help keep the body balanced. Undue stress to the body will cause negative effects and even diseases if it continues for a long period of time. Surrounding yourself with positive reinforcements will help keep your motivation high when it’s time to work out. The easiest way for me to get motivated is to watch others succeed. Take this quote from Kai Greene:

“There’s a success that you’re able to walk away from this experience with, and it’s your responsibility to use it effectively. Be encouraged when you see someone else achieve something; make sure you understand what is at the core of their success…. At this moment, I’m encouraging each and every one of you understand that the POWER OF MIND, the power of the ability to make a decision, the power to decide and to be, and tap into my better resources, are at the core of my success today. The portrait of my life that I choose to create is done so by MY MIND. Realize today that you have power, as do we all.”

 

-Mitch Muller

CPT – MindsetFitness.net

Preparation for the Mind

Mindset Preparation

Think about the mindset preparation you take each day to enhance your physical appearance with exercise… What’s the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe diet, the meal timings, or the intense training? I know personally that my daily food intake is constantly on my mind. It seems that my whole life is basically revolved around food, which is crazy but true. Dieting plays an enormous role in the bodybuilding world, sometimes a bigger part than training, depending on who you talk to. However just one of these bodybuilding ingredients by themselves won’t get the job done. You will need both to successfully build muscle. With that being said, let me talk about something that many of us fail to do in our daily mindset preparation…

I’m just taking a wild guess that most of you reading this have a main goal of adding as much muscle to your frame as possible. So let me ask you this…each day you prepare your body for growth with diets, supplements and training, but how often do you mentally prepare your MIND for the rigorous test you’re about to put it through? Mindset preparation seems like an easily forgotten principle that used to be dominant in the bodybuilding world from years past.

Let’s assume it’s Chest Day and the first exercise on your list to complete is a standard bench press. Ok, this doesn’t seem too hard. The first few sets go well, the muscles begin to achieve a pump, and your muscle fiber breakdown has ultimately started. During this time, the mind is relatively “neutral”. Your mind hasn’t been called into play as the determining factor for whether you complete a successful lift or not.

Think about it like this: you roll out of bed half asleep and get into your car and drive to the store. Not many problems there; the body will wake itself up continuously, given the constant flow of stimuli taken in from your senses. But now, let’s change that scenario a little and turn your car into something intense, like an 800 horse power Nascar. With that amount of power under the hood, I can make a safe guess that you’d be instantly woken up as soon as you turned it on.

Just like the ignition switch for the nascar, there is a very similar switch that each of us posses in our own body that can make the nearly impossible, now seem achievable. So back to the story…

On this day, your chest is feeling quite strong; strong enough to reach a new personal record. So you stand up, pumped and ready to go, and slide the old plates off the bar and replace them with much larger ones. It’s at this moment that your mind will start playing games with you.

“I’ve never lifted this much before, what if I don’t get 8 reps.”

“Maybe I’ll just wait till next week to progress this much.”

“Maybe I added too much weight and I should take some off?”

Any of this mindset preparation stuff sound familiar?

I know thoughts aren’t formed in complete sentences but if they were, I’d bet yours would be something similar to this. We’ve all hit that spot before. If you’re training to your potential each week then this feeling should come often; and why wouldn’t it? You’re pushing your body into unknown territory day-in and day-out, so more often than not you’re bound to be intimidated by the weight. This is called the “what if I fail” excuse. Even the best bodybuilders go through this pitfall at some point or another. Take this quote from 4 time Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler:

“Never show the weight that you’re scared, but this is some heavy *** weight.”

So what’s the difference between Mr. O and the rest of us? Well obviously there’s a huge size factor, yes, but beyond that, he is able to reach his potential each day by using mindset preparation. However if both areas of mental and physical preparation are at a consistent high, then it will be impossible NOT to progress. This is our main goal; to avoid a negative mindset altogether and replace it with a never-ending flow of positive motivation.

I’ll be posting more articles soon about some things that I’ve used to keep myself and my clients motivated. Till then, keep your mind right and flip that mental switch on when the weight gets heavy! Catch ya’ll later…

– Mitch Muller

C.P.T. – MindsetFitness.net – Mindset Preparation

No Pain, No Gain

no pain, no gainNo Pain, No Gain: Muscle Focus

How many times have we all heard this saying: No pain, no gain? I don’t remember the exact time in my childhood where I heard this for the first time, but Lord knows I was young. I’m not sure who exactly came up with this positive/negative use of words, but in my book, they were a genius. And let me talk my fingers off about why I think this…

Growing up in sports and many competitive atmospheres, I was always the one who hated to lose. Much of you are probably just like me in that way. Walking to the car after the previous defeat left me feeling weak and not good enough. As a young man, not every moment after a loss are you going to hold your head up high as say with a clear conscience, “I am going to learn from this and get better.” Not always the case right? Through many years of maturity and experience in wins and losses, I found that staying positive about the current goal was the only way to go. And in order to dominate my rivals, I needed to get stronger.

When I heard this “no pain, no gain” saying in TV shows and movies, I never really grasped the full meaning of what it meant. My first thought was, “Oh yeah, if you work hard for something, it’ll pay off,” Which can be a solid definition of this depending on how you look at it. But as I’ve become more and more educated in this fitness-filled life of mine, I now see the TRUE meaning behind this famous quote. And to my surprise, it was right in front of my face the whole time.

So let me explain this “no pain, no gain” concept…

When your mind is set on the task at hand, and everything else seems blurry compared to your immense focus on the next set, it is now time to establish what I like to call, your PAIN BARRIER. Each person’s mind is made to function differently, which means that every single person on this planet is unique in their own way. Just because your best friend Freddy put up 225lbs for 8 reps on the last set, doesn’t mean that you’ll get the SAME effect if you complete the same thing.

Your goal when you walk in the gym should always be to progress in your training, regardless if you’re a man or woman. So this is how a pain barrier works. It is entirely mental. How much pain are you willing to let your body go through to form it the way you want? This isn’t a battle to be fought between friend or foe, it’s a never ending battle in your own mind.

No Pain, No Gain | Your muscles should ALWAYS give out before your mind does.

I like to make this simple by applying the 1 to 10 scale; or 1-20, however you want to look at it; 1 being the easiest (No pain), to 10 being the most intense pain your muscles can feel. So how hard was your last set? A seven? Maybe an eight? Remember what I said earlier, progress is your number one goal! Your mind should be surpassing the pain brought on by yesterday’s workout. Once you move up to a new weight, NEVER go back. Your body is stronger now than it was before. Establishing these principles will ensure non-stop progression and a closer step to achieving the body you desire.

“It’s all about progression. Loiterers should be arrested.” – Jay-Z (No pain, no gain)

So with NO PAIN in your workouts, your body will absolutely see NO GAINS. When you put your body through this intense training, it will have no choice but to grow. So make the most of your time in the gym! Get in, get out, move forward and progress.

-Mitch Muller

MindsetFitness.net – No Pain, No Gain

 

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