Tip 5 Foundational Steps to Training Success Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Alpha LifeLiving Tip 5 Foundational Steps to Training Success Reaching your physique or performance goal is about more than sets reps and exercises Here' s how to get your mindset right by Michael Warren March 22, 2018April 5, 2021 Tags Health & Longevity, Living Better, Motivation, Tips There are five steps that will help you build mental toughness and reach any goal: 1 – Write a Mission Statement Create a mission statement that gets you pumped up. Take the time to consider your "why." If you have a powerful reason why, you can get through anything. Make this reason your mission statement and repeat it to yourself during your training. Any time you catch yourself slacking, questioning your motivation, or feeling like you want to quit, repeat your mission statement. 2 – Have a Positive Mindset Every day, there's a dialogue going on in your mind. These thoughts are usually a mixture of outside stimuli and your beliefs about yourself. Some will be negative. To develop mental toughness, you must focus on the ones that make you feel better about yourself. You'll be hard-pressed to find a successful person who doesn't practice this. If you even think you can't do something, you simply won't do it. 3 – Use Positive Self-Talk Be your own coach. Speak to yourself in the second person with statements like, "You're going to give this everything you've got." It can stir up that extra bit of motivation a real coach would provide. It also allows you to control what kind of encouragement your "coach" gives. You may respond better to one kind of advice than another in certain scenarios. 4 – Get in The Zone "The mind gives up long before the body ever does." Top class athletes respond to stress with a reduction in brainwave activity that's similar to meditation. The average person responds to stress with an increase in brainwave activity that's similar to panic (stress). This is an example of how getting into the "zone" – the cool-headed state that allows a person to perform optimally even under high-pressure conditions – can make a big difference in performance. Achieving this state and holding on to it despite distractions, pain, and your own instincts to give in for the sake of self-preservation, is the essence of mental toughness. The best athletes train their brains to be as tough as their bodies. 5 – Use Visualization Before you even step under the bar for a squat or pick up a dumbbell, your set should be mentally done. Imagine the steps you'll take to get into position and the way your body will look performing the movement. Rehearse each rep in your mind. Think about how that'll feel to you. Because it's already been done in your mind, all you have to do is repeat it with your body. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Alpha Life 4 Biggest Lies of The Biggest Loser It's a show about fitness that keeps people dumb and in the dark about getting fit. Here's the big fat truth about The Biggest Loser. Opinion, Powerful Words, Strong Words Dani Shugart February 5 Alpha Life The Dumb Figure Coach Starvation diets, damaging workouts, and eating toilet paper. It's time to call out the idiot competition coaches who are damaging women. Blogs, Opinion, Strong Words Christian Thibaudeau July 13 Alpha Life Tip Calling Out the Internet Injury Police – A Rant Safe exercises, dangerous exercises, and ass-clowns. Bodybuilding, Opinion, Strong Words, Tips Paul Carter February 1 Alpha Life The Best Predictor of Success A super tribe of Africans has learned the secret to athletic success. Can we duplicate the effects of their barbaric methods? Motivation, Opinion, Powerful Words, Strong Words TC Luoma June 1