Want to Increase Your Weight or Reps Today? Try Visualization...
By Phil Harris
You
may have heard the old saying "what the mind can conceive, the body can
achieve." Self help books have been using it for years, starting
with Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich.
It has been overused so much that it actually seems a little
trite. However, there are ways to apply this old, worn out saying
to improve your weight training at your next workout. By applying some simple visualization
techniques, you can get those last reps, lift more weight, and improve
your form.
Why is it so important to squeeze everything out of yourself for those peak sets? In a word, intensity. Muscle building
is an adaptive response to the demands you put on your body. In
order to be effective in your muscle building, you must be
vigilant in your quest to always increase the load put on your muscles.
In other words, it matters if you are really squeezing everything
out of your sets instead of just working "hard".
Personally, I
like visualizing in the first person. Using this technique, I am
most effective at adding the secret ingredient; visualizing with feeling.
I used this yesterday during a squat workout, and when I was out
of breath and under duress, I still hit two more reps. That's the
difference between going home feeling great about my leg workout, or
having to endure a week of under achievement until my next leg session.
Here is how it works:
- Before
your set, picture yourself getting ready to approach the bar. In
your mind's eye, you should be focused and physically ready. Make
sure your physiology in your mental picture is accurate. What
does your face look like when you are focused? Where are your
eyes? What does your body look like when you are physically
ready? How are you standing? How are you breathing?
Are your shoulders back and head up? Are you breathing deep? Make sure
the picture in your mind's eye is accurate, and feel how you would
feel in this state.
- Now it's time for the setup. If you
are doing the squat, how do you stand before you unrack the weight?
How does the weight feel coming off the rack? Do you steady
the weight before you walk out? How does the walk out
feel? Once you are done with the walkout, how are you standing with
the weight? How does the weight feel? How are you
breathing? What is your posture? You should envision
yourself with perfect form through every step and feel the confidence
under the weight.
- Now
we start seeing and feeling each of the reps with perfect form.
Do you break at the hips? Is your chest out and head up?
Are you staying upright? What does it look like when you
power out of the hole?
- As you see each rep in your set, you
should feel each rep just like it would feel if you were actually doing
the set. How does the first rep feel? How does the sixth
rep feel? Are you pushing yourself through the pain?
It's
amazing how much this exercise can make a difference in your sets.
Imagine if you did this at every workout. How much extra
progress do you think you can make over the next 3 or 6 months if you
did this consistently?
Try
it out a few times and see if this is something for your workout
arsenal. Don't worry if you aren't good at it the first few times
you try visualization - it takes practice. Personally, it took
some of my training to the next level. Hopefully, it will do the
same for you.
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About the Author:
Phil Harris is the author of the free muscle building resource: Muscle Building Revealed, which can be found at http://www.muscle-building-revealed.com.
He specializes in empowering people to build muscle fast with the right training, nutrition, supplements, and motivation.
© 2007, Muscle Building Revealed. All rights in all
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