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As you know, I'm all enthused to train hard. To get there I've got a new training regime in place, bumped up my calorie intake, taking supplements to assist with my growth and recovery and get regular Bowen Therapy to keep my muscles, joints and nerves optimally healthy too. But perhaps the biggest factor which I haven't worked on that could be a big influence in my training has been my mind. Its been said many times in sport - and in life - that difference between achieving success or not is in the top 2 inches of your head. |
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Now that I feel motivated, I thought I'd make the most of my new found focus to see if I could transfer that to achieve greater success in the gym so for the next couple of weeks (and perhaps beyond). I'm going to give hypnotherapy a go to enhance my mind/muscle connection into a huge big port so that my muscles are subject to growth from every possible synapse. |
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My immediate training goal is to put on muscle mass. To get there I have to lift heavy but ironically sometimes I am afraid of big weights. I'm sure I'm not the only one! especially when it comes to squatting or benching heavy. |
| Not sure why I'm cautious to go heavy with those particular exercises so one of the things I'm going to work on through hypnotherapy is for me to believe I can lift or squat big. Other elements I'd like to achieve through hypnotherapy would be to go beyond my last rep eventhough I'm fatigued and perhaps be able to summon up more energy so that I can do more - whether it be in reps or in kilograms. | |
| At first I was abit anxious about getting hypnotherapy as I wasn't sure what it was all about. Was I going to start clucking like a chicken afterwards if I heard a certain word?! you know, like what you see on those crazy hypnotism shows. But Grant reassured me that hypnotherapy has nothing to do with the entertainment side of hypnotism. Rather, he said hypnotherapy is more about getting into a deep relaxed state where he taps your unconscious mind and uses positive phrases and reinforcements to maximise your mind/muscle connection. |
 Lisa with Grant Patterson, hypnotherapist |
I find it hard to relax at the best of times so having to relax as part of getting hypnotherapy was going to be a challenge in itself! but I know that tapping into the potential of having a strong mind will be worth it in the long term so I was going to do it no matter how hard its going to be. So feeling a little nervous but also with a willingness to relax I placed my mind and muscles into Gran'ts capable hands for my first hypnotherapy session. First he got me to sit or lie down where I felt most comfy. Since I'm bit paranoid about people looking at me, I decided to lay down (may as well be as comfy as I can) away from his prying eyes! He says he doesn't look at his clients anyway as he's too busy concentrating on his notes and what he's saying. But you can never be too careful! Then I closed my eyes and he started to make me aware of my breathing, of the way my body was feeling more relaxed, and how he wanted me to focus on what he was saying rather than any noises that might be going on outside. The more he was saying for me to relax the more I felt my heart racing - go figure! but he says that's just the way my 'guard dog' (or the technical term of critical faculty) to protect my subconscious. About 15 minutes into the first phase, I did feel my heart slow down as I got used to the sensation of being in a relaxed state. I can't remember all the specifics of the therapy - he was talking to my subconscious afterall! - but I do remember him suggesting some ways I could summon up more energy during my training which I'll use at my next training. |
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The session took about 40minutes which is probably the longest time I've stayed still. When I opened my eyes again I felt quite refreshed. This first session was basically to get me used to being relaxed - so I'm not about to go bench press 100kg or anything crazy right now! The more I'm comfy with being relaxed the better I'll be at tapping into the subconscious and absorbing all the cues Grant will give me to help intensify my workouts. He's also going to create some tapes for me to listen to to both help relax and motivate me that I can listen to when I got to bed. |
| This session was all about getting more energy from workouts, Grant said the next sessions will focus on strength, imagery and power. I'll keep you posted on how my sessions go and if its helped me push more - and get me that extra inch on my delts! over and out from the very relaxed and strong Lisa! go figure, 19 Nov 08 |
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