Bodybuilding is all in the mind

What constitutes a successful body building lifestyle? What is the net burden placed on a body builder to develop and maintain a prize winning physique? Where does one begin the quest for muscles? What drives a busy career man or the time-pressed woman to squeeze his or her daily schedule and accommodate hours of self torture in the gym?

Successful body building at most times involves a radical lifestyle change. The current lifestyle of a new body builder always changes perhaps to the rate of how radical that current lifestyle is. Initiating a serious body building lifestyle simply means accepting hard training and strict dieting as a way of life. Research has however established that these two are but some of the important elements, merely partial elements incorporated in the big picture. There is one other requirement that means success or failure in body building, and it is the most important.

Any body building quest is begun and driven by a radical mindset shift. The truth is that, dieting and workout sessions are important but not enough. It is a mindset that has resolutely determined to take on exercise sessions each after the other. Without such a resolution, would be body builders will attend a workout and remember to go back to the gym two weeks later or they ensure they eat a healthy meal but follow it with 5 junk meals. Resolution backed by firm determination ensures perpetual consistency and royal dedication to pursuing desired success day after day.

The most common excuse given by body building admirers is that they don't have the time to be serious with body building? Yet the proper excuse should be that they have not determined with a firm resolve to seek the fulfillment of their desires. Just as daily morning rituals like going to the bathroom, brushing the teeth, taking a shower, preparing breakfast etc have become autonomic so too can body building, if our mindset is harnessed in that respect. People do not make extra time for these mundane tasks but they actually have time for them.

Nobody needs to be reminded to brush the teeth, and this is exactly the way a new body building trainee must begin to think about body building. He or she should not make time for the daily ration of exercises or remember occasionally about dieting. He or she must lead the mind to recognise and accept that the time is there and then focus on getting done without excuses. By deciding to try and make time for body building the mind instinctively challenges the effort as unimportant to our lives.

Creating a successful body building lifestyle needs time, patience and persistence. A good and determined start is enviable, but it is the staying power that makes champions, that builds muscles. Body building is a day to day challenge that lasts a lifetime. Here, the key is a positive mindset, for body building is all in the mind.

by Dane Fletcher