A "Carved From Stone" Mind-Set

Thursday, June 11, 2009

When it's time to workout, how is your mindset?

Are you ramped up, excited and ready to leave it on the gym floor, or do you have a million other thoughts going through your head and your workout is just one more thing to cross off your to-do list?

Having spent a lifetime training myself and thousands of others, I can tell you that without a doubt, your mindset is the single most important factor when it comes to changing your body.

Going through the motions in the gym (95% of everybody in all gyms across America) without a strong mindset is akin to running on a treadmill; you're moving a lot but not going anywhere.

All training should be approached as if your life depends on it right then and there. Sub-par mental and physical commitment mean death. Anything less than ALL your effort will not suffice. This is a warrior’s mind-set, this is attitude.

A good workout is not one written neatly on a clean program card from the gym. A good workout is a quest; something that should give you butterflies at the very thought of what lies ahead. This is what develops real character, real conditioning.

You might start out soft with the attitude that you're fragile but you will end up being carved from stone. This applies to everyone from old ladies to elite athletes and fighters. Carved from stone means strong and resilient, resistant to fatigue and emotional breakdown, resistant to the common ailments of the general public.

Attitude is about thinking, breathing and behaving as if everything you do has purpose (because it should). Develop an attitude where, as Nike says, “impossible is nothing”, treat every day as if there was a victory lying ahead if only you apply all of yourself.

Every bead of sweat falling from your head, every weight you've pumped, every grueling challenge you have overcome…the history of all of that is in your eyes. This is attitude, this is dedication to the development of excellence.

In any situation for the rest of your life you should not have to think, “damn, I should have trained more”, instead you will be standing there feeling like a lion, like a king leading an army to battle. That is attitude, that is spirit.

Live With Passion,

Roy

Workout Of The Day/WOD

15 95lb Hang Cleans

12 Ring Dips

21 Situps