You may not want to be an Olympian even though you admire their results. What is the best way to enhance a positive outlook for your fitness and health? One thing to borrow from athletes is the practice of goal setting and visualization. Athletes train the brain to see them selves physically achieving certain athletic feats which works like a rehearsal for the body. By consistently visualizing doing an activity you can start to reprogram your mind to expect and look forward to that physical activity. The key here being finding an activity you enjoy!
In order to enjoy body building workouts like weight training and circuit training, use pleasurable visualization to see and imagine the feeling of the power in your muscle you are targeting. Actually get pictures of the muscle you are training, like the pecs or glutes and see their shape and place this map on your body. Even as you work out, you can start to visualize the muscle you are toning, reshaping it to work to its "ideal" form in your mind. As you feel the burn, imagine the muscle actually reshaping to become leaner, stronger and sleeker, burning away the fat to reveal the true you.
If you have fat in all the wrong places, you just aren't getting circulation to those parts of the body. Parts of the body that are "sagging" behind your ideal are the parts that need more energy, more circulation and less indigestible foods weighing them down. Take a full body photo of yourself as you are now and ask yourself if you could change anything what would it be. Using a permanent marker, draw on the picture the ideal body you want to have, sculpting away any body parts to get to the ideal you.
While visualization is key for involving the mind in your fitness, the emotions are the driving factor that support a lifetime on ongoing fitness habits. Research has found 35% of aging is genetic while 65% of aging is up to you and your life choices. If you truly desire to improve your quality of life you may first need to ask what is stopping YOU from achieving your ideal. Once you have a list of your excuses, you will have to be very honest and start to negotiate with the destructive thoughts that interfere with your positive self.
If you have negative ideas about positive habits that create the body and life you desire (I can't do it, that's not me, that's only for those people, I'm too old), you need to write them down and take a look at them. For every negative thought you create, you must create a positive thought that can replace that energy sucker. Negative thoughts don't just disappear, but they can be answered back with "thanks, but not right now - life's too good".
Ultimately you want to associate sometime really exciting and pleasurable with every part of your fitness training. Every time you might moan about not seeing results or not feeling like fitness training, you need a stimulating image or thought to snap you out it. For some of us, it can simply be that picture of you with the ideal you sculpted on top of it, sometimes it will be a feeling, sometimes it will be words that move you and for others it will simply be the idea of living a fuller, longer life with people they love. Use everything to reinforce your imagination of a fitter healthier happier version of your ideal self.
Sometimes the best fitness strategy is to find a personal trainer who can help you clarify and maintain your focus on your goals. To make the best of a training session, come to your trainer with your ideal fitness goals and explain very clearly the things you dislike about training and your body. Ask them how they can create a program that you will move you beyond your weaknesses.
About the Author
Angela Badolato is a dance performer from Australia and has been teaching and performing dance and healthy lifestyle practices for over 16 years. She has a bachelors degree in drama and communications and is a certified foot and hand reflexologist and belly dance performer. She shares her passion for aliveness of the body through online writing, teaching and live performance.