Monday, April 15th, 2013, the city of Boston suffered a tragic loss of life during the Boston Marathon bombing. In a heroic display of mental strength, Bostonians rallied behind the BOSTON STRONG slogan to restore peace and safety to their city! While mental strength gets us through life's challenges, it also carries us through physically demanding tasks such as intense Strength Training. By its very nature, Strength Training is challenging and uncomfortable. Author Gary Bannister writes about this and the inner workings of productive Strength Training in his book If You Like Exercise, Chances Are You're Doing It Wrong.[1]
What is mental strength? In simple terms, it's a measure of an individual's resilience and confidence.[2] Psychotherapist Amy Morin of the Mentally Strong Podcast and guest lecturer at Northeastern University explains that anyone can build mental strength through consistent, internal effort.[3] Not surprisingly, we recognize the importance of mental strength in world-class performance (i.e., the Olympic Games) yet overlook it in our own lives! The American College of Sports Medicine recently hosted an online seminar entitled Cultivating a Mind for Medals: Inside Winter Olympic Performance.[4] The event featured Dr. Stephen P. Gonzalez, Assistant Director for Leadership & Mental Performance at Dartmouth College. Fortunately, the same tactics athletes use to achieve world-class performance can be used in your workouts, ensuring you get the most from every training session! Here are three proven tactics to build your mental strength and take your training to the next level.
Quiet Your Mind. We often enter our workouts with the noise of the day (stress, to-do's, issues), depleting our mental energy. Unlike other types of physical activity (i.e., walking, biking, hiking), Strength Training requires complete mental focus. As you enter your training session, it is essential to recognize that you will focus on one thing, the workout! This process begins by pausing before you start an exercise to ensure you have the correct posture (i.e., the position of your torso, elbows, head, knees, hips, and feet). Otherwise known as your FORM, you cannot expect to be productive during an exercise if your body isn't where it belongs. Next, establish a point of focus. At MEDFITNESS, the clock is your point of focus. Keeping your eyes on the clock reduces neck strain and improves breathing because it holds your head in a neutral position. Three exercises will require you to take your eyes off the clock: the MEDX Ab Isolator, Lumbar Spine, and Core Torso Rotation. During these exercises, it is vital to hold your head in a neutral position (not flexing forward or rotating side to side) to ensure workout safety.
Clarify Your Objective. You cannot expect a workout to be effective if you do not know your objective. Contrary to popular opinion, the objective is not to complete a predetermined number of repetitions and then discontinue the exercise (i.e., get six reps and stop). Your objective is to achieve muscle failure, otherwise known as volitional fatigue.[5] Muscle failure is when you cannot complete a full repetition with the correct form and speed. Recognizing that your objective is to fail will help you maintain your form and speed as the exercise becomes difficult. Adjusting your form and speed to make an exercise easier is counterproductive. When overloaded, your muscular system generates the most significant response (i.e., improvements in strength and health). Overloading a muscle requires you to attempt a repetition even if you think you cannot do it. An exercise taken to actual muscle failure will end with a partial repetition. It is also essential to recognize that safely reaching muscle failure requires the last repetition to look like the first repetition, meaning you should end as you begin. In other words, do not get sloppy as you fatigue! How well you perform repetitions is more critical than the number of repetitions you perform!
Minimize Distractions. Having recognized that Strength Training requires your complete mental focus, your job is to minimize distractions. During a strength workout, the most common distraction is talking to your training partner or Personal Trainer. Even though other types of physical activity often use the Talk Test as a way of monitoring exercise intensity, when Strength Training, you should avoid talking due to the rapid rate at which intensity increases. If your walking/hiking for 30 minutes, you may not reach a meaningful level of intensity until the middle or end of your walk/hike. However, when Strength Training, the goal is to achieve maximum intensity (i.e., Muscle Failure) within seconds. An exercise that lasts as little as eighty seconds leaves no room for distractions. If you can talk (maintain a conversation) during your Strength Training, you are not working hard enough to maximize benefits. Talking can also interfere with breathing and Workout Skill compliance (i.e., form, speed, range of motion, etc.). In other words, when talking, it is easy to overlook the fact that you are using improper form. Next time you begin a workout, promise yourself that you will quiet your mind, train to muscle failure, and minimize distractions. Embracing these tactics will build your mental strength and ensure you get the most out of your training!
If you or someone you know is interested in a Free Trial Workout, please send them our way! Send your inquiries HERE to schedule a Free Trial Workout and start living your best life.
Stay Strong,
Richard J. Wolff, RDN
References
1. Bannister, G. 2013. If You Like Exercise, Chances Are You're Doing It Wrong, Proper Strength Training for Maximum Results. Bloomington, IN. iUniverse.
2. Mental Toughness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_toughness
3. The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong., Amy Morin. December 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFbv757kup4&t=32s
4. Cultivating a Mind for Medals: Inside Winter Olympic Performance., Stephen P. Gonzalez, Ph.D. March 2022. https://youtu.be/hBhqL_lU6vo
5. Wolff, R., 2021. Upgrade Your Workout. http://www.medfitnessprogram.com/blog/2021/11/10/upgrade-your-workout-article