The phrase “mind over matter” has been associated with religion and meditation. However, this concept can also be used in training to promote the goals we hope to achieve in our physique. The key word here is “goals” and it should always be a starting point in all aspects of our life. Without goals, we have nothing to work for. As for training, the goals are going to vary from person to person and may change in the individual as they progress. Some want to be stronger, others just want to gain muscle mass, while others want to be healthier, etc. Many times it is good to have a balance of many of these training goals, but you still always start with these goals.
Once you choose your goals, you will need a plan and motivation to move forward. Setting goals and having a game plan are fairly straightforward tasks, but staying motivated is the hard part and it is where we must embrace the power of “mind over matter.” Right now we are in the season where there will be crowds of people joining the gym for the New Year. These people who join in January do not usually last more than two months in the gym, and then start over the next year …
This is one of the millions of reasons why people fail because they cannot stick or motivate themselves to their plan to achieve your goals. Motivation is not something that can be taught or given to just any other person. It is something that we have to find in ourselves and use to drive our bodies out of our comfort zones. There will be good and bad days in life, but we must always keep moving forward and motivate ourselves from within.
Many times, motivation just requires you to hit the gym and start training, but this is not always the case. Every day I see people in the gym doing the same three sets of ten reps with the same weight that they were doing last year and will probably be doing next year. They feel some accomplishment from showing up in the gym, but they don’t really advance. The goals and the training plan must always be in constant change, since our body gets used to it very easily.
The “matter” is our body and what we are capable of doing. If our minds believe that we are only capable of doing three sets of ten with a given weight, then that is what our body is going to do, but if we “honestly” believe that we can do more, then we can and will. There are limits to what is reasonable, so please don’t go the day after reading this article and squat all the 20-kilo plates and then if you get injured don’t blame me … We have to always use reason, « we are capable of much more than we give ourselves credit for. ‘ The biggest obstacle in our path is our own way of thinking and what we believe we can and cannot do, so change your mind, and your body will follow.