Mind Over Body Battleground

[DarkLord]

How so many of us don't make the results we want due to the biggest killer of all " extreme mental commitment". I, like you, frequently walk into the gym and see many who fail to achieve those desired results either for mass or physical conditioning. It's the ultimate battleground of fighting the mental tortures that fail our physical efforts. You may feel it at times when you can feel your body pushing itself hard but then your mind so easily wonders astray. I definitley believe it's the mind and body working together at the same time that gets the result. Of course this is all old news to so many of you but it's worth refreshening.

[youngike21]

I think a lot of that is because of the wealth of info which leads to over analysis. I myself have been caught in the whole "bulk or cut" mind circle and it's left me trapped for months. I think a lot of people (including myself) need to just keep it simple and focus and eating healthy and being active everyday. Although I do wish I could take my own advice lol.

[midgetcop]

That's so true. Ultimately you need purpose, knowledge, and motivation to see physical success. The rest is easy - tell your body what to do, and it will do it.

[Your_Crazy]

Originally Posted by youngike21

I think a lot of that is because of the wealth of info which leads to over analysis. I myself have been caught in the whole "bulk or cut" mind circle and it's left me trapped for months. I think a lot of people (including myself) need to just keep it simple and focus and eating healthy and being active everyday. Although I do wish I could take my own advice lol.

I have to agree with this statement. I read so much on so many things that it gets confusing. I.C.E., HIIT, High rep, Low rep. All have differant was to do. So you try one and it might work but you see something else or someone else says they do it a differant way. Then the next thing you know your eating a half gallon of chocolate ice cream with extra whiped cream because someone said thats how they did it. LOL

[ccorces1]

Originally Posted by youngike21

I think a lot of that is because of the wealth of info which leads to over analysis. I myself have been caught in the whole "bulk or cut" mind circle and it's left me trapped for months. I think a lot of people (including myself) need to just keep it simple and focus and eating healthy and being active everyday. Although I do wish I could take my own advice lol.

Great advice. With so much already out there, it's crippling because no matter what you do, according to someone, you're doing it wrong. I had a reboot like 2 months ago, where I just went back to the basics of strict form, eating small and properly, and have seen more gains in those two months than the past 2 years.

[youngike21]

It's weird cause all I want to do is just forget everything and just eat healthy foods when I'm hungry and be active. I could probably have an AMAZING body if I just did that. But I'm stuck in this mindset. The traditional bodybuilding method has been preached as the one and only way to do things and anytime I think about doing something different like lifting with dumbbells or bodyweight exercises instead of barbells, I start to get this voice in my head that says, "That's not how everyone else does it so if you do it that way, you'll get nowhere." The problem is that we don't see enough people out there who have fitness/bodybulding as PART of their lives. It seems like almost all of the best looking people out there focus their efforts soley on looking good. To me that's not really living a healthy lifestyle. You might look healthier physcally, but some of these radical diet methods can have negative internal effects. And mentally this whole process can really mess with your mind. It can make you judge yourself and put a lot of unneccesary stress on yourself to achieve something that really isn't all that important. Think about it. Why do people want to get cut? To look good because they feel it attracts the opposite sex. But you don't have to look like a model to do that, you just have to look ''presentable". If the confidence is there, a guy at 11-12% body fat can get as many if not more women than a guy at 7% body fat. The point is that rather than focusing only on improving how your body looks, it's better to go for a balanced improvement of your mind, body, and spirit. In this case, you can have your cake and eat it too. My hope is that I can get to the point again where it all just happens naturally and I don't even have to think about how many calories I'm eating or whether I'm doing enough sets/reps. There are so many other aspects of my life I'd like to work on especially since I'm going to college this fall. Like I said, I want for fitness to be part of my life, but I want it to be a building block for a better me, not the hammer that tears me down.

Wow that was pretty deep. I didn't know I had it in me lol