THE ARTICLE
Exercise has plethora of benefits. It can do everything from enhancing your health, right through to improving your confidence levels and improving work productivity. As an exercise professional, I constantly relay these benefits to clients who are embarking upon a new bodybuilding regime. However, it would come as no surprise that the most prominent reason for initiating a training program is:
To look GREAT!
Exercising to improve your physique is a great reason to begin a new routine. It provides you with a foundation from which you can draw purpose, motivation and an internal drive. Your mental image of the new, ripped and buffed physique you wish to acquire is enough to have you invest hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars into supplements, training equipment, a personal trainer, bodybuilding magazines and a gym membership. Now if that isn’t motivation, then I don’t know what is!
If you are in the early stages of a new bodybuilding program, then you will know exactly what I’m talking about. But here is what I want you to consider. What are you going to do if you achieve this physique? Better yet, what are you going to do if you don’t achieve your ideal physique?
No matter how motivated or focused you are on your physical goal, you need a backup plan. You have to be realistic; there is always the chance that you may never obtain the precise physique that you have in mind. There is also the chance that you may become bored by looking at yourself in the mirror on a daily basis. Alternatively, if your motivation is driven to increase the likelihood of physically attracting a person of the opposite sex, what happens when you settle into a relationship? The point is that if your focus is purely based on looks alone, you are simply not setting yourself up for long-term success.
In my years of training, I have learnt first-hand that there are so many other benefits to exercise apart from just “looking good”. I am not dismissing the fact that an increased degree of muscle mass is great – it is! I am however highlighting that bodybuilding is so multifaceted and that to focus purely on the superficial would mean missing out on whole world within itself.
So what exactly am I talking about? I am referring to the psychological benefits to bodybuilding. Whilst you cannot physically see these personal manifestations, they have a far more profound impact upon your life than your own silhouette.
Confidence & Self Esteem
How you feel about yourself transcends into all area’s of your life. This includes your job, relationships, leisure time and your overall happiness. The fact is that if you are not confident within your own abilities, you will underachieve and you will never fulfill what life has to offer.
Bodybuilding has a profound impact upon your internal dialogue. The beauty lies in setting a realistic yet challenging goal and then testing your mental and physical limits to accomplish that goal. For example, “lifting another 10kg on bench press within a month” or “obtaining 1 more rep next week” or even “achieving a particular body mass at a certain body fat percentage”. If you doubt your abilities to accomplish this goal, then you will probably fail in your attempts. However, with enough consistency and dedication, eventually you learn that you do have the physical capacity to accomplish this goal if you apply the correct mindset. The point worth highlighting here is that mindset is the key, for your mind power is far more powerful than any physical limitation. As soon as you learn this first-hand, you will be able to subconsciously translate a positive mindset to your training into a “can-do” mindset in all aspects of life.
Discipline
Accomplishing these tough (yet achievable) goals that you have set for yourself requires consistency and dedication. You are not going to realise any significant degree of muscle gain by training intermittently for a few weeks. Consider how the pro’s do it; they live bodybuilding, they don’t just participate when they feel like it! Consistent, daily application to good nutrition and an effective training regime is imperative for great results.
After exercising a consistent approach (excuse the pun!) for a sustained period of time, you will develop a strong sense of discipline. This discipline means much more than simply validating your ability to adhere to a routine. Rather, the discipline you have established will necessarily mean that you discipline yourself in all facets of life. You will have the ability to establish other productive routines in work, social and family scenario’s as a direct result of the first-hand disciplinary lessons learnt.
Control
Discipline means a heightened sense of control. Whilst you cannot control the world around you, you can control yourself, if you have the tools available to do so. By establishing a strong sense of discipline, you are effectively putting yourself into the driver’s seat of your own life.
Imagine for a second that you have accomplished your bodybuilding goals. You are now in the position where you can control your body and dictate exactly how it looks. As a result, you will now have a heightened ability to control yourself. You will experience an increased sense of self awareness and the ability to control your emotions in everyday life. For, if you have the control to push yourself to absolute failure during a set (even when your body is screaming out for you to STOP!), consider the control you exhibit in other extreme situations.
The more you train, the more you will be able to identify with these issues raised. Bodybuilding can not only enhance your physique, but it can also be a major catalyst for you maturing as a person. A stronger body can often be the physical manifestation of a stronger mind.
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