How we mentally approach our physical training can almost be as important as the training itself.
So before you get moving,
Let's take a few moments to check in with the body,
Set an intention for
your practice and use some visualization to prepare the mind and the body for your best
performance.
So whether you're sat down for this practice or just walking to the gym,
Start by feeling the surface beneath you,
Supporting your body.
You can soften the gaze
or close the eyelids if it's safe to do so.
If you're already warming up for your training,
Probably best to keep your eyes open.
Let's take a few slow,
Full breaths in and out through the
nose.
So you're filling the belly,
Filling the rib cage and the chest and then letting it all go.
Again,
Into the belly,
Expand the torso in all directions before you relax and let it all go.
One more time,
A slow,
Easy breath into the belly,
Rib cage,
Chest,
Let it all out with a sigh.
Let's do a quick check in now with the body to see how it's doing today.
So how are your energy levels right now?
Are you feeling bright and ready to go?
Or is this a day
to perhaps be more mindful of how hard you push?
There's no right or wrong answer,
We're just
checking in with how we feel in the moment.
Scanning through the body now,
Just noticing
any areas that feel relaxed or perhaps any that are holding on to some tension.
So it might be the muscles around the eyes,
The jaw,
The neck,
Any sensations in the shoulders,
Through your back,
Into the hips,
The legs,
Hands and feet.
And if you do find any areas that are particularly tight,
That could perhaps inform how you approach
your warm-up today,
Maybe giving a little bit more attention to those areas.
As you continue breathing freely and easily,
See if you can maybe start to let a little bit of
that tension out with each out-breath,
To relax in deeper into yourself.
Let's think about your upcoming training session now and bring to mind an intention for this
session.
So what is the reason why behind the training?
So your motivation today for moving
your body,
Doesn't have to be anything too detailed or complicated,
You don't have to
overthink it,
But what's the first thing that comes to mind?
So it might be to support your
physical and mental health,
Maybe so you can be there for yourself and loved ones.
Maybe you're looking to build your physical strength,
Mobility or endurance,
To hone a
specific skill,
Something related to your sport,
Maybe it's simply just to have some fun and feel
good.
See if you can bring to mind something that's important to you,
It matters to you right
now in this session or perhaps as the bigger goal of your training block or program.
You could also ask yourself what would make this session a success to you?
There's often a lot of focus on the outcome when it comes to fitness and performance,
Certain weight lifted or body composition goal,
There's not necessarily anything wrong with
having some metrics in mind over the long term,
But right now let's see if we can focus a little
bit more on the process as opposed to the outcome.
It's the stuff we have a bit more control over,
The doing and the feeling.
So a successful training session today might be maintaining
good form and a connection to your body throughout each movement.
It could be that
you kept your focus throughout your training,
Staying dialed in between your sets,
Perhaps that
you listened to your body,
You know when to push and when to hold back.
It could simply be that
you've enjoyed yourself,
You've got it done for the day or you've connected with someone else.
To bring something to mind,
Something that you can check in with again at the end of your session.
With our intention set,
Let's run through a short visualization.
Research shows that
visualization can support our physical performance in a number of ways.
We know that
mentally rehearsing a skill actually lights up the same parts of the brain involved with
actually performing that skill.
So let's briefly run through a training montage of your upcoming
session.
In your mind's eye,
See if you can picture yourself performing your warm-up and your prep
drills and really feeling the benefit.
So you're getting the body ready,
Increasing the heart rate,
Feeling the body temperature elevate,
Feeling those joints start to lubricate and open up,
Any dormant muscle groups start to wake up,
Activate.
So you're getting everything primed,
Ready to fire,
Ready to perform to the best of your ability.
See if you can almost embody that feeling right now.
So you're energized,
You're strong,
You're ready to go.
Picturing yourself moving into the main body of your session now,
So visualizing that first movement pattern or exercise.
Feel yourself setting up for the lift
or the movement,
How you control your breathing,
Brace whatever needs to be braced and relax
whatever needs to be relaxed.
Feeling the ground beneath you,
You've got a sturdy grip
on the barbell,
Kettlebell or whatever equipment you're using.
Your positioning and your mindset are both dialed in,
Calm,
Confident and steady.
As you begin performing that movement in your mind's eye,
See if you can feel those muscle
groups contracting in the correct sequence.
See that movement being performed flawlessly.
You're strong and controlled,
Everything feels connected and the resistance almost feels light
and effortless.
You're moving in a coordinated athletic way with ease and composure.
You finish your set feeling strong and in control,
The nervous system is responding,
You feel energized and there's those endorphins rushing through your body.
And then in contrast,
You're able to calm yourself between sets,
Bring those arousal
levels down when you need and then ramp up the intensity when it's time to go.
I'll be quiet now for a few moments so you can go a little more inwards so you can repeat this
visualization process with the same movement or rehearse any other movement patterns or scenarios
that you might find in your upcoming session.
A few more full breaths now before you get moving and remind yourself one last time of that
intention,
Your reason why and your aim for this session.
Feeling the ground beneath you,
Start stretching out and letting the eyes open if they're not already.
Shake out the hands,
The arms and legs and moving forward now with a sense of calm,
Quiet confidence.
So visualization is a tool that's always there for you whether it's
in a structured pre-training session like we've just done or even just a few quiet moments
mentally rehearsing in between sets.
A well-trained body is one thing but
a well-trained body and mind in sync is something even more powerful.
Enjoy your session.
