Lack of Progress And Discouragement In Training… Or Anything For That Matter
The strength of the body, in many instances, is largely the cause of the strength of the mind, if you can understand my putting it that way. Will-power decides what the muscles shall do, forcing them to accomplish great tasks, or allowing them to give up, according to the strength of mind displayed. If you have a strong will, you can become physically strong, there is no doubt about that. To what extent, of course, no one can really say. It all depends on how you work to gain strength, and how long you are prepared to continue with that work.
As I told you at the beginning of my story, I am now thirty-seven years of age, a time when men were once considered to be approaching that period of life when their physical powers would be on the decline. But my powers are not declining, although I put such a severe tax on them, night after night, with only a weekend rest intervening. On the contrary, I find they are still steadily increasing; and I expect them to continue to increase till I am well past forty years of age. I may be wrong, of course, in believing this. But with the experience to hand that I have, I can assure you that I do not think so. (p 143 Amazing Sampson)
Context
I’ve been working out in a minimalist fashion for over 10 years. However, I sometimes feel that I have fallen short.
“10 years?!?! I should be further along by now.”
I’m just now tapping into one-arm pull-ups and getting closer to the perfect one-arm push-up. But I tend to be a pessimistic individual. This might have been holding back for all that time. I hope to one day free my mind from this illness of negativity with some help.
In order to help others not make the same mistakes I did I will discuss the importance of mindset in our training as if talking to my past self. You can have the perfect workout and diet but if your mind ain’t right you will only get so far.
The Power Of Our Thoughts
The Placebo Effect is a thing under certain circumstances. These circumstances are under the umbrella of pain, anxiety, and fatigue. Outside of this umbrella, there’s not much support for the placebo effect but I’m still holding out hope…
Make strenuous endeavors towards a cheerful, happy frame of mind. The power of mental dissatisfaction to influence evil results is well-known to all. It should be distinctly borne in mind that our disease is the result (there are rare exceptions to this rule) of years of unnatural habits in life, and that, in order to recuperate and strengthen a broken-down constitution, considerable, time is required to show even a small improvement. (P 119, Macfadden)
Therefore, if thinking you’re sick will make you sick, and thinking you’re pain-free can make you pain-free, then what about strength and muscle?
“Indeed the essence of strength does not lie in the muscles but in thought just as the strength of a locomotive can only be found in the steam and not in the wheels.” (p 10, Maxick, You Are As Strong As You Want To Be)
“Through this process, the entire attention flowed into the muscles active at the moment and the inner expectation of a strengthening resulted in an advantageous change of the physique” (p 8, Maxick, You Are As Strong As You Want To Be)
The thoughts that lead us to success have to be positive in nature. Think of it as a muscle or a movement. How do we get better at handstand push-ups? We do a great number of them over the weeks and months improving ever so slightly.
It can also be thought of as a spectrum. Pushing in a certain direction year after year it might take a while to push it back the other way. But if you choose to push in the wrong direction then…
The importance of one’s mental state was a common theme I have seen among the physical culturist and strongmen of old. Many of them grew up sick but through consistent physical effort and a belief that they would become stronger and faster they earned a place in history.
Sometimes the biggest feat of strength is to stay stubbornly optimistic.
How To Go About This For Our Training?
The first thing we need to do is have gratitude for whatever training time we are given. There won’t always have 45 minutes to an hour to train. We may only have 20 minutes. Use it wisely but be thankful you have time to engage in a little self-improvement.
Have gratitude for the fact that we can even move our bodies. That we aren’t plagued by an overbearing sickness, and that with this mobile body…
…we can always improve and help others around us.
We should be happy about the progress we have made so far. Luckily it's not two steps forward one step back. It's about our trajectory and momentum which is mostly positive.
There should be some time spent researching or reading fitness material. I mostly like looking at the older stuff as some(but not all) of the newer stuff that is based on, “Research” could be a ploy to gatekeep and make you drain your wallet.
This continued education will open our eyes and help us to discern patterns that could lead to improved progress. What principles have remained consistent throughout history?
Realize that sometimes the best catalyst to training progress can be rest. Hard work does not always win the day.
Small Steps Forward
Our thoughts are powerful and sometimes I have to remind myself to stay away from all the negativity. Our training depends on it.
Thank you for making it to the end and if you have any questions let me know.
