Train The Body
The Mind Will Follow



By Ross Enamait - Published in 2005




How does one gain confidence and develop mental toughness?


This is a common question, asked by many aspiring athletes. While
searching the Internet, I typed the phrase “mind power” in the Google
search engine. I received several thousand hits with this phrase. Many
of the links were to expensive information products dedicated to the
subject. For a few hundred bucks, some guru will tell you how to
develop a strong mind, which will then supposedly improve athletic
performance.

One thing that I’ve learned in my life is that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.


Training the mind does not require an investment in an expensive
course, nor does it require a degree in psychology or neuroscience.

Although I am all for strategies such as pre-competition visualization
and positive affirmations, there is one commonly overlooked way to
develop an indomitable mindset.

If you train the body, the mind will follow. By pushing yourself in the
gym, your mind is forced to come along for the ride. If your mind is
weak, you will quit as soon as fatigue mounts. Fighters are trained to
work through fatigue. The ability to display skill in a fatigued state
is a unique skill in itself.

Such abilities are developed through intense physical training. If you
want a strong, confident mind, you must develop this mindset in the
gym.

Consider the words below from Bernard Hopkins, one of the greatest
middleweight boxers of all time. These words came in a pre-fight
interview earlier in his career. Bernard said the following:

“I’m always going to come in (to the fight)
overconfident and I have a reason to. I always come in overconfident
because I train so hard that I leave no room for doubt in my mind. I
never go in there to lose. The word is not even in my dictionary. I
train confident, and I train to think overconfidently. If I didn’t, I’d
be a fool.”


By pushing through strenuous workouts, you will gradually improve
physically. As your strength and conditioning improve, you will gain
confidence in your abilities. This process does not happen overnight.
It takes time, dedication, perseverance, and a regular dose of hard
work.

There is no room for doubt in an athlete’s mind. You must gain
confidence in yourself. As you push through difficult challenges and
routines, your mind will become increasingly resilient.

It is easy to quit when the going gets tough. A strong mind will enable
you to keep plugging away despite the fatigue that will inevitably
mount. As Vince Lombardi once said:

“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.”


Tour De France bicycling king Lance Armstrong perhaps said it best with the following words:


"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an
hour, or a day, or a year but eventually it will subside and something
else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. That
surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me. So when I
feel like quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with?"


Obviously, you need a strong mind to live with such conviction, but you
also need a strong body. Quitting offers an easy way out of any
challenge. Everyone has a breaking point. By continually raising the
bar in the gym, you can avoid reaching this point during competition.
Train your body to go the distance, and the mind will be prepared for
the journey.

Don’t just coast through your workouts at the gym. Crank up the
intensity and gain confidence in your training. Don’t enter your
competition wishing that you had one more week to train. Plan ahead of
time, put in the work, and develop a strong body AND mind!

To drive home this point, let’s look at one brief conditioning workout.
Set a timer and challenge yourself to perform 100 burpees as fast as
possible. Can you perform 100 burpees in 10 minutes? What about 9, 8,
7, 6, or 5 minutes? How fast can you go?

As you work through this brief challenge, your mind will start
whispering in one ear, convincing you to stop completely or take an
extended rest period. It will become difficult to maintain a fast pace
as fatigue starts to rear its ugly head.

Upon completing the routine, the mind may add another piece of advice,
something such as “Let’s never work through that routine again…”


When working through a difficult challenge, it is useful to
ignore the mind. Don’t let the mind convince you to quit. Stay focused
on the task at hand. Make the decision to complete the challenge in its
entirety BEFORE you begin the workout. You may even find it useful to
post motivating words on the walls of your gym. It is always useful to
glance up to a motivational phrase from a dominant athlete such as
Lance Armstrong. A quick glimpse may provide that extra spark that you
need to keep working.

Before closing this section, I’d like to provide one last quote. These
words come from former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. He once said:


"I hated every minute of training, but I said, Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."


Many readers may consider these words harsh. After all, we live in
world where the easy road is most often traveled. You must remember
however that the fight game is harsh. Combat sports are not for
everyone. Anyone who suggests otherwise is talking out of his ass. If
you wish to partake in such an event, you must take the training
seriously.

Prepare the body and mind, or be prepared for injury.
















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About the Author - Ross Enamait is an innovative athlete and
trainer, whose training style is among the most intense that you will
find. Ross is committed to excellence and advancements in high
performance conditioning and functional strength development. He has a
sincere interest in helping today's athlete in their quest for
greatness.

Ross has authored several training manuals, and is available for private training in the New England area. You may contact him directly at





ross@rosstraining.com
http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/bodyandmind.html