Visualization, done right, can be extremely powerful in achieving any goal. As you think about your goals for the next 3-6 months, take into consideration the following…
Using your intellectual factor of imagination see yourself already in possession of your goal. Picture yourself with the healthy and fit body you desire, and literally feel what it is like to have it. You cannot achieve anything in your “outer world” until you first see it in your “inner world.”
Is Visualization for Real?
In one of the most well-known studies on Creative Visualization in sports, Russian scientists compared four groups of Olympic athletes in terms of their training schedules:
• Group 1 had 100% physical training
• Group 2 had 75% physical training with 25% mental training
• Group 3 had 50% physical training with 50% mental training
• Group 4 had 25% physical training with 75% mental training.
The results showed that Group 4, with 75% of their time devoted to mental training, performed the best. “The Soviets had discovered that mental images can act as a prelude to muscular impulses.” [1]
Creative Visualization is distinguished from normal daydreaming in that Creative Visualization is done in the first person and the present tense – as if the visualized scene were unfolding all around you; whereas normal daydreaming is done in the third person and the future tense.
Using affirmations that begin with “I am so happy and grateful now that…” is an excellent way to begin programming your subconscious mind to move towards your goal.
Visualization is another tool that Olympic athletes use to get their minds in shape for competition. In this technique, athletes mentally rehearse exactly what they have to do to win.
Sports psychologists say that visualization boosts athletes’ confidence by forcing them to picture themselves winning. It also helps them concentrate on their physical moves, rather than on distractions around them [2].
Top athletes use mental imagery and visualization techniques to get their minds in shape for competition. In this technique, athletes mentally rehearse exactly what they have to do to win. Sports psychologists say that visualization boosts athletes’ confidence by forcing them to picture themselves winning. It helps athletes concentrate on their physical moves, rather than on distractions around them.
Research proves that mental rehearsal and visualization strategies improve physiological performance.
Mental imagery strengthens neural circuits
Mental imagery isn’t just for sports stars. Professional musicians commonly rehearse difficult parts of a musical passage by performing the piece of music in their mind. It’s thought that the mental rehearsal activates the same motor, somatosensory, auditory, and emotional circuits as playing the actual instrument.
Surprisingly, visualization can even strengthen muscles. Simply imagining you’re lifting weights in the gym can increase muscle strength by up to half as much as if you’re actually doing it. The visualizing brain sends electrical signals to the muscles, which makes them stronger, even if you’re not moving.
This type of virtual workout is being used by Dr. Guang Yue and his team at Kessler Foundation to help improve muscle strength in the people undergoing rehabilitation. Yue says,
“Accumulating evidence suggests that mental training without physical or muscle exercise can improve voluntary muscle strength…This finding could have significant application in rehabilitation medicine because numerous weak patients or frail older adults who find it difficult or unsafe to participate in conventional strength training, such as weightlifting programs, may now be able to strengthen their muscles by using their mind.”
Visualize to Actualize
Remember, all things are created twice – first in the imagination and then second in the physical world.
The law of autosuggestion, through which any person may rise to altitudes of achievement which stagger the imagination, is well described in the following verse:
Using your mind, practicing specific visualization techniques to focus on the future is key t living a successful life and achieving any goal.
How do we apply this to your health and fitness goals?
Research has also proven that the accountability of working with a professional personal train trainer can increase your success by as much as 85%. that means that with our team of personal trainers in Bangkok, you are guaranteed to be successful. How can we guarantee this? Because we have developed the formula that works time and time again. It’s science based. Proven through hundreds of clients over the last 22 years.
We focus on the following key elements of your training program at Aspire.
- Guaranteed success formula
- Science backed training systems consisting of strength, HIIT and essential cardiovascular conditioning
- Strategic nutrition strategies developed with Leading experts
- Accountability and Support
- Education and mental strategies to build an unbeatable mindset.
Remember, the first and most essential element to achieve any goal is your own BELIEF. That’s the game-changer right there.
Tips for Success:
- Create an affirmation statement and visualize yourself with your goal already achieved. Put your affirmation statement in places you’ll see it often like your bathroom mirror, car and desk. Put it on a card and keep it in your pocket at all times.
- Create a Vision Board – cut out pictures of your goal (i.e., fit bodies, athletes, etc.) and make a collage that you can view often. Get emotionally involved when you look at it.
- Know exactly what you want to achieve. KNow your goals and outcomes. And know WHY you want them. What impact with those achievements have on your life? How does it impact those around you?
Hope you find it useful. More importantly, don’t just read. APPLY! Experiment with your lifts in the gym, your dreams, goals, sport play and I guarantee, you will improve and you will see a noticeable difference. It’s what makes the indifference of the difference. The winners from the losers, the successful from the not so successful.
You mind the one thing that will ensure you achieve an incredible or life, or a life of being average.
It starts with one choice. Today. Now.
So what’s it going to be?
The sooner you start, the sooner you get to your new physique.
You can take action with our 100% complimentary strategy session here. During the strategy session, we will uncover what hasn’t been working and what you need to do to get the results you desire.
We will uncover the exact plan, system and steps you need to take.
About the Author:
Daniel Remon has been a pioneer in the health and fitness industry, developing a multitude of result driven health businesses from gyms, personal training studios, retreats, education and corporate wellness. An energetic and inspiring speaker and presenter, Daniel writes in real terms on the latest research, programming, training, nutrition and mindset success systems that just makes sense. The founder of Fitcorp Group, which includes The Aspire Club, CrossFit Bangkok, Lifestyle Health Retreats, Asian Corporate Wellness Association
[1] Robert Scaglione, William Cummins, Karate of Okinawa: Building Warrior Spirit, Tuttle Publishing, 1993, ISBN 096264840X.
[2] Fiona McCormack, “Mind games,” Scholastic Scope, Vol. 54, Iss. 10, New York: Jan 23, 2006
