Battle in the mind – Your mental strength
There are a few really great quotes from Arnold Schwarzenegger—whom everyone here surely knows. One of them is:
“Bodybuilding is like any other sport. To be successful, you have to dedicate 100% to your training, your diet, and your mind.”
I think this sentence really resonates.
On the surface, you could simply say: "I exercise ( running, swimming, strength training … whatever) and I watch my diet. That should be enough." Most likely, people who know better from experience will shake their heads and tell you: "Not quite! There is still something crucial missing: "Your willpower. Your mental power. Your inner strength." It is, so to speak, the tipping point. Mental strength is the decisive factor in why you dare to do something, why you start in the first place, why you stay on track, and why you leave the field as a winner. But why is that? And what actually is mental power or mental strength? Let's take a closer look at that today.
Mental strength – what exactly is it?
You can't really "grasp" mental strength. It doesn't stand visibly beside you when you train or prepare your meals. So it's not something physically tangible; it's more a type of behavior, perhaps a set of qualities that you can acquire or that you already possess and believe in. Rather, mental strength is a psychological ability to remain confident, determined, calm, and focused in certain situations. It also means dealing constructively with setbacks and developing good resilience. If you haven't come across the term "resilience" yet: it is your ability to face difficulties in life or with something using psychological stamina. The good news is that you can learn mental strength at any time and at any age. You can engage with it and train your mental power.
How do I gain (more) mental strength?
Just as you train with your barbell or your kettlebell, you can also perform exercises and gain knowledge on the topic of "mental power". But it also works from the other direction: exercise and workouts make you fitter, your posture becomes more upright, and more oxygen reaches your blood and cells, which in turn enables the formation of new synaptic connections. You might not notice it, but good and challenging training also makes you more confident. You trust yourself more. As a result, you tackle the next training level to achieve even more. But at some point, you hit a plateau. Things stagnate, and further training successes are nowhere in sight. If you want to compete, mental strength is a key factor. The winner of a competition isn't the one who is (physically) stronger, but the one who is mentally stronger. You keep calm in a critical situation, stay focused, and have the strong will to continue bringing out your best.
Set goals for yourself, as specific and clear as possible. Don't tell yourself casually on New Year's Eve: Starting tomorrow, I will really work out more. The chance that you will let things slide a few weeks after New Year's and eventually stop again is very high. Your goal must take root in your subconscious; only then will you stick with it. Write down your goals – every day. What do you want to achieve in your workout today? Make it specific and actually write it down with a pen on a piece of paper. Other methods for building mental strength can be certain rituals, such as small morning meditation routines in which you visualize your goals in a very concrete way. THINK and first visualize the sequence of movements in your head down to the smallest detail. Through these constant repetitions, your brain is trained to perform this movement sequence, which has already been imagined countless times, over and over again when it matters. Imagine exactly what it feels like to achieve your goal.
Another medium, for example, is a vision board. Cut inspiring quotes out of a magazine, paste a training role model on it, simply collect little vision snippets that remind you every day and whenever you look at them where you want to go and what you want to achieve. You can do this on a huge piece of paper that you hang on the wall behind you. Or on a whiteboard with magnetic pins. Or maybe you still have a cork bulletin board somewhere, so you pin your motivation and affirmation snippets there with small pushpins. There are audiobooks and guidebooks in which experts deal intensively with the topic of "mental strength".
None of this is hocus-pocus either; it has been thoroughly proven in various studies and papers. You are what you think. That doesn't mean you should only think positively from now on. Nobody can manage that. But you can start converting negative thoughts into positive ones. These positive thoughts and attitudes thrive on repetition: the more often and the more you think them, the more effective they will be in strengthening your subconscious mind - leading to positive mental power.
What does greater mental strength achieve?
A whole lot: Mental strength not only lets you achieve bigger athletic goals, it also makes you more resilient to sudden difficulties. Greater mental power can have the following effects:
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Emotion control is strengthened.
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You develop greater perseverance.
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You can better focus and concentrate on a goal.
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Your planning and goal-setting abilities improve.
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You develop a greater ability to push past your limits.
I find the last point particularly exciting. Because when faced with an obstacle that initially seems insurmountable, our body is evolutionarily wired for flight first. But finding a lever here and saying: "Yes, I will achieve this goal," "I will handle the 5 kg extra on the barbell," "I will reach my goal with a new personal best and be 1 minute faster than usual on my run" – all these goals become completely doable and realistic. And all that purely through the power of your thoughts, your will, and the conscious programming of your brain.
Tips for greater mental strength
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Set concrete and clear goals for yourself and write them down (pen + paper).
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Create a training plan for yourself.
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Visualize your success (whatever it may look like) in your mind time and time again - in full detail. Repeat this daily.
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Create rituals for yourself to visualize your goals: this could be a morning meditation, or positive messages on small cards.
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Establish habits to stay on track.
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Use failures and setbacks to learn from them and transform them into something positive.
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Train with a partner; this always creates a friendly, motivating sense of rivalry.
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Train your brain through constant repetition of positive thoughts.
And if your brain tries to keep you from working out or going to the gym through demotivation, it might be a great step to consider purchasing exercise bikes and other home fitness equipment. Then you are completely free in your choice of workout and can create a home workout plan with a trainer that you follow consistently. Completely independent of commute times, working hours, and anything else that likes to get in the way of your motivation.
