
Think and Grow Strong
When I was 18 I picked up a book called Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
It taught me that your thoughts create your reality.
If you believe you have a good life, your brain will find all the reasons life is good.
Our thoughts are incredibly powerful and quite literally create your reality.
Not only does this apply to wealth and relationships, but in the gym as well.
I picked up Think and Grow Rich again this morning and it reminded me of a study I came
across a while back published by the Journal of Neurophysiology.
They had a hypothesis that just thinking about exercising could make you stronger.
They conducted a trial where they put the subjects in casts and told them to do nothing but think about exercising for 11 minutes.
They then had another group who did nothing for the same time period with no instruction.
They did this 5 times a week for 4 weeks.
At the end of the study, the group who simply imagined exercising had developed strength at twice the rate as the group who did nothing.
It is still hard to explain or prove why the mind is able to control muscle growth and strength like this but it is fascinating and worth considering when working out.
Your mind is your greatest asset.
Start feeding it thoughts of growth and health and abundance and you will get that.
Surround yourself with people who boost you up as well to accelerate the process.
I am sure you have heard of miracles of people who were once paralyzed from a stroke or a variety of other reasons who went on to become fully functioning again.
Most of these cases have to do with the person not giving up hope and using their mind to dig their way out of their unfortunate situation.
So start using your mind to get you in better shape.
If you are just getting started or if you find yourself plateauing in the gym, start imagining your muscles contracting while you lift.
Start imagining your dream body.
Make it real in your head and your physical reality will follow.
I know this sounds a little fru-fru to some people but your brain can’t discern what is real and what is not.
It simply follows the command of what you tell it.
So even if it feels like a lie when you tell yourself you are strong or healthy, use that favorable lie as a placebo until you fully believe it because your brain doesn’t know any better.
We focus on health and fitness here at the Sportsplex but the mental side of fitness is often neglected.
Strengthening your mind will prove to be just as beneficial as strengthening your body.
So start making your strongest muscle your brain and think good thoughts about yourself and your health.