Today’s post is about Pre-Workout Rituals…
What if I told you that the music you listen to before you workout could make you stronger?
It’s true.
You’ve experienced this before, whether you realized it at the time or not. It starts when a certain song comes on the radio.
Then, the next thing you know, you’re in a better mood than you were just a moment earlier.
Or, it starts when a certain song comes on the radio.
And then, the next thing you know, you’re in a much worse mood than you were just a moment earlier.
How can this be?
Well, it goes much further than the idea that some songs are either inherently good or inescapably bad.
It has to do with a psychological term known as an “anchor”.
An anchor is any stimulus that can trigger a particular psychological state.
And a song on the radio is just one example of a psychological anchor.
Anchors occur throughout all of our sensory channels (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, gustatory [taste] and olfactory [smell]) in an almost infinite number of ways.
If you ever took a psychology class, you probably remember reading about Ivan Pavlov’s famous experiment with dogs.
Using food and a metronome, Pavlov trained a group of dogs to salivate whenever the metronome was triggered.
For those dogs, the anchor was the association between hearing the sound and the food that they’d been conditioned to expect after hearing the metronome.
Psychologists describe their salivation as being the result of a conditioned response.
So, an anchor is a stimulus, which brings forth thoughts, emotions or a combination of both.
We actually create anchors throughout our lives.
And many of them are created without any conscious thought or intention on our part.
Think about the feelings you get when you smell a certain type of food or perfume.
Or the associations you have with a particular time of the year or location such as a house.
These are the kinds of anchors that develop and are reinforced over time.
And this is an important point because anchors ultimately exert a significant influence on our lives based upon the decisions that they lead us to make.
So, if the ‘Psychology of Strength’ is about the intentional control of the mind, how can we use the phenomenon of anchoring to our advantage?
Very simply, by intentionally creating new anchors.
So here are some simple, effective steps for anchoring positive associations to your training regimen.
These steps are so simple that most people will read through the list and that will be the end of it.
Please don’t make that mistake. This is important.
But remember, mental exercises are just like physical exercises.
It doesn’t matter if you know them, it only matters if you DO them.
1. Create a mission statement for your training.
It could be related to improving performance in a given sport, improving your appearance or, if you’re like me, you just want to be stronger.
So I might write out something along the lines of, “Every day I train, I’m getting stronger and stronger.”
The key here is to make your mission statement specific to your goal(s) and build it into a concise, positively-phrased statement that you can both write down and repeat to yourself.
For example, before each set, repeat your mission statement in your head or even out loud.
2. Make a list of songs you love that also put you in “a powerful mood”
Then create a “power playlist” on your phone. Whenever you train, play that music and let the powerful, positive associations take you to new levels of POWER!
3. Spend five to ten minutes before you train by reliving a strong, positive memory.
A memory of an experience when you were performing at your best.
Recall every detail of that memory.
The time of year, the time of day, who else was present, how you felt before, during and afterwards.
Make it as real as you possibly can.
Practice this with different positive memories, as many as you can recall.
With practice, you’ll get better and better at putting yourself into your own peak-performance state.
The results will surprise you. Maybe even SHOCK you!
….
These are some of the techniques I teach inside of the GTW Training programs.
I use them in every single pre-workout routine for maximum performance!
If you’re gonna go through the pain of training, why not get maximum results?
Let me remind you that this is just a sample of the techniques and strategies that Mike Gillette also teaches in the Strength Psychology program.
Once you start the mindset exercises like these you’ll be surprised how little time they take.
It will all seem quite easy, as though nothing is happening.
But then in the next few days, you’ll start to notice subtle differences.
You’ll find yourself a little more focused.
The paperwork on your desk will reduce faster. You’ll find it easier to concentrate.
A week or so later, you’ll start noticing your surroundings more.
You’ll observe your environment in greater colour and detail when you walk into a room.
You’ll wonder if it’s really is possible that changes are taking effect THAT quickly.
After three or four weeks, others will start to comment.
“Is there something different about you?”.. because you’ll be walking taller, more confidently.
And the first time you realize how far you’ve come will be when you start experiencing breakthroughs.
Perhaps pushing past your best in the gym.
Perhaps giving a presentation without feeling nervous.
Or finding yourself reacting calmly to a ‘situation’ that you would have freaked out about before.
You feel your shoulders loosen and your mind clear as you quietly, coolly and collectedly assess the situation.
Time stands still.
The chaos that used to rage in your mind is long gone.
The electric energy that tightened your muscles and your chest doesn’t materialize.
You breathe. You think. You act, decisively and with purpose.
Others notice the change.
They rely on you when there’s a situation. They look up to your control. They have a newfound respect for you.
You’ve wrestled control from fear. It will never control you, again. You’re a totally different person from the one who is reading this today.
Make the best choice for you future today. Banish any doubts, act decisively and within minutes you could soon be treading the path to a tough mind.
Strength Psychology is Running Out of Inventory Fast! <—Claim Yours Here
Keep training hard (mentally & physically),
Greg ‘Take No Prisoners’ Noland
CEO & Founder
Grey Top Warriors
P.S. Check out what others are saying…
“Be more mindful of the words that I’m choosing…
self language, the voice in my head…a lot of times
I sabotage myself by the way that I talk and a lot of
times I operate on auto-pilot whether I’m saying I
can’t do something or this is really hard for me.
Because I’m saying those things it’s a really deep
belief I have within myself and it’s something I can
get control over. The more I’m aware of the language
that I use, the more I can actually choose different
words which in turn is going to tweak the beliefs
that I have so that I can create the life that I really
do want.”
“The most powerful lesson or takeaway for me….I have
a short fuse and as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten better
at dealing with external pressures but I still have a long
way to go and there’s been a number of things that Mike
brought up…some triggers and things I can do to reset
myself when I’m reacting in a negative, self-limiting or
self-defeating way.”
