A journey through fitness often starts with goals that are superficial and based on appearance. “I want a six pack” or “I want to get bigger arms”, or “I want to get leaner for this wedding”. These goals aren’t bad to have, as most people get started because of something similar. However, long term success has to be based on more than that. Unless you are a competitive body builder and are literally judged on your physique, focusing on how your body performs versus how it looks will put you in the right mind set for long term success.
When you shift your mind to think like this, you will notice you become less obsessed with how you look and start to chase goals that can quantified. Every PR, every new skill we conquer, and every time we get a little bit better at something it increases confidence and inspires you intrinsically. What’s even better, is that your body will follow! With proper nutrition and the right training plan, your body will fall right into line when you focus on performance and will become more aesthetic by default.
How can you get started on shifting your mind set to focus on performance? You have to replace an aesthetic goal with a performance one. Let use “I want bigger arms” as an example. In stead of focusing on a thousand different exercises that hit your biceps, set a performance goal that utilizes them. How many chin ups can you do? Chin-ups and pull-ups activate the biceps heavily! If you can’t do 10, set that as you goal. What about dips? How many can you do? Can you do them with weight? See what I mean? Yes, your focusing on your “arms” but setting the goal around a performance metric will train your mind to appreciate the process more. Every time you can do one more rep or add 5 more pounds, you will feel more and more accomplished.
Focusing on performance over aesthetics has been one of the most impactful mindset tactics I have used over the years. Strength is my performance goal of choice, specifically with the “Big 3” (squat, bench and deadlift). I track these lifts every week and have a plan to continually increase my strength. This type of focus has lead me to build a better physique and look great as a byproduct of my performance training. So get out there, chase performance and your body will follow!
Looking for a great place to begin taking strength training seriously? Check out my FLO Strength Level 1 Program! It has everything you need to jump start your stregnth!
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