Working out is just as much of a mental game as it is a physical one. You may even go through your own mental gymnastics just to get to the point of starting your workout. Maybe you find that your mind leans towards common excuses and reasons ‘why you can’t’ workout scenarios, such as:

  • I’m too tired
  • I need to finish this chore/project/homework
  • It’s been a tough/long day
  • I just got home and don’t want to go back out or it’s too cold outside
  • It’s too late, I’ll work out tomorrow
  • I work out at school , why do I need to do it again?

The ironic thing is, when you finally overcome mental objections and just get your workout done, those endorphins kick-in and you feel stronger, better and especially more focused. You may even wonder why you hesitated or made excuses in the first place.  But then, like most of us, you hit a wall.  Whether you are near the end of a set or only have 10 minutes left, all of a sudden your mind is back to finding reasons to stop, like:

  • I need to get ready for school tomorrow
  • I can’t push anymore, I’m smoked
  • There’s no way I can finish
  • _______ fill in the excuse…

Now, of course it’s important to listen to your body when you are working out so that you don’t stress a muscle or overwork yourself. But there’s a difference between your body needing a break and your mind finding reasons to stop when you really could keep going.  Not to mention the many benefits of working out that is critical to giving you a competitive advantage, conditioning you so you’ll have fewer injuries or to work on areas of development that could prevent you from taking your game to the next level.  The fact is, if you look for the path of least resistance or look for shortcuts, you’ll always find reasons to quit or sell yourself short. It’s not about if you can get one more rep in or not – it’s bigger than that.  It’s about pushing your limits, being your best and always striving to condition your body and mind to exceed expectations. More importantly, it gives you the stamina to compete at a higher level. It all starts with developing your mental toughness.

Think of your mind as a muscle. Just like working on your body and your health, you have to also work on your mindset.  With stronger mental fortitude, you’ll notice laser-like focus, more determination, and a positive mindset that will allow you to push through, or even past, any obstacle you face in life, in the gym or on the field (or court) that is important for you to become the best athlete you can be.

At MaxxFit, we help you not only build a stronger body, but a stronger mind as well through strength and conditioning, coaching and repetition. We’ll help you work on your overall athletic goals and create a plan that helps high-performance student athletes achieve success. It’s not enough these days to be physically strong, we must be mentally strong as well.

How do you train yourself for mental toughness?

We recommend you check out this excellent article on How to Train Yourself For Mental Toughness by Jeff Mitchell.

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MaxxFit Student Athlete Training Center is a strength and conditioning fitness center located at Alamo City All-Stars Sportsplex in San Antonio, Tx. We specialize in high performance student athlete development through intense youth fitness bootcamps, strength and conditioning training and coaching programs to help aspiring young athletes exceed their fitness goals for competitive sports. We incorporate strength and conditioning, Vertimax training and physical assessments combined with expert coaching and targeted fitness improvement plans custom designed to help young sports enthusiasts take their game, mental fortitude and physical abilities to the next level. Our coaches are experts in youth fitness coaching, youth sports training and preparing for youth competitive sports such as football, volleyball, basketball, soccer and more. To push maXimum performance in youth sports, you can learn more at www.GetMaxxFit.com

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