Adopt The Right Mindset In The Gym

Are you training or are you working out? What’s the difference you may ask? If you have to ask, then you are severely limiting your progress and missing out on your true potential.

Mindset is everything. Having the right or the wrong mindset can affect the results of your endeavors in every aspect of your life. When it comes to your athletic goals however, simply going to the gym to “work out” will lead nowhere. Going through the motions, losing focus and not concentrating all your efforts on your goals, is a recipe for failure. On the other hand, somebody who steps into the gym to “train”, knows exactly what they’re capable of doing, are determined to do it and are determined to do it well.

The first battle is getting to the gym. There are a million reasons that come up throughout the day that are going to give you an excuse not to go to the gym. Working out must be a priority in your life.

Once you win that first battle of actually deciding to go to the gym, there are 4 specific steps that will help you get your mind right before and during your training sessions and make sure you are on the path to success.

1. Prepare Your Mind Before Stepping In The Gym

Your mind should be prepared before you even step in the weight room. A lot of people prefer to psyche up prior to their workouts but what actually works far better is calming your mind down. Sit in your car or in the locker room for five minutes and prepare yourself for what’s to come. You know what your goals are so the only obstacle standing before them is the limitations you set.

After you successfully void your mind from any negative or irrelevant thoughts, it’s time to eliminate any doubts or fear. If you think you might fail a Personal Record…you will.

When your mind is clear and you have formed a vision of success, then it’s time to begin your training session.

2. Leave Your Ego At The Door

Why are you in the gym? You are there to put in work. You are not there to compare yourself to what anyone else is doing. You have your own goals and your own means to achieve them.

Trying to mimic what others are doing can not only be counter-productive but also dangerous. Getting an injury because you were distracted or because you were trying to lift weights you couldn’t handle, is by far the worst thing that can happen, since you can make zero progress if you are injured in bed for weeks or months.

Realize that what’s finally important is not where you stand compared to others, but where you stand today compared to yesterday.

3. Focus! No Distractions.

Lack of focus…that’s perhaps the most serious problem in the majority of gyms.

The gym is your battleground; it’s where you go to train. It’s not a place to improve your social skills, meet new people or chat about your life. That does not mean you need to be rude to others but once you get in your zone, you should be locked in. No phone calls.  No text messages.  No emails.  No chatting. No distractions. Just focus.

4. Maintain Your Intensity

Consistency is the key to success. Your training sessions start off intense but as time passes, you lose energy and focus, you feel depleted and your training intensity starts to decline. Sounds familiar? If it does, that’s because you did not prepare your mind for what’s to come. There will be pain and there will fatigue but your mind and body should be prepared to fight through that and deliver an effective workout.

Whether it’s an individual set of your workout or it’s your training session in general you need to start off explosively. After that it’s all about the grind. Put in the work and get through the workout. When the session is drawing to an end it’s not the time to lose focus and intensity but rather a time to lock it in and finish strong.

This mindset applies to any goal you set in life. Explode – Grind – Lock It In.

Bonus Tip: Get A Little Gronk In You

Make the weight room your place to go and let it all out. Do what you need to do to reach your goals and don't let anything get in the way. Keep pushing yourself in the gym to reach your goals and in Gronk fashion, have a little fun with it.

Final Thoughts – Get Your Mind Right

Rob Gronkowski and his brothers attribute a lot of their success to pushing themselves in the weight room. This is one of the main reasons they created Gronk Fitness Products. Each of the brothers wanted to maximize their athletic potential and had to be focused in the weight room. Everybody has different goals but to be able to reach them you need to be focused on the goals. In regards to mindset and working out Rob Gronkowski comments "In order to reach my dreams to get where I wanted to go I knew I had to maximize my potential in the weight room.”

It takes no skill to work out to become your best. However it takes a lot of focus to stay motivated. You need to create a mindset and make working out a top priority to meet whatever physical goal you are aiming for.

Having the correct mindset is like a recipe. Preparation, attitude, focus and intensity are the ingredients.  It’s up to you to put them to use and complete the recipe. Get your mind right.