Visualization Techniques Bodybuilding
Even if you have convinced yourself that you are genetically deprived when building muscle when compared to great bodybuilders like Arnold and Frank Zane, you should know it was just as tough for them too. Both these great bodybuilders used imagery and visualization techniques to gain muscle.
Visualization means getting a clear image in your mind of what you want to achive, which helps your ability to make decisions, trigger positive emotions and correct bodily responses.
Your dream of building a better body is built on a foundation of four vitally important aspects, training, diet and recovery plus visualizing.
Visualization takes focused effort, concentration and mindfulness found in abundance deep inside every successful athlete. The 3 times Mr. Olympia, known to us as Frank Zane is a huge advocate for the power in mental practice, and he has written extensively on the power of visualization when gaining muscle.
Frank explains his visualization which he practices in order to change the image he has of himself and his body. Mindfulness is the basic foundation of what Frank talks at length on the importance of creating a "movie" in your head about what you want to look like, the more specific the better.
He explains it as slowing down, sitting quietly and turning inward in attempt to assess your feelings, thoughts and emotions. The objective is to improve your non-judgmental awareness of your body's sensations, emotions and cognition plus any environmental stimuli, like sights and sounds.
Sports psychologists have studied this mindfulness extensively over the years and they conclude by saying it enhances the flow state, which they describe as being totally involved and immersed in an activity. They say "total immersion" into an activity is required to get your muscles to respond to what you want them to do for you.
Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn has created a body scan technique which he explains will only be successful at changing the status quo when the person practicing this mindfulness is completely non-judgmental. He explains that we each have the potential to dramatically change the shape of our bodies and the way our muscles respond to exercise when we do it without judgment.
Note: For more information on increasing mind power read the book Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard.
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