Through The Looking Glass

Four months ago I switched from working out at 7am to 4pm, and what I noticed is that when I was working out early in the morning, I didn't have much time being conscious before my workout started. I would eat a slice of bread and drink a cup of coffee, then start. I actually like mornings, but there was hesitance in my mind on some mornings. I noticed I was more suspectible to morning nausea than I thought I was. At the time I was performing very high rep push-ups. This required immense mental strength. And unfortunately, when you require such a high level of willpower, determination, and heart, it's not always going to be attainable.

Working out can be described as putting your body under stress as if you're facing eminent danger that could kill you. It's only logical that if you place your body and mind under stress so consistently that there will come a day when your body and mind choose to not perform. It's like The Boy Who Cried Wolf. It's very easy to see myself bench pressing far too heavy a weight and pushing it off the hooks, and having it slip out of my grasp and crush my neck, killing me. Why wouldn't it happen? I push weight on a regular basis. I don't give the weight the warranted respect. My mind may be retracing the day's events. And out goes my life. No chance for another breath of air, or the ability to improve my technique, or analyze why I failed the workout session. I have something to counter this though.

When I began working out at 4pm, I realized just how much daytime there was before my workout. Before, I was rolling out of bed, eating light, and immediately into my routine. Now, I was waking up, and I still had 10 hours before my session. You can load yourself with carbs, sugar, fruit, anything you want, and you can see how well it works. Those 10 hours gave me a new factor to play with. One thing I noticed, that was a tremendous help, is collecting my strength throughout the day.

This topic of collecting your strength is very metaphysical sounding. It doesn't seem very biologically possible. I gravitate to logic and critical thinking before I venture into abstract territory, which looks like the ground I'm entering with this subject. That said, I don't find it entirely incomprehensible. As humans, our minds are without a doubt the most important part of our bodies. Having biceps and hamstrings, and being bipedal are not essential to what makes us human. We have the most evolved frontal lobe of the brain. It allows us to think creatively and abstactly.

Our thoughts are directly related to what manifests in reality. It's more likely that I'll take a plane to New York if I make that a goal of mine, whereas if I never set the goal, and never thought of visiting New York, it's safe to say there's a smaller chance I would go there. Likewise if I see a pretty girl I want to talk to and I never approach her, I would never get a chance to talk to her. So there's definitely a connection between thoughts and reality. When I look at someone with low self confidence, I can practically see the ceiling above their head they've imposed on themself. It's sad, like a dog with a collar who's chained to a tree. He can move five feet in any direction, and that's it - like a prison cell. But alas there's hope. Every man doesn't walk around with the same level ceiling over his head. I've waived impositions on myself. I have studied the abstract. I have indulged in it in fact.

The idea related to the work out is to collect your energy and strength throughout the day for the actual lifts. As I said, I'm unsure of how this works physically, but it seems to work, and not by placebo effect. I visualize the exercises I'll be performing later in the day. When I say visualize, it's very easy to take that notion and just have a thought bubble appear above your head, where you can see yourself bench pressing the weight you plan on pushing. But I mean more than just visualizing, I mean for you to actually be there in your mind and feel the weight in your muscles. Practice pre-loading your muscles. For example, you can do a biceps curl with no weight in your hand, and use tension to create resistance. By visualize, I mean more than just using sight, but actually feel the exercise.

What's cleaner, a premeditative action, or a spontaneous action? Granted, premeditative actions can result in more nervous energy. But I find long-term planning far more successful than short-term planning. Even if we're talking about 10 hours versus 15 minutes. I find my workouts to be faster and more efficient when I collect my strength beforehand throughout the day. There's simply less time that I'm wasting energy on thinking about what I'm going to do. There's less distractions, and in genereal less errors. Because of the time spent focusing and visualizing and collecting energy and strength, my willpower becomes impregnable, and without effort. Welcome to autopilot - GoblinCore style.