"Re-focusing on your Goals"
For the members following along with my Training Diary will know that this past week was my recovery week where I performed no training. Whilst we have already covered the physiological advantages of having a week off from training, this week I will cover another advantage which can be gained.
Having a weeks recovery when you are injury free and wanting to train is a hard thing. When your ready to tear it up in the gym, you don't want to be sitting it out, even when you know it will be best in the long run. You need to direct your energies somewhere else so you do not begin to dwell on the unchangeable. What I like to do is to reset my goals and the accomplishments I wish to achieve through my next training cycle.
I like to sit down and re-focus on my goals. I like to revisit my motives for training hard day in and day out. If I have an upcoming competition, I like to sit and envision who I would like to look come contest day. I picture the size I will have, the vascularity, condition, shape, symmetry, proportion, and everything else that goes into a winning physique. I then like to sit back and determine exactly how I will have to train, eat and supplement to generate my goals. This enables me to zero in on the task, no matter how far it is away.
Currently, I am at least 18 months away from my next competition, but I am viewing each training session like a man possessed. I know that it is what I am doing NOW which will generate the physique I want to show come October 2005. There is no time to waste, I must tackle my goals now.
You might feel that taking that week off is counter productive, but it's only how you approach it. Use the same mental velocity to re-focus on your goals that you do during a normal training day, and I guarantee that you will be one step closer to your goals.