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If you're interested in learning how to build muscle mass, you'll soon discover just how important a high level of focus is. Athletes often refer to this state of mind as "flow" or "hyper-focus." Basically, it's a state of mind where you place the task at hand (such as working to get ripped abs) as the number one priority. With one goal in mind, everything feels as though you're on autopilot.
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To demonstrate this state of mind I have included another intriguing study for you to show just how effective this mindset is, whether you want to burn fat, gain muscle, or accomplish another goal.
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On November 15, 1993, Dr. Tom Amberry made 2,750 consecutive free throws and stopped without a single miss. He was seventy-two years old at the time and had only been practicing for a year and a half. How did he accomplish this?
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"When I'm shooting a free throw, I don't think of anything else. I am 100% positive I will make the basket. Never have a negative thought on the free throw line. I know it's going in the basket. I don't have to hope or pray."
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When asked why legendary basketball star (and dismal free-throw shooter) Shaquille O'Neal has so much trouble at the line, Amberry simply replied, "He has other thoughts." He went on to say, somewhat jokingly, "If you had $120 million, you'd have other thoughts, too."
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Driving home from work, anyone has the ability to spare 7 minutes to drop into the gym and then drive home again. Anyone who says that they don't have 7 minutes to spare is lying to themselves.
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Dr. Tom is a textbook example of the power of flow. Did he practice? You bet, but certainly no more than professionals like O'Neal. His results are not just amazing--they are virtually impossible. On top of it all, he's seventy-two years of age. Dr. Tom shows that this kind of mindset is a key component when it comes to how to gain muscle fast or accomplish almost anything else in life.
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The legendary soccer player Pel described his experience with flow (also known as "being in the zone") saying, "I felt a strange calmnessa kind of euphoria. I felt I could run all day without tiring, that I could dribble through any of their team or all of them, that I could almost pass through them physically."
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Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term flow, describing it as a state of deep focus that occurs when people engage in challenging tasks that demand intense concentration and commitment. Wikipedia.org defines flow as:
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"The mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity."
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So we now know the power of "flow." But how is this incorporated into lifting weights at the gym? When you are at the gym, hopefully you are on a program that allows you to focus on one goal in mind, surpass your previous workout without cheating.
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When you have one goal in mind, and you enter into a state of "flow," you are able to obtain your goal flawlessly and almost effortlessly. Here's a brief exercise on how to achieve the state of "flow."
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While you are holding the weight in your hand, think about your objective. The exact number of reps you NEED to hit to surpass your previous record and know, without doubt, that you will surpass this number. Do not try to clear your mind, this is not possible for the majority of people, simply allow the task at hand to step in front of all of your other thousands of thoughts. Now visualize your target muscle as a bigger stronger muscle, breathe in a focused manner, and start your lift.
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You will find yourself looking at nothing. You will be starring straight ahead but without really looking at anything, you will be looking through something.
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Next time you are at the gym, try to enter into this "hyper-focused" state. It will allow you to get what you need to finished in an efficient way. The master of entering into the state of flow, when it comes to weight training, is Jon Benson. He will layout the exact steps needed to easily enter into this insane results producing state of mind.
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