Hello, loyal UNBers and welcome back to “Fitness Corner”. My name is Darrin Miller and I’m the fitness staff writer for UNB. This week, as brought to you by Gary Gonzalez of NorCalBodz, I’m wearing thin banned, padded briefs by GoSoft briefs. These undies are wonderful for keeping you cool when working up a sweat due to the absorbency of the padded crotch
Over the next 2 to 3 weeks I’ll be exposing you to the world of visualization and self-affirmation.
As far as improving your fitness level, there are three aspects to focus on – the physical aspect, the mental aspect, and the spiritual aspect. The physical aspect entails cardiovascular activities and resistance training. Within the mental aspect comes resistance training as well. Bottom line most people are mentally resistant to do the things required to achieve goals – hard work, staying motivated, and making a commitment. Therefore, just like pushing that barbell to improve your physic, you will need to push your psyche everyday by exercising visualization and self-affirmation. After all, your roadway to improved health, fitness, and well-being will not go beyond the horizon unless you visualize it doing so and tell yourself that it can go that far.
Visualization is the act of seeing yourself where you want to be. This could be achieved by closing your eyes and envisioning yourself 20 pounds thinner, possessing a rippled abs, crossing the 5K finish line, etc. However, “a picture is worth a thousand words” (perhaps thoughts too?). Pictures motivate and encourage. My suggestion for an easy method of practicing visualization is to find and cut out photographs that inspire you and personify your fitness goals. Want to loose weight, cut out pics of thinner people. Want to tone and build muscle, cut out pics of guys with killer pectorals and washboard abs. Want to improve your running abilities, cut out pics of people running or tennis shoe ads. Obtaining images that inspire you is simple. Visit any super market and purchase two or three fitness magazines or download images from the web (UNB is a great place for this!!!). After you have cut out/printed the images that inspire you, paste these items onto various poster boards. These poster boards and images are now an inspirational tool for you, a reminder of what you aspire to be. They have become visualization posters. Place your newly created visualization posters in your workout area. If you plan to join a health club, then take just one or two images which inspire you and display them somewhere where they can be seen everyday, perhaps the inside of a locker or on the treadmill as you run or on your home bathroom mirror for example. If you have a home based gym, study these photographs between exercises and visualize yourself as the subject of the photographs.
I have taken the liberty of creating a series of 12 inspirational posters for you, complete with a tag line and an image. If you do not care for the images provided, 12 identical posters, which are void of images, are included. Click here to download your inspirational posters.
