Working out is as much a game of the mind as it is a game of physical strength. When your body starts to get tired, the mind wants to quit. When this happens, it is very tempting to cut down the number of reps that you need to do. But instead of giving yourself a break, this is the time when you need to push harder and power through. Getting to the last rep is about more than physical strength, it is about pushing your body beyond what it thinks it can do. Once you do this, your body will be forced to change in ways that you never thought possible.
So let's say that you are supposed to do 10 reps but you always stop at 5, do you think you are going to see the same results as the person who finishes the full 10 reps each and every time? Of course not.
You need to find your edge, you need to find your breaking point, and you need to learn how to push yourself to your breaking point without going over. In other words, you need to know how to push your body as far as it can possibly be pushed without causing injury.
It's As Much About the Mind As it is The Body
Believe it or not, working out begins in the mind. Your mind needs to be so focused on your goals so that when your body is sweating, shaking and screaming for relief your mind will not let you give up.
You need to get a strong mental picture of what your goal is and you need to keep that picture in your mind so that you can force your body to do what it needs to do to change.
You have heard phrases like "dig deeper", "push harder" and "crush it", these are all common workout phrases and they all mean the same thing. You need to find the inner strength to push your body further than it wants to go. Remember, in order to get big results in your workouts you need to make big changes. This means that you need to finish strong on each and every workout so that you will see the changes you desire.
Changing Your Mind Will Change Your Life
Whether you are working out for health or you simply want to look better, at the base of it there is one thing that everyone wants from their workouts. They want to change their life. It could be changing their physical life, changing their self confidence or changing their mental clarity but no matter what the reason there is always some type of life change associated with it. What most people don't realize is that changing your life does not begin with changing your body. Changing your life begins with changing your mindset.
Once you start to push yourself to your edge, once you are able to keep your mind so focused on something that it can push you beyond your physical limits, your mind will be able to push you past your mental limits as well. In other words, well before your body starts to change your self confidence will start to shift and your mental clarity will be better. You will start to see changes in your life that you never thought possible simply because you have trained your mind to push you to your limits in everything that you do. And of course, this has a cycle effect. The more you push yourself in all of the areas of your life, the easier it will be to keep pushing yourself harder in your workouts.
So dig deep and finish that last rep strong, it is going to be the one that makes all of the difference.