How to become mentally strong: 8 powerful tips for men and 7 recommendations for women

Hello all readers! Lyudmila Redkina is in touch. Have you often heard or told yourself the following phrases: “Be stronger!”, “Where is your fortitude?”, “Get ready, you’re strong!”? For example, in difficult situations I often remind myself of this abstract force. And many would like to know how to become strong in spirit and where to get this strength. We'll talk about this today.

COMPLETE LIST OF HUMAN SKILLS

1. First of all, warm up and stretch

Arriving at the gym, many are already mentally tense and ready to take on heavy weights as soon as possible and overcome it, while simultaneously mentally satisfying their psyche and making their body stronger. But stop!!! Don't rush, first you need to warm up and stretch your muscles well.

To begin, warm up your muscles on an exercise bike or orbitrek, this way you prepare your muscle fibers and joints for work, warming them up and making them more flexible and mobile, this reduces the possibility of injury.

Next, you need to take a warm-up weight, approximately 20% of the one-repetition maximum, this will allow you to remember the movement technique and improve muscle coordination, in addition, it will increase blood flow to the trained muscle, which will automatically prepare it for work.

Before training a specific muscle, always try to carefully prepare it, for example, before doing squats with a barbell, do squats with your own weight, before doing dumbbell seat presses, shoulder circles, and so on.

Subscribe to groups on social networks (VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Facebook, Twitter, Yandex Zen), it’s very easy to find us, just write Bomb body in the search for the desired group!

A little history

This type of powerlifting appeared in the middle of the last century in the USA and European countries almost simultaneously. But regular world championships began to take place only in the early seventies. Participants from Europe appeared at such competitions only in 1978. Our country did not represent its athletes in the World Championships until 1992 for ideological reasons. In the very first performances of domestic athletes, a large number of bronze and silver awards were received. Sergei Zhuravlev received a gold medal at the world powerlifting competition in November 1992. In a bitter struggle, this strongest man managed to beat the seventeen-time world champion of Japan, Inaba Hideyaki.

2. Perform basic exercises first

At the beginning of the training itself, strength is at its peak, the body is fresh and alert, so at the beginning of the training, throw all your strength into performing heavy, multi-joint exercises, these include pull-ups, deadlifts, bench presses, and so on; you will learn the correct sequence of performing all exercises - here .

Do not try to do simple isolated exercises at the beginning of your training; after them, you will not be able to handle decent weights in a basic exercise, the result will be an insufficient opportunity to develop strength and muscle volume.

Therefore, do everything correctly, first the base, and then isolation of the muscles, otherwise you can forget about developing strength.

Teen question

At this age, a person’s physiology changes seriously. And classes should be designed taking this factor into account.

The first thing that will help a teenager become physically stronger is his focus on achieving results and strict self-discipline. After all, at this age there are a lot of distractions.

In this regard, teenagers involved in sections and professional clubs have great advantages.

Teenagers who decide to develop their strength at home and on their own must adhere to the following criteria:

1. Drawing up an optimal schedule and strictly adhering to it.
2. Alternating load and emphasis on different muscle groups. For example, on Monday - emphasis on developing the arms and abs, on Wednesday - legs and back.
3. In the initial stages, work is done without equipment or with light weights.
4. Push-ups, squats, crunches and pull-ups are mandatory components of every workout in the initial 2 weeks of the schedule.
5. A sharp increase in load and the use of special chemicals for this are not allowed.
6. The selection of equipment and exercises is based on physical condition. Gradually their mass and frequency increases.

3.Use the reverse pyramid principle

Some sources call this training method Egyptian training. The idea is that after performing a preliminary muscle warm-up, working with light weights to warm up the muscles, set the maximum weight at which you will do 3-4 repetitions no more, then reduce the weight to do 6 repetitions, 3 sets of 8 repetitions, 4 sets of 10 reps. That is, with each approach the weight decreases and the number of repetitions increases - this is the essence of the reverse pyramid method.

The big advantage of this approach is post-activation potentiation, our body, having completed a set of 3-4 repetitions with a heavy weight, and doing subsequent approaches with a lighter weight, squeezes the weight much faster, this puts a new load on the muscles, which means strength and volume grows.

4.Less reps, more sets

A typical workout aimed at muscle hypertrophy involves performing 4 sets of 10-8 repetitions; to develop strength, it is better to do 8 sets of 4 repetitions, so the muscle fibers do not have time to become very tired and are filled with lactic acid.

The goal is to lift heavy weights in short training sessions, rather than exhausting the muscle with large numbers of repetitions, which is how peak strength development is achieved. Therefore, when thinking about how to develop strength, know that there are more approaches, fewer repetitions.

5.Pay attention to movement technique

To develop strength, you need to learn how to correctly concentrate all efforts in a certain area of ​​the body; this is achieved by learning the correct movement technique.

Some experts believe that in order to perform an exercise correctly, it is necessary to perform it for at least 1000 repetitions; remember boxers - to create the perfect blow, they practice the same movement a huge number of times. It’s not for nothing that Bruce Lee said: “I’m not afraid of the one who performs 10,000 different blows, but of the one who performs 1 blow 10,000 times.”

How to become a stronger woman in spirit and character

Girls are more fragile creatures than men. Of course, there are exceptions when the “woman” is not afraid to get into a fight and pulls the “TV” guy and a bunch of children. But every exception was preceded by its own sad story, when there was no one who would stand like a mountain in front of her and look into the eyes of all her difficulties. It's not about that kind of “power”. Now society places high demands on women.

Many people respect strong-willed women who will not give up in any difficulty and will not give up in problems. Who will support their man and show a radiant face and kindness, and their best friend will be a pillow (that’s what our grandmothers used to say - that’s where strong women were!). How to strengthen the spirit of gentle female personalities when there are so many demands placed on them from the outside:

1. We don't expect much from others. Women are susceptible to beautiful words, they are gullible, and they sometimes take advantage of this. Therefore, you need to free yourself from illusions about other people. We tend to expect from others what we would do ourselves, but no! Don’t expect the same reaction as you, the same spiritual closeness that you experience, the same return. If you are disappointed, then this is not the person for you.
2. Use your femininity correctly. Don’t take everything upon yourself, but don’t sit on someone’s neck with your legs dangling either. A strong-willed woman knows when to “turn on” a weak woman and when to show her back.
3. Free yourself from psychological trauma. Many women had to experience moral or other pressure. Some endured and “moved on,” while others broke. To develop fortitude, you need to free yourself from past baggage. And if you need specialist help, don’t delay. You know, it’s better to sit at an appointment with a psychologist than to lie comfortably in a psychiatry.
4. Take care of yourself. Any woman dreams of looking better, looking younger, this inspires her, energizes her and gives her confidence. To develop moral strength, tidy up your face, figure, and apartment. Cleaning, you know, also has psychotherapeutic value!
5. Say no to procrastination. This is a habit of postponing everything until later. It takes a lot of energy, time and effort. Learn to finish what you start. It will be difficult at first, but then you will say “thank you” to yourself or me after reading this article!
6. Set personal boundaries. Don't allow anyone to treat you with disrespect. Be it parents, husband, children, etc. If you decide to inflict offense in response, I do not advise it. This will also destroy you as a person. Just learn to say “no”, leave on time, burn bridges when it comes to health and life.
7. Well, develop yourself. Many strong women are characterized by a constant craving for new things: new knowledge, new skills, new income!

Strong-willed woman

7.Use full stop training

Full stop training - allows you to do each repetition like the first. Here you eliminate rebound, inertial force and range of motion, the entire load is concentrated on the muscle being trained and it receives a powerful force load.

You can lower the weight quickly during the relaxation phase, but when you lower to the lowest point, pause for a second, exclude any auxiliary movements and perform the repetition as for the first time. Here you will definitely get more tired, the exercise will be more difficult, but the return will be higher.

Resistance to old age

But, despite the inexorable facts, a person can control the onset of old age and is able to learn to resist age-related changes. This ability allows you to add years to your life expectancy. And the earlier active training begins, the longer strong people live.

Physical exercise increases life expectancy by about 6-7 years, and this conclusion is a scientifically proven fact. As a result of regular strength training, mitochondrial degradation is inhibited and stem cell muscles are activated.

8. Work explosively

Lift weights at a fast pace, it is acceleration in the initial phase that helps to actively engage fast-twitch fibers in the work, but in no case start the exercise with a jerk, the movement should be powerful, but not jerky, otherwise, especially in the deadlift, this will cause microtrauma lower back.

Try to lift the weight faster, both in working approaches and in warm-up, this allows you to develop strength and engage new muscles that are used to working at a moderate pace. And everyone knows the formula: the more muscles are involved in the work, the faster strength and volume increase.

How to increase the strength of spirit in a man

When they talk about a “real man,” one of his first characteristics is strength of spirit. Indeed, strong-willed, reliable, responsible men are distinguished by a moral core. Such people are not afraid to get into a fight for their loved ones. And for such people the female half of society is ready to tear each other’s hair out, because the one who “ringed” such a person won the lottery ticket!

What is the secret of such “machos” in the good sense of the word, what kind of tricks do they have? We'll look at these skills and how to develop them.

1. They do not feel sorry for themselves in any situation. Men, don’t blame the circumstances, the black cat, the brick in the wrong place - take responsibility for the sad situation and come out of it with honor.
2. Do not abuse power. Truly strong people will not boast of power or their advantage over someone. Men, your strength lies in your ability to control your emotions, not in emphasizing your power over someone.
3. They are not afraid of change. Those who are strong in spirit are not afraid to take risks and make changes in themselves and their lives. Changes in life only inspire them and give them more strength and energy. Men, take a little risk at first, then take more risks and change for the better. Even if you fail, this is not a reason to give up.
4. They are philosophical about things that some people don’t like. They are not trying to please or please anyone. They can be described as kind but fair. Men, in order to be mentally healthy, strong in spirit and morally, stick to one line of behavior, without trying to please everyone. Sometimes this is necessary for family or work, but not always...
5. They don't regret the past. Such people make a leap from the past to accept it and step into the future, no matter how difficult this past may be. Men, appreciate your past experience, and do not regret the unrealistic. You have a present where you can grow and invest energy in something worthwhile today. Regrets about the past do not give a positive result in development.
6. Draw conclusions from mistakes. They try not to repeat them again. For example, a business partner “dumped” him, and then becomes friends again. Strong-willed people forgive, forget, even continue friendly relations, but they no longer let you get close.
7. They do not envy other people's successes. I am convinced that envy is a very destructive feeling that eats a person from the inside. Strong-willed people will not engage in self-criticism. Men, tune in to contentment with what you have and development, and not to whining and envy.
8. Accept failures. Many men break down when they have a shipwreck in their lives. But the strong in spirit do not give up. Men, failures are experience, a chance to improve yourself. Every failure is a reason to start over.

Many of the tips outlined echo the principles and advice of great people who have achieved much in their lives. For example, Bruce Lee was never afraid of change. The Dalai Lama emphasized that fortitude requires recognizing one's weaknesses and failures. Thich Nhat Hanh spoke about a person's own path, and not about constantly pleasing others.

Strong-willed man

Concentrate on one thing at a time

Everyone wants to achieve different goals at once, while using minimal time. But it is impossible to immediately become muscular, resilient and strong, of course, unless you are on a course of strong steroids.

Concentrate on one thing, in our case the question is one - how to develop strength, devote all your efforts and attention to developing strength. If you want to develop in all directions, use periodization. Work on strength for 1-2 months, then 1-2 months on mass, then on endurance.

General advice from a psychologist on how to become strong

Strength of spirit is one of the main characteristics of charismatic, successful people. Possessing this quality, a person overcomes obstacles, struggles with difficulties in his life, falls and gets up again. Many psychologists interpret this personality characteristic differently, but I liked this explanation of it: this is the ability to manage your thoughts, emotions and have a positive attitude towards everything.

And everything would be perfect, but how to achieve this power? I have great news for you: it can be developed! You can safely live by your principles, be a confident person and achieve success. And below we will talk about ways to develop fortitude, which helps you get stronger physically and mentally. You will find a lot of advice from psychologists on this topic, but I will write here really effective ones that will help you.

The basis of fortitude is your beliefs.

I'll start right away with the most difficult one. It is our beliefs, our belief in something that makes us who we really are. If you believe that “all men are assholes,” you will certainly treat your few male acquaintances this way. Hence the failures in relationships, hence the betrayals and your suffering, hence the difficulties that do not strengthen you, but, on the contrary, destroy you.

You can help yourself improve your fortitude when you evaluate your beliefs. Identify beliefs that divide your world into black and white, tune in to exceptions from black. To make it clear, I will give an example.

A man raised by a single mother. And everything is in order for him, but he is not used to taking responsibility for his actions. He believes in this truth: no matter what he does, he will be held accountable - this is his belief. The guy often flares up like a match and in a fit of emotion can say a lot of unnecessary things, and also believes that he is not responsible for his words either.

Situation: he is dating a girl, she became pregnant, the guy, tired, hears this news. In a fit of negative emotions (he did not count on family relationships - this is not part of his plans) he says that he does not need a child, it is unknown whose it is, and she is also no longer impressive in her position. Result: the loss of a girlfriend, a child, and it is still unknown how many such girls he had and will have. Is he strong in spirit?..

So, different beliefs either spoil our lives or allow us to develop. A person’s basic beliefs are a layer that is extremely difficult to change. But as eminent psychologists say, awareness of the problem is a huge step towards solving it. If you understand what limits you, then there is a chance to develop fortitude and change. True, identifying beliefs sometimes requires intensive work by a psychologist.

Save your energy

In other words, don't be afraid of what you can't change. If you worry about the hurricane that is predicted to happen tomorrow, about the virus that is spreading around the world at a rapid pace, you will simply waste your energy reserves and end up with zero. These thoughts will exhaust you, and when the moment of manifestation of moral strength comes, it simply will not be there!

The advice is that you focus on situations that you can control. If there is a hurricane, then don’t worry in vain, but do everything to prevent destruction as much as possible (seal up the windows, nail additional slate on the roof, stock up on water, salt, matches). If it is a virus, then strengthen its disease prevention (drink immunomodulators, do not go to crowded places, eat vitamins).

This will help you conserve energy for more important things in your life. When you notice that your thoughts are going “in the wrong direction,” it’s time to return them “to their place.” Think about useful topics.

Letting go of negative thinking

People become stronger mentally if they work on positive thinking. With such work, the attitude towards oneself changes (a person begins to love and respect himself), and the world becomes brighter and more joyful. Such statements “I won’t succeed”, “I’m doing everything wrong”, “everything is bad” bind you in chains and completely inhibit the development of your potential. But by tuning into positive thinking, you become stronger and better.

Get out of your comfort zone

In moderation. You have the right to live the way you want and be in your comfort zone. But practice shows that constant comfort relaxes a person and does not contribute to his change or personal growth. Therefore, my advice to you is to sometimes get out of your comfort zone! What am I talking about?

Some discomfort will help you become stronger in spirit and character. Let's say you want to become more sociable, but it makes you uncomfortable. To learn this, get out of your comfort zone, that is, stretch yourself. And for the next week, open up to people without fear of consequences, get involved in conversations, express your opinion, enjoy communication!

This way you will change your character, gain new skills and become strong in spirit. Your dreams will turn into reality. The same mental mechanisms work here as with affirmation, only you get straight to the point.

Celebrate your results

Gaining fortitude is sometimes a painful and slow process. Often, with a long-term development perspective, motivation fades away. With constant problems, emotional burnout may even develop and there is no time for personal development, but at least to preserve the barely warm energy.

In this case, encouragement will help - celebrate your achievements and the results of working on yourself. At the end of each day, take a few minutes to reflect: what you have achieved, what successes and failures you had today, what new things happened, what thoughts came to you today.

Above, I described the fundamental points that help “rise from the bottom to the top.” That is, work not only on skills, but also on your personality. Now take a few simple tips that will help you take small steps towards developing fortitude:

• learn to be flexible and firm in accordance with the situation, do not always be too soft or domineering;
• go towards the goal, even when you have no strength left;
• make wise decisions - if necessary, stop in time, the decision to “give up everything” is based on emotions, and “stop in time” is balanced and logically justified;
• even if it doesn’t work out the hundredth time, it will definitely work out the 101st time - let this be your motto during difficulties;
• learn to say “no” even to skilled manipulators;
• Gradually limit toxic people from communicating with you so that they do not poison you with their negativity.

Concentrate before each approach

Before each approach, you need to fully concentrate, throw all other thoughts out of your head, imagine that now you will conquer this working weight. Use motivating music, take a madman as your partner, who will motivate you with words, helping you lift the weight as hard as you can.

Look at powerlifters, how they tune up before each hike, it seems that they withdraw into themselves and do not see anyone or anything around them.

Learn these 10 important rules and become stronger every day.

Avoid unnecessary connections.

We often surround ourselves with people who negatively influence us. We feel awkward around them and want to leave the company as soon as possible. Or maybe we're just annoyed by their endless whining and complaining. Remember what they say: “Tell me who your friend is and I will tell you who you are.” We often adopt our behavior from those around us, so it won’t be surprising if you soon start complaining too. Surround yourself with people you truly enjoy spending time with and you will immediately notice the difference.