Mind Over Matter

What you think can impact your workout almost as much as what you do! Self-talk and self-monitoring show positive results in recent studies. Negative thoughts can hurt your performance, reduce your benefits and even keep you from exercising as frequently as you should. Positive thoughts can have the exact opposite effect.

Here are five mental tricks to try:

Think, "Yes, I can". Generating positive thoughts can help you perform better. It may feel artificial at first, but research shows that people who use positive self-talk, actually saying to themselves, "I am strong, I am able, I can do this" really do perform better than those who talk negatively.

Avoid "trash talk". Insults will not get you motivated or fired up to exercise better. The more negative talk people use, the worse they perform. Wipe statements such as "I am lazy; I am clumsy; I am a failure, I am terrible at _____" from your vocabulary.

Focus in the right. Putting a golf ball or doing a side kick with a punch can be frustrating enough to make some exercisers throw in the towel. To increase your chances for success, monitor what you do right when performing those tasks, such as keeping your eye on the ball or maintaining your balance, rather than focusing on what you did wrong. You are not ignoring your mistakes. You are just concentrating on what you do correctly, which reinforces those actions. It also makes the sport more fun, so you are likely to be motivated to try again.

Counter these thoughts. Whether you are out for a jog or in aerobics class, thinking, "This is really hard" or "I cannot do this" may actually make you suffer more.. Replace self-defeating thoughts with positive ones to keep you going and make exercise feel easier. For instance, counter "Oh, it is so hot out here" with "The sun feels so good". Or, counter "I am so tired" with "I am going to feel so energized when I am done!"

Create a "buffer". Many exercisers feel comfortable and competent until they are around others whom they fear are better than they are, or more experienced. Combat this with a routine: Filling a water bottle, massaging your muscles and doing a warm-up give you something to focus on so you do not worry about what other people are doing.