So, if you have been working out for a while, you probably have noticed a strange and confusing phenomenon. Sometimes you just don’t want to. Sometimes there is just nothing left in the tank. Sometimes your mind is lazy and therefore, so is your body. Sometimes you’re just not going to make it.

But you will. Because there are mind games you can play with yourself to give yourself another mile, another set, another few minutes.

Break tasks into smaller tasks

If you find yourself doing a long arduous task (like a long run), don’t think about the whole thing. Break it down into smaller parts. Then only focus on those parts.

My example is I’ll be on a treadmill for 20 minutes. I run for 20 minutes every workout session. And I can think of many things I’d rather do than run for 20 minutes. Nevertheless, I get after it.

My trick is to break the run into 20 individual minutes. Then, I break those minutes into 30 second increments. Finally, I break those 30 second increments into 10 second segments. At the end of this mental exercise, I am only concentrating on 10 seconds at a time. I focus on each 10 seconds until I reach the 30 second mark, then start again. As I go, I make a mental note of each minute. My mind stays so busy keeping track of all of this, I forget that it’s been 16 or 17 or however many minutes and my run is soon over.

Give yourself mental breaks

This is one I developed for myself just recently. I hate several exercises I do, but as I’ve said before, it’s important to chase what we don’t like to do.

Anyway, I’m doing a hated exercise for let’s say 20 reps. As before I break this task up into smaller tasks and think of it as 4 sets of 5 reps. The first 2, I’ll do at full mental intensity. The third is my goal to hit, like “thank God I made it to (this number). 4 and 5 I let myself relax a little. Then I get that intensity back for the next 2 and so on until I’m done.

On a 20-rep set it would break down like this

1 and 2 – full intensity

3 – Goal!!!

4 and 5 – relax

6 and 7 – full intensity

8 – Goal!!!

9 and 10 – relax

11 and 12 – full intensity

13 – Goal!!

14 and 15 – relax

16 and 17 – full intensity

18 – Goal!!!

19 and 20 – relax

Now what’s important to note is that I haven’t actually changed the intensity of the workout. I’m still doing the same thing with the same weight. The only thing I’m changing is how I think about each rep. I’m tricking my mind into thinking ‘Cool I made it to my goal. Now I can relax for 2 reps before I start again’.

Just changing my thinking gives me more stamina. As I have said before, your mind WILL fail before your body. Keeping your mind and playing trick on it, is the key to reaching greater heights.

Plan to Quit…Right After This Next Set

There is a huge difference between doing something because you have to and doing something because you want to. Have you ever had something happen at work right before you were supposed to get off, but you stayed around to see what happened? Did you notice that it didn’t feel like working? That’s because you were no longer required to be there. You stayed because you wanted to.

You can apply the same logic in the gym. By this point in my training, I go to the gym because that’s what I do during workout time. It can start to feel like a grind.  Sometime when I’m just not feeling it, I’ll tell myself “I’m going to give it up. I’ll just finish this one last set and then hit the shower.” Then I’ll say, “Well maybe one more.” Then another. And another.

Before long, I finished the workout. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I gave myself permission to quit. I could go home at any time. But now it wasn’t work anymore.

Just Pretend

And finally, sometimes the best practice is just to fake it until you make it.

Whether that’s creating an alter ego who never gets tired and always give it their all. I mean after all, you will quit in a heartbeat, but (alter ego guy) would never do that. That guy is a machine that you just happen to transform into when you’re in the gym.

Or you could pretend you have the ability to cast a magic spell which will instantly replenish your body and muscles. You would be surprised what you can convince your mind of when you’re tired, broke down, and uncomfortable. And you would be surprised at what helps get you over the next hill.