Muscle Memory digital Dec/Jan 2019 | Page 24

LIFT FOR LIFE AND FIND YOUR FOCUS. IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU PLAN TO FAIL Goal setting is a powerful catalyst for success and will provide a huge payoff with only a minor time invest- ment. If you are ready to take your training to the next level and want potent techniques to bring about noticeable progress, here are a few tips to follow: To be effective, goals need to be: Realistic: By setting goals that are unrealistic (i.e. putting 50 pounds on your bench in two weeks), you will tend to only demotivate yourself and crush your drive. Have measurable out- comes: Without a concise objective, how can one really tell that they have reached their destina- tion. Tying a measurable outcome to your goal is also vital. Have a time limit in which they need to be accomplished: Without a time limit goals are meaningless. Putting a deadline on a goal adds a sense of urgency to your task. An impending dead- line is your best motivator for success. 22   MUSCLE MEMORY When it comes to preserving a youthful mindset, resistance training may be the fountain of youth. Although nobody has the ability to “prevent aging”, training with weights can play a vital role in warding off memory and emotional degeneration. The research team of O'Connor, Herring, and Carvalho observed seven randomized controlled studies demonstrating that resistance training has been shown to improve several aspects of cogni- tion in healthy older adults. One of the most profound effects of resistance training is a marked improvement in memory and memory-related tasks. To support this conclusion, it appears also that improved “executive functioning” is one of the major benefits from resistance training (Anderson-Hanley, Nimon and Westen, 2010). Physical activity may play an im- portant role in the management of mild-to-moderate mental health diseases (in particular, depression and anxiety) in a report authored by Paluska and Schwenk in the Journal of Sports Medicine. While people with depression tend to be less physically active than non- depressed individuals, increased aerobic exercise or strength train- ing have been shown to reduce depressive symptoms significantly. Anxiety symptoms and panic disorders also improve with regular exercise which provides benefits equal to meditation or relaxation. One important consideration, how- ever, is that too much of a good thing can make things worse. The report also revealed that excessive physi- cal activity may lead to overtrain- ing and generate psychological symptoms that mimic depression like fatigue. Your takeaway from all this is that your mindset can gain a huge boost through exer- cise – but just don’t wear yourself down from it. | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019 EXERCISE PROTECTS AND STRENGTHENS YOUR MINDSET.