Mastering the Mind: Key Mental Strategies for Bodybuilding Prep
Essential Mental Tools for Success
And there I was, mid-set of Rack Pulls with 225 on the bar, reminiscing about my bodybuilding career, and then I got inspired, recalling all the skills I gained from the experience.
Sure, you could say it was short-lived, and I put competing on the back burner after having my son, but I still use the strategies, principles, skills—whatever you want to call them—in my everyday life and current training.
It’s not like I never plan on competing again; I will eventually… when the time comes. As you know, I wrote about my experience as a bodybuilding competitor here and what it takes to be a winner.
In this post, I wanted to take a deeper look into what kind of mental preparation it takes to be successful during a Competition Prep.
In my very humble opinion, the mental preparation isn’t as easy as the physical side of bodybuilding. The physical factors of competition prep are like checking boxes, whereas mental associations take more inner work and more brain power… (more energy more energy, more passion more passion).
Here are my receipts… A year later, I still feel the same.
The physical/nonnegotiables of bodybuilding look like this:
You wake up and start your personally tailored daily routine (whatever that entails). You already have an idea of how your day-to-day is going to play out because you are consistent and serious about your goals, so you also know your schedule and the activities you need/plan to do.
At some point, you go to the gym and you follow your VERY detailed training plan—it’s so comprehensive that you have it down to the settings each machine needs to be set to for each exercise and what weights you’ll be using, along with what tempo each exercise requires, what rep ranges need to be hit, and how many sets you need to do, etc. Nothing is left to the imagination, no room for screwing around.
Then you go back home, take out your measured/weighed and pre-planned/meal-prepped food, and eat. You take your daily supplements, if any, and do all the other “mindless” or repetitive non-negotiables that need to be done like your cardio, steps, etc.
All of that is planned & integrated into your routine, already taken care of! You just have to check the boxes and DO the planned things.
Yes, in the beginning, this took some pre-planning (mental prep), but these things became automated over time and are now second nature.
Without the mental prep, the physical prep falls apart…
*Enter Random Road Block*
Now what? How do we plan for the unexpected?
This is where mental preparation is vital. We implement these psychological strategies to mitigate the random derailments of life.
Key Mental Strategies/Qualities You Need for Success During a Bodybuilding Prep
*Re-enter Random Road Block*
It’s there, and it’s not going to move itself; we need to give it a push.
When we’re already doing all we can on the physical side of bodybuilding, we need to gear up and put forth our best mental tactics to mitigate setbacks or unexpected challenges that come up during prep.
The physical & mental facets of bodybuilding become cohesive when we implement these “tactics.”
It’s worth mentioning that all of these mental strategies (rather qualities) tie into one another and all kind of overlap in their intended “purpose” and how they affect the overall experience, but each quality is unique and important in its own regard.
1. Discipline/Commitment
Discipline and commitment are the foundations of a successful prep.
Pretty much each mental aspect listed after this can be summarized under discipline and commitment because, without these, you have nothing to hold you accountable.
This is truly what “dialing in1” requires—discipline/commitment is what drives you to follow through with:
consistent training
strict/precise nutrition
time management
long-term preparation
sacrifices (social gatherings)
motivation
adaptability (setbacks)
Discipline encourages the consistent effort and adherence necessary to be successful during prep. What must be done gets done because of the commitment you made—it drives you to accomplish the goals you’ve set for yourself.
It’s required to make the goals in the first place.
2. Goal Setting
I thought about making this the first strategy because goals are what “focus us in” and make us aware of what needs to happen—we need goals to guide us through the process.
This entails setting long & short-term goals. The end goal is important, but the little things add up & are what make the process seamless. Daily to-do’s lead to the weekly, monthly, and so on, goals that you want to fulfill.
Long-term goals would be something like winning 1st place, losing XYZ pounds in XYZ weeks, and/or getting brand deals/sponsorships. Short-term goals would be more like the daily to-do’s—getting all your steps, doing your scheduled training, hitting your macros, doing your cardio, etc.
Both are necessary for the big picture.
This also means being REALISTIC—you wouldn’t give yourself 2 weeks to prep for a bodybuilding competition when the average prep is about 12-16 weeks.
Goals are what remind us why we started in the first place. Our next strategy will dictate what goals we make, both before and along the way.
3. Body Image: Positive Affirmations
I will say I did not think this would have the impact it did on me. I did not initially plan for it, but I quickly learned how to cope with it.
Like myself, you will beat yourself up at times. It’s not a walk in the park to go through such a dramatic transformation. Even if you “look the best you ever have,” you can still struggle with body image issues from the changes alone.
“These clothes don’t fit like they used to” (specifically my favorite shirt) is a thought I struggled with often, even though I was happy with my hard work. It wasn't “my” body. I feel like anyone who has been through a major body change, whether losing tons of weight, gaining weight, growing a baby, whatever, experiences this. Your identity changes… and change is hard.
We can endlessly work on ourselves and push to new limits, but we will never truly be “perfect” or satisfied (it’s hard-wired in us to constantly push to be better).
Accepting that change will happen will help to mitigate any body image issues we might run into or struggle with. This directly ties into practicing mental fortitude.
Sidenote: It also helps to talk about this topic with others who have struggled or still struggle with it. See 9 for more insight.
4. Mental Fortitude
There will be moments when we are just mentally and physically fatigued, and nothing sounds achievable.
Being tough in these moments when you feel your least, pushing through plateaus & bad days, and scrounging up every drop of motivation that you don’t have to get through your training sessions and diet—this is mental fortitude.
You will be at your lowest point, but having the strength to push through mental and physical fatigue is what it takes to be a winner…
…what it takes to be successful with your bodybuilding prep.
In a way, this is kind of the same thing as resilience. (My FAVORITE mental strategy to reference).
5. Resilience
This is mostly about bouncing back when you run into challenges/setbacks. And those will happen at some point in your prep, though we try our best to avoid them.
You aren’t going to be perfect every single day (unless you’re just REALLY good like that, kudos to you).
We have days where adherence is more difficult because life happens, and something unexpected pops up/throws a wrench in our plans. Something like an impromptu family gathering where you are obligated to have grandma’s cooking, waking up late and forgetting your meal prep on your way out the door, going to the ER for a few hours for a gym-related injury (an absolute hunk caught your attention and you ran into a weight rack causing a few plates to fall on your foot), or any other thing that might throw you off your routine…
Pretty much anything is possible, and we shouldn’t dismiss the possibility of a setback. (We shouldn’t speak it into existence either). The worst thing you can do is say or think “that won’t happen to me” because you are asking for chaos to knock you down.
Back to my point, it’s not about that thing happening; it’s about how you react and what you decide to do about it. This goes hand in hand with stress management.
A person with resilience will:
adapt and overcome obstacles/grow stronger
learn from failure - they see it as an opportunity to learn, reflect & grow/avoid failure in the future
maintain a positive outlook - they look for solutions instead of focusing on the “failure”
stay persistent - just keep going
Someone with resilience isn’t going to give up. This is what you need during prep. I can’t count on my hands how many competitors I’ve worked with/competed with who have told me about how they “snuck a few treats in this week” because they were feeling weak during that moment.
Instead of giving up and completely ditching their diets, they decided to learn from those weak moments and push through. We will have moments like this; it’s not the end, and all of our progress won’t be ruined by a small setback like this.
Heck, I was terrified to have a scheduled cheat meal because I thought I was going to “ruin all my progress,” but you must trust in the plan. It’s programmed for a reason!
With resilience comes focus and staying locked in.
6. Focus & Concentration
Repeat after me: FOCUS ON THE END GOAL.
This will be your motivation when you have none. Hey, hello, mental fortitude, resilience? We need you again!
The easiest way to stay focused is to create a consistent daily routine. It will help you build habits that become automatic and reduce outside distractions that can derail your progress. AKA goal setting, but in a different context.
It will get boring at times, you just need to adjust to keep it interesting enough to keep you on track.
With that said, stay the course—do the “boring” things too, and build up delayed gratification—you will thank yourself when you achieve (and likely exceed) your goals.
I want to point out that delayed gratification is a major aspect of cultivating all of the mental strategies discussed in this post.
When we delay gratification, we build character, mental strength, and many other strategies—we start to make better decisions, strengthen our self-control/resist temptations, increase motivation, enhance resilience, feel more satisfied, improve relationships, and pour into long-term success.
Maintaining focus becomes much easier the better we become at waiting rather than acting on impulse. This can help us deal with peer pressure and the constant outside noise of activities we can’t partake in during prep.
7. Managing Outside Pressure
This is one of the hardest aspects of competition prep: PEER PRESSURE.
You don’t want to suddenly put your social life on pause, but here’s the thing, you don’t have to stop living… You just need to come to terms with a few things before starting your prep:
Remind yourself WHY you started this: it’s easy to limit distractions if you keep your goals in mind. You won’t feel pressured to get off track if you have that constant reminder floating around: “You won’t win this competition if you ditch your training/diet!” I always told myself, “Winners don’t quit for instant gratification.” It also isn’t a cheap sport; if you give in to your temptations frequently, you might risk it all.
Communicate Boundaries: Your friends will understand you can’t go grab drinks on a whim or have an off-plan meal with them out of the blue if you communicate that to them. If they truly are your friends and care about your dreams/goals, they will get it. It’s a two-way street, though; they won’t know/understand unless you explain these boundaries and what the competition means to you.
Limit Social Media use if you’re prone to comparisons: it can be daunting seeing someone else where you want to be, especially if you’re not even halfway there yet. Limiting your use of social media can mitigate this.
Create a healthy balance: Just because you have priorities doesn’t mean you can’t still be a human, a friend, or a family member. Continue to do things that you love with your circle, and just stick to your plans otherwise. I wasn’t above taking my meal prep to events; people understand when you communicate the importance it holds in your life.
Know and accept that you WILL be criticized by some people—you can’t let it get to you. It’s not a conventional lifestyle, and most won’t get it, but that’s okay; you’re the one living it, not them.
Manage these pressures so you can stick to the end goal. This is a part of properly and effectively managing your stress.
8. Stress Management
This is where it’s important to prioritize rest and recovery.
This means maximizing sleep conditions as best as you can (establishing a calming bedtime routine). + Getting quality, sufficient sleep to allow your body to recover, aiming for 7-9 hours a night.
Trust me here; I know it gets harder the deeper you get into a cut, but it is possible, and if you’re successful with maximizing your sleep, you will benefit in all training/mental aspects.
You can also incorporate mindfulness practices or meditation into your routine. Even a few minutes a day can help reduce anxiety and improve focus—as you start to get deeper into your prep, you can fall into “prep brain2” (cognitive fatigue).
To mitigate “prep brain,” we want to maintain balance and avoid burnout by practicing stress management techniques, maintaining regular social interactions, and practicing self-compassion/giving ourselves grace.
Just like I said about managing outside pressures, cut back on social media to avoid comparison and negativity. Focus on YOUR process/journey rather than anyone else’s.
*It’s okay to make comparisons to others for a point of reference, but it’s just as important to understand their process won’t look exactly the same, so they could be at a point you haven’t reached yet or be farther behind you, etc.)
Some things I did during my prep:
Breathe: I practiced deep breathing exercises to help calm my mind in stressful moments → Inhale for four counts, hold for four, and exhale for four.
Stay Flexible: I understood that things would not always go as planned. Adaptability is key—I adjusted my training and diet when I needed to without stressing over it (with my coach’s advice/guidance, of course).
Visualize Success: I also used visualization techniques to imagine my success on stage. It looked a little different when I got there, but that was just another learning point for me and a great chance to refine my skills for the next time I choose to compete.
This can/will boost confidence and reduce pre-competition jitters (it did for me).
By integrating these strategies, you can effectively manage stress and enhance your prep experience.
9. Having Support/GREAT Systems
No one ever said you needed to do it alone. And you shouldn’t do it alone if you don’t need/want to. Sometimes, we need accountability from someone else.
This is where it’s important to surround yourself with supportive friends, family, and coaches. Even better if you can surround yourself with people who have been through it before or are going through it now (re: bodybuilding prep).
Hiring a good coach with your best interest in mind, who actually cares about you and your success, will help you excel and take all the extra thinking out of your prep.
Share your challenges and successes to lighten the load. Most are more than happy to be that shoulder when you need it.
10. Trusting & Understanding the Process
Using all the aspects discussed above, we come to realize that it is no walk in the park… getting into your peak physical condition doesn’t happen overnight. We must trust the process and understand that it takes time.
*Cue the “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” and “Rome wasn’t built in a day” quotes.*
We need to exercise patience because prep results are gradual… the changes won’t be noticeable day by day, sometimes week by week, and sometimes you won’t even notice your changes month by month, but the changes ARE happening.
Some won’t understand this until they experience it. I was about 4 weeks out from my show thinking, “I see no progress at all,” and I went from no abs 12 weeks out to very visible abs by this point. I just “needed to shred a bit more to be stage-ready.” The point being, I didn’t truly see my progress until I compared pictures side by side and got to my “stopping point” in prep.
This is where taking progress pictures through each phase of your prep becomes crucial. The changes may not be so obvious in the moment when you are analyzing/looking for them, but you have those pictures to reference and look back at.
Have faith in your hard work.
FIN/TLDR
To summarize this, these are the Mental Strategies/Qualities you need (and want to embody) during bodybuilding prep:
Discipline/Commitment - the foundations of all the mental strategies/qualities
Goal Setting - the foundation of the physical side of bodybuilding and the steps to be successful in prep
Body Image - we all struggle with perfectionism, accept that you will never be satisfied and you will be much happier and more proud of your progress
Mental Fortitude - strength to push through when you feel like you can’t
Resilience - getting right back to it when you get derailed
Focus/Concentration - stick to the plan and delay gratification
Managing Outside Pressure - manage your pressures and stick to the end goal
Stress Management - don’t overextend yourself; learn to relax a little while you crush your goals
Support Systems - lean on others when you need to, accept help, and surround yourself with supportive people/you don’t have to do it all on your own
Trusting the Process - It’s all about the big picture and having faith in your plan
Nothing worth having or achieving was ever meant to be easy. Go crush it.
Your friend,
- BowTiedHeifer
Disclaimer
I am not a licensed personal trainer or pre/postnatal specialist—these are simply my personal experiences and things I have witnessed to work for many others. This is not legal, medical or financial advice. Please speak to a professional before starting any new programs, applying any new diet plans, or supplement protocols.
“Dial in” is the process of fine-tuning the finer details of your process (re: precision).
“Prep Brain” can be described as increased stress and anxiety, obsessive thoughts (scrutiny), cognitive fatigue (re: mental fatigue; decision-making & concentration become more challenging), mood swings (usually due to hormones), social isolation, and distraction from daily life.