| Focus May 1, 2006
|
A rock-solid belief in
herself helped Christy Wolfe win her class at the 2005 OPA National Qualifer and at the
2005 CBBF National World Qualifier. Christy then went on to compete for Canada at the IFBB
World Championships last fall. This year she's going to be back competing and believes
she'll be better than ever – that kind of confidence is necessary to help make
it happen.
(photo June 2005 by Doug Schneider) |
|
The Need to Believe
This month, I’m wrapping up the five-part
series that details Natalie Waples’ three months of preparation that resulted in
her winning two figure titles. The goal with this series of articles has been to give some
insight into the competition preparation process, and to show that with careful planning
and good ol’ commonsense a person can make a rapid physical transformation in a very
short time without resorting to any sort of dangerous means. These articles will tell you
a lot about the planning, training, dieting, and posing that we did. What I haven’t
mentioned in the series, though, is one special ingredient that really makes all the
difference between getting nowhere and getting the body you really want: The belief
that you will succeed.
I learned the importance of having this belief about 20
years ago from Vince Gironda, when he wrote the following in his excellent course called A
Muscle Has Four Sides, "Believe that the course I give will work, and it will.
If you have doubts, and don’t put everything into it, then you will find it
won’t work." In a booklet called Vince’s Corner, Gironda also
wrote, "All the champions I have observed have one shared quality – an
unshakable belief that they will succeed."
Long ago, Gironda realized how important the mind was in
terms of generating results in the gym. He learned that no matter how good the training
and nutrition programs were, if the person didn’t believe they would succeed, then
they probably wouldn’t. The mind – your mind – is that important to
your success.
As a result, when I coach people I ensure that this belief
is instilled in them when we begin, and then reinforced over time. I do this by giving
honest and direct feedback in regards to the person’s goals, letting them know if I
feel they are attainable or not. (Professional fitness competitor Mindi O’Brien calls
my delivery "brutal," but still values the feedback I give year after year.)
Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t lie or mislead, so if I believe that they can
achieve something, then I tell them so, and they usually believe it too. After that,
it’s up to that person to actually make it happen. And if they choose to go for it,
then I’ll continue to encourage them to help them succeed by continuously reinforcing
that belief – and most times they do succeed.
I feel that encouraging Chantal Dicaire to believe in
herself helped her to win three back-to-back national-level fitness titles. When I first
met her, she dreamt of winning a national-level title, but didn’t really know if she
could – she lacked the belief. I’d seen her compete for years, though, and knew
that she could if she changed some things in her approach. So, I flat out told her this
when we began working together. "You have the ability to win, but you’ll have to
improve certain things. But if you improve those things then, yes, you can win a
national title." Knowing that she could win changed her whole attitude –
for the next eight months she worked relentlessly to improve, because now she believed
that all the hard work she was doing would pay off. It did. At the end of it all, she won
her class and then the Overall title at the 2003 CBBF National World Qualifier, and then
went to the World Championships in the Fall. After that, she won the Qualifier again in
2004 and 2005.
Likewise, when I started working with Natalie Waples I told
her pretty much the exact same thing. The difference here, though, was that at the
beginning of her program we weren’t gunning to win a national title, or any title at
all; instead, her goal was to simply enter a figure competition and do well. Her words to
me were, "I just want to look like I belong up there." Seeing her potential, it
was no problem for me to assure her that she would. So, with Natalie believing that
she could at least perform well in a figure competition, she was well on her way to
transforming her physique in the three months that followed. Winning those two titles as
she did was really the icing on the cake.
Although I talked about believing in your success in terms
of competitions, you most certainly don’t have to compete to have this belief –
a proper mindset is just as important even if your goals are to lose a few pounds, to get
in shape for the summer months, or to just start going to the gym. What’s important
is simply to really know – to believe. Doing so will help to ensure that the
rest falls into place.
...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com |
