CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE July/August SUMMER ISSUE | Page 78

Mental blocks are often the most
frustrating hurdles for any
bodybuilder to encounter.  The
thing that makes mental blocks so
challenging and irritating is that
you know how to perform a skill.
You know you have the ability to
perform the skill and you know you
have successfully
performed Examples of mental
blocks are forgetting poses/steps
in a fitness or bodybuilding
routine, seeing the fierce
competition at the athlete meeting
and/or backstage, seeing a
particular competitor from a past
competition, self doubt with your
physique, prep, coach and so on.
the skill in the past.
Mental blocks and slumps get in the
way for bodybuilders who are often
ill-equipped to handle these
hurdles.  When bodybuilders face a
mental block, the common response
is to figure it out, i.e., tinker with
technique, over-work, over-analyze
and overthink, which just serves to
embed the mental block further
into the bodybuilder’s mind.
So what does a bodybuilder do? 
The short answer is STOP
overthinking what you are doing or
what you should be doing.  Instead
of trying to figure things out, just
trust in your abilities and your
training. 
TO ENDURE WHAT IS
UNENDURABLE IS
TRUE ENDURANCE.
- PROVERBS
strength | pg.3