Developing the Heart of a Champion

When you watch great athletes achieve amazing things in any sport or competition, it is a thing of beauty to behold.  It is common when watching such a thing to hear a commentator say that a particular athlete has a heart of a champion.  That is a beautiful sentiment but it deserves some further reflection.

When you are beginning your own route to greatness in the world of bodybuilding, becoming a champion is the ultimate success that lies ahead for you.  So developing a heart of a champion is just as important as working out religiously and maintaining strict discipline over your diet and rest routines when you are not in the gym.

There is no doubt that one of the most outstanding traits an athlete displays when you notice that he or she has the heart of a champion is an unwillingness to quit.  This is more than just stubbornness.  It takes a deep commitment to the sport and to your preparation to keep on pushing even when you don’t feel like it or when it doesn’t seem like you are making any progress.

You can be assured that every champion you see winning the top honors in his or her sport had days where they thought they would never win or when they lost and wanted to give up.  But they didn't give up and that is what makes them champions.

Thinking through how you will develop the heart of a champion points out that winning a top level competition requires both mental and physical discipline.  In order to stay with the rigorous training needed to become a champion bodybuilder, you have to have the mental calm and determination to hit the gym for every workout.

That means you will need to develop a mental toughness and ability to focus that is equal to what the champions have.  Becoming a champion in your heart and mind may take some work to be able to get "in the zone" on demand.  So give some attention to your ability to focus and sustain your determination.  That is an aspect of your inner strength that may need training and development as much as your muscles do.

A champion always has a firm vision of his or her goals.  You will not achieve the heart of a champion the day you walk out on stage at an international bodybuilding show.  You must develop it long before then when you prepare for your first local show and every step along the way.

That means you must be able to focus on the goals that are just ahead in your path to greatness.  But you must never take your eyes off of "the city on the hill" which is your ultimate quest for greatness.  That vision of greatness will sustain you in the hard times and take you to greatness, one step at a time.

You can see the resolve to win at all costs in the eyes of a true champion.  That means that the heart of a champion will settle for nothing less than greatness because his or her sport has that high a priority in life.  This doesn’t mean that you sacrifice home and family and things that are dear to you to win at bodybuilding.  But it does mean that your bodybuilding career has such a high priority that distractions from your goals cannot hold your attention.  It means you focus constantly on your goal of winning a bodybuilding championship even when you are not working out.  It is your number one priority in life and nothing will deny you that championship.

It is good to be considering how to find that champion within yourself in this discussion today.  If you looked within and did not see the heart of champion in there yet, that is no reason to despair.  It takes time to "become" a champion and part of that transformation is getting your mind and heart fixed on greatness and developing the resolve to not be discouraged from that goal no matter what.

If you can get to that point that you cannot be beaten even when you have a set back and that nothing will stop you from reaching your goal of winning the top honors in a bodybuilding competition, that is the heart of a champion you must have to succeed.  And it is that inner will to win that will take you to the top in your spot.