Practice makes perfect. It’s an age-old adage that extends to the present-day bodybuilding mentality. At least, that’s what Men’s Open bodybuilder Hunter Labrada suggested in his YouTube video published on April 4, 2023.
Labrada spoke about mindset in the latest edition of his “Tuesday Tip” series, saying that athletes should frame “everything we do in the gym as being a practiced skill.” That means that no one will be perfect out of the gate or perfect after years of training. Check it out below:
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Continual and consistent practice and striving for perfection is an ideal way of training. The journey in fitness, whether bodybuilding or otherwise, is a combination of habits and discipline that does not arrive overnight. Labrada urged his subscribers to be kind to themselves when setbacks occur in the gym.
You have to be kind to yourself. You have to be realistic.
More advanced lifters like Labrada, who have been in a consistent routine for longer, should be kind to themselves if their expectations aren’t met in the gym, as many factors could contribute to that. Labrada mentioned adding a new movement to training, switching up the split, and altering one’s diet as examples of things that could hinder progress on paper but remain helpful in the long term.
This mentality of accepting training and bodybuilding at large as a practiced skill rather than a constant state of being can also be helpful outside the gym.
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[Related: Derek Lunsford Trains Back and Biceps with Ronnie Coleman]
If an athlete gets peeled for a bodybuilding show and then starts to feel down about their physique as they can visually see the bodyfat build back up once they aren’t in such a steep caloric deficit, it can be jarring. Labrada reiterates that wrapping one’s head around that kind of experience as part of the practice will help that bodybuilder maintain a better mindset.
Bodybuilding has specific checkpoints like competitions that can make the journey feel finite, but fitness is a never-ending journey.
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Featured image: @hunterlabrada on Instagram