By: MuscleSports.net

A guide to using these 17 Strategies to help you achieve your bodybuilding success!

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Rewards: Say you're finishing the last few reps of a set. It's starting to hurt and you're ready to quit. Imagine someone just offered you a million dollars to get one more rep. You would find a way to get that rep. Use other offers that would motivate you to keep going, e.g. pizza if you're on a diet.
Pick a Number: This is one of the best ways to break plateau's and increase training intensity through the roof. If your doing say chins and your normal sequence is say 4 set of 10-12 reps break that shit up. Today you going to do 100 reps! The sets don't matter, the only thing that matters is you're not done with chins until you get or pass 100 reps. First set you do 17 reps, guess what you have 83 more to go. This kills excuses and find out if this sport is truly for YOU!
Love the Pain: This is one of the ones that really chaps my ass! I am sore, I don't like that exercise it hurts. The best yet is a little ,ore subtle "Do we have to do that?". The answers to all three of these is SHUT THE F@CK UP AND TRAIN! If bodybuilding was an easy sport every damn asshole you can think of would be doing it. They are not so that tell you right off the bat the shit ain't easy. Stop winning and learn to embrace the pain!
Get Tunnel Vision: As you become more serious the naysayer will come out more and more. They may be your closest friends or family members, if you want to achieve success no matter how you figure it you better get tunnel vision. You know where it is you want to go, so FOCUS ON YOUR GOALS AND KEEP MOVING FORWARD!
Write It Down: Keeping a workout and eating journal will save you more time and energy than you can imagine. You take the guess work out of many things that need your weekly attention. Workouts and nutritional planning become so much more productive and allot easier to plan.
Stop Bitchin: As we stated in #3, STOP YOUR WINNING! Life is not some fairy tale its hard f#cking work so don't start bitching because you lost a job, get another one. Girl friend dumped you, Get another one. Getting the picture now Dumb Ass!
Realistic Goals: Set almost unreasonable but achievable goals for yourself. Say for example, you know you can curl 50 pounds for ten reps. Set the goal of twelve reps and fight madly to get those twelve. It gives you the incentive to improve.
Get In the Game: Being a bodybuilder means 2 things competition or personal training. You can even do both, but you need to start doing one of them as soon as it becomes financially possible. The quicker you become part of the life style and culture the more every thing else becomes more in focus and you can really start towards your goals.
Motivation Videos: I do this one allot an recommend it to everyone as part of your workout prep. Watch a video of your favorite competitor or advisory for that matter training. They are working their ass off so if your want to be in that category guess what your going to need to do the same.
Mind Muscle Connection: Try to put your mind in the muscle you're working on. Use visual imagery to consciously squeeze and contract the muscle fibers in the working muscle or muscles. Visualization is very important tool to help you isolate and feel your working muscles.
Avoid Excessive Cheating: There's the cheat principle then there is what we see everyday in the gym. Love watching someone doing straight bar curls and his main concern is not his biceps being worked it's I got a wheel on each side, look how much I can lift. Lift is the key word for what your doing, because it sure isn't curling. Lighten your load and focus on starting and finishing the movement with the intended muscle group, not using momentum or anything else.
To Many Forced Reps: Ever see the training partners who do forced reps on just about every set. Then there's the tag team lifts after what was probably your max weight at 315Lbs. but hey that felt light so lets give 365 0r 385 a try because the last set felt light. It felt light because there were hand on the bar that were not yours. This statement is for ALL THE IMAGINARY STRONGMEN OUT THERE, IF YOU DIDN'T LIFT IT BY YOURSELF YOU DIDN'T LIFT IT! Stop all the forced reps and move your own weight!
Pick You Environment: Your not going to be a successful hardcore competitive bodybuilder or any kind of strength athlete working out at say Planet Fitness. That just isn't going to happen. Nothing against Planet Fitness as every thing has it place and theres is not competitive athletics. Find a place that suit your needs. Don't waste money at places that say they are down with your training style to find out they really aren't. My personal test is the use of chalk, does it have a power rack, and are there as much free weight equipment as machines. You meet 2 outta 3 and we gotta deal.
Get Rid of Self Doubt: If you find your little inner voice speaking negatively about the direction of things look at where you started and how far you have come. This is your #1 reason for keeping diaries of your trails and tribulation along this journey. We have all seen people start things but never finish them or start them and loose direction. Doubt alway will try to sneak in and change your path but looking back at your progress and planning your next steps keeps you moving forward along your path.
Enjoy Training: This is the biggest thing I try to get across to anyone training fro competition or just to achieve a personal goal. You must enjoy your training or your not going to last for very long.
Feel the Energy: One of the best things is when you find your training place you feel the energy from those around you when your training. You push a little harder or do a little more weight than planned because of it. Use this energy to help fuel your workouts!
Seek Knowledge: Last but not at all least is to seek knowledge for the things you don't understand. I am not saying go to YouTube and watch videos, hell NO! Most of that is crap anyway. Talk to those who have been where your wanting to go. If you can't do that then study the underlying methodologies through reading books or attending classes. Yeah thats how real learning is done, not by someone show you something they saw themselves. Then telling you thats how it is. Find out the HOW and WHY, then you'll be able to navigate through what ever it is allot better.