The element of focus has come up again and again in obtaining the most out of Visualized Resistance Training.
The idea of focusing on a specific immovable object or objects seems to magnify the effect of visualization. As with all goals, if for instance one has a specific desire to be a doctor, while in undergraduate pre-med training one must focus fully and completely on the idea of being a physician, and picture practicing medicine in a hospital or doctor's office. With that specific focus in mind, day in and day out, imagining it with full sensory acuity, the subconscious will take that person to that position which he or she has so desired. Focus will bring it about.
Likewise, the amount of focus one puts into the visualization of lifting heavy weights, lifting a car or an elephant, pushing a semi into the air, etc., will neuroligically push the muscle to its greatest flexion, and its most massive vasocongestion (pump), which forces the muscles to grow.
It is said that "we become what we think about", or "we attract what we think about." With practice on the increase of mental focus, visualized resistance can only become better for the individual.
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
Friday, January 25, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
VRT: Bi-directional or One Direction only?
Much controversy has come up with students of the VRT system doing the imaginary weight training in one direction, or in both directions...i.e., tension at the outset, and tension in coming back to the start of the movement.
In my original development of this course, I recommended that the movement most clearly be a facsimile of reality; in other words, the movement imitate a real lift, both in the vision, sound, touch, even smell (if that's possible). And that is tension in one direction. But John McSweeney's version, which John Peterson called the Miracle 7, recommended tension in both directions.
I leave this to the individual practicioner. I have done both. I think one direction is the most "megapumping", but one may find more comfort, vigor, and energy in practicing tension in both directions.
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
In my original development of this course, I recommended that the movement most clearly be a facsimile of reality; in other words, the movement imitate a real lift, both in the vision, sound, touch, even smell (if that's possible). And that is tension in one direction. But John McSweeney's version, which John Peterson called the Miracle 7, recommended tension in both directions.
I leave this to the individual practicioner. I have done both. I think one direction is the most "megapumping", but one may find more comfort, vigor, and energy in practicing tension in both directions.
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Mastering VRT, or Visualized Resistance
Pierini first posted this in Transformetrics from his martial arts training, and this was also posted recently by John Peterson, whom I quote here:
"It’s about the “stages of development,” in self-mastery, and here’s how I identify them:
1) Unconsciously-incapable
2) Consciously-incapable
3) Consciously-capable
4) Unconsciously-capable
Let me illustrate what I mean by these four distinctions.
Let’s take a little boy whom we’ll call him Jimmy. When he’s only nine months of age, Jimmy’s mother takes him outside on a beautiful summer day, where he sees his eight-year-old brother Jerry get on his bicycle and head for the playground. At this point Jimmy doesn’t know what a bicycle is, let alone know how to ride one, so he is at stage 1) Unconsciously-incapable.
A few of years later, through watching his brother and other kids in the neighborhood, Jimmy has discovered what a bicycle is. But since he still does not know how to ride one he is now at stage 2) Consciously-incapable.
Two more years go by, and for his sixth birthday Jimmy receives a bicycle with training wheels. In time he starts to get the hang of it and before long the training wheels come off. At first he’s really shaky, but if he focuses on what he is doing he can ride the bike. He is now at stage 3) Consciously-capable.
After a few months of this, slowly improving at bike-riding, Jimmy decides that he is going to go visit his friend Andy, who lives two blocks away. So without even thinking about it, Jimmy hops on his bike and pedals over to Andy’s house. Now Jimmy is at stage 4) Unconsciously-capable. He doesn’t really have to consciously think about how to ride a bike. He just does it!
In getting up to speed with DVR/VRT, we all go through these same stages. Take Benny, one of our Forum members. When he first sees Slim “The Hammerman” Farman perform a leverage lift with a heavy sledge hammer, Benny is at stage 2, Consciously-incapable. He is conscious of what he sees Slim doing, but he is incapable at that point of duplicating Slim’s feat of strength.
Then after careful application, deep focus, and a great deal of sweat, Benny finally succeeds at performing what he saw Slim doing. He’s now at stage 3, Consciously-capable.
A few months later, a friend stops by and asks, “Benny, can you really do a leverage lift with a 12-pound sledge hammer?” And without even thinking about it, Benny grabs the hammer and lifts it without batting an eye. Yes Benny is at stage 4, Unconsciously-capable. He can do it anytime, without even having to think about “how” it’s done.
So what does this have to do with DVR/VRT, Isometric Contraction, and Transformetrics? Simply this: There is a natural learning curve for all of us, and it just takes a little time to get to stage 4—but we all get there!
Don’t beat yourself up for not being able to do it all perfectly right off the bat. In time, with focus and application, you will know exactly how an intense contraction feels. Then it won’t be long and you will know exactly what 35 percent, 50 percent, 80 percent, or any other level of contraction feels like. What’s more, you won’t even have to think about it because you will intuitively know where you are in the process."
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
"It’s about the “stages of development,” in self-mastery, and here’s how I identify them:
1) Unconsciously-incapable
2) Consciously-incapable
3) Consciously-capable
4) Unconsciously-capable
Let me illustrate what I mean by these four distinctions.
Let’s take a little boy whom we’ll call him Jimmy. When he’s only nine months of age, Jimmy’s mother takes him outside on a beautiful summer day, where he sees his eight-year-old brother Jerry get on his bicycle and head for the playground. At this point Jimmy doesn’t know what a bicycle is, let alone know how to ride one, so he is at stage 1) Unconsciously-incapable.
A few of years later, through watching his brother and other kids in the neighborhood, Jimmy has discovered what a bicycle is. But since he still does not know how to ride one he is now at stage 2) Consciously-incapable.
Two more years go by, and for his sixth birthday Jimmy receives a bicycle with training wheels. In time he starts to get the hang of it and before long the training wheels come off. At first he’s really shaky, but if he focuses on what he is doing he can ride the bike. He is now at stage 3) Consciously-capable.
After a few months of this, slowly improving at bike-riding, Jimmy decides that he is going to go visit his friend Andy, who lives two blocks away. So without even thinking about it, Jimmy hops on his bike and pedals over to Andy’s house. Now Jimmy is at stage 4) Unconsciously-capable. He doesn’t really have to consciously think about how to ride a bike. He just does it!
In getting up to speed with DVR/VRT, we all go through these same stages. Take Benny, one of our Forum members. When he first sees Slim “The Hammerman” Farman perform a leverage lift with a heavy sledge hammer, Benny is at stage 2, Consciously-incapable. He is conscious of what he sees Slim doing, but he is incapable at that point of duplicating Slim’s feat of strength.
Then after careful application, deep focus, and a great deal of sweat, Benny finally succeeds at performing what he saw Slim doing. He’s now at stage 3, Consciously-capable.
A few months later, a friend stops by and asks, “Benny, can you really do a leverage lift with a 12-pound sledge hammer?” And without even thinking about it, Benny grabs the hammer and lifts it without batting an eye. Yes Benny is at stage 4, Unconsciously-capable. He can do it anytime, without even having to think about “how” it’s done.
So what does this have to do with DVR/VRT, Isometric Contraction, and Transformetrics? Simply this: There is a natural learning curve for all of us, and it just takes a little time to get to stage 4—but we all get there!
Don’t beat yourself up for not being able to do it all perfectly right off the bat. In time, with focus and application, you will know exactly how an intense contraction feels. Then it won’t be long and you will know exactly what 35 percent, 50 percent, 80 percent, or any other level of contraction feels like. What’s more, you won’t even have to think about it because you will intuitively know where you are in the process."
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
Monday, January 7, 2008
The Meaning of VRT - Visualized Resistance Training
Some more wise words from Gordon Anderson, regarding visualization:
"Visualization unlocks the creative force lying dormant in all of us and it leads through pathways to the unlimited potential of our subconscious mind. The same principle works with negative as well as positive visualizations. People tend to project the negative events of their past into their future and that becomes their self fulfilling prophesy and they continue to get what they expect and visualize even if that isn't what they want."
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
"Visualization unlocks the creative force lying dormant in all of us and it leads through pathways to the unlimited potential of our subconscious mind. The same principle works with negative as well as positive visualizations. People tend to project the negative events of their past into their future and that becomes their self fulfilling prophesy and they continue to get what they expect and visualize even if that isn't what they want."
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
Monday, December 31, 2007
Create a Vision for your Body with VRT
Matt Furey has some interesting words to say about goals and success:
"Having a goal - a vision - is the starting point of all success. At the same time, being grateful for the tools you already have adds fuel to your desire - helping you create it faster. All creation starts by using your memory, mixing it with your imagination - then dumping energy onto what you want with deep breathing and enthusiasm.
Say NO to New Year's Resolutions. Instead, set New Year's Goals. Things you're going to accomplish in the coming year. Not things you say you're going to stop doing. There's a big difference between having a New Year's Resolution to stop smoking and one in which you're going to run your first marathon. Focus on the marathon and you'll probably end up tossing the cigs so you can run better."
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
"Having a goal - a vision - is the starting point of all success. At the same time, being grateful for the tools you already have adds fuel to your desire - helping you create it faster. All creation starts by using your memory, mixing it with your imagination - then dumping energy onto what you want with deep breathing and enthusiasm.
Say NO to New Year's Resolutions. Instead, set New Year's Goals. Things you're going to accomplish in the coming year. Not things you say you're going to stop doing. There's a big difference between having a New Year's Resolution to stop smoking and one in which you're going to run your first marathon. Focus on the marathon and you'll probably end up tossing the cigs so you can run better."
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
How Belief Makes VRT Work For You
Here's an interesting quote from Gordon Anderson, a bodybuilding course afficianado, and it's worth remembering:
"The Magic Of Believing" by Claude M. Bristol is a great little book. It is a quick read and contains various simple techniques that can be a help in acquiring and perfecting many principles discussed on this site. The chapter on "The Mirror Technique" contains some of the simplest and most practical recommendations for putting yourself in what amounts to a state of self hypnosis that I have found. A number of years ago I was at a weekend business retreat at a resort in Colorado. The business climate was very difficult for the business that we were in which I am sure was a major reason that the company was sponsoring the retreat. As a result of the poor market conditions there was a lot of hard ball politics going on in the company that became very intense at the meeting. Since I was running one of the few profitable operations in the company I was a threat to a lot of the other managers in the company. While pretending that they were being supportive of me to senior management many of my competitors in the company were using all types of negative suggestions to get under my skin when out of site of senior management. After two days of this it was starting to get to me. I left the meeting for about 10 or 15 minutes and went to the men's room and used the "mirror technique" to put myself in a "postitve mental attitude" and what amounted to a state of "self hypnosis" altering my state of consciousness and then returned to the meeting. Projecting my personality strength and non reactions to the various harassment strategies of my antagonists proceeded to drive them crazy for the rest of the retreat. Not only did the technique work at the meeting ,but even after we got back to our regular work schedules at the company I continued to be able to control them as they continued to react in their weakened emotional states. There have been other situations where this technique saved the day for me,but this one has always stood out in my mind." All true power comes from within - from your mind"
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
"The Magic Of Believing" by Claude M. Bristol is a great little book. It is a quick read and contains various simple techniques that can be a help in acquiring and perfecting many principles discussed on this site. The chapter on "The Mirror Technique" contains some of the simplest and most practical recommendations for putting yourself in what amounts to a state of self hypnosis that I have found. A number of years ago I was at a weekend business retreat at a resort in Colorado. The business climate was very difficult for the business that we were in which I am sure was a major reason that the company was sponsoring the retreat. As a result of the poor market conditions there was a lot of hard ball politics going on in the company that became very intense at the meeting. Since I was running one of the few profitable operations in the company I was a threat to a lot of the other managers in the company. While pretending that they were being supportive of me to senior management many of my competitors in the company were using all types of negative suggestions to get under my skin when out of site of senior management. After two days of this it was starting to get to me. I left the meeting for about 10 or 15 minutes and went to the men's room and used the "mirror technique" to put myself in a "postitve mental attitude" and what amounted to a state of "self hypnosis" altering my state of consciousness and then returned to the meeting. Projecting my personality strength and non reactions to the various harassment strategies of my antagonists proceeded to drive them crazy for the rest of the retreat. Not only did the technique work at the meeting ,but even after we got back to our regular work schedules at the company I continued to be able to control them as they continued to react in their weakened emotional states. There have been other situations where this technique saved the day for me,but this one has always stood out in my mind." All true power comes from within - from your mind"
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
Friday, December 28, 2007
VRT Performance and How to Maximize It
One thing that has come clear to me over many years of perfecting the VRT System in my own physical experience, is the use of self-hypnosis.
Before embarking on a maxed-out VRT workout, I purposefully relax and get into the sight, sound and touch of a grueling barbell session. Even to the point of "smelling" the sweat and cold iron smells of a real workout room. I take a few minutes to "get into state" as a psychologist would put it. This is totally immersing yourself into the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modes of the experience---put your mind, with all senses available, and your "heart" totally into the mental experience.
The more I immerse myself into this vision, and it is more than just a vision, as it takes into account feelings, sounds, touch, even smell if possible, a "state of mind" is a better way to put it --- the better the experience will be.
Coupled with the idea that whatever the particular exercise will be, I go at it as though it is the heaviest weight imaginable. Try this. This is self-hypnosis at its highest level. But be careful. It will get you burned out all too soon. Take a break for a couple days after you go through a workout like this one.
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
Before embarking on a maxed-out VRT workout, I purposefully relax and get into the sight, sound and touch of a grueling barbell session. Even to the point of "smelling" the sweat and cold iron smells of a real workout room. I take a few minutes to "get into state" as a psychologist would put it. This is totally immersing yourself into the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modes of the experience---put your mind, with all senses available, and your "heart" totally into the mental experience.
The more I immerse myself into this vision, and it is more than just a vision, as it takes into account feelings, sounds, touch, even smell if possible, a "state of mind" is a better way to put it --- the better the experience will be.
Coupled with the idea that whatever the particular exercise will be, I go at it as though it is the heaviest weight imaginable. Try this. This is self-hypnosis at its highest level. But be careful. It will get you burned out all too soon. Take a break for a couple days after you go through a workout like this one.
Greg Mangan
"VRT Man"
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