If you are reading this, you are probably a very highly motivated individual who has some serious goals. Whether that may be having a killer physique for your next physique show or you just want to live the happiest, healthiest possible life while operating at a higher level of consciousness. Most of you who read this have a busy lifestyle as having a career, perhaps currently enrolled in post-secondary school education, families and still prioritizing your health and fitness all take time and effort. Although it is amazing living life to the fullest and doing all these things, they can take a toll on us and oftentimes may lead to us feeling overwhelmed, having trouble focusing, and even developing anxiety to various degrees. When we are in a situation like this, there is no way we can enter the Monster Mindset.
This overwhelming feeling can oftentimes lead to increased amounts of stress which can really impact our hormones and thus throw off our energy levels and even our sleep patterns. Think of a time when you were going through a very stressful or overwhelming period in your life, was it difficult to shut your mind off and even go to sleep? How often were you preoccupied with the issues in your mind? Perhaps you felt distracted and instead of efficiently doing a few things you were trying to cram in and mediocrely do a million things.
When sleep duration and quality is low, our activity output high, and our stress levels even higher, how do we usually feel? Burnt out and exhausted.
But, we still have all of our responsibilities to handle and on top of that we want to have great training sessions, so we start having 3 and 4 cups of coffee a day instead of 1-2. We may begin to also start enjoying energy drinks to just function and get through the day. Oh, and don’t forget the pre-workout you are having right before the gym in order to just get through that hard set of squats. Doing this oftentimes leaves you in an even worse position of an extremely overly stimulated Central Nervous System and will lead to a vicious cycle of more stress, less sleep and needing more stimulants to function.
What if I told you there are a group of “drugs, supplements, and other substances that may improve cognitive function, particularly executive functions, memory, creativity, or motivation, in a healthy individual?”
Well, this is the actual dictionary definition of what nootropics are. Today we will specifically speak of one that comes from the extract of a mushroom called Yamabushitake, also known as Lion’s Mane. This mushroom has been consumed in many Asian countries for centuries because of its noted benefits. Many studies show that Lion’s mane extract can drastically help improve Nerve Growth Factor which plays a huge role in cognitive function, inflammation, depression, the risk of disease and anxiety. And, there are a few human studies that show it can also drastically help symptoms of dementia, depression, and anxiety.
Although no studies specifically have been done on Lion’s Mane use with athletes and performance, there is plenty of anecdotal testimony of how much this mushroom can help with focus. Whether you are an athlete or just lift weights with the goal of getting bigger and stronger, the better your mental focus, the better your results will be. Specifically, those looking to gain muscle, it is crucial to focus on the task at hand when performing an exercise in order to maximize the mind-muscle connection with the central nervous system and have the most effective possible contractions. A nootropic like Lion’s Mane will help with that mental focus that you are looking for to get your tasks done during the day as well as helping you experience awesome workouts without having the negative immediate and cumulative side effects of abusing stimulants like caffeine. Although I do think caffeine and other stimulants can be used as an effective tool from time to time when needed, even in a performance-enhancing scenario, it should not be a staple daily supplement if your goal is to maximize its effectiveness and your health.
Our mind is the strongest weapon we have in our arsenal. If you want to change your physique, you must maximize your cognitive function in order to operate at a higher level of consciousness. This is what the Monster Mindset is all about. Using your mind to operate beyond the standard of our society. Transforming your body involves having a very strong connection from your mind to your body. Don't believe me on how strong the mind is? I will give you an example of a study done on basketball players.
A study conducted by Dr. Biasiotto at the University of Chicago was done where he split people into three groups and tested each group on how many free throws they could make.
He had the first group practice free throws every day for an hour.
The second group just visualized themselves making free throws.
The third group did nothing.
After 30 days, he tested them again.
The first group improved by 24%.
The second group improved by 23% without touching a basketball.
The third group did not improve which was expected.
What does this tell us? That the power of the mind is crucial for performance.
Current studies are showing that taking 3,000 mg of Lion’s Mane extract daily is a safe dose in order to reap its benefits. I personally recommend if you want to try out this nootropic to enhance your workouts, to begin with, 1,000 mg pre-workout and work your way up to the full 3,000 mg dose. I find that most individuals do very well off just 2,000 mg. There are no documented side effects to using Lion’s Mane at the doses discussed above unless one is allergic to this specific mushroom.
Remember, if your goal is to maximize your ability to efficiently do your daily tasks and to transform your body, you must look into optimizing your cognitive function. That is what the Monster Mindset Academy is all about. We teach you how to optimize your brain in order to crush every goal you set out for yourself. Lion’s Mane can be a great supplement for this and for the mental focus required when you are not feeling “all there” for a training session or just to go after your goals!
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20834180
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24266378
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20834180
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18844328
