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You need discipline and will power for just about everything in life. Exercising really helps develop them, but are there any particular exercises, or a particular mindset, or even food that will help you master the two qualities?

user7068
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    What do you mean by "just about everything in life" in your question? Your question reads as extremely vague and general. I suggest being more specific in what you're trying to seek. –  Dec 09 '13 at 18:52
  • fasting. consistent weight training. having goals and achieving goals..etc – Hituptony Dec 09 '13 at 20:09
  • I recommend Mark Tornfingers "Starting Discipline". It follows linear progression, you start small but add more discipline every week. Eventually you will plateau, but you will build your will power levels quicker than anyother program. –  Dec 10 '13 at 00:06

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There are studies out there, and a lot of personal history has shown me, that heavy strength training and Olympic lifting require a tremendous amount of focus and central nervous system activity. When you are squatting (properly with a bar, please) heavy the amount of willpower you need to muster is pretty insane, as is the amount of control you need to exert over your body to make sure you move properly and don't hurt yourself.

Olympic lifting (cleans, snatch) requires a lot of focus as well, but you also need to focus nearly instantly and for most people it requires months or years of training to really nail their form, certainly if you're at a competitive level.

Exercise in general pumps dopamine as well as regulates it, and I'm sure athletes and trainees in many disciplines will report in that they achieve a tremendous amount of mental strength from the pursuit of their craft.

Regarding food, I'd focus on a balanced diet that specifically addresses the roller-coaster blood sugar cycle that many people are on. If you reduce your carbohydrate intake, especially simple carbs with high glycemic indexes you can very much regulate your mood in a positive way.

There are supplements and medications of course that can also impact your mental state, but that's another topic entirely and really outside the bounds of fitness.

Some additional reading:

http://www.joept.com/the-central-nervous-system-what-does-it-mean-for-your-training-performance/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_physical_exercise_on_memory#Dopamine

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9000155

Eric
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  • Try crossfit, the lactate levels are insane! That breeds willpower if anything. Actually running is kind of hard too, or any hard physical activity. Doing martial arts is hard too, for example Brazilian jiu-jitsu is really tough. – marko Dec 09 '13 at 21:48
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    Lactate does not "breed willpower". Lactate is an exercise byproduct, you will get it with any physical activity. – JohnP Dec 12 '13 at 15:09
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Try taking pre-workouts. Their entire purpose is to make you pumped to go to the gym. I won't post any links to products, but a quick google for "pre-workouts" will yield results.

Unfortunately, my favorite preworkouts are banned. Jack3D original (with DMAA) and Craze (which apparently has a meth like compound, it'll be back on the market once the lab results confirm it has no such compounds)

There's also dendrobium. Some people swear by it, personally didn't like it. I found it just made me really dizzy.

Just be sure to cycle on and off of them.

Evan Parsons
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