If I’m deadlifting I know theres nothing I can do to help me except KEEP PULLING. So before, I’m setting up thinking "When it gets heavy, I start lifting REAL weight, I start pulling back with my shoulders, keep the weight on my heels so I dont go forwards, keep driving it up because if its off the floor thats the biggest battle, keep pulling, when I get to the top, keep on pulling it up.
When you’re locked out, keep on PULLING!" It doesnt really make any sense when I say it out loud, and now I’ve written it kind of doesnt make sense but it works for me.
This usually helps me keep the bar moving quickly as sometimes, when the weight gets really heavy for me, I seem to lift slower. Dont know if that will help anyone else though.
i pretend im from dbz and im charging up and like sinking into a crater being formed in the ground, with little rocks floating up and electricity around me.
and all thats goin on in my head is “MOTHERRRRRRRFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEERRRRR”
For me it’s mostly about knowing that I can do it. I do the math about how much reasonable growth I can expect and I put that number on the bar. Then I do whatever bodily functions need to happen to let me focus… Have a glass of water if I’m thirsty, etc.
If I’m doing a single lift, I just go for it and focus on form. If I’m shooting for 10+ reps, I sometimes have to take a minute to get over the dread and fear of what I am about to endure.
The hardest mental thing I am working on right now is some sort of rep 10 barrier… I DL’d 335 x 9 like it was nothing yesterday. But I let a thought of “Holy shit, I’m about to do 10” creep into my mind. Then the 10th one became super hard and shaky… I did 10 with bad form on the last, and it was over.
I think if I had my mind focused, I could have done 12 or more. But that rep 10 barrier has been messing with me for 3 to 4 weeks now.
I sometimes pull the “lightweight” stuff from Coleman, or ill just scream “uuuuuuuup” really loud. Im usually in a room by myself, so i could care less who thinks im a psychopath.
I do different things, always think of someone who I will be competing against or have in the past and how that person would laugh at me for missing a lift, convince myself that I will be the object of ricule for missing a lift, in fact even getting the lift isn’t enough, I have to do it with ease because no one respects me. I try to build that anger.
Also for my best psych…, I took a relaxation class years ago at work and was told that if you focus on a part of your body being hot and heavy, you can increase blood flow to that area. Not sure if it’s true but I believe it. I stay away from thinking heavy but focus on the hot. I focus on the muscles that the lift call for. My breaths in and out act like wind blowing across a burning log. I breath in and the skin cracks and the cracks glow bright, I breath out and the the skin goes darker with smoke comes out. There is tremendous pain from the burning flesh, beneath the skin there isn’t muscle, just lava, boiling lava and a demonic beast trying to burst forth. I have to get the lift to tame the inner beast. I think I can slightly increase blood flow to the muscles doing this and I know I build up a large amount of anger and determination.
complete and total disassociation. i think you have to learn to control hormonal response in your body in order to keep from burning out. most of the time at meets, the guys running around acting like assholes and screaming miss the lift. you shouldnt have to convince yourself you are strong enough. you just should be.
i used to be one of the assholes running around, all it did for me was make me a weak asshole.
Before a heavy lift I like to close my eyes and take five deep breaths, that’s pretty much it. By the fifth breath I know I’ll be ready. I think little rituals like this can be useful as a way of “pushing the button”, doesn’t really matter what the ritual is as long as you associate it with getting ready. What’s the name of that female pole vaulter who talks to her pole? Anyway, that probably serves the same purpose for her, or she could simply be a nutcase, hell if I know.
Before the workout I like to listen to music if I have time. I’ll start with something slow and athmospheric (like Neurosis or GY!BE) to get relaxed, then 30 minutes before the workout I’ll listen to something more aggressive (At The Gates, Meshuggah, Bloodbath etc).
I’ve also found that listening to incredibly CRAPPY music before a workout can help. Listen to something like Brokencyde, you’ll be so pissed that such a talentless abomination exists that you’ll be ready to tear a hole through the fabric of time and space! I’m not doing that anymore though because it can backfire. Last time I listened to them I became so depressed that I sat in the corner and cried instead of working out.
I did a meet recently where a guy prepared for each
lift by jamming a Vicks dispenser loaded with Torx in
each nostril and putting a 9 volt battery on his tongue.
[quote]StormTheBeach wrote:
complete and total disassociation. i think you have to learn to control hormonal response in your body in order to keep from burning out. most of the time at meets, the guys running around acting like assholes and screaming miss the lift. you shouldnt have to convince yourself you are strong enough. you just should be.
i used to be one of the assholes running around, all it did for me was make me a weak asshole.[/quote]
agreed…
just think about your form, not the weight… for the deadlift maybe an ammonia cap…
I know this applies more to BB’ing, but I think about something Arnold said about how it is in the last few reps where the body is in pain and shock that it grows and where champions are cast.
I curse and scream in my mind about how worthless everyone at the meet thinks I am and about how they expect me to fail the squat. Then I tell myself that those people know nothing and that they’re not on my level and that when I lift the weight they’ll all fall away. Around this time, I’m usually cursing under my breath. I usually can’t see very well when I’m in this mood, but I’ll attack the weight and set myself up properly, keeping myself tight. I haven’t failed a squat yet after psyching myself up, which is why I get a little nervous when I try to set my mood.
After the lift, I have a lot of trouble trying to calm myself down. I genuinely get angry and I’ll headbutt things and punch them, regardless of whether I got the lift or not. I find powerlifting is the only sport in which I can psyche myself up like this, because I know every movement involved so well that it’s automatic. I can’t do this when I’m playing football and I definitely can’t when I’m sprinting.
Also, I can’t do this while benching. I don’t take the lift as seriously, and it’s so technical and full of commands that every step requires all my attention.
[quote]pradaboy wrote:
In my opinion an often overlooked aspect of lifting is the mental part. I can defeat myself by simply thinking I´m going to fail, so the opposite must be possible as well.
What do you guys do to prepare for a big lift/PR??[/quote]
Just focus on what you are trying to do as opposed to worrying whether or not you will fail.
I just think over and over in my mind of in the past when people have betrayed me, insulted me, and generally tried to take me down. Let it build, then right at the breaking point I get my vengeance by hitting the pr.
[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:
I just think over and over in my mind of in the past when people have betrayed me, insulted me, and generally tried to take me down. Let it build, then right at the breaking point I get my vengeance by hitting the pr. [/quote]
that sort of stuff worked great for me when a PR was muscling up a 350 bench as the big guy at a chain gym… now it’s all about focus, not rage… personally when I get too worked up I end up cutting squats high and end up with a big adrenalin dump after that one lift…