CT curious your thoughts on these “little” things that may create real phyhsiological/hormonal effects. Particularly magnified in lifters.
Have you ever noticed looking worse when overly stressed, in a negative mood, etc. even though diet/training was the same? Why can milk and cereal after a good workout & positive state of being help “fill out your muscles” while the same food/calories consumed while fretting over a project and dealing with relationship issues cause you to “retain water and smooth out”. Etc.
I’m sure anyone whose been in this game for awhile will notice this.
So here were a few things that really helped me…and I think somethign is happening at th eepigenetic level / hormonal level.
Posture:
Body language is huge. Practicing a few mens phyisque’esque poses really improves the mood and confidence. Spreading legs help as well. SItting and standing up tall, as if a string is pulling on your spinal axis through the head.
Contrasting= slump over, chin down, hollw body and closed body language. You will feel less confdient and do it enough and your boyd will look less msucular!
Breathing = two different types. Deep breathign is fine but it can “relax” you too much if you’re looking for performance. So there are different strategies here.
Mentality = goal driven, dopamine high and being in the zone. Some intensity + work flow state is IDEAL for body comp. Being depressed, hating life, feeling overhwelmed…leads to worse physiology.
Thinking you’re the best, irrational self confidence can lead to improvements in body comp.
Anyways just wanted to start this and see what you thoguht coach. It isn’t talked about much but ironically has a HUGE impact on most people (since you only spend a few hours at the gym..and teh rest of the time at a day job or socializing..these little cues make big differences).
I’d love to hear CT’s ideas on this too, particularly the posture part. How do we best go about improving posture through training? What are the squat/bench/deadlift variations that are best for improving posture? Or, is that even the right way to approach it? Maybe just adding a bunch of horizontal rows and rear delt work is the answer.
It’s not a topic I’m NOT going to comment on. It is a lot more complex than it seems. Posture is not just about doing a few exercises or changing your exercises. Modifying your posture is a 24/7 job. Just improving certain muscles might give you the potential to improve posture, but it is not automatic and you need to reprogram it.
Furthermore tons of other factors come into play. For example anxiety affects posture: it tightens up the flexor muscles and will change your posture.
How you learned movement patterns as a kid also plays a role and if you didn’t learn properly, it will be super hard to change.
Then you have several postural captors/receptors that allow you to automatically adapt your posture like your feet, eyes, jaw… and how your brain interprets the signal received.
It is SO much more complicated than just adding some more rowing or using different variations of exercises.
Yeah this is a complex & very cool topic. Our body language and mentality/inward signifncatly impacts physiology from mood to hormones etc.
Some of this can be way more than just “Transient” (like a spike you ge tin T when your favorite sports team wins) and may infact form your “persona”. You will notice certain distinguished people just look “distinguished”…possbily from all the days of walking around with sticks up their butts.
or homeless drug types it becomes an obviosu tale. And both can have similar or varyling levels of muscle mass.
Ballet dancers look very different. Athletes have different muscle tones and personalityies.
It ties into the neurotyping stuff CT talks about.
I think how you look and prsent yourself is a reflection of your inner being…and what you do on the outside can impact the inside.
When you have a jacked guy but has bent over shoudlers and low confidence it is a very odd sight.
Remember posture impacts hormones impacts physiology impacts peoples’ perception of you impacts life out comes.
Aka keep doing those snatch grip high pulls and looking like a wide crab cake. DOMINANCE.
Until you make your boss insecure and then lose your income lolol
But these are interesting nuances greatly magnified by strength trainers and bodybuilders (who can cue up impressions of being a “winner”, provided posture is good, without having actually “won”)