I used to headbutt the bar before squats because I thought it would kick up the adrenaline - never noticed a major effect though and stopped doing it.
I snort ammonia if I am going for a PR. I guess it isn’t so uncommon but I always have someone ask what I’m doing.
The stupidest thing I’ll do is a wolf-howl if I’m really fired up.
Oh shit the worst was after 300 came out for months I’d say “AROO AROO” before a heavy set
[quote]Magicpunch wrote:
[quote]Abou wrote:
Gripping and letting go on the bar way too many times before I lift, kinda ocd-ish.[/quote]
This. I keep going to start, and then stand off. Back again, stand off. You just have to find that little moment in time when your mind forgets to scream “don’t do it son! it’ll only hurt” - when that vacancy arrives I grip and let loose.
quote]
LOL i do that too. my grip has to feel perfect.
i always tighten my ponytail before every lift.
[quote]jfiorini wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]enrac wrote:
My rep counts can never be prime numbers…[/quote]
that eliminates a lot of them. 1,2,3,5,7…[/quote]
1 is not a prime number.[/quote]
If you use the classical definition of a prime it is. If you factor in more modern math rules, it’s omitted because it would violate certain theories. Depends on enrac knows the Unique-Prime-Factorization Theorem. (in truth 1 is a prime, “a natural number that has exactly two distinct natural number divisors: 1 and itself”, they just leave it out to avoid violating another theory)
/hyjack
[quote]kanew wrote:
[quote]Brother Chris wrote:
Before every max, I snort a line of cocaine. It gets some attention from the other gym members, but they have gotten used to it.
[/quote]
I can’t tell if you’re joking or not. Your nonchalance is throwing me off.
[/quote]
What I want to know is who in the world broke up my wall of text. There was a purpose there.
Oopsie Daisy, did I ruin it for you there? 
[quote]kanew wrote:
[quote]Defiance wrote:
I have to load the bar with the plates facing in.
Before heavy lifts i ask myself why am I doing this.[/quote]
Well that’s obvious: To keep the power inside the bar.
[/quote]
Fucking lmao
Usually I breathe as much air as I can, puff out my chest, flex my lat, hold the air in a bit and grunt it out, then I grab the bar and pretend I am pulling the earth out of it’s axis. When squatting I like to think I’m Atlas, holding the weight of the world on my back and not letting it crush me.
When I’m doing farmer’s walks I usually time my songs to reach their most epic parts right when I’m about to fail, then I proceed to walk an extra distance, or I just stand there holding the weights looking up the sky, this has cost the skin of my hands so many times I wonder I haven’t grown mutated calluses.
I just whisper to myself ‘just a feather, just a feather…’ repeatedly while running my hands along the knurling and gripping in different spots till I find my sweet spot. Then I take a couple fast, strong, and deep breaths, inhale, and take the plunge.
Before big lifts i always make sure that the load is symmetrical (same plates on both sides). It would be nothing special if I did this just once, but usually i check the left side, then right, left again, right… It looks fuckin stupid, but i just have to do it.
I get extremely OCD when i’m loading/unloading bars. I touch fucking everything. And I mean everything. The plate rack the end of the bar on each side after i put the plate on, the sides of the squat rack etc… And if i’m satisfied with my performance I top it off with a nose rub. I fear I may have divulged too much…
And what Hrastnik said. Periodically. My bad for the double post
This is an interesting topic and I’m sorry that I’m late to the party.
My friend told me about this theory that I hold as gospel truth because I have used it for years without knowing what I was doing.
The idea is that a big muscle group like the gluts are difficult to activate by design. If a cave-man used his glutes for every task, he might deplete energy reserves. Then when the sabertooth tiger comes to eat him he wouldn’t have his jets to run away, or to his jets to run down that wounded antelope etc.
So I think getting amped helps recruit reserve muscle fibers. I think rituals to get you amped grease the track so you flip that switch faster. I think its basically like method acting. Entering a portal into that mindset that you need.
I find the more I behave in a way that is socially unnacceptable even schizofrenic looking the stronger/tougher/more aggressive I am. in this vein I think of John Randle. Crazy Motherfucking Hall of Fame DT for the Vikings in the 90s. Watch some of his videos and tell me he isn’t doing the exact same thing. Getting amped and loose.
[quote]Eli B wrote:
This is an interesting topic and I’m sorry that I’m late to the party.
My friend told me about this theory that I hold as gospel truth because I have used it for years without knowing what I was doing.
The idea is that a big muscle group like the gluts are difficult to activate by design. If a cave-man used his glutes for every task, he might deplete energy reserves. Then when the sabertooth tiger comes to eat him he wouldn’t have his jets to run away, or to his jets to run down that wounded antelope etc.
So I think getting amped helps recruit reserve muscle fibers. I think rituals to get you amped grease the track so you flip that switch faster. I think its basically like method acting. Entering a portal into that mindset that you need.
I find the more I behave in a way that is socially unnacceptable even schizofrenic looking the stronger/tougher/more aggressive I am. in this vein I think of John Randle. Crazy Motherfucking Hall of Fame DT for the Vikings in the 90s. Watch some of his videos and tell me he isn’t doing the exact same thing. Getting amped and loose.
[/quote]
Yes, getting excited helps you lift more. Unfortunately, it also takes longer to recover from. Getting excited before a lift is fine every once in a while, but it’s not a great habit to get into everytime.
[quote]Eielson wrote:
[quote]Eli B wrote:
This is an interesting topic and I’m sorry that I’m late to the party.
My friend told me about this theory that I hold as gospel truth because I have used it for years without knowing what I was doing.
The idea is that a big muscle group like the gluts are difficult to activate by design. If a cave-man used his glutes for every task, he might deplete energy reserves. Then when the sabertooth tiger comes to eat him he wouldn’t have his jets to run away, or to his jets to run down that wounded antelope etc.
So I think getting amped helps recruit reserve muscle fibers. I think rituals to get you amped grease the track so you flip that switch faster. I think its basically like method acting. Entering a portal into that mindset that you need.
I find the more I behave in a way that is socially unnacceptable even schizofrenic looking the stronger/tougher/more aggressive I am. in this vein I think of John Randle. Crazy Motherfucking Hall of Fame DT for the Vikings in the 90s. Watch some of his videos and tell me he isn’t doing the exact same thing. Getting amped and loose.
[/quote]
Yes, getting excited helps you lift more. Unfortunately, it also takes longer to recover from. Getting excited before a lift is fine every once in a while, but it’s not a great habit to get into everytime.[/quote]
To clarify its not just excited. Its can just be determination and focus. I think getting into that habit is only beneficial in many aspects of life.
Diffrent strokes for different folks though. When I wrestled in high school one of the guys I looked up to would put on his headphones and play some chill jam band music to relax and get into a flow before a match. Didn’t work for me. I had to snort and stomp around and beat myself in the head to get ready to be mean.
lets see.
squats:
take of my pants (leave underwear on)
line up my hands
center bar on chest
shift weight back and forth from one side to the other…basically shaking my junk
drop down fast so arms are extended
rise to setup on my back
unrack and squat
admire my leg muscles as they show off how ripped they are
yup…that’s squat day. This has got me laid several times actually.
[quote]Eielson wrote:
[quote]Eli B wrote:
This is an interesting topic and I’m sorry that I’m late to the party.
My friend told me about this theory that I hold as gospel truth because I have used it for years without knowing what I was doing.
The idea is that a big muscle group like the gluts are difficult to activate by design. If a cave-man used his glutes for every task, he might deplete energy reserves. Then when the sabertooth tiger comes to eat him he wouldn’t have his jets to run away, or to his jets to run down that wounded antelope etc.
So I think getting amped helps recruit reserve muscle fibers. I think rituals to get you amped grease the track so you flip that switch faster. I think its basically like method acting. Entering a portal into that mindset that you need.
I find the more I behave in a way that is socially unnacceptable even schizofrenic looking the stronger/tougher/more aggressive I am. in this vein I think of John Randle. Crazy Motherfucking Hall of Fame DT for the Vikings in the 90s. Watch some of his videos and tell me he isn’t doing the exact same thing. Getting amped and loose.
[/quote]
Yes, getting excited helps you lift more. Unfortunately, it also takes longer to recover from. Getting excited before a lift is fine every once in a while, but it’s not a great habit to get into everytime.[/quote]
I agree with this. This is what I aim for at a meet. It’s almost like adrenaline and super aggression at will and by design. I don’t get loud or appear out of control but the feeling is like broken glass and anger coming out my eyes. This is what smashes me down for a week or two afterwards. I couldn’t do this while training on a regular basis but it sure is nice to be able to pull it out when you need to.
seizure hops.
works everytime.
Measured my oly bar and made a mark exactly in the middle. when benching, the mark has to be directly above my nose, otherwise I fell lopsided. I may move the bench a dozen times to get it just right. Just moving my head will not do.
I hit the water fountain after every single set. I tried bringing in a bottle once, but it just didn’t feel right.