Deadlifts >90% 1RM
Squats PR attempts and widowmaker sets
I don’t seem to get any value from doing them before pressing, I either have it or I don’t.
My psyche up routine consists of finding a good song, immersing myself in it, some minor hyperventilating, and depending on how hard I want to go I’ll take a nose full of cocai…err…ammonia.
For max deadlifts I wind myself up a bit, get a bit angry inside my head, but I don’t physically do anything different. I don’t psyche myself up for anything else, although sometimes it does help to think this will look a bit shit in my log if I get squashed lol. Not using spotters for “heavy” benching also works well as extra motivation - there’s nothing like slowly being crushed to psych you up. But for the most part it’s not something I really think about at all.
Thanks for the nod. As said, I only ever psyche up at a contest, and even then only for a my final attempt at a max or the final event of the day. It takes a LOT out of me, mainly because I have figured out how to really get psyched up, haha
I start with pacing; short straight line, head slightly down. After that, I let the dark thoughts start flowing. I basically have anger/evil “on tap” in my head, and I release the stopper on the bottle and let it out. After a while, I start a low growl and start tensing the muscles in my face, arms and lats. At this point, the pacing has gotten really short, and I am almost just walking in a circle. At this point, I am pretty much done, but if I want to go totally over the moon, I hit up to nose tork and basically black out from rage.
I become a total asshole during this time. My wife knows to give me my space, and I once received a call from work in the middle of this that required me to apologize the next day, haha.
Hmmm… I have never tried that, but if it meant I could finally hit the third digit on my bench, I would slap my tits around a little bit 
I don’t really “psych up” but for my top deadlift sets, I do tend to focus in a little more. I chalk up my hands a little, maybe clap them together once to make a little chalk cloud (feels super intense, right? You’re hardcore if there’s a little chalk dust in the air…) and maybe give a little slap on each leg before I approach the bar, take a deep breath or two as I set up, and then pull. But for the most part, I stay pretty quiet and composed.
One of my gym rat friends keeps those disposable smelling salts packs in his gym bag.
Right before a PR attempt, he’ll snap two, inhale from them and go at the attempt.
I only psyche up when it starts to feel heavier than it should. With this new program it should be never as I am never working with more than 85%. I used to psyche up a lot but I was working in the 90%+ range daily.
To psyche up: music become rage. No real thoughts just anger.
Go to songs earlier in the workout to carry through: Like Whoa, Ecstacy of Gold.
Later in the workout some of the back ground music from the youtube motivational videos. (I ripped them off the webs and put them in my workout playlist.)
In high school and college my teammates would always get hyped up… especially for football, then they’d cup to me and say ‘rah rah’ or some other bull shit. I’d just tell them to fuck off, walk on the field and handle my shit.
For lifting, I just start thinking about work. There’s usually someone who’s pissed me off. Then I quietly approach the fucker (the bar) and snap it’s neck (lift the bar).
Damn! I am just relieved to know I am not the only one with anger issues here…
Mine’s sort of the opposite of a psyche-up. I’m a pretty hyperactive person generally, so exacerbating that doesn’t do me much in the way of favors. Instead, i sort of meditate down to an ultra calm, singularly focused state totally devoid of any thoughts, feelings, or emotions. I become just a machine with a task to compete.
For maximal weights on complex movements, in true pre-communist Chinaman style, I focus on accumulating qi in my dantian and then transferring the flow of qi to my torso all the way to my upper and lower extremities, resulting in that constipated look you see on those shirtless monks in old Shaolin kungfu movies. You Western Imperialists call it abdominal bracing and creating muscular tension with proprioception or some shit.
I do not psyche myself up because I put most of my concentration into doing this. The rest is on technique and explosiveness. How much I am psyched up will rely on my external environment. That’s why I drive 2 hours to my old hardcore gym to train with crazy people once a month.
For heavy, non-complex stuff like rows, Motley Crue works really well.
I’m the exact same. I’ll lie there half asleep on the bench and still hit a PR.
Yeah, I’ll bet! As a slight aside - where in Scotland are you? I can’t believe we’ve never had that conversation before.
You heard it here first, guys! If you’re with T3hPwnisher and he starts pacing around in a little circle get your ass out of there![quote=“ChickenLittle, post:465, topic:221798”]
I would slap my tits around a little bit
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Do it! Slap those tits![quote=“ActivitiesGuy, post:466, topic:221798”]
for the most part, I stay pretty quiet and composed
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Yeah me too. I maybe breathe a little heavier for a few breaths before, but that’s about it.[quote=“2busy, post:467, topic:221798”]
One of my gym rat friends keeps those disposable smelling salts packs in his gym bag
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you ever tried that horrible nose tork shit? Like the proper ammonia stuff? I tried it once and felt like I’d taken an ice pick to the eye
you and T3hPwnisher can never be in the same room[quote=“TX_iron, post:471, topic:221798”]
I become just a machine with a task to compete.
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Now that is interesting. You go into that “I feel nothing” place like a prison bride.
Those imperialist dogs had some great tunes. An old band I used to sing in did Girls Girls Girls.
What’s the crazy gym like?
If Tommy Lee was around during that time, he would have single-handedly ended the Opium Wars cos there would be no opium left, You really need to post a video or a recording, man. I’m seriously interested in hearing you sing.
Small place with a squat rack like the one you see Arnold squatting in in Pumping Iron with Iron Maiden blasting through an old portable stereo. I go there to train with old friends. They’re the kind of guys who got into bodybuilding when it was still a very underground sport, Crazy fuckers.
Haha, i can see how that would be handy in the above example
I don’t, I go the opposite direction too. I try to slow my heartrate, get very calm and unfeeling as I approach the bar, set up, unrack and start the descent. Once I’m coming up, then if I get things right I pretty much black out and don’t even see anything until I lock out; if I don’t get it all right, then I consciously let the rage out through my hands and into the bar.
I can’t psyche myself up anymore. I used to do it because everyone else did but now it changes the lift for me by making me all shaky and tense.
Instead, I often try to push myself to do big daunting sets quick and without hesitation, as I feel like the voluntarily act of getting psyched up just changes the feel and puts more expectation on your shoulders. Like for a front squat or deadlift in the past, I’d always pace around and go exactly when I felt ready, but I’d always be so shaky and filled with anxiety that I’d almost pass out. Now I just go randomly when I do not feel ready, and the lifts always, ALWAYS go better.
I live in Glasgow, for my sins, but I’m originally from the land of oil and sheep. I actually trained with @Rattlehead this morning, which was awesome. Would be good to have a Scotland meet up?
Usually if Im in “the zone” I don’t really need to use any psyche up techniques.
Occasionally before big lifts or if my “head is not in it”, I will psyche myself up.
I often think of times in my football career that I was dropped from the team or put on the bench. That would instantly make me angry. Almost Hulk-angry. Veins pop out in my forehead and I would be rambling a bunch of swear words. Moments before I lift I say “put this on the bench bitch”.
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I rarely if ever psyche up, for the most part I’m just really calm and methodical.
I might do a mini psyche if I’m doing squats/deads for reps but that’s about it. It’s just 30 seconds of mentally telling myself not to be a bitch and get this shit over with.
If I’m doing a full blown psyche, it’ll be… Pretty much me pacing up and down for a minute or two and getting unreasonably angry for no apparent reason. It gets pretty bad. When I’m in the midst of this, I’ll be the biggest douche at wherever I’m at. I’ll god damn kick a puppy if it ran up and wanted to play with me.