You are on your way to the gym to lift. It's a moderate to heavy session and you are fuming. First, the boss read you the Riot Act and you had barely sat down to start the day. Then the lunch with your spouse or friend went sideways over some forgettable issue. And now there is an old man in a hat driving a Buick at random down the road slowing you down as you head to the gym.
Bottom line: you are in a foul mood and plan to rage against the bar tonight. After all, it is going to be somewhat heavy with many reps above 80%. This raging against the bar will only make matters worse as you tense up and most likely lack any degree of focus. So, your lifting is going to be terrible. The bar can rage back and rage back better. You cannot do the technical tasks required during a heavy snatch or CJ if you are angry.
Perhaps you allowed yourself to become angry over what the boss was telling you. He called you out on some work you did or did not do. At the time you did it, you knew it wasn't your best work and you barely did enough work required to get the job done. You didn't feel very confident in your abilities as you had not spent the requisite amount of time to get to know either what the boss wanted or what the work really entailed. Maybe you were afraid to ask him some questions and this being afraid of the boss angered you.
At lunch, your spouse brings up finances, always a touchy issue. You are truly afraid that you are not saving enough for retirement. You fear being a Walmart greeter on your 90th birthday. The fear makes you angry.
Heading in to tonight's workout, you harbor the day's anger plus you know you have not really prepared well for the session. Coach wanted some more squats out of you, but you told him you had to leave early then spent more time in the parking lot talking than if you had just squatted. You are not confident your legs will respond properly.
Then, since you know you can jerk whatever you clean, you skipped a few of the cleans, your weak point. Not too confident that you are going to be able to clean that 87.5%. You become afraid that you will miss lifts and the results, or lack thereof, that come with them. That is where the anger based rage against the bar method is rooted. Actually, it is rooted in your fears: fear of job loss or change, fear of financial problems, fear of missing a lift.
Fear when you are near a barbell will hinder your progress. You get confident with many many lifts at the 80-85% and the 85-90% levels. To get to the PR of 102%, you have to be confident in your technique and confident in your strength. Anger directed at just gripping and ripping will accomplish nothing. Mental focus and directed energy to performing your heavy reps just like the warm up reps will vanquish your fear.
Afraid of getting under the bar in a clean? Build up your front squat. Don't become angry at yourself because you cannot stand up with the bar. Get your front squat 10-15% better than your clean.
Afraid of lowering your hips to get under the bar in the snatch? Do exercises that force you to get under the bar: snatch balance, hang snatches, block snatches, etc. Don't become angry at your self for the fear of lowering the hips; practice meeting the bar and pulling you under the bar at all weights.
Confidence through many, many perfect practice lifts gets built up via a cumulative effect. Get that confidence by facing your fear and practicing to overcome it. Physical preparation combined with mental preparation allow you to face your fear, remain calm, and to overcome it.
Every lift counts from warm up to competition: make sure that they do.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Separation and Regret
A recent blog mentioned the opinion that approval is overrated. The argument in the blog is that you must do something for you in spite of what you think others think or something to that effect. In other words, what you think of me is none of my business. Not a bad point, but does not hit the root cause of why more things don't get done.
Going back to the 2012 Olympics (seem so long ago?!), there was an interesting point brought up by the archery announcer during the team competition in the Olympic Games. The U.S. was competing against Italy. Italy had just thrown a bad arrow down range.
Announcer says, after the U.S. shooter, who could have put some serious separation between his team and the Italians, does not hit the 10 spot, that human nature sometimes does not allow separation. OR, the US shooter did not want to put his team too far ahead of the opponent. Who wouldn't want separation? Who would not want to crush the guy or team you are facing?
Perhaps there is all sorts of psychological battles taking place. If the guy had nailed the 10 ring, that would have seemed like stepping on the Italian's neck. But, he flubbed it a little. He made it a lot closer than the match had to be. For the rest of the Olympics, the announcers in all sports mentioned separation many times.
Did Alison Felix slow down a little bit during her gold medal run for the 200 meters? No. Does a hockey player slow down when he has separation from his opponent on a breakaway? Listen to a hockey game and hear how many times the announcers say, "...he's got separation..."
A lifter must do the same: separate himself or herself. From what? From previous performances. From the other lifters that seem to cluster around training and competition weights. Once you have separation, the only goal is to keep moving and get more of it. It is not easy. Once you have overcome your personal limits and challenged yourself to do so, it is time to get uncomfortable.
I have won competitions as well as been in first place with what would appear little chance of losing and I was able to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.
But wait! If I lift more weight, you say, you will have to lift more weight and your training sessions will become more intense. If you lift more weight, you may qualify for a high level meet and all the pressure associated with that meet. You fear the mental discipline required. Will you lose my friends and buddies I have at my current level? And, that's right, you are the first person in the history of mankind to feel that way.
That is where separation comes in: you need to keep pushing to see what will happen. How much separation will you need? Just a little. A lifter has to remain injury free and focused to continue making progress. Perhaps that injury happened because the lifter did not want the separation as badly as he wanted to stay where he has always been. It is really easy to stay put. You won't live any longer, but it will sure feel like it!
Regret is insidious. It is an incubator for excuses. Inside your mind, you know you held back, backed off, quit a little bit, but to the outside world you lie. "I am tired" "I have not had my usual 3 servings of BCAAs so that I could properly assimilate toxic by products from my sessions earlier in the week." In reality, the door was open for separation and you closed the door from the wrong side and, now, regret doing so.
Shame is staring you in the face and you say, "Well, I would have gotten that separation, but..." I just puked blood into my mouth over that sentence. How about instead, with the goal of getting better as a training and competing weightlifter firmly and clearly etched into your conscience, you put all of your energy into every repetition-- even warm up reps-- to get better so that you have no chance to regret anything.
You must make sure that you have done everything possible to make sure that repetition or competition lift is a regret free activity. A coach who knows you: your fears, your thought processes, your behaviors, etc is invaluable to keep you on track.
Leave it all at the gym is a popular phrase. It would appear at first glance that is a good idea. It may even imply no regret. What happens if that is not enough? What happens if you have to pay attention to diet? Work place stressors? lack of sleep? Financial woes?
No matter, you need to ensure that you have done everything possible to make sure that training repetition or competition lift is a regret free activity. Do not regret the activity that makes you better that pushes your limits, that gives you separation from you and your previous self. Regret inactivity, regret doing nothing when you needed to have done something.
Now, get out there and start moving toward you as a better, stronger, faster weightlifter!
Going back to the 2012 Olympics (seem so long ago?!), there was an interesting point brought up by the archery announcer during the team competition in the Olympic Games. The U.S. was competing against Italy. Italy had just thrown a bad arrow down range.
Announcer says, after the U.S. shooter, who could have put some serious separation between his team and the Italians, does not hit the 10 spot, that human nature sometimes does not allow separation. OR, the US shooter did not want to put his team too far ahead of the opponent. Who wouldn't want separation? Who would not want to crush the guy or team you are facing?
Perhaps there is all sorts of psychological battles taking place. If the guy had nailed the 10 ring, that would have seemed like stepping on the Italian's neck. But, he flubbed it a little. He made it a lot closer than the match had to be. For the rest of the Olympics, the announcers in all sports mentioned separation many times.
Did Alison Felix slow down a little bit during her gold medal run for the 200 meters? No. Does a hockey player slow down when he has separation from his opponent on a breakaway? Listen to a hockey game and hear how many times the announcers say, "...he's got separation..."
A lifter must do the same: separate himself or herself. From what? From previous performances. From the other lifters that seem to cluster around training and competition weights. Once you have separation, the only goal is to keep moving and get more of it. It is not easy. Once you have overcome your personal limits and challenged yourself to do so, it is time to get uncomfortable.
I have won competitions as well as been in first place with what would appear little chance of losing and I was able to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.
But wait! If I lift more weight, you say, you will have to lift more weight and your training sessions will become more intense. If you lift more weight, you may qualify for a high level meet and all the pressure associated with that meet. You fear the mental discipline required. Will you lose my friends and buddies I have at my current level? And, that's right, you are the first person in the history of mankind to feel that way.
That is where separation comes in: you need to keep pushing to see what will happen. How much separation will you need? Just a little. A lifter has to remain injury free and focused to continue making progress. Perhaps that injury happened because the lifter did not want the separation as badly as he wanted to stay where he has always been. It is really easy to stay put. You won't live any longer, but it will sure feel like it!
Regret is insidious. It is an incubator for excuses. Inside your mind, you know you held back, backed off, quit a little bit, but to the outside world you lie. "I am tired" "I have not had my usual 3 servings of BCAAs so that I could properly assimilate toxic by products from my sessions earlier in the week." In reality, the door was open for separation and you closed the door from the wrong side and, now, regret doing so.
Shame is staring you in the face and you say, "Well, I would have gotten that separation, but..." I just puked blood into my mouth over that sentence. How about instead, with the goal of getting better as a training and competing weightlifter firmly and clearly etched into your conscience, you put all of your energy into every repetition-- even warm up reps-- to get better so that you have no chance to regret anything.
You must make sure that you have done everything possible to make sure that repetition or competition lift is a regret free activity. A coach who knows you: your fears, your thought processes, your behaviors, etc is invaluable to keep you on track.
Leave it all at the gym is a popular phrase. It would appear at first glance that is a good idea. It may even imply no regret. What happens if that is not enough? What happens if you have to pay attention to diet? Work place stressors? lack of sleep? Financial woes?
No matter, you need to ensure that you have done everything possible to make sure that training repetition or competition lift is a regret free activity. Do not regret the activity that makes you better that pushes your limits, that gives you separation from you and your previous self. Regret inactivity, regret doing nothing when you needed to have done something.
Now, get out there and start moving toward you as a better, stronger, faster weightlifter!
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