Anger, Fear, and Confidence with the barbell

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.