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The power of the mind in wieght training!


Bigbwii
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Has anybody experienced or currently experiencing lifting wieghts or traing in a way that you have to rely on your mental attidude to get you through each workout?

 

Right now I'm relying on my Mind to get me through my workouts because my body is experiencing new growth that it's never had before and because I add wieghts with each workout I have to keep telling myself I can do it!

 

Nomatter how sore I am I always recover for the next workout!

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Absolutely! Half the battle at least is mental.

 

I mentioned in my training log a few weeks ago, I was having a very down day. I did my working sets for the bench press 20 pounds lighter than my usual weight. Then I had a nice chat with one of the trainers at the gym, he had noticed my Vegan Bodybuilding tee and was interested in the concept. My mood improved 100%, I put the additional 20 pounds on the bar and did all my working sets over again!

 

Hopefully Veganessentials will catch this thread, he did some writing earlier this year on Vegan Fitness about the importance of attitude and mental preparedness in doing his heavy lifting. It was quite interesting.

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Without a strong mind, you'll never get a strong body!

 

I put it to the test with sled dragging this weekend - my legs seized up rock solid on my last 2 sets, and only by cursing myself out and forcing my body to go on did I complete the distance I needed. Yeah, I could have stopped when it hurt and my body said it had enough and was fighting me, but I know I benefit a lot more by fighting past that point. Squats are the same thing for me - my eyes turn bright red and I feel like I'm going to die, but I know that every hard workout where I go past my previous limits will pay off so I can't let my body's response to lifting stop me when it wants to. Of course, you have to know the good pain from the bad stuff, otherwise you'll be like Sensless and broken in 20 different areas before you hit 30!

 

Attitude and mental preparedness definitely play a large part in how well your lifting can go. There's a fantastic book by Randall Strossen (owner of IronMind) called "Winning Ways" that's excellent for breaking through mentall barriers and gaining more confidence in your lifts (which only helps you to be able to lift more in the end). I highly recommend it to anyone who's had problems with motivation or mental blocks that keep them from progressing because it certainly got me through some rough times.

 

Ryan

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Thanks VE, I think this is KEY point here! always doing better than your last workout! since I started proggressive training I've noticed I have to really go beyond my own limitations and I have to turn into Daywalkers Hulk avatar! I think this is the strongest my mind has been!

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Yeah, of course the mind is important.

When i'm not satisfied with my performance, i get really unlikeable in the gym... i lowkick the rack then And try again to do better.

What i noticed, though, is when i'm in bad mood and don't want to wrok out, i'm stronger than when i go enthusiastic to the gym. My PBs were always on such days

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I'm looking forward to my training in december, when i'm off the diet. I'll start a doggcrapp routine again for some time - that means, one set each muscle to absolute failure and beyond!

 

I like to fight in a set.

 

In my favorite fanatsy novel, the hero gets kidnapped by his enemies, the Aes Sedai. They chain him and put him in a small box, unable to move, and only take him out once per day to flog him. They want to break him by doing so, but instead they do the opposite: they forge his will. Everytime he's being beaten, he repeats a catechism to himself, silently:

Never trust an Aes Sedai - whip - Never again! - whip - Not an inch! - whip - Not a hair! - whip - Don't trust them! - whip - NEVER TRUST AN AES SEDAI!!

 

I love this sequence

It motivates me to think of that when i hit the weights or hang on the bar for the hanging back contest

 

Sidenote: it's not that i think of this always when i work out

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Joseph Greenstein (The Mighty Atom) was really big on the mind aspect. He was a near vegetarian who could still rip horseshoes in half in his 70's. I've been trying to use some of his training ideas. I've never noticed my mental state to have anything to do with how I lift though.

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  • 2 years later...

A meditation session before a workout or run has helped me suceed far and beyond my wildest expectations. After a good meditation, chanting, or whatever works to clear your mind I am so "high" and infinetely joyful regardless of how shitty of a day I might be having. Clearing my mind before these challenging activites allows me to dig deeper into my motivation/drive and I never have a problem pushing myself. When you have an empty mind you cultivate a childlike enthusiasm and it takes longer for your ego to convince you are anything but amazing. If anything I need to learn my cut off point better, so I dont overwork.

 

*Note: I benched(well maxed) my weight, first time in my life, yesterday after a 30 minute meditation session.

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I suppose this fits this thread because it's what I thought about immediately...

 

When I was lifting heavy bench presses, for some reason, unless I had a spotter with his hands underneath the bar, I couldn't do nearly as much weight or reps. I am talking about a really really significant difference (75+lbs and as much as an extra 6-8 reps a set). And it didn't matter who it was, it could be anyone but I just needed someone to be behind me with their hands out; it made me feel comfortable.

 

I never wanted them to touch the bar at all and I always got the lift so it's not like I needed them to stabilize the bar; I just wanted them to have their hands out under the bar.

 

No clue how I completely psyched myself out like that but I did and never got over it throughout all heavy bench press lifts.

 

Funny part is it was only the bench. Squats never bothered me or anything else for that matter. I could throw on whatever I wanted to test limits on squats and such and I had no fear. I guess worse case scenario, the weight could just drop on the rack, which allayed my fears. Something about the possibility of major weight dropping on my chest always freaked me out, even if I knew It was only 50-75% of my max...

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Of course its dumb and dangerous but I used to max out with no spotter on many occasions...for me it felt like it forced me to do the lift...you can lift it or you can die under the bar. It always seemed to work for me but I'd never do it again.

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So much of weight training, and a lot of other forms of exercise is mental. I don't seem to have any problem psyching myself up to lift weights, but then again I don't lift real heavy weights. For me the mental part comes with the cardio, and endurance aspect. Sometimes the only thing that makes me finish a run is my attitude, because my legs feel like lead. This generally happens after I've already done some sort of weight training beforehand.

And Daywalker I love the Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" books too!

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