Happy PR Friday — post your week’s personal bests or training updates to the comments.
There are two sides to a successful heavy lift: the volitional violence at a critical point in the lift coupled with a pre-existing shot of adrenaline. The former consists of gritting your teeth and ripping through each rep. The latter, however, is more of a skill that has to be developed over time. Considering that I’ve raised my heart rate by 50 beats per minute while sitting in a chair getting ready to squat, I’ll draw on my own experiences while combining some simple stuff I learned while studying sport psychology a few years ago.
Most people, especially stereotypical powerlifters, will use music as their source of external motivation. Even your average friend will have an image of a guy listening to inexplicable death metal and screaming prior to a lift that represents a similar range of motion to Stephen Hawking’s squat. This isn’t always the case, but douche bags — as well as mammoths — do exist.
Now consider the opposite side of the equation: the crafty champion. He is a man who wears an armored suit of serenity, yet his mind is full of wroth. He is courteous to the judges, undergoes his routine, seamlessly hits his lift, and pays homage to the crowd after a personal best. He has learned to summon the dragons from within.
Causing a raucous prior to lifting is a young man’s method of boosting his adrenaline; it’s more primal, easier to do. Yelling and flailing about is an external method of raising adrenaline, because the actions are typically associated with anger, action, and violence. Let’s learn how to develop the mental aspect of lifting.
This is Pisarenko's pump-up
Create a Routine
Have you ever seen an Olympic athlete perform in person? They will do the exact same thing prior to each lift every single time. I’ve been at several meets with Chad Vaughn, a two time American Olympian in the 77kg class and gold medal winner in the 2003 Pan American Games, and each lift has the same routine regardless if it’s a training meet or a big meet. Weightlifting is inherently different than powerlifting, yet high level experienced powerlifters probably do this as well.
Visualization
That preparatory routine can merely be a physical action (i.e. approaching the platform, tightening the belt, shrugging the shoulders to remind yourself to finish the pull on a snatch), but it will be augmented significantly by some mental techniques. One of the easiest to use is visualization (also called imagery). This is just a mental image of something. It will be best if the lift itself is visualized with success, often including a single cue (similar to basketball players and free throws), yet can consist of…well, anything.
When I played football, I thought of blowing up a full-back who was trying to kick me out on an iso. Nowadays, it’s more general and includes more self-talk (next section), yet I like to visualize the cue itself. Instead of a full range of motion squat, it might be the specific explosive bounce out of the bottom. Instead of the entire snatch, it will be ripping through the second pull. AC has told me he imagines an army of zombies attacking people he loves (don’t ask). Much like general “pump-up methods”, I see an evolution of maturity in them. Early on, they will be focused on violence and mayhem, and later on they will be more specific and subdued. They focus on the success of the lift instead of a general heightening of systemic energy.
For me, visualization is just a quick image flashing in my head. I often combine several images as my adrenal intensity builds up over the course of a few seconds. I like to imagine my system ramping itself up like a whirlwind. As the whirlwind increases in intensity, I’ll use different types of self talk to make it specific to the type of lift I’m doing. Visualization is important — and works best when visualizing the successful lift itself — yet it is just a piece of the puzzle.
Self Talk
This isn’t merely a simple, “C’mon! Let’s go! Yay!” This can be a combination of any word phrase that can increase your adrenaline. Again, early on, music was the inspiration for this, but I’ve been in gyms for over a year that not only don’t have music playing, but have TVs on (I hate TV). It’s hard to sum up the self talk that I use, because it’s so specific to each situation. It’s more of a stream of consciousness combined with certain aspects of visualization.
Self talk can consist something like Kirk Karwoski’s “I own that bar.” There was an article in Iron Mind that talked about how Kirk stared at his bar for ten minutes while listening to metal before he hit his top set of the day. For him, it was all about owning that fucking bar. It was his. And I think this can provide a good lesson: the self talk works in accordance with your overall attitude and visualization.
One method is to imagine the bar as your opponent; you won’t let it beat you. Other methods are to focus on the cue and let your mantra be, “Bounce…bounce…bounce…” as you go through your visualization. I consider myself pretty good at being able to pump my friends up, and I’ve used all kinds of methods. I’ve convinced them to prove someone wrong. I’ve convinced them to hit the lift for someone they’ve cared about. I’ve challenged them to not let the bar beat them. I’ve given them single cues to think about, and nothing else. These, however, are all externally provided to the lifter. You need to develop the ability to do it on your own when no one is watching.
This is why it’s so hard to articulate what works for me, because it’s something that has developed unique to me over time. I’m pretty decent at all different types of lifts, quick or slow, so my approach is more broad. Think about what really motivates you in the moment. Not what motivates you as you read this, sitting down and acting docile, but what motivates you when you have 15 seconds before you lift. I can think words like, “get this shit” and “bounce”, but often I just think of a swelling uproar while a mantra of phrases run through my head. Do you need to imagine you’re in an arena? Do you need to imagine you’re possessed? Do you need to imagine the battle of Robert Baratheon and Rhaegar Targaryen? Does the situation itself provide enough adrenaline and you merely have to focus it into correct technique?
It’s possible that none of this is necessary. Brent is someone who is seemingly mentally quiet. Whatever he thinks about prior to a lift, it gets him ready most of the time (the other few times I think he would benefit from some excitement). The trick is finding out what you need prior to the lift and doing it. But it should evolve and adapt over time as your body adapts; acting like a silly savage won’t be acceptable forever. Figure out how to get yourself amped without the superfluous use of music. Besides, cavemen didn’t have music.
Squatted a new 1RM @ 170K
new 5rm deadlift 144k
Back to lifting after a knee injury, but slowly. Squatted 135×5, 185×5, 225×5, 275×5 the other day and then deadlifted 135×5, 225×5, 315×5, 375×1. No pain. I’m thinking of doing a short 3×5 linear progression to get myself back to where I was (320 5×5 on TM volume day and 370×3 on intensity day).
I’m really into the visualization part myself. I imagine the entire lift start to finish and think of a few helpful cues. Like for a deadlift I’ll imagine my little walk up and then think “push from heels; derive power from ass.” I don’t think yelling or any of that crap is necessary. Back in high school I threw shotput and discuss. I did find that a small yell at the peak of the throw was helpful though. Probably some sort of exhilation thing. Before a big lift I usually will flick and pinch my ears and sensitive parts of my neck to increase adrenaline and really perk up the nervous system/anger. Leading up to the meet I did I quit listening to music during training since you can’t do it during the meet. I do find it helpful though in day-to-day training to keep it interesting and block out the sound of idiots at the gym.
A forceful grunt during the lift isn’t the same as acting crazy. That’s why various martial arts have a noise when striking — the forceful expiration against the epiglottis increases the intra abdominal and thoracic pressure at the moment of exertion. You see it often in Olympic weightlifters.
–Justin
I think I’m the only person who doesn’t get pumped up when listening to death metal/loud noises. It annoys me. Not my thang. I do much better with the Carpenters or Robert Goulet. A weird thing that gets me ready to move some weight or any activity in general is watching old basketball highlights. I get fucking stoked just thinking about Dominique Wilkins or Dr. J dunking on fools.
I think one of the reasons I lift is just so I can have something to put in on PR Friday….
Overhead 115x3x5–not lot of weight but I’ve been out for a while. Felt good/easy, though.
Squat 95x2x5,135x1x5–Felt really good. No knee pain and I can tell my hamstring is getting stronger
Finished it off with a set of light deadlifts and
My pump up is the realization that I’m the only person in the gym doing squats while everyone else in the room is doing upper body isolation bullshit. I also tend to amp up a bit by thinking about how badly I’m gonna fuck up that bar on the next set, how I’m just going to crush/destroy it (etc etc).
Training PR: Finally hit a decent set of 5 proper power cleans (albeit at a low weight) after about a year of trying to get the things right. The lift makes sense and my reception of the bar to the shoulders is improving. I also determined my starting point for my upcoming 5×5 LP with a very legit set of squats. FIT helped me a lot with the military press yesterday too.
Swoleness PR: Got hit on by the gal at the front desk of the gym.
Food PR: Discovered that the carneceria around the corner from work sells prepared carnitas by the pound, so I sat at my desk and ate a pound of carnitas with my bare hands for lunch. Feels good man.
I went for a 20 rep set at 275 last night and failed gloriously. Should have slowed down and focused better, but it still was a rep max PR at this weight (I suck at squatting).
Ew, 20 rep attempt. However, the bar was forward on all the reps, not just that 12th one. Ballsy attempt.
–Justin
I also use visualization a lot, and it’s an immense help in getting focused and getting 2 or 3 good cues set in my head. I’ve actually noticed that in times when I don’t visualize the set, it up crappy.
DL: 350×5
Bench 265×5 x3
Falling PR: I went skydiving for the first time over the weekend. I think we jumped at around 11,000 feet. That beats my previous PR of jumping off my friend’s two-story house onto a trampoline in high school.
Jerked 255 pounds from the rack. LOL. Why do I need to write pounds for that? If it was Kilos I’d be famous.
I don’t know if you plan to do another interview type podcast but it would be cool if you can get in touch with Cody Lundin, the guy on Dual Survival. This man is a total badass and certainly 70s Big. He’s jacked and from what I’ve been able to read is totally into strength training and weight lifting because keeping the body strong is important to preparing to survive. Anyway, he’s a very articulate guy and I really admire him and would be interested to know how he trains. I’m sure others would too. Did I mention he hasn’t worn shoes or long pants since the mid 1980s? Yeah. Hardcore.
http://www.codylundin.com/cody_dual_survival.html
Do you work out?
Yes, I’ve been training with free weights for many years. All survival training revolves around keeping the human body alive. The better the body is kept in shape, the better it will perform under survival stresses. By the way, Champions Gym in Prescott, Arizona is by far the best gym in northern Arizona. Nancy Davis, the owner, is a top notch trainer and has been a friend of mine for more than two decades.
+1 for quiet rage. The prancing around and shouting bullshit is for boys. Grown men don’t need the attention.
One of the ways I get pumped is to imagine somebody I respect standing next to me encouraging me.
I mostly lift alone in my micro gym that I own. I’ve come to prefer it. My two friend that train CF Football with me come from time to time, but they used to be big Ronnie Coleman wannebes, so they try to fire me up with screaming and it makes me laugh and I lose all intensity. I like to stare at the bar til it’s nothing, just an object, then work my heart rate in my mind until I’m shaking a bit with adrenaline, visualize the lift going perfect, then remember one cue that I know I need. I may throw in a quiet “hooo!” just before I grab the bar.
Act like you belong there, making that lift.
DL PR: 365 1×5.
Getting heavy PR: weighed in at 220 earlier this week. Get huge.
Yeah, I noticed the bar travel as well. I am terrible at squatting and it has been a long, slow work in progress. Believe it or not it is much better than it was two years ago when I started.
Deadlift: 500 x 3
I missed on the third rep at the start of my workout, then remembered I’m not a fucking clitoris at the end of my workout and fucking nailed all three reps.
DL PR: 365 1×5.
Getting heavy PR: weighed in at 220 earlier this week.
I’ve found both the primal method and the Zen method to be effective depending on the circumstances. Good post, I like seeing insight into the mental aspects of lifting
Great post. I’m really fascinated by the psychological aspects of sports performance.
PRs:
SQ 320×10
Press 165×5
BP 220×5
BB Row 193×5
DL 365×5 DOHG (not hook)
Missed some reps this week for the first time since I started LP, after 13 weeks (Press & last rep of last set of BP). I think maybe that it’s a good thing because in failing those reps I could tell where my weak points are, in form and strength. Now I can focus on improving those areas.
I think focus is hugely important for me. If I know someone is starting at me when I squat or if I have a sore point in my body, even the slightest loss of complete focus on the lift negatively effects my performance, quite dramatically.
When I was fighting I read a pretty cool book about the “mental game” – http://www.amazon.com/Fighters-Mind-Inside-Mental-Game/dp/0802119352
Do many lifters on here use stims (eg. Jack3D, Mesamorph, etc) to help increase focus? I would have thought they could be extra useful in heavy lifting.
Your two descriptions of readying oneself and boosting adrenaline sound very similar to the light and dark sides of the Force.
I lol’d
–Justin
Injured my left knee 2 weeks ago and although it feels much better now, I still can´t really squat at the moment. No PRs in the big lifts this week.
Today´s training:
Squat 80 kg (~ 176 lbs)x5, felt OK but not good enough to put on more weight
Press 65 kg (~ 143 lbs)x5
Deadlift 182,5 kg (~402 lbs)x5
Dips BWx19x4 PR (my goal is to get 4 sets of 20 and then add weight)
BW: 92 kg (~203 lbs)
Watched “The Soul Is Greater Than the World” (documentary about Ricky Bruch) yesterday, it´s fucking awesome.
PRs from today…
Squat 370×5*PR
Dead 420×5*PR
my psych up? i try to be what everyone hates. I draw upside down crosses I make myself everyones enemy in that fucking crossfit gym. I want them to be scared I want them to know. I am the biggest, hairiest, most hatred filled motherfucker in that place. no cues i use those for warm ups. at that point I know the cues for me its knees out squatting, snap the hip on the dead, and press back for benches and presses. But i want people in that place to know I will fucking kill everything they love and there is nothing you can do. I am stronger you are weaker. In hindsight I think its funny because they see me stomping around silent and scowling bathing in chalk and sweat. But I leave the happiest guy there. Every lb or rep added every day I walk away not injured it adds up to them knowing thats MY fucking squat rack, thats my bench, thats my bar.
Mega immature compared some of you zen freaks. But the inner chaos is my zen outside the gym everything has a glass ceiling. IN the gym? No there is no fucking roof or walls no qualifications or requirements. Just me jacked up on black coffee and satan and all the chalk I can possible put on. and its working.
dl pr 405 1×1
DL Pr 165kg 2×3
Press Pr 55kg 3×5
Bench 85kg 3×5
BW Pr 83kg
I’m usually pretty quiet leading towards a lift and then just before I’ll start to amp up, mostly just pace around and quietly grunt, then walk in stomp my shoe twice and get under the bar. Seems to do alright, the whole yelling before a lift doesn’t really fit me I don’t think.
Off topic
TM train continues rolling along.
Squat: 325×5
Press: 110×10
Deadlift: 405×1, 425×1, 445×1.
Deadlifts are still feeling weird. I can barely get 400 off the ground, but past the knees it feels light. I’m so confused… lockout used to be my weak point.
Speaking of, does anyone know of any specific exercises to strengthen the deadlift off the floor? I’m looking at RDLs to help my hamstring strength some, but this isn’t a problem I’ve ever had.
I would have to assume your set up is kind of funky looking. In the case that it isn’t, Stroup has been telling me that doing round back extensions (with the load behind the neck, like Pendlay’s lifters) has really helped give him pop off the floor in his deadlift.
–Justin
I never shout either and I’ve tried listening to music but I like lifting better without it. I visualize the lift, then I get angry. I don’t have to think of stuff that gets me angry outside of the gym though. I get angry that the weight is trying to obey gravity. The weight will obey me, not gravity.
No PRs today (planning a wedding, repainting every room in the house, and going to school at the same time is terrible for my lifting schedule) but I applied some of these techniques on the squat and I definitely feel like they helped. Explosion out of the hole was a lot more solid.
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Weighted chin-up: +180 at a bodyweight of 176
I’ve always found that Arya’s “fear cuts deeper than swords” helps me get under the bar for a PR squat attempt.
What did you think of A Dance With Dragons?
I don’t really want to talk about it here with spoilers prevalent. There will be an area to talk about it soon.
–Justin
Two highland games one weekend after another so no lifting PRs till after next Saturday. Off to today’s games in Fresno in an hour or two to get some throwing prs.
For a different approach, youtube “benedikt magnusson deadlift” and enjoy the war dance that he does before a big lift.
Personally, I have loud metal before the lift, but 30 seconds out, I cancel that and focus on a combination of the visualization and quiet mental preparation. Great post!
Squat 325×4
Bench 275×4
No deadlift PRs for a bit as I am still re-tooling the pulling program.
watching some porn before a lift works for me.
A couple really deep breaths and staring hard at the bar works for me.
I did 7 reps at 195 on the bench, which is a PR for me since I started back (BW 158 today)
BOOM…OUTTA HERE
PR ON SQUAT= 475LBS
IM USING SMOLOV FOR SQUATS, DOWNLOADED SPREADSHEET FROM STRONGLIFTS.COM. ENDED UP PUTTING 50LBS ON MY MAX. ITS BEEN PAINFULL AND MENTALLY CHALLENGING BUT WELL WORTH IT…THEY SAY THE WORST, HARDEST PART OF THE PROGRAM IS COMING UP THOUGH
forgot to mention, broke my shitty cheap belt last week and promptly bought one from best belts. bad ass. went to gym on friday on 5 days rest, hit a pr @445, got pinned twice @465, then @ 455 and 475. went back on saturday hoping i had ‘greased the grove’. ended up working pretty well. also, iceing my legs after workouts has been rediculously helpfull
Great articles. These have helped a lot with my last two days of lifting. Thanks for all your time, Justin.
Today the discussion of the two man deadlift came up in the gym so we decided to do it.
Two man DL: 1025lbs
@becker
I’m also doing the Smolov squat cycle. I’m on the 2nd week of the base mesocycle. I am not used to the high volume but have able to get through so far.
I don’t make a scene or anything, but I get real mad inside my head, especially for a heavy squat. I think of the bar as an old friendly rival that pushes me to be better. The real enemy is the previosly weaker version of myself that I must beat and put behind me.
Maybe a little too epic for the namby pamby weights I’m moving, but it works.
Did my deadlift and squat max’s. DL:435, Squat: 325. Both were PR’s for me. I have been using the Wendler 5,3,1 and have had no complaints. My squat seems to finally be coming along the more I learn. Its amazing what proper mental cues will do for cleaning up your form along with learning the mechanics of the lift correctly. I’ll be checking my bench press max tomorrow in preparation for a small local Bench, Deadlift, Squat competition on the FOB that I live on.
200 kg squat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYYWRXXWPec&#t=40s
Resetting to 5s (maybe). I know what weaknesses I need to bring up to fix the breakdowns (thanks, Justin).
Re-reading this as I’m bored as fuck in class. In reference to the “Self Talk” portion have you ever convinced Brent to make a lift for “That girl with fat tits we saw earlier.”
lol
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