[Veloce]

I have all sorts of crazy shit going through my head, especially for PRs.

I'll admit, there have been moments when I was actually scared to hit a PR. Some deep rooted "You're not good enough" bullshit.

One thing that's really helped me is telling myself, "Just hit one rep. Give me one rep like your fucking life depends on it. Get that bar on your back, get it off the rack, and squat that motherfucker."

After one rep, the voice is telling me "Alright, not so bad right? Get the fuck down there and gimme another one."

Yeah it's a little crazy, and I do listen to my body. When I'm going heavy, I don't lift to fail. I keep one in the tank.

Sometimes I get into this weird physics mindset, it helps me lose myself. I think, "I'm not at the gym. I'm not an ego. There's no-one else here. I'm a bundle of protein fibers that contract and shift to move this mass of steel further from the earth. I'm not fighting the weights. I'm moving this thing through earth's gravitational field. That's all that's happening here."

[kbell]

I second the calming of the mind. I tend to have a lot going on in my mind at any giving time. However the downside of active mind including psyching one up, is that it uses more energy. Where this was most apparent was in BJJ class when I could not focus on fighting until my I did an intense warm up. All of the blood seemed to go to my muscles and my mind was focused on one thing. When the mind is not active, their is less self doubt.

Self doubt in a lift, is when you don't believe you can lift what you previously lift the week before. Its not logical, but too much thought strengthens this weakening view.

With exercise, you should be strong as it is, so too much mental simulation tends to detract from the lift. A deadlift with a calm mind allows more focus to the form, and keeping the abs tight, and the back non rounded.

[youngblazer]

(11-09-2014 11:47 AM)Veloce Wrote:  

Sometimes I get into this weird physics mindset, it helps me lose myself. I think, "I'm not at the gym. I'm not an ego. There's no-one else here. I'm a bundle of protein fibers that contract and shift to move this mass of steel further from the earth. I'm not fighting the weights. I'm moving this thing through earth's gravitational field. That's all that's happening here."

Haha nice man, that's some Neo "there is no spoon" matrix manipulation type shit.

[Redwood]

Tell myself just fucking do it.

Courtesy of Matt Forney.

[LouieG]

Pump up music, plus, for some reason, I always think of the most fucked up places I've been: Phnom Penh, Manila, oil palm plantations on the east coast of Malaysia. I remember seeing people there living in mind-boggling poverty and privation, and then my inner monologue is something along the lines of:

"Women and children endure that 24 hours a day... and you can't do five quick reps, you bitch?"

"You can't give me one more pull up?"

"You can't sprint out the last 100 yards?" etc.

It's a dumb comparison but it does the trick.

[StrikeBack]

In training: I calm down, clear my head (probably walk outside first to isolate from the music and noises) then matter-of-factly go up to the bar and lift with the usual technique prep.

In competition (powerlifting): same, except I also visualise myself lifting the weight I'm about to tackle successfully, with perfect technique and with as many details as possible (colours of the plates etc.).

[RUIN]

***EDIT***: For me it's as much a part of repeating a certain sequence in a routine as it is about getting in there and doing it. for instance I deliberately choose a gym no less than 20mins from wherever I am coming from. in that 20mins I will either have had my pre-workout, or have it on the way if im driving. The whole time I am listening to one particular track (listed the favourite below) until it becomes white noise (I know I am ready because I stop predicting the beat or tapping my hands/fingers).

Tha Playah has always been a good source of stuff to get me seeing red. this is probably my favourite if im doing something like Deads (get to 3:08 and just keep listening)

and suddenly I turn into this:

[rdvirus]

https://soundcloud.com/nathnael/ct-fletcher-motivation

[Mage]

The absolutely most effective way to be ready for big lifts is to pick a fight with someone on your way to gym. Just thinking that there is someone out there who would like to get physical with you pumps tons of adrenalin in you and works as a free steroid. You must be a true asshole trough to do this regularly, but I just happen to be a judgmental vigilante who likes to push fat losers standing and blocking escalators. Another good way is to squeeze in line before some fat bastard in shop as you buy food for immediate post-workout consumption. Luckily today there are millions of visibly fat/tatooed/beta losers whom you want to shame anyway. So do it. Be an asshole and get your daily adrenalin, then go and make a PR in gym!

In more extreme cases you can create conflicts right in the gym is there is some loser who curls in squat rack or doesn't remove weight after he is done or breaks the gym etiquette in any way that gives you any moral justification to antagonize him. Just don't do this on regular guys who are very popular with other clients or guys bigger than you if you are planning to visit that particular gym regularly!

No fap helps too.

[StrikeBack]

Joking aside, the general rule is (and even this is very personality-dependent): if you have advanced - elite level technique mastery, then psyching up like crazy is a good way to squeeze out an extra % or two. However, if your technique isn't at that level, then psyching up too much will make you lose form and that is a bigger loss than any small percentage that being super psyched will give you.

[Cr33pin]

[NorthxNorthwest]

I ask for a spot. Something about having someone ready to help me if I'm struggling really pisses me off for whatever reason and helps me crank things up a couple notches.

[CerebralZealot]

I just distance myself to a 3rd person view of myself and "oh looks like that guy is gonna throw around some serious weight", calm and right action.