[Steelex]

So I'm going to spit some bro science here. I don't have proof of any of this, but over hundreds of workouts I have noticed a pattern and I feel like it's worth talking about.

During the workout, one of the keys to really getting the most out of each set, busting PR's, and just overall killing it is your ability to turn your nervous system ON.

This is largely due to your body and minds ability to use a variety of chemicals such as adrenaline, ect. The problem is that during the day we often exist in a state of stimulation or stress, either from outside factors, relationship issues, lack of sleep, our own mental issues, or from the overuse of stimulants such as caffiene, ect. The constant barrage of stress on the CNS from adrenaline and cortisol seems to leave it a little fried and unable to perform at its peak when called upon.

I've noticed that all my best workouts were the ones where I entered the workout perhaps a little on the mellow side, but was able to turn it on and perform at a level that was personally very high for me. By staying in a relaxed (but well rested) state for most of the day, when I finally hit the gas, i was able to train at a much more productive level.

Because of this, I'm going to be doing a lot more work on keeping a relaxed state during the day and saving the mojo for the actual work out. As fun as it is to go through the day in a stimulated state, I think for lifting or training it's counter productive.

[The Man w/ the Golden Gun]

You only have a limited amount of energy throughout the day; spend it on the actions most important to you-heard it on an old Gorilla Mindset podcast (though I'm sure you two aren't the only people to espouse that idea)

[kurtybro]

There is definite truth to this. You hear it all the time : "Stress management" but that shit is so nebulous it's hard to get a handle on what people mean when they refer to it. I think ^^^golden gun^^^ is right on the money, IMO the better able you are to sort of calm yourself down during your day-to-day tasks and not expend an ounce more energy than you need to, the better your overall capacity to call upon strength at any given moment -- you simply have more in the tank.

Think of it as 'bleeding energy' whenever you get stressed out over nonsense during your day, but it's a fine line because you don't want to mellow out 'too much' as you need to maintain some level of threat awareness, which obviously varies depending on your environment. Your Temperament also plays a huge role -- some guys can never seem to 'switch off' and vice versa... This shit can get very philosophical; it's not an easy topic. Most so called stress management "experts" claim that it all begins with breath work, like breathing through your diaphragm as a starting point.


I'm very interested in this topic too, would love to hear others' opinions