Powerlifting is a fantastic sport, if you are willing to put the work in. You might see some guys like Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, or The Mountain in Game of Thrones Deadlifting 1,041 pounds a few weeks ago at the Arnolds and think “How can a human even lift that?” If you watch these lifters before they go up and bench/deadlift/squat some enormous weight, they all have their own walk up routine, some even break it down to a science “three steps to the left, two to the right, one to the left, walk up to the bar”. What they are doing, besides looking like a psychopath, is mentally preparing themselves to lift something they probably have never lifted before, if there is one ounce of doubt in your body you will miss the lift, Powerlifting is mental as much as it is physical.
Much like life, overthinking is never good; it creates unnecessary anxiety, causes unwanted stress, and creates impossible scenarios to be played in your mind over and over again. This is a common problem with novice lifters, not just powerlifters. The way to overcome this is grab an MP3 player, get some noise cancelling headphones (Preferably Bluetooth so the cord doesn’t get in the way), and put on some of your favorite music. When I say favorite music, not music that you listen to in the summer while driving with the window open, I mean music that pumps you up, hypes you up for work or an interview, the music that gives you the chills. For me, that music is the heaviest of metal that there is, but everyone’s workout music is different. Find out what music works for you, and envision yourself lifting that weight. I used to struggle with my bench press, when I was finally able to get to 225 (two plates on each side), I was able to bench 225, but when I would try and go for 235 pounds, I would always fail, even when I was able to do 3-4 reps of 225. That meant I had a mental block with going past 225. So what did I do? I first started by doing accessory exercises such as;
• Alternating dumbell Bench-8-10 reps
• Pec Flys with dumbells-8-10 reps
• Pushups- as many Quality reps I could do
• Incline bench press- no more than 5 reps
Along with the accessory exercises, I changed up my routine for when I would approach the bench. Being that I was in a commercial gym and I didn’t want to end up on one of those “gym fail” videos that we all cringe and laugh at, I was very conservative in my approach and made it so I was focused on my music while I sat down and envisioned 235 on the bar. It took a little practice to make it second nature. After settling my nerves over 235, I then decided to skip 225 all together. I started with 135 pounds as a warmup, and then progressed to 185 for a few reps, then instead of going to 225 like I always do, I jumped straight up to 235. I ended up hitting that weight and improving my max even more so to 275, where my max is now.
If I did not conquer my anxiety and nervousness with 235 pounds over my chest I don’t think I would have ever progressed past 225. No matter how strong I got.
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