Comments on: What Do You Think About When You Lift? Part 1 of 2

By: Navid Nadali

Navid Nadali — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:19:17 +0000

I personally think about the thing that annoys me the most , something that makes me want to punch someone, and before i know it, im pushing the weigh as if its nothing!! seriously, try it! Anger is a beautiful thing if used right,

By: Weightlifting and Thinking | Thinking Bodybuilder | What You Think About While Lifting Weights | World Fitness Network

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:38:53 +0000

[...] e-book about how to change your body type within 90 days: 3 Months to a New You.We went over the 8.5 Types Of Thinkers While Weightlifting last week. What you think about while lifting is critical for your [...]

By: Darrin

Darrin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:27:01 +0000

@Dave – yes, many studies across many disciplines (not just athletics) have shown that visualization improves results. I think the most famous study involves basketball free throws, reported by Dr. Blaslotto at University of Chicago. Three groups were formed and all did free throws and their % success was recorded. Then, for the next month, one group practices, one group did nothing, and one group just visualized (no practice). Well, a month later the group that practiced improved about 24%, the group that did nothing didn’t improve, and the group that visualized without practicing improved 23%.

That’s pretty startling. Other research has shown similar results, though I don’t know of any that were that close between the “practicers” and the “visualizers who didn’t practice”.

There are many theories, some of which you mention, but for most of us, I would say who cares about why it works – it just does. The lesson here is that on the bus or while waiting in line or before falling asleep – imagine yourself using proper form and lifting more weight and completing your reps and running farther and… etc.

And you will see improvements!

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:16:29 +0000

Hi Darrin,
thanks for another great article. Though I can’t remember the details, I remember reading about a study a couple of years ago which found that mentally picturing yourself performing the upcoming set with good form and rhythm reduced the chance of failure in that set by something like 3-5%. Not sure of their sample size etc. but I’ve personally found that to be a very effective technique. Several world class athlete’s do much the same, the example which springs to mind is David Beckham who visualizes exactly where he wants to place a penalty kick before he takes it.

There are a couple of theories, not mutually exclusive, as to why this works. Firstly, the parts of the brain controlling the actual movements involved are activated by just picturing the movements; its like a mental warm up set. Secondly, in your mind you have already completed the set so you are much less likely to start doubting yourself when you do it for real.

By: Fahim

Fahim — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:40:49 +0000

I think about breasts and how awesome they are

By: blatyo

blatyo — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:31:07 +0000

I guess I would be categorized as the overachiever. However, I would probably call it the focused.

1) Before I start an exercise I think about what weight I’m going to do and mentally go over the form.
2) When I start a set I do a mental checklist that I am doing the exercise correctly and I count the amount of reps I’ve performed.
3) Between sets I think about the weight I need to put on the bar and I’m also counting seconds. Generally I do my sets between 30-60 seconds.
4) When I finish an exercise I think about what exercise is next.

By: Darrin

Darrin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:35:30 +0000

@ wazzup – yeah, “overachiever” is probably the wrong term. Maybe “superachiever” would be better? Any ideas?

@ gene – too funny! Congrats on doing the (negative) chin ups. Oh, and by the way, you really should take out the trash…

@ paul – thanks so much for the compliment! Yeah, the whole “training to failure” thing is a complicated topic that deserves its own post (so I’ve put that in the queue). I think your concern is well-founded but the problem is that there are different interpretations of “train to failure”. Briefly, here are some thoughts:
- as I mentioned last week (http://worldfitnessnetwork.com.....rt-2-of-2/) I don’t recommend “training to failure” for beginners
- when I use the phrase “train to failure” I mean “to the point where you literally have to stop mid-rep because if you pushed it any further you could hurt yourself”; so, you fail to get that last rep; spotters or racks are critical
- it does NOT mean “squeezing out that last rep no matter how ugly and bad your form gets”; that would be dangerous and I never suggest that you get sloppy just to get another rep (I’m not a fan of so-called “cheating” movements)
- here’s how it might look: I’m doing squats; I get 5 reps done with just barely getting out #5 and I’m pretty sure I can’t get #6; I start #6, keeping really good form; I lower my body; I start to stand – still keeping good form – and I realize I can’t get that last rep; so I lower down and let the barbell down on the spot bars on the rack; so I failed but I was safe; get it?
- every set other than warm-ups has to be hard but if you are not training to failure, the idea is to train so hard that your last rep is the last one you could do without failing (sometimes that’s hard to know ahead of time, but you start knowing your body the more you lift and can usually tell; so in the example above, since #5 was still hard, but I knew #6 was unlikely, so I’d stop at #5 if I wasn’t training to failure)
- even for more advanced lifters, I do not recommend every program all year long have a “train to failure” component; for example, my upcoming 6×6x6 routine which you’ll hear about has you go to fail on the last two sets of each exercise but my Full Body Attack routine (http://worldfitnessnetwork.com.....ttack.html) does not have any train to failure component

By: gene

gene — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:38:55 +0000

I usually think, “Man! I’ve got to get some bigger weights!”

I only have some rather light weight dumbbells (I’m too ashamed to tell you HOW light). So, I’m probably NOT building muscle very fast. That is a little discouraging.

At the same time, I have been and continue to lose fat, and even the exercises I am doing helps me maintain such muscle mass as I do have. That makes me very happy!

I’ve also started doing some chin ups (negatives, in my case) when no one is around to laugh. It is helping!

Thanks, Darrin.

PS I tell my wife, “Darrin told me to do this.”

She says, “I wonder if Darrin would tell you to take out the trash?”