Creating The Right Mindset for Barbell Lifting
As you develop as a lifter, becoming present, aware and intentional about your training sessions is more important.
Photo Credit: Becca Heuer
Learn nuances of mentally preparing for bigger gains.
Introduction
When I first started lifting weights, I thought a good workout meant making my ears bleed with death metal. I treated every session like it was my last, pushing past my limits on every set.
The reality is that long-term strength and muscle come from deliberate thinking. Of course, you will still experience moments when you need to get hyped, such as during powerlifting competitions. But most of the time, you will string together more consistent, high-quality barbell training with an intentional approach.
Developing these skills applies to lots of areas of your life.
After all, you can't sniff ammonia and take pre-workout before a big meeting. But you can learn processes that lead to better outcomes. You can set goals, create a plan, and then break that plan into discrete tasks to ensure success. Failing a few times also builds resilience if you know how to fight through.
Here are the characteristics of a productive mental approach to weightlifting.
Develop a Growth Mindset
You might be familiar with a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. It's an idea popularized by Professor Carol Dweck that describes whether people believe they can improve over time. Here's a specific definition from Harvard Business Review; you can access the full article at this link.
"Someone with a growth mindset views intelligence, abilities, and talents as learnable and capable of improvement through effort. On the other hand, someone with a fixed mindset views those same traits as inherently stable and unchangeable over time."
People with a growth mindset generally have more success.
Here are examples of a growth mindset in lifting:
Viewing poor training sessions as an opportunity to learn more about recovery and nutrition
Focusing on what you can control, like effort
Getting excited about solving technique problems like your sticking point on the bench press
Actively seeking constructive criticism from powerlifting coaches or powerlifters
Reminding yourself of the value of lifting beyond the amount of weight on the bar
Here's the opposite of a growth mindset using the same examples:
Viewing poor training sessions as proof of a poor program or inherent physical limitations
Focusing on things outside your control, like genetics
Believing that you've "tried everything" when dealing with movement faults
Rejecting new information or sticking stubbornly to one coaching style or program
Avoiding challenges like learning a more technical lift because you're "bad it at"
Lifting (and fitness in general) are excellent growth mindset activities. Their repeated, progressive nature makes them ideal for building this habit.
Create a Process Orientation
Focusing on processes over goals is standard advice. In fitness, however, it gets less attention. Most personal trainers or strength coaches want to sell results. They don't emphasize sustainable steps nearly as much.
Plus, powerlifting's growth has beginners setting their sights on a 500-lb squat during their linear progression.
Getting stronger comes down to following pretty simple processes over a long period. You can set personal records for years following basic training principles. Here's an example of one model:
Set weekly volume. Find a range between 10-20 sets per movement.
Set weekly intensities. Make between 1/4 and 1/2 of those sessions near 90% of your e1RM.
Adjust session intensity based on RPE. Leave room to go up or down by 10% based on factors like total stress, recovery status, and sleep.
Add novel stimuli. Use movements that balance your training or bring up lagging muscle groups.
Determine predictable average rates of strength gain. If you're a novice, 10-15 lbs per session may work for a bit, followed by 5 pounds per week. As you advance, it may be 5 pounds every month.
Get Curious and Experiment
I'm a proponent of evidence-based training. But you can't just engineer the optimal program based on lab results. We're still building our understanding of how humans gain strength and muscle (hypertrophy).
High-quality research provides some good general guidance on exercise, but you still need to personalize it. That means being open-minded with exercise selection, weekly volume and intensity, and cycle structure.
Think of your programs as experiments you're running on yourself. Track and measure results and try to control critical variables.
Here's one example of how to set up the experiment:
Use an app with e1RM built in to graph your progress or build out a spreadsheet.
Create 4-week mesocycles over 3-4 months. Keep your core competition lifts while selectively changing assistance lifts, volume, and intensity.
Set your parameters between 10-20 sets per week per body part. Start on the low or high end based on your personal experience. For example, if 20 sets of bench pressing inflames your shoulders, start at 10-15. Set your intensity between 60-88% on the main lifts and 50-70% on the assistance lifts.
Track your average improvement over each 4-week cycle. That way, whether you peek in week 2 or 4 won't matter as much as the general trend.
Adjust each mesocycle by substituting 1-2 movements each time. Keep the core lifts but swap, for example, a pause deadlift with a Romanian deadlift. Also, gradually increase or decrease your volume and intensity by 10%.
Pay attention to your results to craft a final program that works optimally. Follow this plan for a while, only updating if you plateau.
Become a Mindful Athlete
Many people think they need constant high levels of motivation to train. It is helpful early on if you're excited about trying something new. Enthusiasm helps set routines and habits.
Plus, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are very high when you first start lifting. You make quick progress and receive positive feedback. Having your friends or colleagues tell you that you're jacked is inspiring.
But those feelings wane over time. You will miss many productive sessions if you're always waiting for a burst of energy before training. Or, if you're relying on pre-workout for every workout, it will have consequences down the road.
Instead, learn the practice of mindfulness for athletes. While this may take you out of your comfort zone, it's an approach that many elite competitors use. Mindfulness is all about staying present and engaged in your current task.
George Mumford pioneered mindful athletics in his work with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers during their NBA Championship runs.
Mumford covers several major topics, but one of my favorites is Awareness of Breath. You can read more about Mumford and fascinating background by clicking this link.
AWARENESS OF BREATH
Deep breathing is a powerful way to be in the moment. Even better is it prepares our bodies for athletic tasks. It allows us to perform more efficiently and lower the risk of injury.
Now, mindfulness doesn't mean passivity or relaxation. It can serve that purpose, but I don't think anyone would describe MJ or Kobe as lackadaisical on the court. Instead, they harnessed their presence of mind to elevate their games in heroic moments.
Ideally, you'll get to that same place during competition, but recognize that training is different. Constantly chasing gym PRs will run you into the ground. Instead, use mindful focus to prepare for what you have planned for any given day in the gym.
With this awareness, you will also be able to make adjustments. If the weights feel light in your hands, then crush some heavy weights. But let's say your energy is lagging because of life stress. You'll note that, take a little off the bar and still perform to the best of your abilities on that day.
MINDFULNESS AND RPE
In either case, give yourself a long enough warmup to gauge your likely effort for the day. A lot of times, energy will kick in once you get moving. That's why it's best to calculate Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) after you've done some warmup sets. Sometimes, you will need until the first working set to set your daily percentages.
Regardless of the decision, avoid self-judgement in either direction. Stay level-headed whether the session is going perfectly or not. There's a significant mental and energy cost to negative self-talk. But it's also counter-productive to convince yourself after one workout that you've cracked the code to meteoric gains.
Just nail each repetition, running through your technical adjustment. Build your session rep-by-rep and set-by-set.
Conclusion
Many people start lifting for the physical and mental benefits. But to get those full benefits, you must commit to developing the right mindset. Embracing learning and growth will put you in the best position for long-term gains.
If you're interested in developing your lifting mindset under the guidance of an experienced online strength and conditioning coach, please visit my contact page.
