Deejay_Spike
12-08-2002, 07:34 AM
Training, is it just physical? (article for the strength athlete)
I've you've already been to a meet, I'm pretty sure you've
already seen something like this. One athlete, waiting for his
turn, sits rather anxiously on his chair, unable to remain calm.
This other athlete is quite different. He remains calm, he may
even isolate himself, talking to nobody but himself. People who
do not know much or anything about sport and competition,
right thinks both scenes are rather pathetic. Yet the latter athlete
makes a big PR, while the former one goes to the platform, not
sure of himself. He screwed up.
I think you get my point when i say that mental training can make
a big difference in your performance. Even better, it WORKS!
What the hell is this mental training anyway?
For optimal performances, you should get rid of any weak points,
or at least strengthen them. And like i already suggested, mental
abilities can be trained, developed, just like physical ones. To the
point now. What is mental training? It is developing specific
psychological abilities to increase performance. Justly so, you
could state that a top performance is the result of how the
athlete feels inside.
So, what mental abilities is one to develop in order to increase
performance? I'll list those that are the most important in my
opinion.
* goal- setting
* self-talk and self-fulfilling prophecy
* concentration
* imagery
Goal-setting
setting goals is a very important element of your mental training. I
would even go as far as saying that it the fundation of it. Besides,
it's easier to make a training program and to work for something
if you have a goal. I'd pay attention to the following elements if
you want your goal-setting to be succesful.
- Your goal should be aimed at the performance, not the end
result.
- Make it a challenge, but be realistic. A goal that is too easy to
achieve won't motivate you, and something that is unachievable
won't motivate you for long.
- Be specific. this also means your goal is YOUR goal. it's an
individual thing.
- Make short and long term goals.
Self-talk and Self-fulfilling prophecy
Self-Talk is a motivational technique with which you communicate
positive thoughts to yourself. If you want to succeed in your lift
you must believe in yourself and encourage yourself through self-
talk. We can be our own worst saboteurs when it comes to self-
improvement! If you don't think you deserve to be successful, you
never will be. If you think you cannot do something, chances are
you will never be able to do it! 2 examples : The first athlete is
waiting for his turn, and is thinking : "Hope i don't screw up
again. **** man that looks heavy." When he attempts his lift, the
weight will indeed feel heavy as hell, and he will screw up. Now
take a look at the other athlete. He literally speaks to himself :
"Come on, you can do it. You worked hard for it, you're way
stronger now. Besides, it's only x lbs more than your previous PR.
You can do it." Well, the weight may feel heavy. After all, it is a
PR, but he has a lot more chances to make the lift. and indeed he
did. To improve your performances it's important that the content
of the self-talk should be POSITIVE!
Self-fulfilling proophecy is closely related to self-talk. And it is
something to watch out for. Like self-talk, this can work both
ways. Take the example of the first, nervous, athlete. A man
comes up to him and says that it looked like a real heavyweight,
and he was wondering if he would make the next. What
happens? Well the guy starts to doubt his abilities, does negative
self-talk and will screw up. The guy who walked up to him will see
the confirmation of what he thought he saw. This is a self-
fulfilling prophecy. Always watch out with these kind of things.
Concentration
I can be quite brief with this topic. When you are preparing for
your lift, and when you are performing it, NOTHING or NOBODY
should be able to disturb or disctract your from what you are
doing. Pamela Anderson could come up and spread her legs in
front of you, that should not distract you. Concentration is
something i still have problems with sometimes. Ideally, you
shouldn't hear or see anything BUT the head referee. The rest
doesn't exist. And what doesn't exist, can't reach you.
Illustration : This is concentration
http://users.chello.be/cr34222/Powerlifting/File0013.jpg
Imagery
Imagery can be a powerfull ally. In the past, neurologists have
proven the fact that you can increase performance by thinking
about them intensively enough. This technique consists
of 'seeing' yourself doing the lift. you go trough the lift in your
head before you walk up the platform. Just like in a dream, only
conscious. But there are certain things you should pay attention
to;
- Go trough the lift as if you were doing it yourself. This works
better than to just watch from the third person.
- Again, the content should be positive. You don't want to miss it
in your head.
- Make it as real as it can be.
- Do it. You have gone trough it in your mind, you made the lift,
now you will do the same in real life.
Keep practising
Mental trainig should be regarded as an important part of your
entire training. Don't forget, what goes on in your head can make
the difference between the national title or bombing out of the
competition.
The moment of truth
When it's your turn, and you're about to make your lift, you
shouldn't think about all these techniques, you should DO IT.
As one of my training partners likes to say : "Get your ****ing feet
on the goddamn floor and hit it." and that's how it should be. You
are lean mean lifting machine getting ready for another PR.
I hope you learned from it. I know I'll have to work on certain
things.
Michael Heiremans
Competitive natural powerlifter
Belgian Champion
I've you've already been to a meet, I'm pretty sure you've
already seen something like this. One athlete, waiting for his
turn, sits rather anxiously on his chair, unable to remain calm.
This other athlete is quite different. He remains calm, he may
even isolate himself, talking to nobody but himself. People who
do not know much or anything about sport and competition,
right thinks both scenes are rather pathetic. Yet the latter athlete
makes a big PR, while the former one goes to the platform, not
sure of himself. He screwed up.
I think you get my point when i say that mental training can make
a big difference in your performance. Even better, it WORKS!
What the hell is this mental training anyway?
For optimal performances, you should get rid of any weak points,
or at least strengthen them. And like i already suggested, mental
abilities can be trained, developed, just like physical ones. To the
point now. What is mental training? It is developing specific
psychological abilities to increase performance. Justly so, you
could state that a top performance is the result of how the
athlete feels inside.
So, what mental abilities is one to develop in order to increase
performance? I'll list those that are the most important in my
opinion.
* goal- setting
* self-talk and self-fulfilling prophecy
* concentration
* imagery
Goal-setting
setting goals is a very important element of your mental training. I
would even go as far as saying that it the fundation of it. Besides,
it's easier to make a training program and to work for something
if you have a goal. I'd pay attention to the following elements if
you want your goal-setting to be succesful.
- Your goal should be aimed at the performance, not the end
result.
- Make it a challenge, but be realistic. A goal that is too easy to
achieve won't motivate you, and something that is unachievable
won't motivate you for long.
- Be specific. this also means your goal is YOUR goal. it's an
individual thing.
- Make short and long term goals.
Self-talk and Self-fulfilling prophecy
Self-Talk is a motivational technique with which you communicate
positive thoughts to yourself. If you want to succeed in your lift
you must believe in yourself and encourage yourself through self-
talk. We can be our own worst saboteurs when it comes to self-
improvement! If you don't think you deserve to be successful, you
never will be. If you think you cannot do something, chances are
you will never be able to do it! 2 examples : The first athlete is
waiting for his turn, and is thinking : "Hope i don't screw up
again. **** man that looks heavy." When he attempts his lift, the
weight will indeed feel heavy as hell, and he will screw up. Now
take a look at the other athlete. He literally speaks to himself :
"Come on, you can do it. You worked hard for it, you're way
stronger now. Besides, it's only x lbs more than your previous PR.
You can do it." Well, the weight may feel heavy. After all, it is a
PR, but he has a lot more chances to make the lift. and indeed he
did. To improve your performances it's important that the content
of the self-talk should be POSITIVE!
Self-fulfilling proophecy is closely related to self-talk. And it is
something to watch out for. Like self-talk, this can work both
ways. Take the example of the first, nervous, athlete. A man
comes up to him and says that it looked like a real heavyweight,
and he was wondering if he would make the next. What
happens? Well the guy starts to doubt his abilities, does negative
self-talk and will screw up. The guy who walked up to him will see
the confirmation of what he thought he saw. This is a self-
fulfilling prophecy. Always watch out with these kind of things.
Concentration
I can be quite brief with this topic. When you are preparing for
your lift, and when you are performing it, NOTHING or NOBODY
should be able to disturb or disctract your from what you are
doing. Pamela Anderson could come up and spread her legs in
front of you, that should not distract you. Concentration is
something i still have problems with sometimes. Ideally, you
shouldn't hear or see anything BUT the head referee. The rest
doesn't exist. And what doesn't exist, can't reach you.
Illustration : This is concentration
http://users.chello.be/cr34222/Powerlifting/File0013.jpg
Imagery
Imagery can be a powerfull ally. In the past, neurologists have
proven the fact that you can increase performance by thinking
about them intensively enough. This technique consists
of 'seeing' yourself doing the lift. you go trough the lift in your
head before you walk up the platform. Just like in a dream, only
conscious. But there are certain things you should pay attention
to;
- Go trough the lift as if you were doing it yourself. This works
better than to just watch from the third person.
- Again, the content should be positive. You don't want to miss it
in your head.
- Make it as real as it can be.
- Do it. You have gone trough it in your mind, you made the lift,
now you will do the same in real life.
Keep practising
Mental trainig should be regarded as an important part of your
entire training. Don't forget, what goes on in your head can make
the difference between the national title or bombing out of the
competition.
The moment of truth
When it's your turn, and you're about to make your lift, you
shouldn't think about all these techniques, you should DO IT.
As one of my training partners likes to say : "Get your ****ing feet
on the goddamn floor and hit it." and that's how it should be. You
are lean mean lifting machine getting ready for another PR.
I hope you learned from it. I know I'll have to work on certain
things.
Michael Heiremans
Competitive natural powerlifter
Belgian Champion