Psychology of lifting

[Risen25]

So here is one i have been wondering about. I have played around alot with my "mental state" during lifting, from trying to be calm and focus on muscle groups... to hyping myself up losing some focus... to making sure i feel the work in every movement during training.

What i am wondering about is this. There are a ton of studies saying simply imagining exertion or training will to some degree increase muscle mass, now i dont think it could ever be anything near actual training but hey we are always looking for that extra boost right. In-fact the number from the research shocked me quite a bit as the difference between people actually training and those actively imagining it wasn't as big as i had thought it would be.

Back to what i wanted to really know, when training is it better to keep a calmer mind, focusing on your movements or to imagine more strain on your muscles and feel the burn, surely the latter will assist your body in knowing that there needs to be a adaptation much better than training so calmly that you almost fool your mind into thinking that it was a light exercise.

I have actually srt of experienced the latter but what i saw was definitely an increase and it was by accident, i train alone mostly you see and sometimes a mate will try training with me for a few months before they realise that they like beer more that what i do hahaha. But during all those phases i get very chatty obviously as i usually train alone and the session flies by. However every single time i get to a new peak whenever i have a partner.

[R1DINGPwnies]

Mythbusters did an episode about a phenomenon similar to this. The idea was that they would scan the brainwaves of a professional archer and study the readings precisely when he went to take the shot. Then they'd have a neurologist coach an untrained person into producing the same pattern of alpha and beta waves as the professional before they took a similar shot. It actually worked. The untrained people took great shots when they were "in the same zone" as the professional