Do THIS and get Stronger

Willie "the Hammer" Bell before his 832 pound deadlift

With my Powerlifting competition coming up this weekend I figured my first post would be about something that I have been perfecting in preparation for the meet. Something that many people lack, something that many people overlook, something that could be the missing slice in your Strength Pie. Something so powerful it could help you lift weights you've never lifted before. So powerful it could help you look and feel like you've never looked and felt before. So powerful it could help you achieve things you never thought possible; until now. I'm talking about the power of the MIND!

Too often we are controlled by our minds. Not many people use their minds to their advantage. Rather, our minds are often what is holding us back from what our heart really wants (sorry to sound so poetic). When we are faced with a challenge; lifting more weight than we have in the past, dropping down to a certain body fat percentage in a short amount of time, losing weight, gaining weight, job interview, football game, team tryouts, opening your own business, quitting your job and telling your boss to Suck it; we become controlled by our fears, doubts, circumstances, other people's experiences and opinions, and our past. All of this is activity in our minds and it's all NEGATIVE! 9 times out of 10 we succumb to these negative thoughts because that is usually the easy thing to do. It's easy to listen to these negative thoughts and decide to play it safe. Sure, you might not lose anything by doing this and you don't run the risk of failure. However, you will also never achieve anything great.What it all boils down to is you becoming a SLAVE to your mind. Wouldn't it be nice if we could control our mind and have it work in favor of us rather than against us?

I'm currently reading a book called "Thinking for a Change" and in this book the author talks about manipulating your feelings and emotions. It's much easier said than done to completely ignore the fear or anxiety building up inside of you. I can't just tell you to ignore that feeling inside of your gut. It's there for a reason. However, we can agree that our feelings and emotions (attitude) are directly influenced by our thoughts. If we constantly fill our minds with thoughts of failure, doubt, fear of injury, fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment, we will always be too afraid to do anything that involves risk and reward. If we start filling our minds with POSITIVE thoughts of success, accomplishment, and satisfaction, we will automatically gain the courage to face the challenge head on.

Okay, I thought Untamed Strength was a badass gym, not a Life Coach. You're absolutely right. I can relate everything I just typed directly to training. Too often we get caught up in the monotony of training. We go to the gym Monday through Friday every week at the same time everyday. It becomes so routine that we turn into robots and what happens to a lot of people is they get burned out. Why? Because they never positively engage their minds! "I'm too tired", "I'm too busy", "I'm not seeing the results that I want", "I'll just go tomorrow". Take 5 minutes every morning or 5 minutes before every training session and think about why you do what you do. Think about your goals, envision yourself stronger/leaner/more muscular/etc. Put some positive fuel in your tank and that will stir up some desire to get better.

When it comes to maximum effort training; 1 rep max deadlift, timed 40 yard dash, 20 reps squats, etc., the mind plays a HUGE role. When I max out on a lift I block out any negative thinking; "I'm not feeling it today", "I don't know if I can do this", "What if I hurt myself". Instead, I envision every detail of the lift; the bar in my hands, the bar on my back, the path of the bar, my technique, my breathing, my explosiveness. Most importantly I envision myself completing the lift. I use the joy and excitement that I have when completing the lift to fuel my emotions before I even touch the bar. There have been times when I have got so overwhelmed with emotion before I started the lift that my eyes have watered. I will envision myself successfully completing the lift and sometimes I will yell "YES!" because in my head I have already completed the lift. If you don't think you can, you don't deserve to.

Okay, Alan, why don't you just use this logic to deadlift 1,000 pounds? I'm am not saying that you can think yourself invincible (although you may feel like it). What I am saying is that if you fully engage your mind and still fail you will have no regrets of not giving it your very best. You can leave with the satisfaction of laying it all on the line. You now know what you have to improve on.

"The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can't are both right. Which one are you?"
-Henry Ford

Suggested Books: "IronMind: Stronger Minds, Stronger Bodies." by Randall J. Strossen
                            "Thinking for a Change" by John C. Maxwell
                            "The Purposeful Primitive" by Marty Gallagher