Since I have attended the Grizzly Training winter camp at Dominik’s place, there have been lots of thoughts about the mental component of training. As I have noted in the most recent CrassFit coverage, it was Harald who enabled me to sustain performance even when my body screamed at me to stop.

In order to advance, you have to go beyond your limits. If you duck back into your comfort zone every single time, you will never enjoy the experience of stepping out of it – this applies to the world of training as well as to each and every everyday situation. Popular books about personal development write about the fact that you have to do something you have never done before to achieve something you have never achieved before. This continues to proves true to all of us.

In relation to my high repetition training goal (front squatting 2 x 20 kg kettlebells for 20 repetitions), I planned on achieving this goal by means of mental power – to force myself through the barrier of not wanting to do anymore due to fatigue.

Several days ago, I did a set of 15 repetitions, which was far from the maximum performance that could have been achieved. I simply stopped due to fatigue: My mind built up a glass wall which I was not to pass. But since I wanted to achieve the goal, I tried once more – this time with the hint of Harald in mind: Think of the next repetition only. There is nothing but the next repetition. One more perfect repetition, that is all.

This is the result:

I have not been at my limit and probably could have done up to 25 repetitions with the weight. It was all a matter of mental focus – and nothing else. The less factors of disturbance hinder you, the higher the power output you can yield.

Yesterday, I experienced something similar when trying out deadlifts. I have not lifted heavy for months so I feared that I would have lost a lot of power. I experienced before that the deadlift was the one exercise where I lost performance when I changed the exercise regime towards bodyweight exercises and kettlebells – while other exercises increased in performance (front squat and military press for instance).

With a personal best of 142.5 kg for a single rep, I did the following (weight/repetitions):

60/15 90/5 100/3/20 110/3 120/1/3 130/1/3 140/0/1

This sure is a unusual workout layout. I initially planned to go all-out on a 20 repetition set, following the principles of PITT-Force, but 100 kg was too light of a weight to force my power reserves to activate. I prolonged my workout with heavier triples. From 120 kg on, I did one test repetition in sumo stance, while I used a shoulder-width stance for the main sets.

I was amazed how easy it was to climb up the weight ladder, until I reached 130 kg. It was a struggle to lift them in sumo stance, so I used a little mind-trick for the triple: Music! Using the fanfare of VNV Nation’s “Pro Victoria”, I triumphed over the weight – and what an uplifting feeling it was!

Going up to 140 kg, I missed the lift in sumo stance. Reason enough to have a mental blockade doing it in narrow stance. I tried to empty my mind, put tension in every body fiber and lifted. I felt like failing but this time I saw it through – either the barbell would have dragged me to the ground or I lifted it up – letting go of the barbell was just no option. The weight had finally been lifted and I was relieved – SUCCESS!

With all the struggle, the feeling afterward has been great. If you work hard to achieve something, the feeling thereafter is always proportional to the amount of work you invested. This is the reason, why hard-working people often are happier than those who do not have to struggle to achieve or receive things – they often lack a sense of reason. You have to be able to invest something in order to get something back.

In training, the return on investment usually is of great ratio, if you work out intense, brief and infrequent.

Train on and stay strong
Simon

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Further postings on related topics:

1. CrassFit Workout of the Day 2010/01/05 Just before the christmas holidays are nearing their end, we...
2. High Repetition Training: Front Squats + Clean & Press After a few days off because of an oral surgery...
3. CrassFit Workout of the Day 2009/12/15 This Tuesday, Rainer, Jozy and me assembled in Linz to...