Mindset

amazingemmet

So last night i was testing my horizontal leap and i wasn't going to well and i started to get quite pissed off and then a hulk like transformation overtook me and i broke my personal record not once or twice but three time in three jumps setting new records each time, by considerable increases each time, quite impressive i'm thinking, but now i'm wondering how mindset can affect performance and how to tap into this more, anyone any advice or suggestions?

Dragan

I have always maintained that mindset and mood are two huge factors in the gym, on the court, anywhere that you happen to be testing yourself. A powerful emotion can be a huge factor in your perfromance and the level of effort you put into any task.

For me it's the difference between sucess and failure at an elite level. The ability to utilise your emotional state to your advantage, to tap into the fear/nerves/excitment that any major event brings out in us and use it to fuel your perfromance.

The only think you can really do is practice it the same way as you practice any other aspect of your training. For example, being angry helps me lift more weight and train harded in my martial arts. However, i am not angry all the time ( thank God! ) so this element of training is not always present. I will however always try and use the emotions of the day in my training regardless of what they are. Even just the memory can sometimes be enough to bring you through a tough session.

All in all, it's balancing the ability to utilise emotion without allowing the emotion to compromise technique.

That is the hard part.

Flex

Dragan wrote:

I have always maintained that mindset and mood are two huge factors in the gym, on the court, anywhere that you happen to be testing yourself. A powerful emotion can be a huge factor in your perfromance and the level of effort you put into any task.

For me it's the difference between sucess and failure at an elite level. The ability to utilise your emotional state to your advantage, to tap into the fear/nerves/excitment that any major event brings out in us and use it to fuel your perfromance.

The only think you can really do is practice it the same way as you practice any other aspect of your training. For example, being angry helps me lift more weight and train harded in my martial arts. However, i am not angry all the time ( thank God! ) so this element of training is not always present. I will however always try and use the emotions of the day in my training regardless of what they are. Even just the memory can sometimes be enough to bring you through a tough session.

All in all, it's balancing the ability to utilise emotion without allowing the emotion to compromise technique.

That is the hard part.

Excellent post man. Sometimes when Im doing a workout Id be pissed off over something and this can be a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes I cant focus because of it and Id end up quitting a workout a quarter of the way through because my reps are all down and sheer frustration sets in.

Other times though when I can harness the aggression and anger Im feeling and use it to my advantage I end up having an amazing workout where I set new personal bests on my lifts.

I always try to do whatever I can to get myself psyched up before I go into the gym and start lifting weights; music, caffeine, watching Rocky or Pumping Iron(:o ), whatever. It makes a MASSIVE difference to a workout.