Its time to get Psyched-up folks.
By vishwa on Health, Inspiration, Training
November 7, 2011
I am reading a book by Marty Gallagher entitled, The Purposeful Primitive. I am tremendously influenced by it. The book covers topics on health, fitness, building strength, losing fat, and the mind game involved to achieve physical fitness. Nonetheless, the book stands out for its narrative on powerlifting and that has encited me to try various powerlifts.
Today is Monday, so as per my usual plan, I train legs. My right knee has just recovered, and I am practicing the deep-knee squat. Contrary to popular belief, I feel that such exercises are good for strengthening the knee joint. For, I can make out that my right knee is relatively stable now. However, stacking more weight on the squat bar was difficult, for the deep-knee squat is a tough exercise to master. After several weeks of practice, I managed to squat 245 pounds for a single repetition. I very well know that these are puny poundages by any standard. But I am proud to state that it was a legitimate full squat. In addition, what helped to squat heavy was that I was really psyched-up.
I tried one of Gallagher’s suggested psyching-up tactics. I channeled my energy and visualized myself squatting 245 pounds with perfect form. I succeeded. My gym clients sensed that I was upto something. Perhaps, they wanted to ask me, “Why the hell are you making a huge fuss about?” Well, in all my training years, I have struggled to squat. I still do. And never had I practiced deep-knee squatting. In addition, any movement which requires me to balance challenges me outrageously. Balancing the weight consumes a lot of my energy and focus, so invariably my strength is always not upto the mark. As a result, I have always felt that I cannot reach my true potential.
Marty, in his book, rightly says that employing some rudimentary mental tactics and having a real psyche-up procedure in your mental trick bag can add 5-10% to your efforts. I endorse his views, for my squat went up the scale.
It is now time to get psyched up folks.