The 600lb mental block

[PillarofBalance]

I have a meet coming up. I'm opening at 530 and 555 for squat and deadlift. Assuming all goes well, I plan to finally enter the 600lb club. But in my head I am seeing 600lbs like it may as well be a grand. As if its some immovable number, under which I will simply fold. I'm fighting this in my head daily at this point.

My bench will finally climb to the 400's God willing. I see no problem with that. I'm looking forward to it.

So what gives? Why is 600 so hard for me to fathom? Have you experienced a mental block like this? What do you do about it?

I suppose its just going to have to be me, nose tork and every bit of aggression I've got....

 

[macgyver]

I have a meet coming up. I'm opening at 530 and 555 for squat and deadlift. Assuming all goes well, I plan to finally enter the 600lb club. But in my head I am seeing 600lbs like it may as well be a grand. As if its some immovable number, under which I will simply fold. I'm fighting this in my head daily at this point.

My bench will finally climb to the 400's God willing. I see no problem with that. I'm looking forward to it.

So what gives? Why is 600 so hard for me to fathom? Have you experienced a mental block like this? What do you do about it?

I suppose its just going to have to be me, nose tork and every bit of aggression I've got....

One day I just decided that it was time to do it. After that, it was no big deal. Just an extra 5 and 2 1/2 on each side. Make 585 your bitch and then 600 is just a 2 1/2% difference. Nothing really.

 

[BrotherIron]

I'm dealing with this very thing. I've pulled 600 4 or 5 times in the past year and a half but for some reason when I put anything over 6 I seem to puss out. What I'm doing to attack this problem is add reverse band deadlifts into my training regimen. It'll help boost my confidence and when it comes time to pull 6+ I'm cofident it'll go right up.

I applied this same approach to my squats and I've hit 580 this year and I know I'll hit 600 in Dec. I didn't have that confidence in the past when I wasn't performing reverse band squats.

 

[Turbolag]

I have the same issue when I get into my bench shirt.

I realized something one day when I was walking into the gym tensed up and afraid of missing the weight. I thought to myself..... its only some weight, there are spotters if I need help. And I've prepared for the weight I'm about to attempt. Even though I feel intimidated I'm physically ready. Lifting is supposed to be fun and I'm making this into an argument with myself. I'm just gonna get under the bar and do what I have trained myself to do. Lay down, go through my set up, un rack, take a deep breath, elbows in, lower the bar and press up.

After I had this conversation .... with myself..... I started feeling more relaxed in the gym about the weight I was doing. What I realized was, all of the debating in my head was robbing me of my strength !!

Once I stopped thinking about it, my numbers started going up and I was enjoying my lifts a lot more. And it built my confidence up too, knowing that I can attempt the weight and not feel so intimidated.

I still get intimidated, but I reason the situation out, and then I realized I'm making more out of it than is there. And at the end of the day, its what you have prepared and trained for. Its why you take in the calories, so you can repair. Its why you take your vitamins and supplements. Its why you stretch afterward, its why your on the forums. You're ready, maybe your mind is making you doubt yourself, but physically and equation wise, your at 600 or more.

 

[woodswise]

I have the same issue when I get into my bench shirt.

I realized something one day when I was walking into the gym tensed up and afraid of missing the weight. I thought to myself..... its only some weight, there are spotters if I need help. And I've prepared for the weight I'm about to attempt. Even though I feel intimidated I'm physically ready. Lifting is supposed to be fun and I'm making this into an argument with myself. I'm just gonna get under the bar and do what I have trained myself to do. Lay down, go through my set up, un rack, take a deep breath, elbows in, lower the bar and press up.

After I had this conversation .... with myself..... I started feeling more relaxed in the gym about the weight I was doing. What I realized was, all of the debating in my head was robbing me of my strength !!

Once I stopped thinking about it, my numbers started going up and I was enjoying my lifts a lot more. And it built my confidence up too, knowing that I can attempt the weight and not feel so intimidated.

I still get intimidated, but I reason the situation out, and then I realized I'm making more out of it than is there. And at the end of the day, its what you have prepared and trained for. Its why you take in the calories, so you can repair. Its why you take your vitamins and supplements. Its why you stretch afterward, its why your on the forums. You're ready, maybe your mind is making you doubt yourself, but physically and equation wise, your at 600 or more.

I can attest: this is very good advice because when I am feeling nervous about something I have never done before, I can sometimes talk myself into it. After I have that talk with myself it seems like not such a big deal so I just go and do it.

 

[marx]

Visualize yourself dominating it. It is just a number, like the others you leave trailing behind you!

Your innate will to dominate, native aggression and nose tork will make it so!

 

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

Try not to overthink it ~ just psych up and give that bar hell.

If you didn't know what was on the bar (or thought it was 20lb less) you'd pull the crap out of it no questions. It's all comes down to controlling the doubts in your mind and taking control of the weight in front of you.

 

[kyle grey]

Visualisation is the key and you have an advantage in powerlifting that there's not many variables that are out of your control . You can create a better picture by beforehand knowing exactly what you are going to wear to lift in , when you put your belt on , snort the tork etc etc and the more details you can conjure up in your mental rehearsal makes it more likely you will achieve the actual lift . Good luck and bottom line have fun .

 

[kyle grey]

If you want to look deeper into sports psychology there's an excellent book called " The chimp paradox" by Dr Steve Peters a guy who is recognised as an integral part of the success of British cycling teams .


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/dr-steve-peters-from-chimps-to-champs-7462498.html

 

[HDH]

If you don't do it, your head will explode and you will DIE!!!



HDH

 

[PillarofBalance]

If you don't do it, your head will explode and you will DIE!!!



HDH

Ok I'm ready to go now

 

[BrotherIron]

Try not to overthink it ~ just psych up and give that bar hell.

If you didn't know what was on the bar (or thought it was 20lb less) you'd pull the crap out of it no questions. It's all comes down to controlling the doubts in your mind and taking control of the weight in front of you.

Funny you say that about not knowing what's on the bar. I had a training partner who has us do that for them. We would load the bar and keep track on the progression and they would just get set and perform the lift. Sometimes it's good to take the thinking out of it. I think I'm guilty at times of over thinking.