Confidence and Heavy Weight

[BendtheBar]

This might sound like a trivial topic but it's not. Over the years I have learned the value of having confidence when moving heavy weight.

Forget how heavy the weight feels. You have to approach eccentrics and the rep in the same way as everything else. I am not calling for you to get reckless, but I am telling you not to get overly conservative.

At times I have babied a rep because of ankle soreness, tendinitis, fear or because of a strain I incurred 3 weeks ago that I am afraid of. When I baby a rep it almost always comes back to bite me in the back end.

If you are going to perform the heavy rep, do so with confidence. If you can't, don't do the rep. That last part is key. If you don't feel like you can perform the rep in a confident manner, don't do the rep.

This isn't about bravado. It's common sense. I never perform a rep if I can't perform it safely. If I fear an old strain, I won't do a rep.

I hope this makes sense...

[LtL]

I guess another way of putting this is to approach every set in the same way. Don't get sloppy on your warm-ups and don't fear the big weights. Get in, get it done, get out.

LtL

[Fazc]

Yep, I had this conversation with my training partner just yesterday. Tightness under the bar, confidence with the heavy weights it's all interrelated.

I never attempt a weight I don't think I can lift.

Think about it, it can mean different things to different people.

[Tannhauser]

I think it's a huge issue. I do get scared of the weight, especially on squats.

I consistently do better when I forget the weight, and focus exclusively on posture and breathing.

[Off Road]

I fear deadlifts. Just something about starting that lift in a poor position for my injured back that just freaks me out. That's really why I suck at them.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Off Road

I fear deadlifts. Just something about starting that lift in a poor position for my injured back that just freaks me out. That's really why I suck at them.

Ah well, I probably didn't explain myself good enough. I fear squats. But when I fear them because of an old strain I don't lift with 100% confidence.

[BigTallOx]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

This might sound like a trivial topic but it's not. Over the years I have learned the value of having confidence when moving heavy weight.

Forget how heavy the weight feels. You have to approach eccentrics and the rep in the same way as everything else. I am not calling for you to get reckless, but I am telling you not to get overly conservative.

At times I have babied a rep because of ankle soreness, tendinitis, fear or because of a strain I incurred 3 weeks ago that I am afraid of. When I baby a rep it almost always comes back to bite me in the back end.

If you are going to perform the heavy rep, do so with confidence. If you can't, don't do the rep. That last part is key. If you don't feel like you can perform the rep in a confident manner, don't do the rep.

This isn't about bravado. It's common sense. I never perform a rep if I can't perform it safely. If I fear an old strain, I won't do a rep.

I hope this makes sense...

Confidence is is huge. When I try for PR's, I never get them unless I KNOW I'm going to get it first.

[Soldier]

I had this come up today. I wanted to keep going up in weight on partial squats but there was just the tiniest tinge in my right hamstring. I didn't feel confident about moving up any more because the fear of injury would have been in the back of my mind.

One thing I learned playing football is that when you hold back you're just asking to get hurt. You have to let loose and go all out all the time. All it takes is one tackle or block where you hold back and things get twisted, pulled and sprained pretty quickly.

I also believe in not attempting a lift you don't think you can do. In the last few weeks I've been able to set some new PR's, and not once have I failed a lift. I could have kept moving up until I failed, but that wasn't the goal. The goal is to get stronger, not to keep going until I hurt myself.

[Ryano]

"If you think you'll miss it, you're right"...I've said that for years. I never get under a weight that I don't think I'll get. I've also found that "squeezing the bar like you're trying to put your fingerprints in it" helps. I think it helps remind me to get tight everywhere. If I don't get tight before I take the weight, bad things happen.

[Hazzard]

This is so true and something I've definitely struggled with at times. From a personal experience doing heavy weights for a whole bunch of reps (not necessarily in one set) will certainly help with confidence when crushing the big singles.