Topic: What are your experiences about the mental aspect of weightlifting?

[ViKtoricus]

It is much easier for me to train when I am alone. I go to Anytime Fitness and I decided to just train midnight to early morning, when nobody is there.

It gives me the entire rubber floor to myself (it was made for the dumbbell people). The manager wouldn't complain so long as he doesn't see any dents on the carpet floors.



One time, I overslept and woke up at 2 am. I reached the gym at 3:30 am. I was alone, which was perfect... But I had two training sessions that day.

I got done at 4 am, but I had to resume training at 5:30. And that's when the early bird enthusiasts showed up. To make a long story short, those visions of lackluster personal trainers and annoying people who walk all over the place in my plain of sight really affected my concentration.

It took me five attempts to snatch my previous one-rep max and three attempts to clean a weight that I usually do for two singles.



In your experience, what proved to be effective in improving your concentration? Do you visualize? Self-talk? Listen to music? etc.

[Simon Klimesh]

In my experience it's important to lift in a weightlifting gym, with other weightlifters, and a coach. The next best thing is training somewhere less ideal but still with a training partner who is a weightlifter. After that the next best thing is training alone with no one around. The worst case scenario you are lifting alone while a bunch of people are doing other crap and distracting you like your example at 24 hr fitness. That is my hierachy of idealness for training environment of the weightlifter. I train at a cross-fit gym for the majority of my training sessions and if I get in during a certain time frame I can pretty much have the place to myself but if I come in at different times it can be a desaster with music very very loud, and cross-fiters running around in all directions huffing and puffing. It makes for a very busy and distracting environment that makes me feel very uncomfortable. If I were you I would locate the nearest weightlifting gym with weightlifters and a coach, train there, and see the difference in quality.

[patriarcaangela]

In my experience it's important to lift in a weightlifting gym, with other weightlifters, and a coach. The next best thing is training somewhere less ideal but still with a training partner who is a weightlifter. After that the next best thing is training alone with no one around. The worst case scenario you are lifting alone while a bunch of people are doing other crap and distracting you like your example at 24 hr fitness. That is my hierachy of idealness for training environment of the weightlifter. I train at a cross-fit gym for the majority of my training sessions and if I get in during a certain time frame I can pretty much have the place to myself but if I come in at different times it can be a desaster with music very very loud, and cross-fiters running around in all directions huffing and puffing. It makes for a very busy and distracting environment that makes me feel very uncomfortable. If I were you I would locate the nearest weightlifting gym with weightlifters and a coach, train there, and see the difference in quality.

I also train at a cross-fit gym and the only time that i can concentrate better is on an open gym day where there are usually only a couple people in there. i also have the same situation as you do so i just try to make the most out of it. there aren't any weightlifting places around here but your typical 'commercial gyms', so crossfit place is the next best thing.

[Andy Dick]

I had not had much trouble concentrating.  Being an athlete and having to train in many different settings I have gotten used to it.  Loud music, no music, people walking in front of me doesn't really phase me.

No for some tips for you all:

Try to face a wall with enough room to miss forward if you need to but not a great deal of room.  This will make people more likely to walk behind you instead of in front of you.  I have attached a picture for you Vik from your videos in a place you can lift.  It may take a bit to get used to looking at the mirrors while you lift but you will get used to it pretty quick.  Or get the area right in front of the squat rack and face the mirror as an alternate position then you can snag it right when you are done with oly and need to move on to squats.  You will somewhat overlap the DB area but people will not try to cross your patch while you are about to lift just to grab a DB and if they are about to tell them to wait or just let them grab them quick.

Second, and this will help with tip one also.  When you focus look past the area you are lifting at (think how you would focus on the magic eye pictures when you were a kid).  This is hard to explain but try to figure it out basically attempt to look at the farthest possible point in an area or past the farthest possible point.  The focus will help lessen the stimuli of others passing in front of you.  When lifting in front of a mirror I usually don't even notice myself until I am up out of the lift already at the top from the OH squat in the snatch or the FS in the clean.

The only time people passing in front of me will affect me is if they are very close to me where I worry about dropping the weight on a person if I miss a lift.  These people I usually wait until they pass or I ask them to step to the side for a second.  Unless they are a major prick most people will be fine with waiting a second, plus you might get them to watch you and possibly be interested in what you are doing.

The tip that will help with the cross-fit areas is just lift there as much as possible and train your mind to be able to drown all the extra stimuli out.  It is possible and it will help you in a meet once there is no extra stimuli.

The only other thing I can suggest is, I remember reading that the old Romanian lifters focused so much on how lifts felt as opposed to visual stimuli that they would sometimes lift blind folded or with thier eyes closed.  You can always try that  .

[Arturo Gómez]

I have already trained:
- in a joking environment
- discussing technical topics, as partial  differential equations or medical diagnostic
- political discussion
- supporting fool people.
- listeninig from Elton John to Pavarotti
- cooking, eating and drinking

But my preference is train  alone, with an approrpriate music, much cold water and air circulation, and  large and safe space to  drop the bar