One of the most unfortunate facts of bodybuilding is that it’s tough. It’s really tough. In fact, at times it can be downright gut-wrenching and painful. Every Monday I get to experience this when I walk into the gym for yet another two sets of balls-to-the-wall deadlifts.
How can you get over this pain? There’s several strategies that seem to work. This varies from person to person, and you’ll have to find which method works best for you.
One of my favourite methods is to pretend that there are many people watching me do my set. This can be especially effective if you do have a training partner or a few random people watching you. Simply pretend that you are performing this exercise in front of a large crowd. If you’re working out hard enough, you should have a crowd watching you anyway – even when I was deadlifting 150lbs, I was grunting and working so hard that people would watch me anyway!
Another good way to overcome the discomfort of weightlifting is to pretend that you’re in a dire, life-threatening situation. For deadlifts or squats, imagine your girlfriend or child is stuck under a car, and you need to lift it to get them out. For chinups, perhaps envision you’re on the edge of a cliff and hanging on by your fingers.
Lastly, one of my personal favourites – envision your muscles rippling and being shredded to pieces by the force you’re putting them under. Just imagine your muscles growing bigger and bigger with every rep. The thought of your 22-inch arms should be enough to push out one more rep!
Whichever strategy you choose, be sure to employ one strategy or another – it will definitely help you conquer the mental aspect of weightlifting. For a more in-depth look at the mental side of training, view our “Other Articles” section.