In the first article of this series, I discussed three steps that you should implement in order to bring some mindful practice into your Olympic weightlifting training. For a quick recap, the steps you should follow start with you observing a feeling that can be either physical, mental, or emotional. Next, you will then describe that sensation or feeling and put into words and attach a label to it. Finally, you participate in the movement once you have filed that sensation into the recesses of your mind. These three steps form a guideline for what you should do in order to clear your head, and mindfully execute your lifts. In this article, we will focus on how you should execute these three steps. The difference may seem semantic and even pedantic, but I submit to you that it’s a big one. What you do specifies the mechanics of the skill, while how you execute the skill of mindfulness is a question of the quality of your practice. The difference seems subtle, but they are worlds apart. 

Before we delve into the how of your mindfulness practice in weightlifting, let’s reorient ourselves to what it is and what our objectives are. It is the intentional living with awareness of the present moment, without judgement, rejection, or attachment. The goal of mindfulness for us in this sport, is to increase control of our mind and emotions, experience our journey as it is, and ultimately, increase our happiness and performance in our sport. Maybe you’ve said to yourself, “I’m overthinking this lift,” or “I got really distracted in during the movement.” In that case, you’ll find this article in the series particularly helpful.

Part 2 of our mindfulness series therefore tackles the second question: how do I implement mindfulness in Olympic weightlifting? In other words, how will I know if I did it well? We will measure the quality of your practice by the following three metrics.

1. NON-JUDGMENTALLY

I fully recognize how difficult this quality is going to be for both coaches and athletes to implement. After all, as a weightlifting coach and an athlete myself, I am constantly evaluating the execution of the movement in order to improve. The trick here however, is to discern, rather than to opinionate. The difference between the two is that discernment focuses on what is effective (more on that later), or what works for you as an athlete, rather than cast a value judgment or tie an emotional state to a particular outcome. It’s the difference between saying to yourself, “if I engage my lats, I can keep the bar closer during the second pull” and “that lift was bad because it wasn’t close.”

The idea here is to merely see the facts of what is effective, without placing it on a spectrum of good or bad. Of equal importance in this quality of non-judgment, is that you acknowledge your feelings and your wishes. Judgement, while can be a powerful motivator for some of us, can reach the limit of its helpfulness rather quickly. For one, negative judgment can constantly beat us down and cause us to resign from making effective adjustments to the lift. Many times, an athlete is already defeated before they attempt a lift because of judgmental thoughts. Too many positive judgments can be just as detrimental to our practice as well. It can prevent growth and keep us from seeing the things that we need to work on. In essence, judgment is a barrier to acceptance of the moment and the lift as it is. It clouds our vision about what is effective and what is not. Moreover, judgement can heighten our emotions and prevent us from regulating it when we need to execute a mindful movement.

I am currently experimenting with giving judgment free-cues: that is to say, I do not offer criticism or praise. Instead, I simply offer the adjustment I wish the athlete to make by sticking to the facts, and if they have already executed the movement to my satisfaction, I simply tell them to do the same thing. This way, it detaches emotion from the learning of complex patterns, and there have been lots of research to show its efficacy. Of course, I still want to offer encouragement and create a positive training environment. But I reserve those for after the desired learning has already taken place.
One closing thought on judgment: if you catch yourself judging, don’t judge your judging. Acknowledge it, and move on.

2. ONE-MINDFULLY

This is the oft-touted being in the present moment quality of mindfulness. Riveting yourself in the here and now, with the movement that you are executing or about to execute. Remember, in Olympic weightlifting, the movements that we need to perform occur in matters of seconds, often less, so you really don’t have the luxury of taking yourself out of the moment for some future lift.

So how are you going to do it? First, notice if you are already thinking ahead to something else, or if you’re half-present. If you have a long set (I know triples are considered by athletes to be long sets), focus on the current rep, and don’t think about how you’re going to get through the set. You are only going to get through the set one rep at a time. Next, as Greg Everett has stressed over and over, focus your mind on only one cue. Chances are, you probably have a lot of things you’re working on. But your mind is really only capable of directing attention to one, especially if you’re still trying acquire a pattern or skill. So, if you’re focusing on staying over the bar, that’s your cue, don’t worry about what your core is doing, focus on that later. Finally, let go of all distractions, both internal and external. If thoughts or feelings come up that’s NOT the cue you’re working on, let it go, and redirect your focus back to what you are working on. If things in your environment are distracting you, bring your focus back internally. Apply the observe, describe, and participate skills from the previous article.

I am painfully aware that athletes can sometimes be prima donnas and want conditions to be perfect when they lift. But guess what, conditions are not going to be perfect in competition. The venue might be too hot, too cold, too loud, too quiet, someone is going to walk in front of you, people are going to be loud, babies may be crying in the audience, and sirens may be going off outside. It’s on you to practice being present one-mindfully so that you can execute the best lift that you can.

3. EFFECTIVELY

Lastly, and this may sound trite, do what works. Ask yourself, what is the goal of this session, or what is the goal of this current movement? Then do what’s necessary to achieve that. Maybe it’s the incorporation of some particular cue. Maybe it’s to accumulate a certain amount of volume. Whatever it is, you should consider where you are as an athlete, and not where you wish to be, and do what works for you in the moment. Don’t let judgement, emotions, or judgement get in the way for doing what you need to do in the situation.

This one is perhaps the easiest of the three to gauge. I firmly believe that if you are training non-judgmentally and one-mindfully, then you’re already well on your way to being effective. Of course, nothing is a greater indication of effectiveness than the learning of the skill or the successful and technical execution of a lift. The key is to focus on what works FOR YOU, and this should be something that’s decided between you and your coach, not between you and the Chinese National Team Instagram.

Again, just remember that just like your patterns in the snatch and clean and jerk, non-judgmentally, one-mindfully, and effectively being mindful are SKILLS that needs acquisition and reinforcement. You need constant practice for them to set. Once you’ve grasped the skills, they’ll become easier and more habitual to incorporate into your athletic development. Don’t fret, don’t judge, and don’t give up if you don’t feel that you’re doing it satisfactorily. It needs to be a continuous process for it to be effective.