Do you want to know one of the things that always bothers me when I watch weightlifting? It’s when lifters perform some kind of elaborate, showy psyche-up ritual before they walk up to the bar and attempt a lift. You see this a little bit in Olympic weightlifting, but not much. In powerlifting, you see it all the time. I’m talking about these situations where the athletes are on the platform, getting ready to lift, and they have some planned, choreographed routine they have to go through. Maybe they jump up and down and scream, waving their arms in the air. Or it could be a quiet one, where they pace slowly up to the bar with measured steps, putting their hands in front of them like they’re trying to block out nervous energy, something like that. If you asked them why they do it, they would probably tell you they’re trying to get fired up…or focused in…or maybe they would even give you some banter about how their psyching routine puts them closer to a metaphysical state of Zen, or some other spiritual-sounding term they read on the internet.

In reality, this is designed to get attention. They want to look cool and be different from everybody else. That’s what this whole thing is really about, in my opinion. If any of you disagree with me, that’s cool. I respect your opinion, and I know I’m pretty old-school. I come from a lifting background where you just walk up to the bar and do your job. You might be somebody who likes the theatrical approach. Maybe you even do it yourself. Okay, I get it. And I’m not saying my word is law. Just because I think this stuff looks immature and childish, that doesn’t mean I have the final word on all things weightlifting.

However, this subject does bring up a good point that we can use for this month’s article. I want to talk about mental approach to weightlifting. Specifically, I want to look at the difference between “hyping up” and “calming down.” We’re looking at two opposite approaches. One of them is the hyperactive, psyching up, getting-jacked-through-the-roof-with-adrenaline approach. These are the lifters who think they’ll perform better if they generate as much energy and intensity as possible. The other one is the quiet, cool, relaxed method. Here, we’re talking about athletes who do their best lifting when they just settle down and stay as level as possible.

Which one works for you as an athlete? And as a coach, which approach should you take with your lifters? You’re all intelligent people, so you know we’re all different. There isn’t any one specific approach that works for everybody, just like there’s no one weightlifting program that’s universal and right for all athletes. People have to be handled differently, both in their training and their mental process. If you’re a coach, your job is to figure out which method works for each individual.

If you’re the athlete, we’ve got the same pickle. Most of you have some experience doing this sport, so I’ll bet my last dollar that you’ve spent some time trying to figure out the right mental tactics that will make you perform your best. Many of you have probably tried a variety of strategies. I know I have. I’ve done both of the things I talked about earlier. I’ve screamed, I’ve meditated, I’ve strolled up to the bar casually with no emotion, and I’ve charged at it like a psychotic rhino. I’ve tried it all. So I’ve got some good ideas about which way is the best way, both as an athlete and a coach. I will now share those ideas with you, brothers and sisters. It will be glorious.

Two Types of Personalities…

I know, I know… There are more than just TWO types of personalities. We’re all special little flowers with infinite combinations of traits, yadda yadda. I get it. But this subject will be easier to analyze if I break this down into two categories, so here they are:

Hard chargers

These are people who have a natural personality that leans towards high motivation, aggression, intensity and perfectionism. Hard chargers expect a lot out of themselves. They’re workers, and they usually have zero tolerance for failure or sloppiness. These are the ones who set big goals for themselves, and they’ll put in all the necessary time and effort to reach those goals. They’re usually high achievers. Most of the really successful people, in any given field, are hard chargers. Whether we’re talking about weightlifting, school, career fields, or whatever…hard chargers are the ones who work their way to the top through determination and enthusiasm. They’re storm troopers, and their motors just naturally run pretty hot. Some of them have loud, demonstrative dispositions. Others are quiet and reserved. But regardless of their outward manner, what’s going on inside them is all about ambition and determination.

Cows

Okay, I know it sounds rude to refer to somebody as a “cow” because it has all kinds of negative connotations (obese, lazy, stupid, etc.). But let’s act like intelligent readers and think a little deeper about this. Have you ever watched cows? If you have, then you know what I’m talking about. They move pretty slowly. They don’t seem to have a lot of urgency in their lives. For the most part, they’re perfectly content to just stand around, eat grass, and take it easy. That’s the personality type we’re talking about. Cows are the opposite of hard chargers. I’m not saying they’re dumb, worthless, ugly or anything like that. This isn’t an insult, for god’s sake. It’s simply a description of individuals who don’t have a lot of natural intensity or drive. They don’t get very jacked up about anything. When you’re around them, you don’t feel an overpowering vibe of seriousness or motivation. They’re kind of like the old hippies. They just go with the flow, man. It’s not that they don’t care about anything. In fact, some of them care very much about what they’re doing. But high energy isn’t in their DNA. Got it? Good.

How to handle each of them

Okay, the first thing we have to understand is that the vast majority of people who get involved with weightlifting and strength sports will be hard chargers. That’s just the way it is. The difficulty and challenge of weightlifting…those things appeal to this kind of personality. So, what’s the best mental approach for these cats?

The “calm down” approach: After two decades of weightlifting experience as an athlete and a coach, I’ve personally found that most hard chargers produce their best performances when they’re relaxed and cool. You have to remember their nature. These people are hyped up and intense all the time. They get out of bed that way in the morning. Because of this, they’re already going to be pretty jacked when they start training or competing. Their naturally motivated personality will become SUPER TURBO motivated when they’re in a stressful situation like a weightlifting meet. Often, this can lead to a mental state that’s simply too revved up and anxious to perform well. Instead of executing their skills with the appropriate level of concentration and force, they push too hard…and it results in mistakes. In my opinion, these athletes need coaches who will keep them relaxed. If you put a hard charger with a coach who’s amped up and jittery, you’ve basically got an overabundance of nerves and adrenaline. Often, this leads to poor performance. But when a hard charger works with a coach who’s relaxed, there’s a good balance. It’s like a math equation: Intense athlete + calm coach = perfect mental state.

The “psyche up” approach: Now, we said earlier that most weightlifters are hard chargers, correct? Well, we also have to acknowledge that some athletes are cows. We’re talking about people who have chosen to become lifters, but they don’t have the hard charging disposition. They aren’t high-intensity types. They want to be weightlifters, but their internal level of motivation isn’t maximum level. Now, you might be asking, “How can you be a weightlifter if you’re a cow?” Admittedly, that’s a legitimate question. It doesn’t make sense that something as difficult as Olympic weightlifting would be the activity of choice for these individuals. However, I can definitely verify that it does happen. Sometimes, people with the “cow” personality try weightlifting…and they like it. They enjoy the training, and maybe even the competition. It’s fun for them, so they want to keep doing it. But they still have that low level of fire and drive. These people probably need the opposite mental approach from hard chargers. If you want to get big performances out of them, you’ll need to fire them up. They don’t have natural aggressiveness, so it has to come from the outside. The only way they’ll move forward and make progress is if a coach (or somebody else) provides them with the intensity they need.

And what makes this really interesting…

Hee hee, this is where I get to throw out a few scenarios that make this whole discussion even more tricky and nutty.

- What if you have a cow who has incredible physical talent? Seriously, think about this. We’re talking about an athlete with God-given athletic ability that is absolutely off the radar. These people literally have the natural talent to break world records…but they’re still cows. They have the skill set to be champions, and they don’t really care that much about it. I can think of five or six names I’ve known over the years that fit this description.

- What if you have a hard charger with no athletic talent? Uuugghh… These are the ones you feel sorry for. They’re motivated, they’ll work harder than anybody, they’ll do whatever you tell them, they want it very badly, they’ve got all the perfect qualities for a weightlifter…but they just don’t have the physical tools to be good at it. Brothers and sisters, you’ll see a lot of these. Actually, this combination is extremely common. Weightlifting is a tremendously exciting passion, and people fall in love with it easily. But not everybody has the ability to succeed at it.

- What do I recommend for these cases? Drinking. That’s probably the only thing that will make it bearable. Just kidding. Listen, this is the challenge of coaching. We all want the same things. We want hard chargers with huge physical talent, right? Of course, because these are the ones who are going to become champions. And if we have to work with cows, it’s easier when they have zero physical ability because we just don’t have to put much mental energy into them. They don’t care much, and they don’t have the tools to be very good anyway, so there’s no point in anybody getting too stressed about anything. But as the Rolling Stones once said, “You can’t always get what you want.” Odd combinations are going to come into your gym if you stay in this sport long enough, and you’ll have to work with them all in a way that gives them what they need without driving yourself crazy.

That’s mostly about coaching. What about athletes?

These are some ideas about the things you have to do as a coach, based on the types of athletes you’re going to encounter. But many of you are athletes, and you want some good information to apply to your own career.

Well, let’s look at it this way. If you’re reading this, you’re probably a hard charger. Cows don’t subscribe to weightlifting magazines and put in extra reading time to make themselves better. Cows sit on the couch and watch SpongeBob. So I’m going to assume I’m writing to a bunch of people who are internally motivated and intense about making progress as weightlifters.

Because of this, I feel pretty comfortable saying that you probably need more of a “calm down” approach. I sure as hell needed this myself, when I was coming up in my early years as an athlete. I was a hard charger, and I also had a hot temper. So I had a bad combination where my aggression was excessive and I got pissed as hell when I made mistakes. Believe me, I needed a coach to calm me down. Fortunately, that’s exactly what I found. The man who led me through most of my career was a very even-tempered, relaxing presence who put me in the right state of mind. However, I also had to find my own ways of staying relaxed, especially in the days and weeks leading up to a big competition. If I was three or four weeks away from a national meet, I could feel the tension building. You want to hear something funny? When I was in my college years, I would always make sure I had a casual girlfriend when I was getting ready for a big meet. This kept my mind off weightlifting. The more I thought about competing, the worse I did at the meet because I just got so tense. So if I had a girl on my mind most of the time, I wasn’t getting stressed about competing. I know that sounds silly, but I swear to god it’s true. And you know what? It worked.

How did I develop this strategy? And how have I continued to find ways to put myself in the right mental state for so many years? Trial and error, the same way you’re going to have to do it for yourself. I don’t know you personally, so I don’t know exactly what you need. Your coach knows you, but there’s only so much he/she can do for you. At the end of the day, your performance is your responsibility. The only one who can figure out how to “get in the zone” is you, and it won’t be easy to do it. But none of this is easy. It’s all difficult, and you’ll have some failures as you march through it. What’s that, you say? You don’t want to deal with difficulty and failure? Well my little friend, you picked the wrong sport.

I’m just kidding. You picked the right sport, and you know it. I hope you kick ass for many years to come.