Weightlifting is a very mental sport. A lot of coaches have been heard to say things along the lines of, “Weightlifting is 90 percent mental.” I get the point and agree in principle, but it should be obvious to anyone that this is hyperbole. I don’t care how focused and mentally strong you are—if you don’t have the physical capability to deadlift 200 lbs., you’re certainly not going to will yourself into snatching 300 lbs. I prefer my joking version of this saying: Weightlifting is 100 percent mental if you have 100 percent of the physical ability.

Aggression and psychological arousal are critical elements of successful weightlifting. Performing maximal snatches and clean & jerks isn’t possible without a high degree of aggressiveness channeled into the task. This is true for many sports, but weightlifting differs in the sense that the nature and duration of the aggressiveness is very specific. In sports like football, aggression needs to be expressed for a longer period of time—for example as a lineman, for the duration of a play to allow him to continue battling with the opposition to either protect their own players to allow them to make a play or attempt to access the other team’s players to stop a play. The duration of a play in football may strike you as brief, but relative to a single snatch or clean & jerk, it can be fairly protracted.

Because the degree of aggression in weightlifting must be so great, there is a limit to its possible duration. Few athletes have the energy reserves to maintain a high level of arousal for a long period of time and have any leftover to put into lifts. Antics in the gym or in competition, in my opinion, are simply drains on the athlete’s finite energy reserves and a distraction of focus. That’s all energy that could be put to better use in the performance of the lifts.

There are exceptions, but most high level weightlifters are fairly calm at all times outside of performing the actual lifts, whether in training or in competition. They remain still and focused on the upcoming lift until it’s time to do it. I call this state being calm like a bomb (credit goes to Rage Against the Machine—this is one of their song’s titles). Imagine an armed bomb—nothing about it betrays the explosive potential of the device. It’s still and quite and unassuming. But when it’s detonated, the power is beyond comprehension.

This is the way I believe weightlifters should behave. Every last drop of energy and aggression should be channeled into the task of lifting the weight. None should be wasted on shows for attention. Nothing will impress weightlifting fans more than successful big lifts.

This doesn’t mean that the gym atmosphere should be funereal. Too sedate of an environment can drain energy from any lifter. The atmosphere should be upbeat while remaining focused—you can’t sacrifice the ability of lifters to perform for the sake of having fun between lifts. Talking and joking and having fun is all well and good, but not if it’s disruptive of athletes trying to lift. Athletes need to know when to cool it and allow a lifter to focus.

Learn to channel your energy into your lifts rather than allowing it to leak elsewhere, and you’ll find yourself more consistently able to hit big lifts.