photo by Aperture by Angelica

Written by Nick Benerakis

Women actually have some awesome advantages when it comes to bench pressing! Many women aren’t even aware of the advantages they possess and similarly, do not take advantage as a result. In this article, I want to shed some light on how women can kick more ass in the bench press!

Increased Flexibility

Most women are naturally more flexible than their male counterparts! This is speaking generally but includes the large majority. Many women have the advantage of being able to get into great arches on the bench and really exploit the reduced range of motion. If you follow me on Instagram @bigbenchas or have ever took part in one of our coaching programs, you know how much I stress the millimeters! What I mean by that is you should be maximizing your set up positioning to the fullest. An extra millimeter added or subtracted to the range of motion could make or break you on a max effort lift!

Where to start with this? Learn our 3 step approach to setting up on the bench. This checklist makes it easy to set up consistently and to strive for those millimeters!

Women also may find a unique flexibility advantage in what I call “bridging” off the bench. In this process, you are trying to shift the contact point with the pad from your upper back to the upper traps/base of the neck. The higher up you can shift the contact point, the more advantageous the position will become!

Strong Lower Body

Many women are naturally gifted in lower body strength and power. Upper body traditional lags a bit behind for most but what is lacking in upper body strength is easily accommodated for with very powerful legs and hips. Women can use this to their advantage! Bench Press is just as much a lower body lift than it is an upper body lift! Leg drive is a huge component in the bench and this is where women can shine!

Once a lifter learns how to engage their leg strength in the correct way, it proves to be an enormous spark in bench press strength!

Excellent Recovery

Bench press generally recovers more quickly than the squat or the deadlift because of the nature of the movement. There is no axial loading so the demands are a bit different, but there is typically less weight lifted as well so it’s not as fatiguing for the nervous system. What I have found is that women tend to recover even more quickly than male counterparts which is why they seem to do so well with higher frequency work. Benching up to three times a week can be considered tolerable and beneficial for women lifters.

Like with any programming tips, this recommendation is based off appropriate loading schemes. It would not be wise to max out three times per week, but if you control the intensity variable then you can get away with three to four times benching a week depending on how you spin it. I traditionally like to see one day focused on high intensity, one day on higher volume, and one day in between focused on recovery. Movement practice prioritized throughout the week in all training sessions

Hopefully, with this increased knowledge, we can see more women lifters push through new boundaries! The bench press can be a frustrating lift and may take time to improve, but as long as a lifter is willing to stick it out and prioritize technique, you will make an improvement!

“Coach Ben is a strength coach in Long Island, NY. His best competition bench to date is 705 pounds multi-ply. Nick specializes in coaching the bench press. His website www.bigbenchas.com and his YouTube channel Big Benchas is dedicated to providing all the content you need to take your bench to the next level! To learn more on bench pressing, you can follow Big Benchas on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, and iTunes (The BenchCast)”

A mini-review of the effects of taking oral contraceptives (both combined and progesterone-only) on athletic performance in women.

Written by Helena Humphries

have recently seen a few posts on social media and on various other blogs which claim that taking oral contraceptives reduced strength, primarily through reduction of available testosterone. I wanted to check the research myself to see if these claims were supported by the scientific literature, or if these bloggers had just over-dramatized this. Of the blogs/posts I saw, there were no or insufficient links to articles. It is very easy for us to read an abstract from one valid study which demonstrates testosterone reduction, and assume that overall muscle strength and athletic performance must be reduced. In this blog, I’ll be sharing my review of the literature and linking the evidence for what I find. At this point, I also like to mention I have only referred to the most up-to-date and relevant research, from the past 20 years.

Estrogen, androgenicity & testosterone                  

At first, I set out to find evidence of the effects of the progesterone-only pill (POP) on performance, as this is the pill I am currently taking. Then I realized that most research has been carried out on women taking combined oral contraceptives (COC). Just to clarify – COCs are a mixture of estrogen and progestins (synthetic progesterone). Both of these are sex hormones involved in preparing the female body for pregnancy and secondary sexual characteristics. All contraception works to reduce variation in cycle length and ultimately reduce the chances of pregnancy. COCs reduce natural production of estrogens and progestins by inhibiting pituitary secretion of gonadotrophins (hormones which stimulate the ovary to produce estrogen and progesterone). Perhaps the first mistake people make is to assume that there are only 2 types of contraception and that each works the same. There are so many variations of progestins in the available medication, all of which act differently pharmacokinetically, that few studies take this variation into account. Below is a table (1) of just some of the available contraceptive medication. It is important to note, that this research is from 2005, and not all currently-available contraceptives were indicated in this table. The table also includes information about the androgenicity of each variant. Androgenicity, simply put, is the ability to stimulate masculine characteristics. The potency refers to the power of progestin to produce its desired effects.

It is interesting to note that for most of these variants, there is a level of androgenicity. But where does this ‘level of androgenicity’ come from, and how was this measured. This article seemed to show this rather ambiguously, so I began digging for the original article that this came from. In this article by Greer et al (2), androgenicity is described as – calculated by measuring the progestin’s affinity for and binding to the androgen receptor, and it’s effect on the sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). SHBG is important in this story as it is this globulin which binds testosterone and estrogen making the sex hormones unavailable for use at the receptors. Greer et al then go on to discuss two of the most androgenic progestins -levonorgestrel and dl-norgestrel ‘They have a high affinity for sex hormone binding globulin and decrease free sex hormone binding globulin levels by binding it and displacing testosterone, consequently increasing free testosterone levels.’ (2)

As they explain, the reason for these progestin’s ability to produce androgenic effects is because they bind to SHBG, which therefore prevents the binding of SHBG to testosterone, thereby increasing free testosterone. From this, one might assume that contraceptives containing levonorgestrel and dl-norgestrel, would, therefore, increase free testosterone, thereby helping to promote strength increases. However, there is also evidence to suggest that some COCs may be anti-androgenic. Wright et al, (11) found that ‘progesterone competitively inhibits the action of androgen, as it is a preferred substrate to the enzyme 5α-reductase, hence preventing the conversion of testosterone into its active metabolite dihydrotestosterone’. From the source, it is not clear which progestins Wright et al studied. Note article from 1983, modern-day progestins were not researched. In the table above, there is one variant whereby the potency and androgenicity are not available/this variant may have anti-androgenic effects. In a review of COCs by Zimmerman et al (3), they refer to studies which find decreases free testosterone and total testosterone and increasing concentrations of SBHG. In this review, they show that this is varied depending on which pill is taken. Thorneycroft et al (4) looked at the effects of 2 specific progestins levonorgestrel (LNG, 100 μg), and norethindrone acetate (NETA, 1000 μg) on testosterone levels. Both significantly reduced bioavailable testosterone, despite a 2.2 fold increase of SHBG with NETA than LNG (4). With this increase in SHBG with NETA, you might expect the testosterone to be further reduced, but it isn’t. This suggests there are other mechanisms at play that aren’t fully understood. According to Stanczyk (5), there is a misconception about the androgenicity of progestins due to extrapolation of data between rat to humans, and progestins differ greatly in chemical structures, metabolism, and pharmacokinetics. Indeed, both Greer et al and Thorneycroft et al looked into the same progestins LNG and found contradictory results.

Sitruk-Ware et al, (12) mention that most current progestins, according to their chemical structure, could interact with the androgen and estrogen receptor, among others and elicit both androgenic and antiandrogenic effects. In this article, they also take a look into more newly developed progestins on the market drospirenone (DRSP), dienogest (DNG) – so-called fourth-generation progestins and find that these bind very specifically to the progesterone receptor, with less interaction of other steroid receptors. Despite this, they also report that these ‘new progestins’ have antiandrogenic effects and are 30-40% less potent than cyproterone acetate (CPA) the most potent antiandrogenic progestin (13).

As most people focus on testosterone when they talk about strength/performance, I thought it right to shed some light on the role of estrogen, which is often overlooked. Estrogen is hugely important in both females and males and performs a wide array of tasks. These include promoting sex drive, accelerating metabolism, protein synthesis, lipid metabolism, the name just a few. Given its role in so many body functions, it makes sense that this hormone would also be important for athletic performance. Lowe et al, demonstrate the positive effects of estrogen on quality of skeletal muscle and improvement of myosin function (molecule required for muscle contraction). There are in fact, many examples of positive associations of estrogen and strength. Another article from Pöllänen et al (7), showed in a study of explosive lower body muscle in females, that the muscular composition of pre-menopausal women was greater than that of post-menopausal women, and that estrogen, testosterone, and DHEAS (dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) were involved in muscle performance.

Links with contraceptives to other factors affecting athletic performance

There are many elements to athletic performance - it could be postulated that oral contraceptives may cause strength limiting effects in some areas, but have more positive effects in other areas. Indeed this is what I found in the literature. Lebrun (8), noted that musculoskeletal injuries have been shown to be reduced in women taking oral contraceptives. This ties in with research from Herzberg et al (9), that reviewed 21 studies including 68,000 participants that showed that hormonal contraceptives offered protection against ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.

The table below reviews numerous studies in which an aspect of athletic performance is tested on women taking various contraceptive pills (1).

These studies show a variety of results, that in some there was a decrease in performance, in others an increase. The difficulty is that there are so many different types of contraceptive, with varying amounts and differing progestins, it is hard to compare one against another, and draw solid conclusions. 

Focusing in on the element of recovery. Thompson et al, (10) found that there was no difference between contraceptive users and non-users with respect to muscle damage, but that women A taking contraceptives perceived less muscle soreness following exercise. This led to the conclusion that users may have a higher pain threshold due to the exogenous progesterone and estrogen, and this may influence the maximal force they can produce. (10)

Conclusion

Like I mentioned previously, my reasons for wanting to find out about specifically the effects of the POP pill on athletic performance were first because I find this an interesting topic, and with my scientific background, I thought I could do a reasonable and unbiased review. But secondly, because I am currently competing as an athlete and want to know what is best for my performance. I know there are many women out there who also would like a conclusion on this, but one that is backed up by substantial scientific evidence. In addition to this, many of the reviews I found online, by non-scientists attempting to answer this question, didn’t seem to be backed-up. I found online blogs which convincingly put forward that Progesterone is an antagonist (works against) of testosterone and therefore, a conclusion made, one shouldn’t take the pill if they want to help their athletic performance. I wondered if this was conclusive, but the papers they linked either were unavailable or were from 1971 and extrapolated data from chicken, rats, and mice (14). Having looked into this myself it would seem that from the progesterone component of the combined pills tested, many of these can bind the androgen receptor and decrease circulating testosterone. Although once bound to the androgen receptor it is still unclear the whether an androgenic or antiandrogenic effect will be seen. Of course, the testosterone-side to this question is important and should be considered. With the introduction of even more, and new, progestins more research should be conducted to find the effects at the androgen receptor, and also on strength as a whole with these fourth gen progestins. As I also pointed out, there are so many pills on the market, with slightly different pharmacokinetic effects, and most research focusing on the combined pill, it is not easy to draw conclusions. From what I have found, I would conclude that there is more evidence to suggest oral contraception can lower available testosterone, but the effects of this with regards to overall strength have been insufficiently studied. There are certainly positive effects to taking oral contraception on elements of athletic performance which have been noted in the various articles I linked in this mini-review. If pharmaceutical companies would decrease the available contraceptives and would regulate the formulations more tightly, more effective studies could be conducted to draw more conclusions. In short – I wouldn’t come off the pill in order to amplify my athletic performance because it is likely that differences would be negligible, and further research must be conducted.

References:

(1)        https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-200737070-00001

(2)        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15802398?dopt=Abstract

(3)        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0059991/

(4)        https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010782499000931

(5)        https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039128X03001648

(6)        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2873087/

(7)        https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/acel.12309

(8)        https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-199316060-00005

(9)        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5524267/

(10) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9315413?dopt=Abstract

(11) Wright F, Giacomini M, Riahi M and Mowszowicz I (1983) Antihormone activity of progesterone and progestins. In Bardin CW, Milgröm E and Mauvais-Jarvis P (eds), Progesterone and Progestins. Raven Press, New York, pp. 121–134

(12)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010782410001411

(13)https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article/12/2/169/701448

(14) https://www.popline.org/node/485036

Written by Gage Reid of Nova Strength Systems

I’ve caught some heat in the past for saying, “There’s no such thing as a weak lockout in the Sumo Deadlift, only a poor starting position” and I will die by that statement because I wholeheartedly believe it to be true.

In my opinion, the Sumo Deadlift is the most technical dependant and misunderstood lift in the strength and conditioning community. No matter where you look on social media you’ll see a video of someone pulling a huge Sumo Deadlift, followed by an array of comments ranging from “Sumo is cheating!” to “I bet he/she couldn’t even Conventional Deadlift 225!” (Even if the person in question is pulling 500-700+ pounds, but I digress). The reason that the Sumo Deadlift gets so much hate is due to the range-of-motion commonly used during the lift itself- since many athletes tend to use their own individual leverages to their advantage on the Squat and Bench, it only makes sense to do the same with the Deadlift. Many people assume that since the range-of-motion is shorter, that the lift is vastly easier and shouldn’t be allowed in competition, but in my opinion, the Sumo Deadlift requires both a higher degree of skill, as well as technical execution as opposed to the Conventional Deadlift.

First off, take any intermediate Powerlifter who has NEVER performed the Sumo Deadlift, then have them test their 1RM in comparison to their Conventional- 9 times out of 10 they won’t match their Conventional, let alone exceed it. This is due to the highly technical aspect of the lift- like any other lift, it’s a highly specific skill that must be developed and trained accordingly.

The overall development of the Sumo Deadlift starts with the athlete’s ability to perform the movement with the highest degree of technical proficiency possible for their individual leverages. It’s impractical to have every athlete perform the Sumo Deadlift with an ultra-wide stance, extremely upright posture like you see some of the best in the world doing (ie: Stefi Cohen, or Yury Belkin), but the overarching premise remains the same- you must be able to get as upright as possible while maintaining a strong base of support throughout the entire movement. In order to achieve this, the athlete must first do three things- gain the mobility required to get in the proper positions safely and effectively, have the stability required to execute the movement with the most precision possible, as well as have the general strength to continually drive the movement from training cycle to training cycle. All three of these can be achieved through repetition and lift specific movements- in steps the Pause Deadlift.

Before and After 12 Weeks of Deadlift training consisting of 80% of all training centered around the Pause Deadlift- no mobility drills were performed to specifically improve starting position, only a variety of Pause Deadlifts.

The Pause Deadlift, as well as the many variations that accompany it, is the cornerstone movement for developing the Sumo Deadlift (Aside from the Conventional Deadlift for General Strength and long-term developmental purposes, but I’ll be discussing this in a separate article). The Pause Deadlift allows the athlete to train the movement generally (By driving volume and/or intensity), as well as train the positions required to fully optimize the movement itself. For a newer lifter (and more often intermediate level lifters), the Sumo Deadlift will comprise 70-80% of all Deadlift training depending upon the phase that the athlete is in, as well as the athlete’s individual needs. If a beginner-level athlete comes to me with less than optimal Deadlift technique, I will almost always have the Pause Deadlift as their primary movement, with various levels of volume and intensity (Sometimes even 2-3 times per week). If you are able to perform a well-executed Pause Deadlift under load consistency with varying intensities (Often times up to 80-85% of the athlete’s 1RM), then you will inevitably be able to execute a full Sumo Deadlift. The overarching premise is teaching the athlete the proper positions required to execute the lift, as well as teach arguably the biggest aspect of the lift itself- patience off the floor and through to lockout. Double Pause, Pause off the Floor, Pauses at Mid-Shin and Pauses below the Knee are all excellent training tools to teach the positions of the Deadlift, as well as provide variety to training that many athletes have not utilized before. Since movements such as the Double Pause Deadlift are so unpleasant to perform, they are often overlooked by athlete’s who self-program- even though it is a movement that can vastly improve one’s Deadlift.

As I mentioned, patience is arguably the most crucial aspect of the Sumo Dead, and being able to pause immediately off the floor while simultaneously spreading the floor with your feet and forcing yourself upright is a massive key to success in the lift itself. I’ve caught some heat in the past for saying, “There’s no such thing as a weak lockout in the Sumo Deadlift, only a poor starting position” and I will die by that statement because I wholeheartedly believe it to be true. If you can fully optimize your start position, you will never miss a Deadlift due to a “weak lockout”. Many athletes will try to “fix” their lockout by doing endless rack and block pulls to only have their starting position remain the same and their Deadlift, not progress (This doesn’t include Deadlifts off short blocks of ~1 inch as I believe this to be a good training tool. I’m more so referring to those who will pull off blocks with the weight directly at their knee thinking they are “training their lockout”). If you want to improve your lockout, start by improving your start position with a variety of Pause Deadlifts while focusing on the specific aspects of the pull itself- spreading the floor, forcing yourself upright, maintaining a neutral spine and driving the bar up, NOT back).

“Get as upright as possible and push with the legs”

I can watch a lifter’s set-up with sub-maximal loads and know immediately whether or not they will have issues with balance or locking out maximal weights. If the lifter rushes/jerks the bar off the ground, is excessively bent over or is impatient with the lift, they will almost always miss maximal lifts. Consistency and execution are key. You must be honest with yourself about the efficiency of your pull if you truly want to improve and move big weights. I constantly see people executing the famous “Sum-Ventional” Deadlift, which is a Sumo Deadlift executed with an extremely bent over posture- the same people who will miss or grind maximal loads at lockout, whereas in the Sumo Deadlift the lockout should be the easiest part of the lift. If you listen to any of the great, great Sumo Deadlifters talk about the lift, you will often hear, “As long as I can break the floor, I know I can make the lift”. This is due to the mechanical nature of the lift, as well as their proficiency in the movement itself. My favourite cue to use with ALL lifters performing the Sumo Deadlift is this, “Get as upright as possible and push with the legs”. If you can do those two things while maintaining a good degree of positioning throughout the lift, you will be very successful.

Chat more with Gage and other coaches in GWPL Strong Girls Club on Facebook

Interview by Sarah Brenner

Our hormonal cycle is important. Periods are important. For strength athletes, it is especially helpful to understand our hormones and how they can affect our training and strength gains. We sent over a list of questions to Veronica McNelis, a personal trainer, powerlifter, and advocate for women’s health to help us better understand how our cycles affect our training.

Tell the Nation a little bit about yourself:

I’m a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and a USA Powerlifting athlete and referee. I combined my two passions (women’s health and powerlifting) to create a business helping other women resolve their menstrual cycle issues and learn more about their cycles. I believe all women deserve to feel strong, powerful and confident in their bodies and the more knowledge women have about their bodies and hormones, the more empowered they can feel.

Sooooooo…. What exactly IS a period? (Just in case anyone forgot)

A period is the shedding of the endometrial lining (the innermost layer) of the uterus.  A period is the grand finale in a series of hormonal events that take place over the course of the entire menstrual cycle.  A period is actually made up of not only blood but also cervical fluid and parts of the endometrial lining.

Give me the quick and dirty on the different phases of the hormonal cycle:

Phase one of the menstrual cycle is the follicular phase. The follicular phase begins on day one of heavy bleeding (not spotting) and lasts until ovulation. The follicular phase can be anywhere from 7 to 21 days, but averages around 14. The length of the follicular phase can be influenced by stress, illness and under-eating. During the follicular phase, six to eight follicles are stimulated to grow due to the release of follicle stimulating hormone. These follicles produce estrogen. As the follicles grow larger and produce increased quantities of estrogen, this rise in estrogen stimulates the release of luteinizing hormone, which triggers ovulation.

One dominant follicle will make it to ovulation, where the follicle ruptures and releases the egg inside. Ovulation is marked by an increase in all hormones. The swelling of the dominant follicle takes a few hours, while the final rupture takes only minutes.

After the follicle has ruptured and released the egg, the follicle transforms into the corpus luteum gland, a temporary endocrine gland. This endocrine gland produces estrogen and progesterone and has a lifespan of 10-16 days, which determines the length of the luteal phase. The luteal phase lasts from the end of ovulation, until the start of menstruation. Progesterone levels surge after the corpus luteum forms, and then gradually taper off until the end of the luteal phase. As the corpus luteum shrinks and progesterone levels drop, the shedding of the uterine lining is triggered.

How do the phases of the hormonal cycle affect training?

During the follicular phase of your cycle when hormone levels are overall lower, you can expect training to feel easier and your body to be better able to handle high volume and intense workouts. We can recover faster and easier during this phase and tend to have a higher pain tolerance. We are also more insulin sensitive so this can be a good time to increase carbohydrate intake.

At the time of ovulation our hormones are actually most favorable for hitting PR’s, but since estrogen levels are highest we are also more prone to injury due to joint laxity.

During our luteal phase, our hormone levels are higher and training tends to feel harder. We get out of breath easier, recovery is decreased and our bodies rely more on fat for fuel and we may have increased cravings and hunger due to a slight increase in energy expenditure. It’s normal to feel bloated during this time as estrogen and progesterone affect the hormones that regulate fluid in our body.

We can’t always adapt our training based on the phase of our cycle we are in, especially when we are prepping for an upcoming meet, but it can be helpful to understand what is happening within our body in regards to our hormone levels and how that may affect our training. It can take the mystery out of our cravings and things feeling heavy for “no reason”.

What should we do if we get our period on meet day?

Don’t stress too much! Most of us dread getting our period on meet day, but the reality is we are actually better off hormonally. The few days prior to our period when hormone levels drop off is actually the worst time to compete. Once we get our period, our body no longer has to worry about a potential pregnancy, and the energy systems used preparing for a pregnancy can be used towards competing instead.

However, this doesn’t make handling PMS any easier. If you know your period will fall on meet day and you tend to get bad cramps, migraines and/or GI issues, you can prepare by loading up on magnesium, and taking low dose aspirin the 5-7 days before your period begins. Cramping is caused by the release of hormone-like chemicals called prostaglandins, which cause the uterine lining to contract and shed. High levels of prostaglandins can cause other muscles, like your bowels, to react in a similar manner. A higher level of prostaglandins can be caused by higher estrogen and lower progesterone. Magnesium calms the nervous system, reduces inflammation in the body, and aids in the production of progesterone. Aspirin suppresses the production of prostaglandins.

What different types of birth control are available, and how do they affect strength training?

There are two main types of hormonal birth control available: combined and progestin-only. The first type, combined, contains both estrogen and progestin (progestin is a pseudo hormone, designed to mimic the body’s natural hormone progesterone). The second type, progestin-only, is actually what it sounds like, and contains progestin only (no estrogen).

Hormonal birth control works by suppressing ovulation, thinning the lining of the uterus (the body can’t hold or nourish a pregnancy with a thin uterine lining) and impairing the production of cervical fluid (cervical fluid is needed to transport sperm to the egg). Hormonal birth control shuts down your body’s natural hormone production in order to do these things.

Examples of combined birth control include the pill, NuvaRing and contraceptive patch. Progestin-only forms of birth control include the progestin-only pill (sometimes also called the mini-pill), implants, injections and hormonal IUD’s.

Unfortunately, there isn’t tons of research and information in regards to the effect of hormonal birth control on strength training. However, one study has shown that women NOT on the pill experienced a 40-60% greater gain in muscle mass compared to women taking the pill. Other studies have shown the pill to cause delayed muscle recovery post training and decreased aerobic capacity. Another thing to keep in mind how the side effects of birth control, such as weight gain, depression, or blood clots, can impact training and energy levels.

What are some of your favorite resources for women to learn about the hormonal cycle and reproductive health?

Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler is my go-to book for reproductive health information. The book explains in detail, Fertility Awareness Method, a non-hormonal form of birth control, that will not only help to prevent or achieve pregnancy but help you to better understand your cycle.

Thank you to Veronica for taking the time to answer our questions. You can reach her on Instagram @veronicamcnelis and her website www.veronicamcnelis.com

Written by Robert King

Tonight one of my students was going for a heavy lift and she missed it.

 In training and on the platform, I do my best to not have my athletes miss lifts or reps. However, every lift we miss is an opportunity to learn. You learn more from the lifts you miss than the lifts you get. I asked her what was going through her mind before the lift? She mentioned she was thinking about a grip technique I showed her last week, as she was afraid of losing her grip on her heavy lift.  

Missing this rep was not a grip mistake. It was not a technical error during the lift. The reason she missed the lift is because of her mindset, not her lifting skill or technique.

She missed this lift because of her mindset.

What should you be thinking of before a heavy lift or a PR? In my opinion, very little. From experience coaching and lifting, here is what has helped me and my students improve our lifts, our strength, and our ability to rarely miss lifts and constantly smash PR’s. If you want to lift heavy weights, then you need to stop thinking and learn to harness your mind to have clarity and focus.

How do I recommend you create a PR mindset? I tell my athletes to “Chalk Up”. Chalking up is far more than getting chalk on your hands. It’s your time to mentally dial in and get your body and mind ready for the lift in front of you.

When stepping up to the bar on very heavy lifts, don’t think of coaching cues, don’t have a conversation going in your mind. You want to create a simple mental programming to dial in your mind for the big task in front of you. I tell my athletes to do the following.

Create a chant in your head and repeat that chant over and over and over. Pick one word and repeat it three times or pick three words and repeat them over and over. For example, stepping up to a heavy lift think and say 1 word repeated 3 times:

“Tight, Tight, Tight”

or

“Speed, Speed, Speed”

or 

“Yours, Yours, Yours”

Find the word that you need and repeat it over and over.

When I deadlift heavy often I will pace and say “Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine” (as in this lift is mine) or “Up, Up, Up” (as in this lift is coming up).  Or you can say 3 words repeated 

“I Got This”

“I Got This”

“I Got This”

Or 

“Get It Moving”

“Get It Moving”

“Get It Moving”

The cues or words you use can be specific to you, but try to block out the noise and have a clear mind of what you want to do.

When things get heavy you don’t want to practice technical cues. This is done in training, not on PR’s or on the platform. You want a clear mind and a “chant” to get you in the zone.

Choose your words wisely. 1 word 3 times repeated or 3 words repeated 3 times. Over and over and over (see what I just did). Give it a try and let me know if it helps you.

Learn more from Coach Robert on Instagram