9 Ways to Be Mentally Tough for Weightlifting.

If you are involved in the sport or you have done the snatch or clean and jerk before, you know that as much as it is a physical game, it also involves much mental fortitude when training as a weightlifter or using weightlifting movements for training. Here are some things that could help build up mental toughness to help you get better at the mental game in weightlifting:

1. Practise gratitude

Be happy that you get a chance to train. Be happy that you can move a barbell. Learn to look for the positives of every session, whether good or bad.

2. Accept change.

Sometimes it’s hard to accept things differently especially when we are all creatures of habit. Learning to embrace something different will not only challenge you but also allow you to grow through the challenge.

3. Do what you can with what you have.

We may be limited at the moment with what we have in regards to our skill, movement capacity or even strength. But we should not let these factors hold us back and stop doing the work that needs to be done for us to still improve.

4. Control the controllable.

Many outside factors will come along and affect us in our training. Learning to deal with what we can modify or handle will allow us to keep moving forward and gain momentum and consistency in our training.

5. Leave things behind.

Although it’s hard not to be affected by something negative like a failed lift or a bomb-out in comp, we need to learn how to take the lesson out of that experience and move forward. Brooding over it only keeps you focusing on the problem and does not provide a solution for you to resolve the problem for the future.

6. Don't repeat your mistakes.

This relates to the previous two points. If you move forward and do what is within your control, you will not repeat the same mistake and you will be better for it. Many of us get comfortable and repeat what we have always been doing, thinking that it will get us somewhere but the initial result should be a good reminder that we need to move onto the next solution.

7. Try and try again.

Even if you have moved on and seek a different solution, it’s not always that it will solve the problem. But not letting that hold you back once you hit a wall, you will learn to look at things from a different perspective from before to approach the problem from a different angle and find another solution to the problem.

8. Be patient.

Any form of change takes time to manifest itself. We all know that there is no quick fix in weightlifting and it’s a matter of allowing time to take its place. Of course the work needs to be done and the consistency needs to be maintained.

9. Compete against yourself.

To be mentally tougher, you want to have the mindset of bettering yourself each time. This does not have to be in the form of a PB or more range but the ability to see that you have improved from before. Do the things you need to see improvement in all aspects of your training and you will see that the competition you set for yourself will push you to be a mentally stronger individual.

Conclusion

To be mentally tough, it comes down to practising these small but important tasks over and over again. Through the test of time, it helps you establish the correct approach towards your training and help you maintain focus on the longevity of your progress.

Our programming is designed to help you with these steps and keeping on track with your lifting so that you are always looking at your training with the right approach. Contact us now for more information!