Are you pushing too hard?

One of the key mistakes I made in training in my youth was going nuts every training session. The relationship of the different training variables was lost on me so I assumed like the pro's I read about in the magazines I had to be 'hardcore' each session. Well you can imagine how far that got me back in the day...nowhere. Even relatively recently I discovered that I find it far too easy to overdo things. That's one of the reasons I adopt Wendler and program quite conservatively: it is an artificial safeguard to ensure my gains are consistent over the longer term.

The outcome of this approach was that I finished every training session physically wiped out. You know what I am talking about, that really deep feeling of being washed out.

Even prior to joining PTC I often lifted with an I-pod and my favourite mix of hardcore tunes cranked. What I found however is that I was still overcranking things. The combination of the music always blaring high meant I had my CNS way way to overamped particularly just before a lift.I find a much more relaxed demeanor suits me in training. That way I can build up the aggression slowly and then flick the switch just before I am ready for a big lift.

I have translated this approach also to my individual lifts. For example on the deadlift I would often get aggressive well before my top sets, bellow and holler and shake and slam the bar but once again for me it just works me up to easily.

Though he isn't a powerlifter I love the pre-lift approach by Jon North the American weightlifter. Check out any video of him lifting and though he probably gets worked up heavily after I like is calm slow intensity build up once his hands hit the bar pre-lift.

Critically for the genetically average such as me I think it''s easy to program intensity on a cycle basis but still overcook it on a session by session basis. I know my deadlift PB is a function of my more relaxed approach to a 1RM pull.

So what's the point of this ramble? Well every single session doesn't have to be a ball screaming, edge of insanity approach for the 1 hour you are working out. If you are natural and finish training on a regular basis so exhausted that all you can do is lay down then my friend you may need to pull back a fraction. Remember you need to do enough to disrupt homeostasis but not enough that you are already pushing into overreaching territory.

Stay Strong
Thomo