Okay, time to switch on!

How to set Mental Triggers

Powerlifting, it’s usually not synonymous with words like pretty or seen as a glamorous sport (gym face anyone?). You might agree that it's pretty simple to execute though.
Step 1: Push your body towards attaining bouts of strength through training each week

Step 2: Perform on a platform.  

Sounds simple right?  

Talk to any powerlifter though, and most will say that pushing your body to the limit is extremely taxing, both physically and mentally. When starting out, going to a gym, performing in front of a crowd, competing with others and yourself; it can all become overwhelming.  Pushing through those mental barriers are just as important as pushing through physical barriers in the sport. If this sounds like you, this might be the perfect time to set and implement some mental triggers during training. 

Mental triggers are those actions employed by athletes when it’s time to focus, switch on and channel emotion into performing at their best. They can be used during training, a prep or on a competition day, to block out the noise and focus solely on the task at hand: performing on the platform.  

When performing on a platform, in front of a crowd, you can become overwhelmed with anxiety, feel like you will ‘shit the bed’ or overwhelmed with adrenaline. That feedback channel, that inner dialogue, that possible self doubt you have in your mind, has an ability to determine how you come out of a lift: acing it or flunking.  Nerves and stress come into play here as well as your mental triggers.  By setting your own mental triggers, calming your nerves in a way that suits you, and dealing with the daily stressors leading up to a comp or PR day, will help the outcome of performance. A few steps I’ve researched or cues others have given me, to set some specific triggers to quieten myself before a lift, include:  

-        Relax somewhere quiet and comfortable

-        Visualize your goal

-        Think about an angry, upsetting, painful or a powerful time of your life

-        Focus on those memories/experiences and feelings surrounding them

-        Use code words, or music/a song or visuals to help anchor those feelings/experiences/memories

-        Channel those feelings and carry them over into executing the lift with intent

For me, mental cues form part of my ‘pre-lift ritual’, and it allows me to channel mental triggers rather than let them dictate my performance.

You can also focus on incorporating breathing techniques to help with the Fight-or-Flight responses from the brain which prepares the body for action or survival. Short sharp breaths to heighten the fight or flight responses and Longer deep breaths to calm the body and nervous system down. 

If you are coming into a lift and only thinking about every piece of  advice you've ever been given, you are overthinking it all; that’s a lot to run through in your mind and would be distracting you from executing the lift. You know what you need to do well before hitting the platform, this is what training is for. Knowing the internal chatter can be silenced by setting a mental process with small flags or markers that help you to remember what you need to do. Do this, your pre-lift ritual, before you wrap your wrists or before having your knees wrapped. Once you get to that chalk bowl, it is all about the execution. Channel the emotions with your mental triggers, let your mind go calm and blank. Then, you can execute with intent.

YOU Vs BAR

For more information, guidance or resources on how to get on top of your stress email myself ladylucklifting@gmail.com or brooke@epiconline.com.au