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Most people would achieve much better results from their training by increasing training intensity and motivation. Finding ways to pump yourself mentally and thereby increase your training intensity can often yield more than countless jars of pre-workouts and other performance-enhancing supplements.
Training Intensity
There is a world of difference between simply visiting a gym and “just doing your routine” or going to the gym and pushing yourself to the highest possible training intensity every time. The difference between the man who “would like to get rid of his belly” and thinks that doing cardio twice a week is enough and the man who has made it his mission to transform his body into that of a young god. The difference between the woman who “goes to body pump with her friends” and the woman who wants to see herself on the cover of fitness magazines. The difference between Planet Fitness and Metroflex Gym. The difference between amateurs and pros.
The reason for this article is my own experience over the past years, but also this week. I have written several articles about the influence of your mental attitude like “the muscle strength of positive thinking” and “the power of groaning”. These were more scientifically supported articles demonstrating the mental influence in research. When I apply the findings from these studies to my workouts, it always results in the most hardcore workouts that leave me exhausted but content when leaving the gym. I will discuss methods to pump yourself up, to become aggressive, to give you the urge halfway through the article to stop reading and go to the gym to demolish barbells.
Do you find it strange to scream your lungs out to squeeze out a few more repetitions? Then maybe this article is not for you. This article is for winners, for the die-hards, for those who already consider themselves superhuman. And although people often find me more eloquent than my appearance would suggest, there will be little eloquence here. The language will be more like that of American football players about to run through their opponent than that of a boardroom where high tea has just been served. So, consider yourself warned.
Effort Over Tools: Mind over matter
I have written numerous articles about supplements and read hundreds, if not thousands, of studies on this topic. Very often it’s about adding a few percentage points, a few more reps, a few seconds longer. I’m not talking so much about things like macronutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, and fats that you need to build mass, but performance-enhancing substances like pre-workouts.
Ask yourself the simple question: “How useful is it to spend tens of euros on expensive pre-workouts to do a few extra repetitions if you could already do those extra repetitions by putting in more effort?”. Wouldn’t it be wiser to first give 100% of yourself before trying to increase it to 110%? Don’t get me wrong, pre-workouts and other performance-enhancing supplements certainly have their value. But if you don’t first get the most out of yourself, it’s like compensating for poor nutrition with protein shakes. You achieve more with them than if you didn’t use them, but you miss out on the biggest gains.
It’s a big pitfall: Habituation. Although habituation and routine ensure that you walk into the gym neatly every time, they can also lead to just going through your routine instead of pushing yourself to the limit with every exercise. I will simply mention some tricks here that have been shown to work in research or have been personally effective for me.
One of the things that, based on my own experience, increases the training intensity is pre-workout. But a lot of pre-workouts do more harm than good. A lot of pre-workouts, even the expensive ones with beautiful packaging and lots of promises, do little more than increase your heart rate and give you an unpleasant tingling sensation. After I had been using pre-workouts for years, I stopped and even developed a slight aversion to them. Why? For one, the energy was great, but I was missing the mental sharpness and aggression. You’ll often find beta-alanine, caffeine, or other stimulating substances in these products. However, they often lack substances that promote mental aggression, such as tyrosine or citrulline malate. The perfect pre-workout doesn’t exist, and the search for it often comes down to a compromise between the positive effects and the side effects of the substances present.
Do you still want to try it? Look for a pre-workout that contains the right ingredients and no unnecessary rubbish. Of course, caffeine is not bad, but if it’s only beta-alanine, caffeine, and sweeteners, you could probably be better off with a few cups of coffee and a few squares of dark chocolate.
Before I continue, I must point out that I am not a doctor, so always consult your doctor before starting with supplements. I also point out that I am not a psychologist and therefore have no idea whether the described methods have a permanent effect on you and whether it is good for you in the long term. What I do know is that they work for me and that I feel great during and after training.
The Necessity of Aggression in Your Training
One of the keys to success in the gym is aggression. You must not be afraid to look a little aggressive, especially during heavy exercises. You’ll see that a lot of top athletes, including bodybuilders, strength athletes, and fighters, have a certain aggression about them when they exercise. This is because they have to overcome themselves every time, to go beyond their limits. This is impossible without some form of aggression. Of course, I am not saying that you have to beat everyone who looks at you wrong, but you have to learn to find your “training aggression” if you want to achieve anything in the gym.
This aggression comes from several factors:
- Physical: The simple fact that you have to work hard, that your body is under tension, that you have to fight for every repetition.
- Mental: The focus, the determination, the willpower. This can manifest itself in a lot of aggression or swearing.
- External: Think of the atmosphere in the gym, the music, the smell of sweat, the sight of heavy weights.
All these factors, and especially the latter, are important when it comes to your mental attitude. You have to feel like a warrior who is about to go to war. When you look at the barbell before you start your set, you have to see an opponent you want to crush. A Greek hero who has to defeat a hydra. A general who has to defeat a powerful enemy. In short, you have to put yourself in an aggressive mood. Because without that aggression, you will never achieve great things in the gym.
Cursing is Allowed
One of the things I’ve noticed that I do during training is to curse a lot. And I mean a lot. As soon as the barbell touches my chest in the bench press, there’s a loud “F*ck”. Every time I go to failure, I curse. Every time I do a particularly heavy set, I curse. As soon as the fatigue is unbearable, I curse. Not because I want to be a rude boy, but because I need that release. That release of aggression, that release of tension, that release of fatigue. And it helps. It helps a lot.
But cursing is not the only way to release aggression. Yelling, grunting, groaning, hissing, all of these can help you release tension, make you more aggressive, and increase your training intensity.
It’s still your Motherf#cking set!
This is a quote I picked up from the bodybuilder Rich Piana. He shouted this at himself when he was about to give up. When he had had enough. When he felt he couldn’t do it anymore. And you know what? It worked. He did those extra repetitions, even though he had long since gone beyond failure.
That quote, “It’s still your motherf*cking set!” has become one of my own. I now say it when I feel like I can’t go on. When I feel like I can’t do it anymore. And it works. I do those extra reps. Those extra sets. I crush that barbell, even though I’m about to collapse. Because it’s still my motherf*cking set!
Think of this quote next time you’re about to give up. Next time you’re about to put the barbell back. Next time you’re about to end your set. Because it’s still your motherf*cking set!
Visualizing the Exercise During Rest
One of the things that helps me a lot during rest is visualizing the exercise. As soon as I’m about to start my set, I close my eyes and visualize what I’m about to do. I see myself lying on the bench, the barbell above me. I see the movement. I see the muscles contracting. I see myself doing the repetitions. And then I see myself overcoming myself, doing those extra reps even though it hurts. Visualizing the exercise during rest helps me focus, increases my aggression, and allows me to get more out of my set.
The Perfect Playlist
Music is incredibly important when it comes to your mental attitude. Music can make you aggressive, focused, determined, and energetic. It can make you want to crush the weights. It can make you want to go beyond your limits. So choose your music carefully. Find out what works best for you. For me, it’s heavy metal. The harder, the better. The faster, the better. The more aggressive, the better. So put on your favorite playlist, turn up the volume, and go to war with the weights.
Conclusion
If you want to achieve great things in the gym, you have to learn to find your aggression. You have to learn to overcome yourself every time. You have to learn to push yourself beyond your limits. And the methods described above can help you with that. They can help you release aggression, increase your training intensity, and get more out of your workout. So try them out, see what works best for you, and crush the weights!
Before I continue, I must point out that I am not a doctor, so always consult your doctor before starting with supplements. I also point out that I am not a psychologist and therefore have no idea whether the described methods have a permanent effect on you and whether it is good for you in the long term. What I do know is that they work for me and that I feel great during and after training.
