By: Jacob Wellock
- Proper Nutrition
This goes without saying and I think most of you know this, but your nutrition is the base of your fitness and contributes massively to your strength as well. If you want to lift the most weight possible, make sure your nutrition is dialed in. - Mobility
No matter how strong or how much will power you have, you will never get in the positions you need to take your strength to the next level. That Snatch or Clean and Jerk you keep missing, a huge part of that is your ability to get into proper positions to really make a difference. Take the time to mobilize at night and before you start your workout, not only for your health and wellness, but to lift big weights as well. - T.U.T. (Time Under Tension)
The only way to get better at the lifts is to actually do them… over and over and over and over and over. Contrary to popular belief, no matter how many times you lift that PVC pipe perfectly, it does not mean you are going to be better at Snatching. Yes, it does help and it should be done regularly, but saying “I am going to go light to work on my technique,” is a very taboo phrase. Lifting weights at 50% and 100% are radically different. This statement applies to those that have been lifting for some time. Just know, that in order to be better, you have to lift weights at all varying percentages to truly train your body. - Focus
This one goes without saying, but it means that you have to shut all things out of your mind before you lift. If you are thinking about anymore than one thing, there is a good chance that you will not succeed. You have to have tunnel vision. When you study for a test, you can’t study math, science, english, and history all at the same time and expect to get a good grade on your health test. You have to put your efforts into the one thing that you struggle with most. - Aggressiveness
I believe that this goes without saying as well, but if you don’t have an all out intensity when it comes to lifting something heavy, it is more than likely going to fail. There is a brief window where you need to draw this intensity and it takes a lot of practice, but if you never practice it, how are you going to get better? The weights are not delicate little flowers, so you cannot treat them that way. If there was a heavy rock that had a million dollars underneath it, I bet you would work pretty damn hard to move that rock and would get as mean as necessary to move it. That is the intensity you need when it comes to lifting. It’s scary, because we don’t want to fail, but missing attempts is part of what is going to make us better. So commit to that bar every time you get near it and the results will speak for themselves.