How You Can Have The Confidence To Increase Your Strength
By admin
Thank you for all your get well messages to Dan yesterday. Over the past 2 days his arm has begun to regain some range of motion, so we’re hoping he is on the fast track to recovery!
While he’s been unable to play around with his workouts lately, I’ve been going strong. Having the knowledge from this past weekend really boosted my confidence to really push myself.
Just like in other aspects of life, sometimes we let fear stand in the way of changing. Getting stronger is a changing process, it takes going beyond our comfort zone, pushing our bodies in ways that might not be comfortable in order for muscles to adapt and build strength.
I realized during the trip that I was letting fear hold me back… especially in moves like the Turkish Get-Up. The move I mentioned yesterday I wanted to perfect.
Fearful Of “I Can’t”
I wasn’t confident in my body’s ability to lift a heavy weight over my head. I was fearful that my shoulder would give out. Fearful my wrist wouldn’t be able to stay straight… fearful that I would fail.
I was afraid I couldn’t do it.
So what did I do? I kept working out in the safety zone. I used a weight that I knew I could handle, which means it was a weight that wasn’t doing too much to help me accomplish my goal of strength.
If it feels easy, then it is. It’s that simple.
For most exercises I have been using a 35-pound kettlebell. I can swing it, squat it, even press that baby… but I didn’t even try to TGU with it. Hell no, do I look crazy to you?
Okay, don’t answer that.
For weeks Dan has seen my improve and has urged me to use the bigger weight. I just kept telling him I couldn’t. I kept grabbing the 25-pounder instead.
“Do Or Do Not… There Is No Try”
Can anyone name that movie quote?
Dan & I repeat this to each other often… it’s the quote that gets us powered up to do something when we’re on edge.
It’s the quote I repeated to myself yesterday when I grabbed my 35-pound kettlebell and did something I haven’t done before:
2 Turkish Get-Ups on EACH side.
Yea, it was a big day!
What suddenly switched in my brain that allowed me to not only try but to do multiple reps?
C – O – N – F – I – D – E – N – C – E
—> I had the confidence that I was stronger than I gave myself credit for.
—> I had the confidence to finally do what was needed if I really want to be able to lift heavier.
—> I had the realization that I wasn’t going to improve by sitting stagnant.
5 Ways You Can Increase Confidence To Build Strength
1. Set goals for specific exercises.
Choose just 2-3 exercises you want to focus on to get stronger with. You can’t become great at a dozen moves at once, by focusing on a handful you’ll be able to better dedicate yourself. For me those moves include: Get-Ups; Handstands; and KB Pistol Squats
2. Study the moves.
Increase your confidence by knowing the exercise(s) inside and out. When you know you’re doing it right, you’re much more likely to push yourself harder. That’s one of the main reasons I went for it yesterday!
3. Have a spot.
Sometimes just having someone there helps give a boost of confidence and strength. I saw this happen this weekend when a girl asked for a spot to try to get-up a new weight… it was over 10 pounds heavier than she had ever used before and she did it. At the end she kept saying “Really, you didn’t help?” It’s a cool feeling.
*Spots are recommended anytime you’re lifting for a new PR*
4. Don’t think long.
The longer you stand around looking at the weight you’re wanting to do, the harder it becomes. The mind is a powerful thing.
Take a deep breath, breath out and go for it. Do it before your brain tries to ask you “is this really a wise idea?”
5. Slowly build up.
Start off light, each time you can accomplish 10 reps fairly easily is a sign that you’re ready to move up in weight.
Once you move up, aim for just a rep. If you do that rep, then try one more… take it rep by rep until you can’t complete another with proper form or full ROM (range of motion).
What exercises are you wanting to improve?