Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

BEYOND BRAWN
sibility of disturbance, and taking action accordingly, you can help avoid
someone coming up to you during a set and ruining your concentration.
16.39 When you get in position for a set, pay attention to ensure you take the right
grip and/or stance/body position. Do not charge into a set, grab the bar
and then realize after the first rep that you took an imbalanced grip, wrong
stance, are lopsided while on a bench, or whatever. Take the time, be conscientious,
and get positioned right for every set you do. Mentally go through
a few reps and establish that everything is in order before you take the bar
and start the set.
7. Focus trigger
16.40 Immediately before each work set you may find it helpful to use a trigger
that switches on focus and aggression. Use the same trigger, e.g., a tap on
your forehead, a growl, or clap of your hands. Once your trigger has been
activated, the battle has started and nothing less than your absolute best
performance will do! Some people, however, find triggers distracting. Try it
both ways, and see which way helps you the most.
16.41 Use mental imagery to help you train hard. Do not merely deadlift, but pull
a vehicle off a trapped person. Do not merely bench press, but free yourself
from being crushed by a huge boulder. Do not merely chin, but pull yourself
up to save your life after dangling from a very high precipice.
8. During each set
16.42 Despite your having tried to ensure that you loaded the right weight and
positioned the bar correctly, and adopted an even and precise stance or grip,
mistakes still happen. If the first two reps do not feel right, stop and investigate
to see if something is wrong. If you persist with a set that does not feel
right, you will probably end up performing a bad set, being frustrated, and
perhaps getting injured. And despite your precautions someone may still
disturb you during a set and ruin your concentration. Whatever the problem,
stop the set and have a rest for a few minutes. en, having corrected
any error(s) you found in your concentration, weight loading, bar positioning,
grip or stance, restart the set and this time perform it perfectly. Never be
in such a hurry to get a set done that you accept compromises.
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