FEAR
Never let Fear stand in the way of GREATNESS!
The Macquarie Concise Dictionary describes Fear as: a painful feeling of impending danger, evil, trouble etc; or the feeling or condition of being afraid.
OK, you are probably wondering why I am talking about Fear when it comes to building some serious muscle. Shouldn't I be talking about intensity, reps, sets etc. One factor, which is often forgotten about in Training is emotion and the emotion which is most prevalent is Fear.
When we talk about Training and Fear what do you envision. Failing at the bottom position of a squat unable to get back up, having the bar crushing down on top of your chest in a bench press or causing an injury because you are fearful of a new maximum weight about to be lifted. Or do you do what all champions do, use Fear as your allie to set a new standard and conquer new training territory.
Firstly, let's address the issue of Failure during an exercise. Training to Maximum Momentary Muscle Failure (MMMF) is what it's all about. As you well and truly know, you must force a muscle to grow - it ain't gonna happen by accident. The quickest way to induce muscle growth is to use a weight, which enables you to reach failure in the 4-6 rep range. This means that you want that weight to stop so you are using every once of effort available to keep it moving.
The very thought of using a weight to failure is scary in itself. So how do you overcome this, by having a reliable training partner. He or she will be able you to assist you just enough so you can complete that last rep. With that being said, you no longer have to be fearful of having a loaded weight crashing down on you. You have a trusted training partner who you have instructed just what you need by way of assisting you. Stop wasting valuable mental focus on something which is no longer in your control. You can be assured that help is handy if you truly needed.
In most cases it is Fear which holds you back anyway. If you are fearful of an exercise chances are you will 'hold something back', in reserve so to speak in case something happens. I guarantee that if you are with someone you have no need to hold back and as a result you will far exceed your own expectations. That's what's its all about isn't it, setting new standards and breaking new ground. Seeing that your partner is now there, use that extra focus and direct it to the task at hand. Use that fear as extra motivation, to prove that you can do it and that your mental toughness will not be challenged by a particular exercise or particular weight.
You are responsible for the outcome so don't let self imposed limitations stand in your way.
Now that we know that you might be fearful of an exercise or weight, ask yourself this. What is more fearful, a particular exercise or the thought in letting that exercise beat you? If you are training with an abbreviated program (which all should be) and only get to train a particular muscle group only once a week, you only get that one chance to stimulate growth. Now if you are truly a 'hardcore' trainer and only ever do one maximum effort work set per exercise you really do only have one shot at it. Will you let fear stand in the way of success? Now what would be more fearful? Failing at the bottom position of an exercise, assisted by your partner or failing to put forth 110% effort, failing to produce effective muscle stimulus.
If you do not conquer your fear and 'go for it', you will not produce the desired results. Chances are then, you will be totally bummed out over your performance. If this happened on the first exercise of the session it can spell disaster for the rest of the workout. Your intensity and mental focus can suffer because you didn't give your all at the start. Chances are then that the rest of the session will be a bummer and you will dwell on this performance until you get the chance to do it all again.
Now if you only train each muscle group once every 7 days that's along time to be depressed about your performance. Think about the negative effect this will have not only the rest of the weeks training sessions, but also every aspect of your fitness lifestyle.
So how do you conquer your fear? Easy. By clearly defining why you are fearful will have a positive effect on your training. You should be more fearful of failing to produce an effective workout and stimulating new growth rather then a new weight or a difficult exercise. Focus on how bad you will feel if you waste this opportunity to produce results. Focus on what is more fearful to you. Now use the negative vibes you had about that exercise/weight, focus on what training at a higher level will do for your development and attack it like you never have before.
Put it this way. You try a new weight, fail at the bottom, saved by your partner and move on. What does this mean to you? Well if you gave it everything then it was an effective performance as you would have well and truly reached overload and be well on your way to success. The only person you will let down if you don't give it everything is you.
I'll let you in on a secret. I am much more fearful of letting myself down then by anything else in the gym. Turn all you negative thoughts into positives. It's only when you clearly define your goals, desires and limitations can you react accordingly. You are the only person in control of your destiny, so use self-imposed fear as a valuable tool to enable you to reach that higher level of achievement.