Keith Wassung on mindset & mental focus

[The Locust]

korte anekdote, maar zoals altijd van Keith heel erg treffend


Let me share something with you all about mindset and focus. From the time I first picked up the weights at at 13, I wanted to be stronger--actually I had to be stronger--it was not just a fancy wish or a daydream--my desire to get stronger bordered on obsessive and in later years I learned to achieve some balance in my life. Every other 8th-9th grader in my school was lifting and they all wanted to be bigger, but I had to be..it was a simple as that. For the next ten years, my thoughts were rarely more than one or two steps away from lifting, Life was simply downtime between workouts. I can remember attending a funeral and sitting in that big church, I was mentally designing a weightroom in the sanctuary--'hmm, we could rip out the pulpit and that would be our deadlift platform"

I built myself up to a near 500 bench and a 700+ squat--no drugs of any kind. Now here is the point about the mental focus..I was getting a bit tired of the competitive grind and I wanted to pursue other things in life--career, etc. and I remember doing a leg workout that just wore me into the ground--I drove home and said "that's it" and I boxed my my wraps and supersuit and put them in the attic. Now, I was stll going to train, I would always train--and train heavy, I was just going to do it for fun. Hey maybe even enter a few bench meets now and then-- I went back to the gym 3-4 days later for a bench workout. Now at this time, I could easily bench 405 for a half dozen reps and close to 8 on a good day. I started my normal workout and went I went to 405, I struggled, and I mean badly struggled with 405 for a double--The rest of my lifts went about as badly---the mental edge was gone and I have not been up near 500 ever since. I did manage to get back over 400 in the incline many years later, and kept my strength in the overhead press at some level, but for all practical purposes, I was no longer strong, the minute I decided that being strong was no longer a priority in my life.

[Willy7]

Leuk stukje, mind over matter!

[harpep]

Origineel gepost door The Locust

korte anekdote, maar zoals altijd van Keith heel erg treffend


Let me share something with you all about mindset and focus. From the time I first picked up the weights at at 13, I wanted to be stronger--actually I had to be stronger--it was not just a fancy wish or a daydream--my desire to get stronger bordered on obsessive and in later years I learned to achieve some balance in my life. Every other 8th-9th grader in my school was lifting and they all wanted to be bigger, but I had to be..it was a simple as that. For the next ten years, my thoughts were rarely more than one or two steps away from lifting, Life was simply downtime between workouts. I can remember attending a funeral and sitting in that big church, I was mentally designing a weightroom in the sanctuary--'hmm, we could rip out the pulpit and that would be our deadlift platform"

I built myself up to a near 500 bench and a 700+ squat--no drugs of any kind. Now here is the point about the mental focus..I was getting a bit tired of the competitive grind and I wanted to pursue other things in life--career, etc. and I remember doing a leg workout that just wore me into the ground--I drove home and said "that's it" and I boxed my my wraps and supersuit and put them in the attic. Now, I was stll going to train, I would always train--and train heavy, I was just going to do it for fun. Hey maybe even enter a few bench meets now and then-- I went back to the gym 3-4 days later for a bench workout. Now at this time, I could easily bench 405 for a half dozen reps and close to 8 on a good day. I started my normal workout and went I went to 405, I struggled, and I mean badly struggled with 405 for a double--The rest of my lifts went about as badly---the mental edge was gone and I have not been up near 500 ever since. I did manage to get back over 400 in the incline many years later, and kept my strength in the overhead press at some level, but for all practical purposes, I was no longer strong, the minute I decided that being strong was no longer a priority in my life.

Hij slaat inderdaad de spijker op z'n kop zogezegd.
Wat hij in de laatste 5 zinnen stelt is persoonlijk erg herkenbaar voor me de laatste paar jaren...