LIFT MORE WEIGHT: 10 Simple & Quick Training Tips (Starting Strength Coach Explains)
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Coming at you rapidfire – 10 things you need to know, do, or have before lifting heavy. Here we go.
1. Valsalva Maneuver
Before you start your rep, take a breath, hold that breath against a closed glottis (i.e., not against your lips), tighten every muscle in your trunk like you expect to get punched, and stay that rigid until the rep is over.
None of this “breathe in on the way down and breathe out on the way up” garbage.
If the bar is moving, you’re not breathing.
If you’re not sure how to correctly hold your breath against a closed glottis, check out the video below.
2. Focal Point
Have one.
Your focal point will vary by lift, but it should not vary during the lift. Stare at that point before the rep, during the rep, and between each rep.
Check out the video below for the correct focal point for several of the major lifts.
3. Midfoot Balance
For each of the lifts except the bench press, you want to be balanced on the middle of your foot. Put another way, your weight should be evenly distributed throughout your entire foot.
It’s easy to accidentally have more of your weight on the balls of your feet (i.e., your balance is forward) or on your heels (i.e., your balance is backward) than you should without realizing it, so pay attention to where you feel your weight in your feet.
4. Plan of Attack
Don’t think about how heavy the weight is. Don’t hope you’re going to get that lift.
Instead, have one cue in your head before the lift starts and focus only on that cue. Execute that cue.
5. Chalk
You have to have it, and you have to use it.
You will probably need to bring your own chalk (regular or liquid if you’re really sneaky) if you train at a commercial gym, but this is normal for people who care about their training, and my guess is that includes you.
If you don’t use chalk, it will be the cause of missed lifts, missed strength progress, and you might not ever even realize why.
Be a person. Use chalk.
6. Personal Gear - Belt and Lifting Shoes
Buy yourself a pair of lifting shoes. Next, get yourself a quality leather lifting belt and learn to use it (check out the video below).
There are people out there who will argue, “I wasn’t born with a belt, and I wasn’t born with lifting shoes, so I don’t think I should use them. It’s not natural.”
True, but we weren’t born with a barbell, either (or clothes, for that matter). A barbell is not natural, but it’s a very useful tool to get stronger, and the same logic applies to lifting shoes and lifting belts.
Don’t buy Chuck Taylors. They are not lifting shoes. They are squishy hipster shoes for people who started to think about lifting shoes but never completed the thought. They have enough cushioning to be perfectly comfortable for walking and everyday wear, and that cushioning tells us that they are a silly choice for lifting.
7. Collars
On every lift except the bench press, use collars (the olympic lifts are a separate topic for another day). I’d recommend not using collars on the bench press since - on the chance that you don’t have spotters and forgot to set the safeties at the correct height, you might be able to save yourself from disaster by dumping the plates off the bar (i.e., side-to-side) during a failed lift.
Especially for the squat and press, collars are critically important. Disasters can, have, and do happen with lifters who don’t use collars.
Don’t want to use collars for your warm-ups? I understand . . . it takes a phenomenal amount of energy and willpower to put on some collars. With this in mind, here’s a good rule of thumb: if the weight is heavy enough to use a belt, it’s heavy to use collars, too.
If you use a belt for all of your sets or, conversely, you never use a belt, then a good rule of thumb is: use collars for your last warm-up and all of your work sets.
You might think I recommend collars because I care about you.
No.
I care about the people around you, and they are the people who get hurt when a plate (or plates) slides off the bar, the bar cartwheels in the opposite direction, and plates are flung across the room (I also care about the equipment that gets damaged in the process).
Yes, I’ve seen it happen. Multiple times. It’s nasty and scary.
Be a person. Use collars.
8. Training Log
Get a notebook and keep a training log religiously. This is your most important piece of training gear.
You can find another bar, you switch squat racks, and you can buy another pair of lifting shoes, but your training log is personal to you.
It has your history, which means it helps guide you forward and make intelligent decisions. The training log separates training from exercise.
9. Keep It Simple
Like many endeavors, lifting weights is not about doing a bunch of complicated movements.
It’s about doing a few simple movements rather well and with consistency.
You probably don’t need a cue designed specifically for you. You simply need to execute the one you’re already thinking about.
10. Check Your Bar
If you lift long enough (and it doesn’t take long), you’ve made the mistake of a misloaded barbell. You’ll make this mistake multiple times in your training career, but you can minimize the number of mistakes by remembering three things . . .
First, check your bar vs your book. Does what you have on the bar match what’s planned for today in your book?
Second, check your bar math. You meant to load 165 lb, so do a last second check to make sure it’s 165 lb and not 155 lb (you might have forgotten to put on that 5 lb plate on each side).
Third, check your bar symmetry. Do the plates on the left side of the barbell match those on the right side? It’s easy to load one side correctly, then get briefly distracted and forget to finish loading the other side.
As always, I hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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