HOW TO BUILD CONFIDENCE AROUND LIFTING HEAVIER WEIGHTS

At some point all athletes will experience a performance plateau, and without the right guidance are left unsure of how to take their training and racing to the next level. “How do I get stronger? How do I go further? How do I go faster?”

These are likely also the people who will have been sitting at the same levels of strength for a long time and commonly this will not be much more than body weight based exercises, band based resistance and potentially only 10% of your body (5-10 kgs worth of weight). Or if they have been lifting greater loads it hasn’t been enough to create enough stimulus to change their bodies capacity for work.

One of the biggest barriers that athletes face is the ability or the confidence to lift heavier weights, and as a result this is always going to be a factor that holds them back from realising their potential.

Below we’ve highlighted five things that you can do to increase your confidence when it comes to increasing the weights.

Education

A common principle that always comes up when we talk about strength training is understanding the why behind what you are doing. Why do we need to apply the loads we’re aiming at? Why are you doing certain exercises? and How heavy do the weights need to be?

When it comes to getting stronger it’s all about ‘Progressive Overload’; gradually increasing the resistance of your work to a point where you are moving greater percentages of your body weight. This is because we want to continue the body to be able to absorb and produce forces session after session.

Simply put, with the goals you have and the demand that you’re putting on your body moving your bodyweight alone is never going to be enough. The amount of work that's going through your joints, ligaments and muscles on a weekly basis is very high, and you've got to be able to withstand that and generate extreme levels of force time and time again. 

The most effective way of making significant inroads in your strength and resilience is by using external weight, as allows you to condition your body without putting excessive volume through it. When we lift heavy weight*, we are looking to do it under control, with good technique, minimal reps, yet with maximum intensity, because we're trying to periodically, stress the body, and then allow it time to adapt and recover. If we can do that within safe parameters, with good recovery periods and with good technique your body is going to respond positively.

Essentially we are looking to prepare the body for the work ahead (or to some degree the unknown work ahead).

* When defining heavier loads, we're talking at least 25 - 50% of your bodyweight and preferably aiming for 50% - 75% with a number of exercises.

Preparation and Visualisation

Don’t underestimate the importance of having a solid warmup methodology.

With our clients at SFE, when it comes to the heavier, compound movements such as the squat and the deadlift we drill them to work through 2-3 warm up sets before moving onto their 'working weight'.

This is an opportunity to physically warm up your body by establishing quality ranges of motion, reinforcing technique and acclimatising your body to the upcoming loads. It’s also another chance to give yourself a once over, a chance to see how you’re feeling. Are you good today? Are you ready?

In these warm up sets it’s about ‘ghosting the bar’, working with 20-30% of your working weight. It’s going to help you visualise the movements and create a little bit of imagery in your mind as to how and what the heavier lifts are going to look like, rather than go in 'cold turkey’. Even when you're going into some form of heavy dumbbell lunge pattern, you want do a few reps with body weight first, just to get yourself in the right head space so that you can move onto loaded sets with confidence.

By starting to visualise yourself lifting heavier weights, producing those higher levels of strength and power you’re getting yourself in the right headspace. 

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Training aids

Using training aids is a great way of installing confidence when you’re starting to lift heavier.

Something as simple as putting a bench or box behind you when performing the barbell back squat will not only guarantee quality range of motion, but also a little bit of safety and reassurance.

Similarly if you’re adding load to your Single Leg deadlift or RDL with a heavy dumbbell in one hand your balance will likely be a bit shaky for the first few reps. There's nothing wrong with putting your finger up against a wall or using a suspension trainer, just to stabilise your position and allow you to load your hamstrings in a single leg hinge pattern.

Using a bit of assistance is going to allow us to work the muscles, challenge the joint under heavier loads for maximum benefit until we have built up the stability and confidence to perform unassisted.

Follow a Plan

Can you see your program laid out in-front of you? Are you able to see how things are going to progress and at what increments?

Not only will this help by giving you a logical pathway to your target weights but you’ll be able to see that four weeks ago you were only doing three by six reps and now suddenly three weeks later, you're doing four by eight, you can visibly see how you’ve progressed so the next phase won’t be so daunting.

It’s worth remembering that alongside following a plan should come flexibility. Are you able to tune in to your coach and say “Actually I found xx really easy this week. I think, I'm barely scratching the surface here” or "I had to stick at that weight this week. I couldn't do any more reps, I just didn't have it”. Remember progressions aren't always linear, but having a plan alongside a sounding board (a coach) for a level of accountability is incredibly beneficial for maintaining your confidence.

Ask for help

Probably the simplest, yet often the most feared. Asking for help is surprisingly difficult for most of us. We find ourselves wanting to know the answers ourselves, but as soon as you ask someone, the right person, you get the answer that you've been dragging your feet with for ages.

If you're in a gym environment and there's a trainer walking around or more experienced training partners who are moving really well, ask them questions, be inquisitive, be curious. Don’t underestimate getting in front of a coach, and finding out what you need to be working on and where you’re currently going wrong. Not only will this save you wasting time on irrelevant exercises but it’ll give you the confidence to keep up skilling and challenging yourself.

On that note we’re here to help you with exactly that, so don’t be afraid to reach out if you need more guidance taking the next step.