Anyone who has read the work of Dr. Bryan Mann will be familiar with the term "optimal arousal." This term refers to the point at which your body is capable of peak performance. Reduce or increase the arousal level, and performance will fall off. Dr. Mann has approached this from a scientific perspective and researched it extensively, but it's a concept all successful lifters also know intuitively: you want adrenaline, but too much will hurt you.
For today's Table Talk with special guest Dan Green, the topic is adrenaline in training. Dave and Dan answer the following question:
How do you manage and maintain adrenaline for lifting?
Dan begins by stating the primary benefit of getting hyped-up in training: you're able to train harder and push your body more. The downside, however, is reduction in the quality of the movements. In other words, if getting more hyped-up allows you to lift heavier weights, but your execution and technique of the lifts suffers, you are hurting your training rather than helping it. Dan points out the benefits of training in a calm state, and says that it can be beneficial to control your adrenaline levels. He shares that, in his own training, he becomes more excited for training the nearer he comes to a meet — even when he doesn't intentionally psyche himself up.
Dave then discusses the difference between a training max and a competition max. There is a different psychological state between training and a meet — and Dave says it should be that way. You don't need to force intensity in training; every single training session does not have to be like you're at a meet.
To this point, Dan says that you should take it as an indicator regarding your program if you need to get worked up to hit a training lift. If you're unable to complete a workout or hit a planned lift in training without pushing your intensity level, you need to reevaluate what you're doing to prepare for competition. Training is meant to prepare you for the meet — it doesn't matter what numbers you put up in the gym as long as you do well on the platform.
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