As my inaugural post here on WB Fitness, I’ll give a bit of background on how I got here before getting into today’s article.
A year and a half ago, I was like most guys trying to get into fitness. I’ve read the countless blogs, sites, and forums all telling me to do nothing but squat, deadlift, and bench a max of 5×5. I read and attempted to follow the advice to add 5lbs each time I lifted. I did this all for about 2 years and hit plateaus, got frustrated, and my aesthetics looked like shit.
I met WB in December of 2016 and on a whim I messaged WB because I was frustrated and wanted to change how I looked. He hooked me up with volume training. I though he was crazy when he said to do 300 curls with 10lb weights. It went against everything I “knew’ about bodybuilding, but I gave it a try.
Fast forward to today, and I’m in the best shape of my life. Lost fat, gained muscle, confidence, and learned a ton about my body. I had to get out of my own way and trust the process before me.
This is something I still do to this day. How do you ask? Lets get into the meat of today’s post
Mind on my Muscles, and My Muscles on my Mind
I have been working on my trap development lately and I decided to really push myself on lateral raises. I went as heavy as I could while keeping that 9.5 RPE in mind. At first I had that small bit of doubt, but I grabbed the dumbbells, decided to make those weights my bitch, and completed all my sets. I set a new record and I could feel my traps for days.
4:00am? Lets lift over 20k total!
Only a week prior, I tried the same weight and failed. What changed? Had I gotten stronger in a week? Perhaps, but one key was that my mind was in the right place. I wasn’t doubting my abilities. I wasn’t making an excuse, I got in there, and was determined to finish my set. Obviously, thinking I’m going to lat raise 500lbs isn’t going to magically make it happen, and avoiding injury is something we must all be aware of, but putting my mind in my lifts, I was able to make a PR.
The next time you’re lifting, especially doing a lift you failed a set or rep for, do the following:
Think about the muscle your’re trying to train
If I’m doing preacher curls, I’m focused on my bicep and stability muscles. If I’m doing squats, my quads and core are on my mind. The key is to be aware of your body and the which muscles are being called upon during the lift.
Filter out the bullshit
Get that music blasting in those headphones. Do your gorilla walk into the gym. Fuck anyone else in there. You’re there to kick ass and move thousands of pounds of weight while most people are either sleeping, fucking around, or being fat fucks. Also, this isn’t a time to flip through facebook or IG. The only apps I use on my phone are spotify and Jefit while lifting. I don’t respond to email, texts etc. That shit gets my attention outside of the weight room.
Fight the urge to quit
When doing 9.5 RPE, if you’re at rep 11 that shit gets heavy. It get difficult to lift. Everything is saying “just stop, its too much, give up.” Fuck that noise. So many times I’ve gotten 2,3, even 5 more reps when I pushed that negative voice to quit out of my head and just continued on. Once again, don’t hurt yourself, but if you’re following the WB Fitness method, you shouldn’t be in a situation where you’d be able to injure yourself anyway.
One last topic I’ll touch on is ego. Team WB Fitness doesn’t hit the gym to impress you. We’re not there to have a dick measuring contest between who deadlifted .5 lbs more than the other guy. In fact, WB himself will tell you and has posted videos of himself curling only 10lb dumbbells, yet has crazy definition. Just like my naive ways when I started, I though you had to be power lifting or you were a bitch. Only a few months ago, I saw the biggest guy in my gym curling 15lb dumbbells like a boss. We’re here to develop our bodies, get jacked, and kick ass. Leave the bullshit elsewhere. For me, I work to train my muscles. I know when I’m actually training them, and I’d know when I was cheating the weight up.
Let us know how these methods work for you, or if you have any other suggestions or tips you use to get yourself into beast mode. Don’t forget, we’ll have our first Q&A 5/17 with WB, Lou Skunt, and myself. We’re all going to answer a question by you, our faithful readers.
Trust The Process
-J. Nyx