Explore the psychological aspects of weightlifting, focusing on mental strategies, confidence, and mindset development. This episode offers valuable insights for both athletes and individuals interested in the mental aspects of fitness and sports performance.
[00:00:00] Alright guys, welcome back to the Barbell Therapy podcast. I'm your host Dr. Brett Scott and with me here today is an old high school friend Lauren Decretico.
[00:00:11] So Lauren has... I've known Lauren for a long time and then few years ago I noticed she's been putting up all this sports psychology stuff and it was really good content.
[00:00:21] I really valued it and saw the good in what she's been trying to do with athletes of all ages and levels and abilities.
[00:00:29] Now she's doing some business stuff too so we've got a lot of talk about after this but Lauren give us a little bit of your backstory in what brought you into the sports psych world.
[00:00:39] Yeah, hey Brett, I'm excited to be here so yeah so I am my master's in sport and performance psychology.
[00:00:45] I got that from the University of Denver so I was a two sport college athlete myself, Division 3.
[00:00:50] I had some great opportunities in high school you know we were softball team was pretty good back then all the things and had some life circumstances happen.
[00:01:00] My dad passed away at the end of high school in my senior week of high school and so through all that I ended up going D3 and playing the two sports and just was always fascinated by like why people do what they do but then also just like my own mental health through that
[00:01:14] and how it was I able to still be successful in some degree and not others.
[00:01:18] And so that was sort of the spark of like sports psychology and my interest in it and so I went and did my graduate degree and then I worked for the military teaching performance psych with leaders.
[00:01:29] I did leadership development all these things and just always wanted to come back and start this sports like business that was always the dream.
[00:01:36] So in 2019 I kind of started that mission and it's been evolving ever since.
[00:01:41] Yeah and you're a crossfit or two right?
[00:01:44] Yeah number crossfit or yes so I did crossfit for like seven years took a little hiatus and just went back into it and that was a fun way to test sports I got myself.
[00:01:53] I'll tell you that much.
[00:01:55] Yeah and from the videos I've seen it looks like you could be a pretty good weightlifter which I'm still going to continue to try to convince you to make the jump to weightlifting.
[00:02:03] You know now is the time to convince me because back then people always said that because like conditioning is just not it's not for me I'm like the weightlifter all the way but I was always like man you know the old like school girls and cardio bunnies and all that like I couldn't get past that.
[00:02:20] And now I'm like man I'm just naturally strong might be time might be time.
[00:02:24] And the way you were talking about your injuries earlier it sounds like we have an issue with load management so we could definitely help there and that might be something we'll talk about this after but.
[00:02:35] Exchange services.
[00:02:37] Yeah so the big thing is here that I want to get out of today as a coach as a weightlifter myself in between coaching weightlifting and powerlifting.
[00:02:49] There is a lot of mental aspect in this so when I first started and when you go to college to study exercise physiology physical therapy it's all about RETS, RETS, RETS, G's.
[00:03:01] Here we go.
[00:03:02] Already starting.
[00:03:03] It's all about what type of reps you should do how you should do them what exercises to prescribe someone and as much as all these things matter the longer I've been coaching the less it's about that and the more it's about
[00:03:18] communication with your athlete knowing where they're at in their life like what stressors are on them what are their thoughts on things how do they perceive themselves.
[00:03:28] How does their mindset change in different environments in different circumstances when you put different stressors on them or you expect different things on them what things are they expecting of themselves so there's
[00:03:40] so much more to the performance of an athlete and success of an athlete other than just what your program looks like and you know who you think your coaches and what they can do for you so
[00:03:53] you know we've been competing nationally a lot now and the higher and higher level we get the less it becomes about the program and the more it becomes about the mindset of the athlete and getting them to this level of kind of self-realization about themselves that they are capable of doing the things that they want to do.
[00:04:13] And so it's funny and I've said this to some of my lifters before and not everyone has heard this from me and it's maybe a bit of a brash statement but I think all and you can disagree with me here I want your thoughts on this but in the world of powerlifting and weightlifting I think every strength athlete has a little bit of narcissism to them and what and what I mean by this and everyone's like whoa whoa Brett and it's like well hang on all of you come to me
[00:04:41] and you're stressed out about this meat coming up and what you're worried about is embarrassing yourself. You're worried you're not going to do as well you're going to let yourself down or you're going to let your coach down and all you're worried is about is you in your performance and how people are going to judge you but what no one seems to take a step back and realize within that is all of you competing or doing the same exact thing
[00:05:07] not just on our team on every team everyone's just worried about themselves which is fine and I think you should be but it's for what reasons are we there and it's like we have to let that go.
[00:05:17] Yeah, you are not wrong so I am a firm believer in even in the like so I kind of go back and forth like I focus on performance like but that doesn't mean we don't pull from like general psychology and like clinical diagnosis and stuff and while I'm not qualified to do that I know a lot about it.
[00:05:31] What we say about the DSM 5 which is the how you diagnose for psychology is that almost everything is now on a spectrum and actually everybody has little pieces of everything right these are just personality traits and then to be diagnosed as it means it's affecting your day-to-day functioning in a way that's like unproductive right.
[00:05:51] So you're going to have a little bit of narcissism even if you do the big 5 personality neuroticism is one of the personality traits and nobody has zero.
[00:06:00] So when you think about that and even with depression and this isn't to be taken like as a dis on anyone with it myself included but I always say it's a little bit selfish to be depressed because you're really just thinking about yourself at the end of the day
[00:06:14] and so you're not wrong but on the other hand any Olympic athlete elite athlete they have to have a level of like craziness to achieve what they're achieving an obsession and self obsession.
[00:06:27] So you're absolutely right and so it's the people that really grow and develop and get that maturity and realize I can be both I can I can have that drive because they're afraid to lose that drive by losing that.
[00:06:39] You can still have that drive while also not being a perfectionist and obsessed with whatever it takes you.
[00:06:45] You can have both.
[00:06:47] Yeah, I don't think it's even being obsessed with what people think of them they're just worried that it's they're not going to portray themselves in this big way or something and it's just like
[00:06:56] you got to let go of that and move on.
[00:06:58] What's the difference?
[00:07:00] Yeah, I true. I guess it's that's a good question.
[00:07:04] That's a big debate I guess we could have but there's a lot I have here that I want to go over with you today so
[00:07:12] I think the biggest one and something that came up recently with with one of my athletes and he's probably going to listen to this and he's going to know who he is.
[00:07:23] But you know we coach and there's so much that goes into coaching of yes, we have to put their program together.
[00:07:29] We need to know what meets are coming up. We need to schedule that stuff.
[00:07:32] We need to be looking at their lifts giving the feedback and everything else.
[00:07:35] And what we've recently done is we started giving more feedback to our remote athletes through an app we call coach now.
[00:07:43] So I can dial things in I can you know slow the speed down and look at exactly where things are moving and stop it and tell you hey like this is where you are.
[00:07:52] This is where I want you to move to instead this is what I want you to think about.
[00:07:56] And the thing is like some people have done good with that and improved in certain aspects of their lifts that were true technical errors and then other people started to go downhill.
[00:08:07] People wanted this and I was like hey, I don't think you need this like you know how to hit the lift at 70% 80%.
[00:08:15] Like you know what it looks like. You know what's expected of you. You know what feels good, what feels bad.
[00:08:21] You can look at it yourself at this point in your training career and say this is what I'm doing wrong and this is where I need to go.
[00:08:29] And so but when we add more to that right and it's like oh xyz this and that want this feedback.
[00:08:38] But I don't think it's what you need right. You need to change your mindsets about how you're approaching the lift like why is it every time you walk up to the bar at 90% and all of a sudden you walk up to the bar at different speed.
[00:08:52] Your breathing changes, your facial expressions change, your body movements change like why are those things happening.
[00:08:59] Those are the things I think we need to get to within the athlete of changing like the stress arousal tension everything they're holding within that that can make more of the difference than just.
[00:09:12] I need more feedback because then we go into paralysis by analysis and in this one lifter came to me after and was like you know there's a few weeks and he's like yeah I think I'm over thinking everything I was like yeah no shit like I told you this was probably going to happen with you.
[00:09:27] And some people are really good with feedback. There's a very different and every athlete kind of need something different but there is another piece here of you know someone had a bad training session and they texted me like hey can you just tell me that I'm good at this and that I belong in the sport
[00:09:45] and I just stopped there for a minute was like why do I need to be the one to tell you that you're good at this or that you're good enough for this like you as the athlete need to believe that yourself like me telling you this probably isn't going to make much of a difference like I can tell you the progress you've made in this and that
[00:10:04] and like where you were what your goals were and how far you surpass those by now but like if you don't truly believe those things we have bigger issues to fix than just needing a hug in me you know giving you pom-poms and telling you you're good at this and you should keep doing this.
[00:10:21] So yeah I mean there's so many things here so I'll kind of you know drop a couple nuggets and you can feed where you want to go but you know with the first example about approaching the bar differently at the heavier weight.
[00:10:36] And I haven't I imagine it's this way but the other question is like is it that they are approaching the heavyweight differently or is it that they need to approach the lighter weights as if it's a heavyweight.
[00:10:48] Is that they need to start practicing that and get and maybe that is the right approach the one that they're doing at that 90% but they're not practicing that until they hit 90%.
[00:10:58] And so it's that they need to start acting like each other wait before that and start doing that breathing that they end up naturally doing and then of course it's combining in the sports like skills and diaphragmatic breathing and all the things and the confidence and how we can build that.
[00:11:13] And then even when you go on like all of this is levels of confidence and there's actually four sources of confidence.
[00:11:20] So while people do need to believe it from themselves you can get it from other things and so it's learning like love languages but it's really that turns into languages of appreciation or languages of motivation however you want to use it so this athlete sometimes needs to be told and reminded and that's just words of affirmation.
[00:11:38] So sometimes they need that and of course they also need themselves so like a source of confidence is basically self talk but also motivation from others.
[00:11:47] So sometimes it's like if you can't pull it out of yourself where else can you pull it from in this moment okay that's why coaching helps and having a coach you know put you on the lift put you on the platform put you on the ice back when I was a figure skater like those things matter because they're there to support you but then you have to do the work yourself too.
[00:12:05] Yeah for sure and I think the other piece of that is just that's at the end of the day like anyone like my thing isn't and this has been something I've gone back and forth with as a as a lifter myself is you can kind of have these mantras you tell yourself and it's like yeah I'm strong enough for I'm capable in this and that but and you can try to tell yourself that.
[00:12:33] But you can have like the little bird over here on the other side you have to believe it truly believe it and I think that's one of.
[00:12:41] So what I say about those mantras and quotes things like that has to pass your gut check like that's why I don't like affirmations as just like people doing affirmations in the morning I'm like I can look in the when I'm brushing my teeth and they're like I'm beautiful but like I'm looking at myself like no I'm not right now like I'm disgusting so that doesn't work.
[00:12:59] What you need to do is the things that do matter like and there's usually one or two things that you do believe and truly hold and you can use those ones.
[00:13:06] And then it's finding the other ones and figuring out other ways but you're right I don't believe in just throwing that I'm strong I can do this if you don't believe that it's not going to be doing anything.
[00:13:16] How do we get someone to truly start to believe those things about themselves?
[00:13:23] Well they might not need to.
[00:13:26] So confidence is actually about knowing that you so the root I didn't take Latin but I know this definition because it's helpful.
[00:13:35] The root word of lat of confidence in Latin is trust in oneself.
[00:13:42] So it's not I trust that I can do X outcome confidence isn't about the outcome confidence is I believe that I have the capabilities to do what I need to do that may or may not result in this outcome.
[00:13:56] Right like anything can happen in that lift that could go wrong but I believe I've done the work I believe that I have the capabilities and if it I miss I'm still confident that is confidence confidence isn't oh they nailed it.
[00:14:10] Like you can nail a lift without being confident.
[00:14:13] So it's really figuring out is confidence the issue is it about that they're not confident they can lift that weight or they not confident that they're even a weightlifter.
[00:14:22] Like you have to figure out where you're starting and then you have to coach them from there so getting someone to believe that they can lift a weight might not be necessary they might go up to the bar and go nine times out of 10 I won't hit this weight but I believe I've trained for this moment and that I have the capabilities to do it.
[00:14:38] Yeah that's not the answer.
[00:14:43] Yeah and it's true like there's some people that I myself like leading up to a meat and I'm I just started training for another one now too but
[00:14:55] I'm not going to have to any meat the week or two leading up to that I have the worst training sessions of my life.
[00:15:02] Like the day before the meat my coach would have me hit 70% for a single and I would miss and I'm just like you go to bed at night thinking I don't know if I remember how to snatch
[00:15:13] I don't know if I'm going to remember how to clean and jerk can I do this but then whatever happens for me at least is I go out there and it's just there like I always have been a very good competitor
[00:15:25] and I find that with a lot of people is on meat day people show up in their either 5% better than they have ever you've ever seen them in training
[00:15:34] and it's just like where has this been this whole time in training and then you have people that are 5% worse
[00:15:41] where it's like okay we need to downplay this a little bit like we know you know this is your top in training but you have historically not done as well
[00:15:51] in competition so we're just going to drop a few kilos off of your max and go to there and over time like we're still going to make the same progress
[00:16:00] it just is a little bit of a different course or even you strategize and open weight based on the person right so like there's strategy
[00:16:07] and like this person would rather hit a lighter weight opener and feel good than go in and some people are like put me pretty close to my max for that first one
[00:16:15] when I want to see how far I can go right and it's it's there's personality to some degree and then there's comfortability
[00:16:22] and in that environment and like one of the things that I say all the time is especially with weightlifting weightlifting meets are so quiet
[00:16:29] and if you don't train in that environment you're going to be shocked when you get there
[00:16:35] and when I was in Colorado they would do this barbells and bruise lift weightlifting meeting it was the only one I debated actually trying
[00:16:41] because it was at a brewery and the crowd was loud that was the like it was a different roles it was still sanctioned event
[00:16:47] but for whatever reason they were able to do this and so the environment was just totally different
[00:16:52] and I'm like that's that's what I would need like the silence I would be like oh god
[00:16:56] so these people need to recreate their training environment more frequently than than they realize because it's such a different environment
[00:17:02] and going on the platforms and things like that so yeah I mean some people are like it's like testing anxiety
[00:17:08] you see this throughout your whole life you can pinpoint
[00:17:11] and it's the same even when you take it from sport to like life right like I know I shouldn't eat this thing
[00:17:16] I know I shouldn't say this thing but sometimes my lip gets to me my emotion gets to me and I say the thing right
[00:17:21] it's the same it's like you know what you need to do why don't we do it
[00:17:25] and so that's the piece that it detects
[00:17:27] and luckily in weightlifting they're starting to make changes so like the last few national meets as you've been music
[00:17:31] that's been like pretty good and kind of loud and it's like okay like finally
[00:17:35] local meets there and we go here our new president has done a lot to improve the quality of music
[00:17:42] and making it a little more entertaining for our guests to watch you
[00:17:47] but there's something you said there so about expectations so you said confidence is knowing that you've trained for it
[00:17:57] and you've you know put all the effort into it but there's not having an expectation that I am going to do it
[00:18:05] can you talk about that a little bit more because that's something I also see with a lot of people
[00:18:10] whether it be a heavy training session that we've been working up to or a competition day
[00:18:16] when there is an expectation that I need to perform that I need to have these things done
[00:18:22] I need all the stars to align with my weight, my nutrition, my all my training reps need to be perfect
[00:18:31] if I miss a lift a week out it's the end of the world
[00:18:35] so there's all these expectations where like at the end of the day it doesn't fucking matter
[00:18:39] so can you go off on that expectation piece of confidence a little bit more?
[00:18:46] yeah so there's a couple things like the first thing I would do even if you say you're my client and you say that
[00:18:52] I would be like and you say all these things need to go well I'd be like why?
[00:18:55] tell me why and it's like they will try to justify it but they think about it
[00:18:59] and then they talk themselves into it like you got to let them realize on their own
[00:19:03] and then they kind of they can justify it they'll like will scientifically
[00:19:06] and then it's like okay science only goes so far why do you think this works and that works
[00:19:10] and like so then you kind of get them into this okay tell me about a time that you didn't follow everything perfectly
[00:19:15] and the results were pretty good so you just have to get them seeing that like things don't have to be perfect
[00:19:19] for the outcome they're looking for so so that's the first piece is separating those two beliefs
[00:19:24] right it's a belief that if I don't do every single step single step leading up to this
[00:19:29] it will not produce this outcome that's a made up belief
[00:19:33] then there's getting into them personally and like why do you believe this where does this come from
[00:19:38] and then it's also just letting them realize like if I were to get into like any other situation
[00:19:44] that you aren't prepared for could you handle it okay why well I build off all of these other experiences
[00:19:51] and also I don't care about the outcome I wasn't prepared for this
[00:19:54] and so the outcome was just sort of whatever happens so you're really just getting them to understand
[00:19:58] like the example I use is if you lose a game can you still be confident
[00:20:04] okay why yes I can why and like think about it well I can learn from the mistakes
[00:20:10] I can learn from this so it's teaching them also that that every lift is a learning opportunity
[00:20:15] so there's a lot of different ways to go it's really going to depend on the athlete specifically
[00:20:19] because everybody has expectations like you obviously are doing this for a reason
[00:20:24] but it's really emotionally identity-wise tying them not to the outcome as well
[00:20:29] and so a lot of people will be so bent out of shape because it's not about oh I miss the lift
[00:20:34] and what people think about me that's like a very common first thing that people assume
[00:20:38] it's really who am I if I don't hit this lift
[00:20:42] and their identity they build their life around this so it's really for them
[00:20:47] it's not even about what a people think about me it's who am I if I can't do this
[00:20:52] so it's really separating those things and making them realize they are their values
[00:20:55] they are their characteristics they are the person who shows up every day
[00:20:59] they're hardworking and once you get them tying their identity to that
[00:21:03] the outcome has less pressure
[00:21:06] because I've had that issues too especially my like younger 20 something year olds
[00:21:10] that like are just coming out of college and since they want to start being
[00:21:13] I had one kid like he identified as a powerlifter
[00:21:16] and then he had this horrible back injury happen outside of lifting
[00:21:21] and he couldn't power lift anymore he couldn't squat or deadlift
[00:21:25] and like he was so lost and he like didn't know what to do and I was like
[00:21:29] who are you he's like what do you mean I was like who who you know
[00:21:35] who do you identify yourself as and he's like well I was a powerlifter
[00:21:39] like I don't know anymore I was like dude there's way more to life than powerlifting
[00:21:44] like no one is gonna come to your funeral
[00:21:46] and you know engrave that you deadlifted X amount of weight
[00:21:50] right no one cares like literally there's so much more to life
[00:21:54] and being a good person and helping others and like trying to change the world
[00:21:58] in some way that has nothing to do with lifting weights
[00:22:03] and sometimes I think you need that like jolt of reality
[00:22:06] sometimes like it's like we all have like that
[00:22:09] someone dies and you're like oh my god suddenly all your problems seem so minimal
[00:22:15] and sometimes you need that like jolt for them like as a meat coming up
[00:22:19] like your problems are so first world
[00:22:23] like let's be real here you're not fighting for food
[00:22:26] like so if you go out and miss your lift
[00:22:28] like you're kind of being selfish if you are putting all the pressure on that
[00:22:31] um and so obviously it's like it doesn't diminish
[00:22:34] that for all of us we feel that way sometimes
[00:22:36] but I do like thinking about things in that way and reminding ourselves
[00:22:39] like this is a choice there's a professional athlete who says
[00:22:43] pressure is a choice pressure is a privilege like
[00:22:47] this isn't pressure pressure is the mom who needs to go out and work three jobs to feed her kids
[00:22:52] right this isn't pressure
[00:22:55] and so there's a lot of different ways to think about it
[00:22:59] hold on I thought I heard something in my background I got distracted
[00:23:03] okay no I'm good okay yeah
[00:23:07] you can cut that out
[00:23:09] so just like you said to every lift is a learning opportunity
[00:23:13] and that's one thing I fully believe in
[00:23:15] and you know as we're coming up on meats and everything
[00:23:18] like everyone just looks at the small minutiae
[00:23:20] and the micro pieces of what's going on day-to-day with training
[00:23:25] and like they start to hyper focus on this stuff
[00:23:28] when really it's like we need to take a step back
[00:23:32] and it's like you've been training for two years
[00:23:36] like the average weightlifter
[00:23:39] like there's been some really good coaches out there that say
[00:23:42] it takes seven years to make a good weightlifter
[00:23:44] not great just good
[00:23:46] like there's so much that goes into it
[00:23:48] and from the coaches perspective of mine
[00:23:51] I'm like okay you want to do this
[00:23:53] and you want to get to you know X level of
[00:23:55] you want to compete nationally or internationally
[00:23:58] right these small local meats
[00:24:00] like as much as they mean to you
[00:24:02] and I'm glad like they're important to you
[00:24:05] like I want you to take them seriously
[00:24:07] the thing is
[00:24:09] like it's just one meat in your lifting career
[00:24:12] like there's gonna be like 30 or 40 of them
[00:24:15] and each one is a learning opportunity for us
[00:24:18] so not every meat for me is about winning
[00:24:21] or you going six for six and PR and all your lifts
[00:24:24] it's well how do the taper work
[00:24:26] how did we feel going into meat day
[00:24:28] what stressors did we have leading up to the meat
[00:24:30] for the life stressors outside of training with
[00:24:32] you know family illness deaths
[00:24:34] work changes stress
[00:24:36] you know living home environment
[00:24:38] and then you know what did our training look like
[00:24:42] and then each each meat to me as a coach
[00:24:45] is okay you know
[00:24:47] did we do better with a lot of volume leading up
[00:24:49] did we do better with a lot of intensity
[00:24:51] how did the taper work like do we need
[00:24:54] to give it
[00:24:56] yeah there's a lot about
[00:24:58] what's gonna set the hot success
[00:25:00] yeah and everyone's different
[00:25:02] and it's like I think about sports in general
[00:25:04] like right
[00:25:05] a lot of weightlifters crossfitters
[00:25:07] all these people work competitive athletes
[00:25:09] so this is kind of going to tie
[00:25:11] all the previous conversations together in that one
[00:25:13] there is an entire
[00:25:15] like curriculum on
[00:25:17] transitioning college athletes to life
[00:25:19] because they lose their identity
[00:25:20] because for 20 some odd years
[00:25:22] that was their identity
[00:25:23] and I went through it when I had a heart condition
[00:25:25] in college and couldn't play sports for a year
[00:25:27] and I remember I said to my sisters
[00:25:29] wait I used to introduce myself as
[00:25:31] Lauren the field hockey softball player
[00:25:33] like now what am I
[00:25:35] and I'm like how what
[00:25:37] like that's just how I thought of myself
[00:25:39] and so when you think about this people they come from being athletes
[00:25:41] like this is their entire identity
[00:25:43] and so then you take that
[00:25:45] and you go it's the same thing as like telling a
[00:25:47] 14 year old girl that that boy
[00:25:49] that like doesn't like her
[00:25:51] being like this is one little thing
[00:25:53] in your entire life
[00:25:54] but in that moment no matter who you are
[00:25:56] you're not seeing it
[00:25:58] and so it comes from experience and development
[00:26:00] and so it's really being able to have that hindsight
[00:26:02] in the present moment
[00:26:04] like being able to in this moment go
[00:26:06] oh this isn't going to matter in two years, three years
[00:26:08] but that doesn't happen overnight
[00:26:10] that happens through experience
[00:26:12] and so if they're a little bit older
[00:26:14] it's easier because they've had life experiences
[00:26:16] you can at least draw from
[00:26:18] even if it's their first weightlifting
[00:26:20] right you can be like okay remember the first time
[00:26:22] you had public speak and you thought it was the end of the world
[00:26:24] 10, 15, 20 times right
[00:26:26] so it's like pulling a similarity
[00:26:28] a similar experience
[00:26:30] and being like remember when you thought this was this
[00:26:32] and it wasn't
[00:26:34] so that's how you do it when they don't have that experience
[00:26:36] in that world
[00:26:38] because it's really just like how people think in this
[00:26:40] is how they think when they're stressed
[00:26:42] this is a stressful event for them
[00:26:44] those patterns of behavior they've developed for years
[00:26:46] so you can find it in other areas
[00:26:48] and go and then you can even ask them what's worked for you
[00:26:50] in other similar situations
[00:26:52] and then the other thing I'll do
[00:26:54] like I have a lot of tools and strategies
[00:26:56] I can give people to use
[00:26:58] and we'll try them on for size
[00:27:00] but if I'm getting someone right before a weightlifting meat
[00:27:02] I don't have the kind of time to try that stuff on
[00:27:04] so I go tell me about other life scenarios
[00:27:06] I go back to different things
[00:27:08] okay what made you get through that hard time
[00:27:10] okay and then we create a strategy
[00:27:12] as fast as we can
[00:27:14] for that and then I'm like cool
[00:27:16] now once this is over
[00:27:18] we're gonna actually try all these other things
[00:27:20] I have time to prep you so
[00:27:22] go for broke
[00:27:24] see what happens and then we'll create a plan after
[00:27:26] that's not exactly what we do but something like that
[00:27:30] so yeah I think
[00:27:32] I think that's the big thing there is
[00:27:36] there is so much to learn
[00:27:38] and it's like in different meats
[00:27:40] we're gonna try different things
[00:27:42] everyone wants to just do the best at this meat
[00:27:44] and it's like well no
[00:27:46] we need to know how to make you the best
[00:27:48] in the long term right so
[00:27:50] certain meats depending on how much they matter or not for
[00:27:54] their athletic career like
[00:27:56] this girl Brooke now I coach
[00:28:00] she's 15 years old she's number one in the country
[00:28:02] in her age and weight class she's crushing it
[00:28:04] you know we went to nationals
[00:28:06] we played it a little more on the conservative side
[00:28:08] but still this was a meat that mattered
[00:28:12] so I didn't put a lot of pressure on her
[00:28:14] but she was comparing herself to someone else
[00:28:16] and she was trying to chase numbers
[00:28:18] based on someone the girl that was in the number one seed
[00:28:22] that was above her
[00:28:24] and that girl was competing that same weekend
[00:28:26] and she was there
[00:28:28] she kind of probably got in her head a little bit
[00:28:30] her nerves
[00:28:32] she's been a very laid back lifter in that day
[00:28:34] she was just a little off
[00:28:36] and she told me after she like leading up to it
[00:28:38] and her mom told me too
[00:28:40] but then the next week
[00:28:42] she went down this but she wanted to do it
[00:28:44] and I was like hey you're 15 whatever
[00:28:46] let's go for it
[00:28:48] so she went from going
[00:28:50] I think she went three for six at nationals
[00:28:52] and missed a couple big lifts
[00:28:54] to the next weekend
[00:28:56] there was none of that
[00:28:58] and I was like hey
[00:29:00] we went past nationals
[00:29:02] this meat doesn't matter as much
[00:29:04] we're just gonna put you in a more
[00:29:06] I'm gonna stress you out today on purpose
[00:29:08] I want to see what you're made of
[00:29:10] open a little bit heavier
[00:29:12] we're gonna hit bigger numbers
[00:29:14] and we're gonna kind of overreach a little bit
[00:29:16] and I didn't tell her that
[00:29:18] until day of yep she was six
[00:29:20] took home all the New England records
[00:29:24] won her age class
[00:29:26] for overall in the open
[00:29:28] against like you know 30 year old women
[00:29:30] genetically much more developed
[00:29:32] but it's just like yeah
[00:29:36] that whole thing of like
[00:29:38] comparing herself to anyone that day
[00:29:40] she wasn't afraid
[00:29:42] of losing that day
[00:29:44] she just wanted to win
[00:29:46] and I gave her
[00:29:48] this is why like the athletes
[00:29:50] like the fighters before they go in
[00:29:52] they trash talk
[00:29:54] because if you can get it someone's head
[00:29:56] and without realizing it
[00:29:58] and that's what happened
[00:30:00] she put all this pressure on it
[00:30:02] and competition especially
[00:30:04] I think females at that age too
[00:30:06] are really jealous
[00:30:08] partly all these things
[00:30:10] and then partly like
[00:30:12] well I want to be like her
[00:30:14] like there's so many components
[00:30:16] and it's nice to hear that she was able to turn it around
[00:30:18] but she also just in general
[00:30:20] had less pressure on that situation
[00:30:22] even though you tried to recreate it
[00:30:24] it was a great strategy
[00:30:26] yeah it's fascinating
[00:30:28] and how humans like
[00:30:30] and that's why having a coach
[00:30:32] that you trust matters too
[00:30:34] and you're trying to
[00:30:36] make a coach you trust
[00:30:38] that knows the right things to say
[00:30:40] and like you've been doing it a while now
[00:30:42] so you can think back
[00:30:44] to coaching other people
[00:30:46] and being like I wish I did this then
[00:30:48] and you know you have that experience now
[00:30:50] so as a coach you have that
[00:30:52] the world itself is just like
[00:30:54] growing too like weightlifting 10 years ago
[00:30:56] wasn't what it is today
[00:30:58] so there's a lot to still be learned
[00:31:00] yeah everything is like
[00:31:02] starting to matter
[00:31:04] that you know is it low volume
[00:31:06] that you're better with?
[00:31:08] is it higher intensity?
[00:31:10] we don't know until we try
[00:31:12] and so every meat might be a little bit different
[00:31:14] and maybe you're not happy with the results
[00:31:16] but what we know
[00:31:18] as we can come in with a better plan
[00:31:20] in the long term
[00:31:22] and those are the things
[00:31:24] that a lot of people just don't want to see
[00:31:26] in the moment of
[00:31:28] you know I missed these lifts
[00:31:30] yeah well and like in general
[00:31:32] people just have no idea
[00:31:34] they think everything that's happening right now
[00:31:36] matters like we are such a
[00:31:38] I need the results right now
[00:31:40] so to miss right now
[00:31:42] doesn't like they put so much more weight on that
[00:31:44] and they want the results right now
[00:31:46] instead of being like oh I just got into weightlifting
[00:31:48] it's my second meat
[00:31:50] like things are not going to go great
[00:31:52] and if you go in and get
[00:31:54] have a beginner's luck or you do well
[00:31:56] on your first meat
[00:31:58] because then they're like
[00:32:00] they just expect it
[00:32:02] and that talk about expectations
[00:32:04] they're like well I did well so I'm going to continue to do well
[00:32:06] and then when they don't
[00:32:08] they think it's over
[00:32:10] so do you find
[00:32:12] with expectations
[00:32:14] if people come in with no expectations
[00:32:16] they do better than
[00:32:18] having expectations
[00:32:20] it doesn't have to just be weightlifting but like anything
[00:32:22] okay
[00:32:24] it depends on the person
[00:32:26] I think overall
[00:32:28] the perfect combination is
[00:32:30] so there's this theory
[00:32:32] and it's basically about your arousal
[00:32:34] and what you're thinking doesn't necessarily matter
[00:32:36] it's what gets you into your right
[00:32:38] like bell curve so it's like a bell curve
[00:32:40] and it's called the isoff theory
[00:32:42] individual zone of optimal functioning
[00:32:44] and what it is is basically
[00:32:46] there's this bell curve of like the amount of
[00:32:48] okay this is optimal for me
[00:32:50] like emotion or arousal to be in
[00:32:52] and it's different for each person
[00:32:54] for each thing so I use the example
[00:32:56] and feel talking
[00:32:58] might need to be a lot higher on the like emotions
[00:33:00] anger a little bit like
[00:33:02] jittery with softball
[00:33:04] being such a like one-to-one sport
[00:33:06] it was this way
[00:33:08] and so it's really
[00:33:10] what's your optimal
[00:33:12] arousal emotion level
[00:33:14] and how do we get you there
[00:33:16] and for some people
[00:33:18] that's the combination of
[00:33:20] something that matters
[00:33:22] when you interview for a job you don't actually want
[00:33:24] you'd seem to do really well
[00:33:26] versus when you interview for the job that you
[00:33:28] really really want you screw up and you over
[00:33:30] think it and make mistakes
[00:33:32] so it's really teaching people this matters
[00:33:34] but how do you i don't give a fuck about this
[00:33:36] and that is so to your point yes
[00:33:38] but it depends some people
[00:33:40] that's not gonna work
[00:33:42] yeah I've always found like some of the days
[00:33:44] where I wake up and i'm like oh i don't
[00:33:46] feel that good for training today
[00:33:48] or i just feel like i didn't get a good night's sleep
[00:33:50] and just like
[00:33:52] throw the baby out with the bath water before i even get in the car
[00:33:54] and make my way to the gym
[00:33:56] i end up having the best lips
[00:33:58] and even like
[00:34:00] not so much now but when i was like
[00:34:02] i don't know 23-24
[00:34:04] like you go out Friday night you have too much to drink
[00:34:06] and like oh shit my lips is gonna suck
[00:34:08] and then it's like
[00:34:10] the weight's moving let's keep going
[00:34:12] let's see where it goes
[00:34:14] and it's like oh shit i PR
[00:34:16] and it's like that
[00:34:18] i'm like i'm just full of cars
[00:34:20] yeah it's illogical though like the liver isn't functioning
[00:34:22] your sleep wasn't great
[00:34:24] but like
[00:34:26] you just don't give a shit
[00:34:28] but you didn't give a shit
[00:34:30] yeah there's a level of
[00:34:32] well it's the same as why people go out and drink to begin with
[00:34:34] it like people are in a social setting
[00:34:36] and they're gonna just get me a drink so i can take the edge off
[00:34:38] you're doing the same thing just on the other side
[00:34:40] right you're taking the edge off
[00:34:42] and you're or you're just too tired to think
[00:34:44] and so it slows your brain down
[00:34:46] and i guess
[00:34:48] yeah and then
[00:34:50] with that too
[00:34:52] a lot of things i've
[00:34:54] i was working with the business coach actually
[00:34:56] or like a business mindset coach recently
[00:34:58] and one of the things that came up
[00:35:00] that i never really have talked much about
[00:35:02] or done much digging on
[00:35:04] was our own inner critic
[00:35:06] and battling those kind of voices in our head that's like
[00:35:10] why
[00:35:12] why do i put so much
[00:35:14] okay i'm gonna interrupt you for a second
[00:35:18] where does your inner critic come from
[00:35:20] definitely
[00:35:22] i don't want to go too deep on this
[00:35:24] i know i know what you were thinking
[00:35:26] right you thought of a parent
[00:35:28] but people don't ask that
[00:35:30] and once you ask that
[00:35:32] it changes the way you think about your inner critic
[00:35:36] so right
[00:35:38] in your face and everybody does the same thing
[00:35:40] like
[00:35:42] what and now all of a sudden you can tell it
[00:35:44] like
[00:35:46] shut up mom or dad or shut up
[00:35:48] Joe or right
[00:35:50] and you start to pull yourself away and go
[00:35:52] that's not me or you call it
[00:35:54] the good or bad devil
[00:35:56] whatever but i do i am a fan of naming that thing
[00:35:58] or that's like
[00:36:00] bad bread or good bread
[00:36:02] or whatever
[00:36:04] naming it and telling it to shut up
[00:36:06] and really separating it like a human
[00:36:08] and then you get a lot of access to it
[00:36:10] like why am i so judgey on ourselves
[00:36:12] well
[00:36:14] where did you learn that
[00:36:16] right
[00:36:18] i believe your mind
[00:36:20] yeah no i mean it's completely true
[00:36:22] and it's like it's something i worked on
[00:36:24] and was like
[00:36:26] yeah shit like you know
[00:36:28] i've become a very high achieving person
[00:36:30] and overachiever in many aspects of life
[00:36:32] is some would say
[00:36:34] and i'm very grateful for that
[00:36:36] but my parents put a lot of expectation on me as a kid
[00:36:38] ever it just kind of became this learned behavior of
[00:36:40] i need to do everything better
[00:36:42] and better and better
[00:36:44] and better until
[00:36:46] like it's like what gifts
[00:36:48] like when can i give myself a break
[00:36:50] when am i okay
[00:36:52] with what i'm doing
[00:36:54] and its fine
[00:36:56] its satisfactory and i can
[00:36:58] live life this way
[00:37:00] i think there's a huge
[00:37:02] learning curve because
[00:37:04] kind of like i said about everyone has a little bit
[00:37:06] of something in them like we're all on some spectrums here and there
[00:37:08] and it gets worse with stress
[00:37:10] like the same is true
[00:37:12] when it comes to high performers
[00:37:14] are high performers
[00:37:16] and like overachievers
[00:37:18] and all those language you just used
[00:37:20] because they developed coping mechanisms
[00:37:22] for stressors of things like pressure
[00:37:24] and whatever that made them successful
[00:37:26] and then they kept feeding it
[00:37:28] because the success got you validation
[00:37:30] or got you into the program you wanted
[00:37:32] or got you here
[00:37:34] so then you're like i have to keep doing it this way
[00:37:36] until you get to a point of like high level stress
[00:37:38] like you having multiple businesses at the same time
[00:37:40] and managing relationships
[00:37:42] and managing all this stuff
[00:37:44] that you go oh man i missed a few things
[00:37:46] and i'm still okay
[00:37:48] and that's really when people start to take the edge off
[00:37:50] and realize that
[00:37:52] and it really only comes when you're at a point of like
[00:37:54] being an adult
[00:37:56] and its just the only way
[00:37:58] and thats when people i think start to learn
[00:38:00] if you can learn it sooner
[00:38:02] thats awesome so like
[00:38:04] i love coaches that set you up for failure
[00:38:06] when you set them up for failure
[00:38:08] so that they start getting used to it
[00:38:10] like you give them a task
[00:38:12] that can't be done
[00:38:14] you have the team solve a problem
[00:38:16] that is unsolvable
[00:38:18] and you see what happens
[00:38:20] you see what happens when shit hits the fan
[00:38:22] the more you put them in
[00:38:24] that situation
[00:38:26] the more used to it they're gonna be
[00:38:28] and the more likely they are to be like
[00:38:30] this is just a prank
[00:38:32] so when they fail a lift
[00:38:34] they can't hit that lift that
[00:38:36] you think you're supposed to hit
[00:38:38] and then jokes on you
[00:38:40] we never thought you could hit that yet
[00:38:42] we just wanted to see how you hit a pressure
[00:38:44] like that stuff
[00:38:46] yeah yeah they're like great
[00:38:48] but then it becomes this whole thing of like
[00:38:50] is he playing me or not
[00:38:52] and then on the other end
[00:38:54] you throw them a lift that you thought they couldn't hit
[00:38:56] and they hit it
[00:38:58] and its like
[00:39:00] it's not me but I just have to
[00:39:02] put my head down and do the hurt
[00:39:04] that already happened this morning
[00:39:06] with someone one of my athletes
[00:39:08] so yeah
[00:39:10] yeah like tripling 85%
[00:39:12] is no easy task
[00:39:14] typically you don't go past 80
[00:39:16] so its like
[00:39:18] yeah so she was like hey what am I supposed to do on this work out
[00:39:20] I wasn't very clear on I guess
[00:39:22] and I was like oh here's an example
[00:39:24] like you're gonna work to this and this and this
[00:39:26] and like you know you could do a triple at 85%
[00:39:28] and I was like yeah it was just an example
[00:39:30] let go ahead
[00:39:32] not that I expected you to
[00:39:34] but sure
[00:39:36] so yeah
[00:39:38] but then this person might get to
[00:39:40] 93 to 5%
[00:39:42] and can't do a single
[00:39:44] when its like if you can triple 85
[00:39:46] we know you can do
[00:39:48] like you can do this
[00:39:50] but its like
[00:39:52] and then it becomes
[00:39:54] why did you lose
[00:39:56] your head or you
[00:39:58] and that's where it's
[00:40:00] and people don't realize how much they need to work
[00:40:02] at those weights like from
[00:40:04] a mental standpoint
[00:40:06] so like scientifically you guys have
[00:40:08] the thing about mindset
[00:40:10] and why psychology is tough
[00:40:12] and hard to measure
[00:40:14] I can't go take a blood test
[00:40:16] improve that this is the outcome
[00:40:18] there is no scientific evidence
[00:40:20] that if I do xyz exercises
[00:40:22] for this amount of time
[00:40:24] that doesn't exist in psychology
[00:40:26] but from experience
[00:40:28] and theories and research
[00:40:30] you can make the assumption that
[00:40:32] if this person practices
[00:40:34] above 85% more frequently
[00:40:36] even if that's not part of the programming
[00:40:38] the more comfortable they get
[00:40:40] mentally above that
[00:40:42] number or whatever their
[00:40:44] sticking point is
[00:40:46] like that's what it even if they're failing it
[00:40:48] even if they're missing the lift
[00:40:50] but working above it
[00:40:52] or that weight on their back
[00:40:54] or they just need to be around
[00:40:56] the weight more mentally
[00:41:00] weightlifting
[00:41:02] that could be a big debate
[00:41:04] you could have a lot of coaches coming out here for that
[00:41:06] because the goal in training is to really
[00:41:08] not miss lifts but maybe in CrossFit
[00:41:10] I don't know what you guys are doing over there
[00:41:12] yeah and that's true it's a CrossFit perspective
[00:41:14] but it's not about
[00:41:16] necessarily missing
[00:41:18] it's getting them comfortable
[00:41:20] that you go okay
[00:41:22] you're not going to squat this weight
[00:41:24] but you're gonna
[00:41:26] load it and get off the squat rack
[00:41:28] and then put it back
[00:41:30] yeah like you guys do that
[00:41:32] ever
[00:41:34] like because that's just getting them
[00:41:36] psychologically comfortable
[00:41:38] like here's an example
[00:41:40] and yet the weightlifting
[00:41:42] it depends but like I had never
[00:41:44] jerked above 200 pounds
[00:41:46] over my head and it was like
[00:41:48] that weight of being over my head
[00:41:50] scared the shit out of me
[00:41:52] but it was like I could get it
[00:41:54] I could get it up
[00:41:56] but I didn't believe that I could hold it up
[00:41:58] so I needed to prove that I could hold it up
[00:42:00] before I could get it
[00:42:02] we'll do those things
[00:42:04] with
[00:42:06] the weightlifting
[00:42:08] and then we can do it
[00:42:10] and then we can do it
[00:42:12] and then we can do it
[00:42:14] and then we can do it
[00:42:16] but we'll do those things
[00:42:18] with people too of like
[00:42:20] overloading
[00:42:22] okay you can snatch balance this
[00:42:24] three times at your max
[00:42:26] and you can pull it
[00:42:28] at 110%
[00:42:30] and you can do all these variations
[00:42:32] between it's like
[00:42:34] you can clearly do this lift
[00:42:36] and it's like oh
[00:42:38] Mike, do you think you can do it?
[00:42:40] yeah I think I can
[00:42:42] it's like okay well let's go fuck and do it
[00:42:44] I'm curious if this brings you into visualization at all
[00:42:46] like you guys do
[00:42:48] I want to talk to you about of like
[00:42:50] what is a good visualization practice
[00:42:52] for someone because yes
[00:42:54] I do encourage my athletes
[00:42:56] to visualize themselves lifting
[00:42:58] different weights and you know
[00:43:00] in different circumstances and things
[00:43:02] but um
[00:43:04] and there's a lot of
[00:43:06] of good research on visualisation
[00:43:08] so my thing is
[00:43:10] when do we do this?
[00:43:12] I think it's better to get used
[00:43:14] it's like anything the more you practice
[00:43:16] that the better you get at it
[00:43:18] and so I think it's better to
[00:43:20] start having practice with it
[00:43:22] before you go to bed
[00:43:24] is usually my favourite one
[00:43:26] because that's when you're thinking about it anyways
[00:43:28] but you're also
[00:43:30] trying to do this
[00:43:32] and then you're trying to
[00:43:34] do this
[00:43:36] and then you're trying to
[00:43:38] do this
[00:43:40] and then you're trying to
[00:43:42] get used to it
[00:43:44] but you're also kind of like
[00:43:46] calmed down you're usually in a state
[00:43:48] where you're trying to get more calm
[00:43:50] and so you can practice it with a little more control
[00:43:52] and then after that the better you get at it
[00:43:54] it's just like breathing right
[00:43:56] everybody breathes wrong
[00:43:58] diabetic breathing they have to practice it more
[00:44:00] but they probably practice it first
[00:44:02] laying on the ground
[00:44:04] and then it becomes okay now do it
[00:44:06] while you're lifting now do it
[00:44:08] visualisation the more you practice it
[00:44:10] in controlled environments
[00:44:12] when you're in an uncontrolled environment
[00:44:14] you're going to have better control of it
[00:44:16] so I recommend if you're doing this for sport
[00:44:18] practicing it
[00:44:20] at night, whatever
[00:44:22] and then over time
[00:44:24] you can do it right before the lift
[00:44:26] you visualise yourself doing it
[00:44:28] there's also two ways people visualise
[00:44:30] so some people
[00:44:32] see themselves like they're watching a video
[00:44:34] of themselves
[00:44:36] doing the lift
[00:44:38] I do both
[00:44:40] I recommend both
[00:44:42] I would recommend you try both and see
[00:44:44] and a lot of people can do both
[00:44:46] but some people struggle to control one versus the other
[00:44:48] which is interesting
[00:44:50] so I always recommend like trying out different things
[00:44:52] figuring out which one
[00:44:54] you like better
[00:44:56] which one seems to be working for you
[00:44:58] through practice practicing it before those heavy lifts
[00:45:00] and the more comfortable you get with it
[00:45:02] and then there's all the research out there
[00:45:04] and then you can see all the neural pathways
[00:45:06] it will actually think that you did it before
[00:45:08] so I'm a big proponent of like
[00:45:10] practicing that lift before you do it visually
[00:45:12] can you just repeat those two things again for people
[00:45:14] so what were the two different ways to look at it
[00:45:18] so you can view yourself
[00:45:20] as if you're watching a video of yourself
[00:45:22] so you can like in your head be
[00:45:24] imagine yourself
[00:45:26] yep third person
[00:45:28] and then first person
[00:45:30] so you can view like what you would view
[00:45:32] that's what I'm showing you
[00:45:34] but so I would view what I would view
[00:45:36] and I'd see the barbell how I see the barbell
[00:45:38] and I would imagine it that way
[00:45:40] but a bigger piece to visualization
[00:45:44] it's really about all the senses
[00:45:46] so you don't want to just use imagery
[00:45:48] you want to hear the sounds you'll be hearing
[00:45:50] whether it's a silent weightlifting meter
[00:45:52] allowed one
[00:45:54] even preparing and knowing which one it is
[00:45:56] and preparing that in your head
[00:45:58] and imagining the background noise
[00:46:00] you want to incorporate smells
[00:46:02] like the taste of sweat maybe you drink
[00:46:04] whatever your amino acid drink
[00:46:06] you're drinking or whatever it is that you have in between
[00:46:08] you want to incorporate everything
[00:46:10] so that it's as real as possible
[00:46:12] and also that's what makes your brain believe it actually happen
[00:46:14] well there's a lot to that
[00:46:16] that I never really thought of
[00:46:18] and when we say visualizations
[00:46:20] you like one thing I kind of typically do
[00:46:24] is I think back to a time
[00:46:26] I hit like a really heavy lift
[00:46:28] like I can think of like two specific meats
[00:46:30] where like the weights felt heavy
[00:46:32] it was a big reach number for me
[00:46:34] but I'm like what was I thinking at that time
[00:46:36] what was in my head
[00:46:38] so are those kinds of things
[00:46:40] still part of it
[00:46:42] would you consider those part of visualization
[00:46:44] yeah and what I would do is take you back to that
[00:46:48] and say like put yourself back there
[00:46:50] and try to go through it
[00:46:52] and remember it
[00:46:54] and recall everything that you can
[00:46:56] and then you can keep doing that
[00:46:58] but yeah that's a visualization
[00:47:00] it's also so I've talked about the different sources of confidence
[00:47:02] at the end of the day
[00:47:04] a lot of stuff and a lot of stuff we talked about before
[00:47:06] it is confidence
[00:47:08] it's just talking about it in different ways
[00:47:10] and how it's playing out
[00:47:12] and that's what a lot of this is
[00:47:14] there's different sources of confidence
[00:47:16] and way to build confidence
[00:47:18] and that is why
[00:47:20] and one of those is past experiences
[00:47:22] both good and bad
[00:47:24] and the last time you
[00:47:26] had a successful weightlifting beat
[00:47:28] where you put a lot of weight on the bar
[00:47:30] you lifted away you didn't expect
[00:47:32] whatever you pull on that similarity
[00:47:34] and the same goes for
[00:47:36] when you can learn from failure
[00:47:38] so you can build confidence
[00:47:40] off of like when you try a new drill
[00:47:42] the first time you do it
[00:47:44] you're like this is weird
[00:47:46] and then the next time
[00:47:48] you felt what you did wrong
[00:47:50] and so you build confidence
[00:47:52] like this collection of things
[00:47:54] it's what sets someone up mentally
[00:47:56] for a great lift or to be
[00:47:58] a great mental lifter
[00:48:00] you know like they can carry that kind of personality
[00:48:02] trade of man they always perform one hundred percent
[00:48:04] and what about actually watching
[00:48:06] like prior videos of themselves doing lifts
[00:48:08] like before a big meet
[00:48:12] I would say probably if we watch good ones
[00:48:14] but it depends on the person
[00:48:16] I mean
[00:48:18] for me I would say most people
[00:48:20] probably shouldn't watch a failed lift
[00:48:22] would be my suggestion
[00:48:24] I mean unless you are critiquing it
[00:48:26] a few days before but the day of
[00:48:28] I wouldn't even put that thought in some way
[00:48:30] yeah that's what I've always done
[00:48:32] is something I always do
[00:48:34] leading up to heavy
[00:48:36] meats or heavy days or whatever
[00:48:38] it's like I look back to
[00:48:40] some lifts and comparatively now they're not
[00:48:42] the numbers
[00:48:44] I have better numbers now than I used to
[00:48:46] but even looking back at those other ones
[00:48:48] it's like oh you know what that was a time
[00:48:50] it was a good day I felt good
[00:48:52] that was a big weight for me then
[00:48:54] and I just you look at it
[00:48:56] I made it look so easy
[00:48:58] and it's like oh um
[00:49:00] that truly gets you to believe
[00:49:02] oh man I am strong on the cable of this
[00:49:04] and it's been three years
[00:49:06] yeah I can handle five more kilos than this now
[00:49:08] and I can do it and make it look just like that
[00:49:10] yeah
[00:49:12] that's a good idea and the other one too
[00:49:14] some people prefer just like
[00:49:16] this is my motivational videos and stuff
[00:49:18] or two if there's a weightlifter you admire
[00:49:20] or some other thing that you admire
[00:49:22] like in college we listen to
[00:49:24] um the alpichino
[00:49:26] any given sunday speech before every field hockey game
[00:49:28] I still, if I really need to be
[00:49:30] like in the zone
[00:49:32] I'll just play that for myself
[00:49:34] and it's like it might not be related to what I'm doing
[00:49:36] but that thing gets me excited
[00:49:38] and so it's really
[00:49:40] sort of like back to the eyes off of
[00:49:42] what's going to get you in the zone
[00:49:44] watching old videos
[00:49:46] but this is where experimentation comes into play
[00:49:48] and practicing it before big lifts at practice
[00:49:50] right because you have to know what works for you
[00:49:52] and what got you excited
[00:49:54] maybe it was a song
[00:49:56] a pump up song maybe it was
[00:49:58] some people it might be watching the failed lift
[00:50:00] maybe they're really driven by failure
[00:50:02] and like getting pissed off
[00:50:04] and that's where they need to be
[00:50:06] like me being pissed off before a softball game
[00:50:08] was not going to be good
[00:50:10] being pissed off before field hockey
[00:50:12] is that
[00:50:14] snatch versus cleaning jerk
[00:50:16] you know more Olympic lifting
[00:50:18] they need to be in a different state of arousal
[00:50:20] because the snatch is so much more technical
[00:50:22] and so they need to be more calm
[00:50:24] whereas the cleaning jerk while technical
[00:50:26] you can muscle through it a little bit better
[00:50:28] than a snatch. You one wrong move on a snatch
[00:50:30] it's over
[00:50:32] so even that they have to be in different levels
[00:50:34] of their own to see
[00:50:36] yeah absolutely
[00:50:38] I always know that for me both of those lifts are very different
[00:50:40] one has more poise
[00:50:42] and then the other
[00:50:44] if you want to
[00:50:46] new good
[00:50:48] motivational video for weightlifting specifically
[00:50:50] I highly recommend
[00:50:52] the Lion Killer by Donnie Shankle
[00:50:54] yeah
[00:50:56] that's my pump up jam
[00:50:58] before a big lift day
[00:51:00] and
[00:51:02] as a crossfit
[00:51:04] a lot of people watch the old
[00:51:06] like CrossFit games
[00:51:08] and they're like
[00:51:10] you know
[00:51:12] you're like no I have so many thoughts about CrossFit
[00:51:14] and so
[00:51:16] where does this bring us?
[00:51:18] So
[00:51:20] yes so the whole visualization
[00:51:22] what's like
[00:51:24] you really go ahead
[00:51:26] I want to know
[00:51:28] what really
[00:51:30] what would help you the most as a coach
[00:51:32] thinking about sports
[00:51:34] I mean
[00:51:36] that's such a good question
[00:51:38] we could have a whole other episode about this
[00:51:40] but I mean a lot of the things we just talked about
[00:51:42] a lot of them
[00:51:44] and just you know
[00:51:46] the thing I've noticed over time is
[00:51:48] everyone is different
[00:51:50] every single person that I coach
[00:51:52] it's not just about sets and reps
[00:51:54] it's about
[00:51:56] who are they as a person what do they respond to
[00:51:58] and it's like
[00:52:00] for me I think
[00:52:02] not that it's the hardest thing for me as a person
[00:52:04] probably getting to know this person
[00:52:06] and knowing what they respond to
[00:52:08] and I think the hardest part of coaching
[00:52:10] is
[00:52:12] going out and trying new things
[00:52:14] and not being afraid
[00:52:16] to fail as a coach in a sense
[00:52:18] that's
[00:52:20] I'm going to try this
[00:52:22] behavioral strategy with someone
[00:52:24] and I might fall on my face
[00:52:26] and this person might not like me for it
[00:52:28] but I need to know
[00:52:30] and that's something I'm kind of doing now
[00:52:32] you know I was giving these
[00:52:34] a couple of these
[00:52:36] lifters like all this extra feedback
[00:52:38] and
[00:52:40] we went to this big meet
[00:52:42] it wasn't a lifetime performance
[00:52:44] they didn't PR, they didn't do anything
[00:52:46] you know
[00:52:48] and some other circumstances happened too
[00:52:50] but at the end of the day
[00:52:52] it's like okay I gave you all this feedback
[00:52:54] and we kind of went paralysis by analysis potentially
[00:52:56] now
[00:52:58] I'm not going to be that guy
[00:53:00] I mean football coach
[00:53:02] that's like
[00:53:04] shut up, do more
[00:53:06] you might not like this right now
[00:53:08] but this might be what you need
[00:53:10] and so I've already started playing
[00:53:12] some mental mind games
[00:53:14] and some people of like
[00:53:16] oh you want to lift heavy weights
[00:53:18] well in our mind
[00:53:20] and my mind is a coach
[00:53:22] like what this person needs right now
[00:53:24] is to just hit lifts
[00:53:26] and the more they miss
[00:53:28] no this does matter
[00:53:30] so what we're going to do now
[00:53:32] is anytime you try to go take a heavy single
[00:53:34] and you miss you have to back down 5 kilos
[00:53:36] and do two sets of doubles
[00:53:38] before you go back and do another single
[00:53:40] and it's like
[00:53:42] what?
[00:53:44] it's like yeah
[00:53:46] we're going to make shit matter now
[00:53:48] because I know you guys don't want to go back
[00:53:50] and do two sets of doubles
[00:53:52] and then go back and do a single
[00:53:54] but that's the way it's going to be
[00:53:56] so the thing we don't know
[00:53:58] is will this person actually respond to this
[00:54:00] and at the end of the day
[00:54:02] are they going to be able to see that
[00:54:04] light at the end of the tunnel
[00:54:06] that he was right
[00:54:08] some people might not
[00:54:10] some people might leave
[00:54:12] and it's something you got to be okay with
[00:54:14] but
[00:54:16] if that's what I was going to say
[00:54:18] you have to be
[00:54:20] that's why I share
[00:54:22] like you are your brand right
[00:54:24] that's the best
[00:54:26] that acts as a therapist
[00:54:28] and I will validate the shit out of you
[00:54:32] but then I'm also going to call you in your bullshit
[00:54:34] and that's not for everyone
[00:54:36] and that's okay
[00:54:38] so for you
[00:54:40] I think you would know
[00:54:42] especially after this time
[00:54:44] who can handle it and who can't
[00:54:46] and so you're probably making your best guest
[00:54:48] but as a coach
[00:54:50] everybody is always trying to improve
[00:54:52] And then the next level is like, can I get them to get themselves there?
[00:54:58] And that's what you're doing.
[00:54:59] Is you're going to that next level of,
[00:55:01] I can get you there with my words.
[00:55:04] You, like, I can teach you what to do.
[00:55:06] But can we get you to get there on your own?
[00:55:09] See the mind games I'm going to play with you.
[00:55:11] And you're learning different strategies with that and how to approach that.
[00:55:14] And even if it doesn't work that day, sometimes it's,
[00:55:17] did it work a few days later?
[00:55:19] Was it they slept on it and they're like, man, coach Brett,
[00:55:23] I'm going to like, and then it's three days later.
[00:55:25] And they're like, ha, take that.
[00:55:27] And then they come and they also tell you they're excited about it.
[00:55:29] And then they have to be like, oh, but I was picturing how much I hated you
[00:55:32] while I did it.
[00:55:33] That's okay.
[00:55:34] That's what works for you.
[00:55:35] Yeah.
[00:55:36] So, so I mean we'll throw money down now on left.
[00:55:38] It's like, yeah, no, you're done.
[00:55:39] It's like, no, I really want to hit this.
[00:55:40] It's like fine.
[00:55:41] Ten bucks.
[00:55:42] I bet you $10 you can't fucking hit it.
[00:55:47] It's so funny because I love to think back to like,
[00:55:50] and I have different stuff I'll use with my athletes,
[00:55:52] but doing it through like this versus being how I approach an athlete
[00:55:55] that I'm like on the field with right versus just talking through stuff
[00:55:59] with, as I'm giving them strategies.
[00:56:01] But I think back to how like sports psychology is innate in some people
[00:56:05] and when I was learning to bunch in softball at 10 years old,
[00:56:08] what they did was that the dad went and put dollars
[00:56:12] and like five dollars where you were supposed to hit it.
[00:56:15] And the goal was like, you want it?
[00:56:17] Bunch it in the right spot.
[00:56:18] You get to keep it if it lands on the money.
[00:56:20] And I'm like, yes, you know, like eight-year-old Lauren's
[00:56:23] like, I'm getting five dollars and bunting it in the right spot.
[00:56:25] So people need accountability no matter how old you get
[00:56:28] or like some sort of motivation or something to avoid.
[00:56:31] That's why doing like push-ups every time you,
[00:56:34] you know, or for me, it's like if I miss,
[00:56:36] we're trying to hit a heavy lifting crossfit,
[00:56:38] it'll be like, you have to do 10 burpees for everyone you lift.
[00:56:40] So don't go try to have fun and just hit that.
[00:56:43] I'm like, I hate burpees more than I like lifting heavy.
[00:56:45] So like, I'm not gonna go too heavy.
[00:56:48] Yeah, so it's really just learning, you know,
[00:56:50] what people respond to is there's something we're missing with them.
[00:56:56] You know, does this person,
[00:56:59] like, are they okay with confrontation?
[00:57:01] Are they not like confrontation?
[00:57:02] Are there things they're holding back from me that they want to tell me
[00:57:05] but they don't feel comfortable with or they're not sure
[00:57:07] how I'm going to react?
[00:57:09] You know, there's so much to the coach,
[00:57:12] athlete relationship that we have to manage.
[00:57:15] And it's something that you'll never have objective data on to say
[00:57:22] this worked or this didn't, right?
[00:57:24] It's just a part of the piece.
[00:57:25] It's like, how do we get all of this to accumulate over time
[00:57:29] to get this person there?
[00:57:30] It's like, okay, I can take these best practices I have
[00:57:33] and put them in place for this person.
[00:57:34] And then, you know, I need to be a cheerleader for this person
[00:57:37] over here and just rah rah.
[00:57:38] And I know that I can't cue this person in the middle of their session.
[00:57:42] I need to wait till after.
[00:57:44] This other person,
[00:57:46] I need to slap their back,
[00:57:48] tell them they're a piece of shit
[00:57:50] and that they're a loser,
[00:57:51] and they'll respond to that.
[00:57:53] And it's just, and then, you know,
[00:57:55] someone in between,
[00:57:56] it's just like, hey, just do this, you know,
[00:57:58] that one little tweak or knowing it meets like,
[00:58:01] some people it's like, oh, I could,
[00:58:03] I could win if I hit this way.
[00:58:05] It's like, yeah, go fuck and do it.
[00:58:06] It's like, all right.
[00:58:07] Where other people like, don't tell me where I'm at.
[00:58:09] I don't want to know.
[00:58:10] I just need to focus on myself right.
[00:58:12] And it's like, okay,
[00:58:13] so you need to know these different things about people
[00:58:15] and that it takes time.
[00:58:17] And then as they grow and evolve as a lifter,
[00:58:20] those things start to change too.
[00:58:21] And it's like keeping up with the genuses of,
[00:58:23] okay, like this person isn't the same lifter
[00:58:25] they were three, four years ago now.
[00:58:27] Which can be great.
[00:58:29] But it's also just like,
[00:58:30] you know, there's no sharp answer to,
[00:58:33] did I do the best job I could do?
[00:58:35] Because me and my inner critic always wants to be the best.
[00:58:38] And you just never have an answer for it.
[00:58:41] So, yeah.
[00:58:45] I am a big fan of feedback surveys like for myself,
[00:58:48] even as like my, you know, coaching relationships,
[00:58:51] my therapy, things like that.
[00:58:52] Like I'm always just kind of like to see as we evolve and grow.
[00:58:56] Like what do you need now?
[00:58:57] What's, what's worked well?
[00:58:58] What's not worked well because,
[00:58:59] and especially an anonymous feedback survey,
[00:59:02] through all your athletes, like occasionally.
[00:59:05] Even though it's different for each one,
[00:59:07] you're going to see themes emerge.
[00:59:08] And a lot of them will mostly give you the good stuff
[00:59:10] because they're still with you because they like you, right?
[00:59:12] And they, it's working.
[00:59:14] But one of my favorite things to do,
[00:59:16] and this is something you can implement as a coach,
[00:59:18] is when people first start working with you,
[00:59:20] asking them what they think they need.
[00:59:23] And here's why.
[00:59:25] A lot of times they actually do know,
[00:59:27] but they've never thought about it.
[00:59:29] Then they tell you,
[00:59:30] and you start to experiment and see if they're right.
[00:59:33] And then you kind of keep asking that as you go,
[00:59:36] and what you're doing is you're actually teaching them
[00:59:39] what they need because then they've seen you do stuff.
[00:59:42] And then through time.
[00:59:43] So then in the moment when you're not there,
[00:59:44] you can't be there or they're lifting on their own
[00:59:46] and you can't respond right away
[00:59:47] and give them the validation they're looking for.
[00:59:50] They're like, what would he say to do?
[00:59:52] Or what would he ask to hit say,
[00:59:53] I want this, I want this right now.
[00:59:55] Okay, let me get validation from myself.
[00:59:57] So you also want to teach them how to like self-solve.
[01:00:00] So that's kind of one of the things I'll do is like at the beginning,
[01:00:02] see how self-aware they are,
[01:00:03] then teach them self-awareness if they don't have it.
[01:00:05] Like maybe they're wrong and they think they need to be mad
[01:00:07] and they're wrong and you'll figure that out anyways.
[01:00:09] But if you start with a set of data that says,
[01:00:11] well, they told me this.
[01:00:12] Now I'm still going to coach them the same way
[01:00:14] and see what happens and see if they're right or wrong.
[01:00:16] So there's a lot of different ways to kind of experiment with it,
[01:00:18] but you're right.
[01:00:19] It's really hard to get a true objective measure
[01:00:22] in my doing well or not.
[01:00:24] And that's where you have to use your like,
[01:00:26] how many clients leave me?
[01:00:28] How many clients stay?
[01:00:29] What do they say?
[01:00:30] What are they improving?
[01:00:31] What are their results?
[01:00:32] And just do the best they have for each gap.
[01:00:34] That is an interesting point too,
[01:00:35] because that's something that comes up a lot is,
[01:00:38] and again, the career of a lifter with us changes over time.
[01:00:42] So a lot of people come in,
[01:00:43] they want to be more technical, right?
[01:00:45] Whether it be a cross-fit or someone with weightlifting.
[01:00:47] Like one of the big things with weightlifting especially is
[01:00:49] they want to improve their technique.
[01:00:51] And everyone thinks it's all about technique.
[01:00:53] And it is a major part of success in the sport.
[01:00:55] If you need to be pretty technical to lift certain weights
[01:00:58] and get them into these optimal positions and everything else.
[01:01:01] But then, you know,
[01:01:03] I never really tell people this.
[01:01:06] I just kind of want to skirt around it
[01:01:08] and see how they react to it.
[01:01:10] But it's like,
[01:01:11] oh, hey, why aren't I getting as much feedback as I used to?
[01:01:16] And it's like,
[01:01:17] well, you don't need that anymore.
[01:01:19] You know what to do now.
[01:01:20] You've been with me for three years.
[01:01:23] And like, you know what's a good lift?
[01:01:25] You know it's a bad lift.
[01:01:26] Or you know what things I expect and within what bandwidth.
[01:01:30] And so, you know,
[01:01:33] some people just...
[01:01:35] But they go to this expectation of,
[01:01:37] well, in the beginning,
[01:01:38] I always got this feedback that was like,
[01:01:40] this is right or this is better.
[01:01:41] And we want to try to do this or that where like,
[01:01:45] I think some people just need to get to the realization
[01:01:47] that like part of this is just practice and mental training
[01:01:50] and not all about technique all the time.
[01:01:53] And that's a thing with weightlifters.
[01:01:54] It's like,
[01:01:55] it can be a really big thing
[01:01:57] of they always think it's all about being more technical.
[01:01:59] And it's like no,
[01:02:00] no, you need to be technical
[01:02:02] and you can do it at 60%.
[01:02:04] You can do it at 70%.
[01:02:05] I've seen you do it really well at 80%.
[01:02:07] So you know technique.
[01:02:09] You need the mental fortitude and strength
[01:02:12] to keep pursuing these things
[01:02:13] at higher and higher intensities.
[01:02:14] I can't always do that for you.
[01:02:16] You need to learn how to do that.
[01:02:17] And you through your training can see what's right and wrong.
[01:02:21] Okay?
[01:02:24] So I have a question in a comment.
[01:02:26] So my question is,
[01:02:27] are you talking feedback like maybe
[01:02:29] through a remote coaching type of thing
[01:02:31] or in the moment watching your feedback?
[01:02:33] Both. So with our remote athletes,
[01:02:35] typically we have a lot of hybrid lifters actually.
[01:02:37] So a lot will come in on like a Saturday.
[01:02:39] We have kind of a team training day.
[01:02:41] But through the week they're doing their training.
[01:02:43] So anywhere between like 60 and 90% of training percentages
[01:02:48] and higher volumes will be those days.
[01:02:51] But then yeah, on on those other days too,
[01:02:54] like sometimes it's like,
[01:02:55] and some people,
[01:02:56] some people don't mind
[01:02:57] and they know like I don't need feedback today.
[01:03:00] Oh, there's like really one
[01:03:01] and it's like this is the last thing you need
[01:03:03] or you know,
[01:03:04] it's 90%.
[01:03:05] I'm not giving you three cues
[01:03:07] because that's too much.
[01:03:08] At 90% you should be thinking about one thing.
[01:03:11] Yeah.
[01:03:12] One cue.
[01:03:13] One cue.
[01:03:14] Yes.
[01:03:15] At least you know that.
[01:03:16] Well, so it's interesting
[01:03:17] because the evolution of any relationship in general,
[01:03:20] whether it's business coaching,
[01:03:22] fitness and nutrition like as time goes on,
[01:03:24] they're always going to need less feedback.
[01:03:26] That's why my continuity program is like,
[01:03:28] we meet weekly then we go by weekly,
[01:03:29] then we go monthly.
[01:03:30] Like there's a reason
[01:03:31] because you just need less support
[01:03:33] when you're in that.
[01:03:34] And then you're like,
[01:03:35] you just need less support
[01:03:36] when you're in that.
[01:03:37] But if they're craving that,
[01:03:38] it's like reminding them,
[01:03:39] good, keep at it,
[01:03:40] which you probably do that.
[01:03:41] But it's,
[01:03:42] that's where they get to the point
[01:03:43] of when you are an expert
[01:03:44] or you're mastering something,
[01:03:45] which these people are at that point
[01:03:46] of like they're starting to master it.
[01:03:48] That's where things get boring
[01:03:50] and people fall off.
[01:03:51] And that's the problem.
[01:03:52] Is they have to be willing
[01:03:54] to do the boring, repetitive stuff
[01:03:56] that gets no feedback
[01:03:57] because your squat is your squat.
[01:03:58] We got rid of your butt wing.
[01:03:59] We got rid of this.
[01:04:00] Like,
[01:04:01] you have the technique
[01:04:02] that you're going to do
[01:04:03] when we got rid of this.
[01:04:04] Like, you have the technique
[01:04:05] sure there's little things.
[01:04:06] Do more ankle mobility.
[01:04:07] Like do more of that stuff.
[01:04:08] But you know this already.
[01:04:10] It's in your, like,
[01:04:11] there's nothing left for me to give you
[01:04:12] other than yeah, this sucks.
[01:04:14] Yeah, that's one of the hardest parts
[01:04:15] about it in that transition process
[01:04:17] with people is like getting them
[01:04:19] to realize like,
[01:04:20] yeah, you're good.
[01:04:21] And it's like,
[01:04:22] well, you used to tell me more.
[01:04:23] And it's like, yeah,
[01:04:24] but like I don't need to anymore.
[01:04:26] It's just,
[01:04:27] you're doing all the right things.
[01:04:28] Yep.
[01:04:29] And it's almost a reminder.
[01:04:31] It's going to be boring.
[01:04:32] Yeah.
[01:04:33] When you're good.
[01:04:34] Right?
[01:04:35] Like getting to the top is not
[01:04:37] glorious and fun.
[01:04:38] There's parts that are just
[01:04:39] the same repetitive stuff.
[01:04:41] And so that's where I say like
[01:04:43] with certain people,
[01:04:44] it might be finding ways
[01:04:45] to make it more fun
[01:04:46] or finding little ways
[01:04:47] to like,
[01:04:48] like just for sometimes
[01:04:49] like at some point
[01:04:50] it's just going to be what it is.
[01:04:51] But the feedback can be like,
[01:04:53] okay, what we're thinking about.
[01:04:55] How are you
[01:04:56] mentally preparing
[01:04:57] for that lift?
[01:04:58] Like,
[01:04:59] that's where you start to get it
[01:05:00] and go, why don't you practice these skills?
[01:05:02] Why don't you throw yourself off
[01:05:03] before that lift?
[01:05:04] And then see what happens.
[01:05:06] Why do you have someone tell you
[01:05:07] something awful?
[01:05:08] Why don't you go look up?
[01:05:09] Your acts on social media
[01:05:10] before that lift and tell me how it goes.
[01:05:12] Like yeah, exactly.
[01:05:13] Like, do shit to put yourself
[01:05:14] in a stressful situation
[01:05:15] in those,
[01:05:16] and I know with weightlifting
[01:05:17] it's like, well, we don't want to experiment.
[01:05:18] But you know,
[01:05:19] maybe there's some blend of doing that.
[01:05:21] You've got to experiment
[01:05:22] because something's going to happen.
[01:05:23] The day of your,
[01:05:25] whatever, my lift or something happened.
[01:05:27] And you just never know
[01:05:29] and you want to prepare.
[01:05:30] And there's a,
[01:05:31] kind of like,
[01:05:32] and that wrap up with this,
[01:05:33] like the Michael Phelps example
[01:05:34] of swimming when he won
[01:05:35] the year he won
[01:05:36] like a million,
[01:05:37] I mean, every year.
[01:05:38] But like,
[01:05:39] the first year he really made a name for himself,
[01:05:40] I think he won a bunch of different
[01:05:41] goals.
[01:05:42] And in one of the races,
[01:05:44] his goggles filled up with water
[01:05:46] and he couldn't see the whole race.
[01:05:47] And when they asked,
[01:05:48] and he said that after,
[01:05:49] nobody knew until after.
[01:05:50] And he said,
[01:05:51] well, I had practiced
[01:05:52] everything that could go wrong in my head.
[01:05:54] I had visualized
[01:05:55] everything that could go wrong.
[01:05:56] And so what it happened,
[01:05:58] it didn't surprise me.
[01:05:59] Like,
[01:06:00] that is the epitome of,
[01:06:02] I have done everything I can
[01:06:03] mentally to prepare for this.
[01:06:04] And so that's why I say things like,
[01:06:05] put yourself in those situations
[01:06:07] so that when it comes
[01:06:08] you're ready to handle that.
[01:06:09] And that's one of the interesting
[01:06:11] things too about coaching
[01:06:12] and this capacity of like,
[01:06:13] yeah, if you're a high school football coach,
[01:06:15] like your kid signed up for football,
[01:06:16] like you're on the team,
[01:06:17] like you have these people
[01:06:19] holding you there
[01:06:20] and this and that.
[01:06:21] There's like no money involved.
[01:06:22] And it's like,
[01:06:23] this is what we have to do
[01:06:24] as a team to do
[01:06:25] this where like,
[01:06:26] when you're coaching
[01:06:27] these individual sports,
[01:06:28] it's harder
[01:06:29] because it's like,
[01:06:30] I'm paying you
[01:06:32] to make me do things
[01:06:34] I'm uncomfortable with.
[01:06:36] At what point
[01:06:38] does being uncomfortable,
[01:06:40] the reward of being uncomfortable
[01:06:43] is that underweight
[01:06:45] by just doing uncomfortable
[01:06:47] things because my coach
[01:06:48] thinks it's good for me.
[01:06:50] And it's really
[01:06:52] yeah, it's like
[01:06:54] the risk benefit analysis
[01:06:55] or like the ROI of this
[01:06:57] and I truly believe
[01:06:58] like anyone in their adult life
[01:07:00] is what I think
[01:07:01] it's not just about
[01:07:02] what you look like
[01:07:03] right with fitness
[01:07:04] like for a lot of people
[01:07:05] that's maybe how it starts
[01:07:06] but then the people
[01:07:07] that are really trying to
[01:07:08] grow and be good
[01:07:09] in every area of their
[01:07:10] life.
[01:07:11] Like that's why I've
[01:07:12] kind of pivoted
[01:07:13] and I do more like,
[01:07:14] I'm just helping people
[01:07:15] pursue their most optimal
[01:07:16] performance
[01:07:17] in whatever their performance
[01:07:18] is whether that's business
[01:07:19] whether that's
[01:07:20] sports, whether that's
[01:07:21] being a parent,
[01:07:22] being a leader.
[01:07:23] Like you have so many
[01:07:24] different roles.
[01:07:25] And all these things are
[01:07:26] the same and one thing
[01:07:27] that's common is
[01:07:28] the only way to grow
[01:07:29] is to get uncomfortable.
[01:07:30] And so the people
[01:07:31] that are doing the hard
[01:07:32] things, they're going
[01:07:33] to the gym when they don't
[01:07:34] want to,
[01:07:35] whether it's competing
[01:07:36] or not, they're just
[01:07:37] choosing to go be a
[01:07:38] recreational athlete.
[01:07:39] They're doing tries on the
[01:07:40] weekends, they're choosing
[01:07:41] to eat healthier
[01:07:42] and choosing not to drink
[01:07:43] during the week
[01:07:44] versus the people
[01:07:45] that are just like,
[01:07:46] don't work out.
[01:07:47] To me,
[01:07:48] it's really
[01:07:49] really important to me
[01:07:50] to me, it's
[01:07:51] those people are getting
[01:07:52] themselves every day
[01:07:53] in a position of uncomfortability.
[01:07:54] And the more you do that,
[01:07:55] it's like a
[01:07:56] muscle that you have to
[01:07:57] train.
[01:07:58] And so the more you do it,
[01:07:59] the stronger it gets.
[01:08:00] And just like anything
[01:08:01] else, they're putting
[01:08:02] themselves in those
[01:08:03] situations more frequently.
[01:08:04] So yeah, I'm paying you
[01:08:05] and trust me,
[01:08:06] I've paid macro coaches
[01:08:07] out sometimes.
[01:08:08] I'm like, I'm
[01:08:09] paying you.
[01:08:10] Why are you telling me this?
[01:08:11] Like, what the heck?
[01:08:12] It's like,
[01:08:13] that's why you're
[01:08:14] paying them.
[01:08:15] That's why to make you
[01:08:16] do the thing
[01:08:17] that you wouldn't
[01:08:18] otherwise do.
[01:08:18] And that's another one
[01:08:19] like that.
[01:08:20] That's something I've
[01:08:21] started doing.
[01:08:22] And I can't get myself.
[01:08:24] I know how good it is for you.
[01:08:25] What are your reflections on it?
[01:08:26] It's not even
[01:08:27] what are your reflections on it.
[01:08:28] I mean, there are
[01:08:29] health benefits to it, right?
[01:08:30] You feel more energy.
[01:08:31] Like, and I have an
[01:08:32] arthritic autoimmune
[01:08:33] condition myself.
[01:08:34] So for me,
[01:08:35] it's like really
[01:08:36] helped with like,
[01:08:37] inflammation and
[01:08:38] joint pain and
[01:08:39] tendonitis that I
[01:08:40] kind of accrue all the time.
[01:08:41] But for me,
[01:08:42] more than anything,
[01:08:43] I'm
[01:08:45] it's so uncomfortable
[01:08:47] in there.
[01:08:48] You have to learn
[01:08:49] to be very comfortable.
[01:08:50] And so like today,
[01:08:51] it was 45 degrees
[01:08:52] up here.
[01:08:53] The water was 38.
[01:08:54] I'm outside
[01:08:55] in my bathing suit.
[01:08:56] It's at six
[01:08:57] o'clock this morning.
[01:08:58] It's like,
[01:08:59] I got a fuck
[01:09:00] and do it.
[01:09:01] But once you do it,
[01:09:02] and you get out,
[01:09:03] A, you just,
[01:09:04] you feel so alive
[01:09:05] after.
[01:09:06] But B,
[01:09:07] you just feel like
[01:09:08] you could do anything
[01:09:09] that you want.
[01:09:10] And then,
[01:09:11] you feel like
[01:09:12] you just feel like
[01:09:13] you could do anything
[01:09:14] with your day now.
[01:09:15] Like if I could get up,
[01:09:16] at six a half
[01:09:17] of sleep,
[01:09:18] throw a bathing suit on,
[01:09:19] go outside,
[01:09:20] it's raining out today too
[01:09:21] up here,
[01:09:22] and jump in a 38-degree tub
[01:09:24] and sit there for three minutes,
[01:09:25] breathe and teach myself
[01:09:26] how to relax.
[01:09:27] Like,
[01:09:28] like the mental side
[01:09:29] of that for me has been
[01:09:31] the biggest game changer.
[01:09:32] Not,
[01:09:33] not the energy,
[01:09:35] not anything else.
[01:09:36] Yeah.
[01:09:37] There's definitely like mood
[01:09:38] increases in things too.
[01:09:39] But just the fact
[01:09:40] that it's like
[01:09:41] when you can get out of that
[01:09:42] and be like,
[01:09:43] yeah, okay.
[01:09:44] Like I'm ready for my day now.
[01:09:45] I am going to tackle anything.
[01:09:46] Uh, it's the best
[01:09:47] feeling in the world.
[01:09:48] Yeah.
[01:09:49] You're putting yourself
[01:09:51] the first thing every day
[01:09:53] that you're doing is
[01:09:54] making yourself uncomfortable.
[01:09:55] So everything else
[01:09:56] after that is going to seem
[01:09:57] like a breeze.
[01:09:58] Yeah.
[01:09:59] It's something I've been
[01:10:00] like on the fence.
[01:10:01] I'm like,
[01:10:02] I need to start trying
[01:10:03] and then my shout,
[01:10:04] I actually,
[01:10:05] my water heater for whatever
[01:10:06] reason wasn't working
[01:10:07] and it was like cold
[01:10:08] and I'm like,
[01:10:09] you should do this
[01:10:10] because you're practice,
[01:10:11] you're not going to want
[01:10:12] a warm shower.
[01:10:13] I want a warm shower.
[01:10:14] So maybe the cold showers
[01:10:15] are much better.
[01:10:16] The cold showers are
[01:10:17] much easier than the cold
[01:10:18] bath, but, um...
[01:10:19] I actually disagree.
[01:10:23] And here's why.
[01:10:25] I think the cold bath
[01:10:26] like once you're in it
[01:10:27] or in it,
[01:10:28] I think the shower is like
[01:10:29] intermittently hitting you
[01:10:30] in different spots
[01:10:31] and you're never fully comfortable.
[01:10:33] But this is coming from someone
[01:10:34] who doesn't do it very often
[01:10:35] and I'm also thinking back
[01:10:36] to like college when I could
[01:10:37] like jump in the ice bath
[01:10:38] after practice which was
[01:10:39] way better
[01:10:40] in your sport resilient
[01:10:41] as a 18-stay.
[01:10:42] Are you staying in the
[01:10:43] throat?
[01:10:44] Were you just like jumping
[01:10:45] in and jumping out?
[01:10:47] No, I would stay in it.
[01:10:48] They had a nice bath
[01:10:49] and we'd dump it all in
[01:10:50] and would all just like
[01:10:51] kind of take our turn
[01:10:52] after practice.
[01:10:53] Not always, but if
[01:10:54] you had stuff going on
[01:10:55] and with me,
[01:10:56] I had chronic hip stuff
[01:10:57] that's still here to this day
[01:10:58] so it was always good to just jump...
[01:10:59] I mean, we didn't know
[01:11:00] anything that we were doing
[01:11:01] back then.
[01:11:02] Now I look back
[01:11:03] and, you know,
[01:11:04] you go in and you're...
[01:11:05] But we would stay in it
[01:11:06] and it was...
[01:11:07] I forget how long
[01:11:08] there was timers we would set.
[01:11:09] I don't say it was probably
[01:11:10] the three minutes or whatever,
[01:11:11] but...
[01:11:12] It's good.
[01:11:13] Yeah, we're saying it.
[01:11:14] So, yeah, more for that
[01:11:15] mental fortitude
[01:11:16] and just, yeah,
[01:11:18] I think the last thing
[01:11:19] I have to talk about too
[01:11:22] was kind of just this sense
[01:11:24] of grit
[01:11:27] where like I've just been
[01:11:30] in this place recently
[01:11:32] with like...
[01:11:33] seeing different athletes
[01:11:35] and different things
[01:11:36] and even in my own training
[01:11:37] it's just like...
[01:11:38] You know, I've had some life
[01:11:40] changes and everything.
[01:11:41] It's like just this point of like...
[01:11:43] Nothing else matters.
[01:11:44] Just go in,
[01:11:45] get it done
[01:11:46] and I'm getting it done.
[01:11:47] And so now it's like...
[01:11:49] I'm not working out any harder
[01:11:53] than I was before,
[01:11:54] but it's just like...
[01:11:55] Or maybe I am
[01:11:56] and I'm just shutting myself up more
[01:11:58] when before I could really
[01:11:59] analyze everything
[01:12:00] and like,
[01:12:01] I had a coach before
[01:12:02] that was like...
[01:12:04] He was mean to me sometimes.
[01:12:07] But it worked.
[01:12:08] Yeah, and it was one of those things like...
[01:12:09] Ah, like...
[01:12:10] I have to deal with him again today.
[01:12:12] Like he's just gonna come in
[01:12:13] and tell me, you know...
[01:12:14] I suck and I'm a bitch
[01:12:15] in this and that
[01:12:16] and like...
[01:12:17] I didn't know it at the time
[01:12:18] but I needed it
[01:12:19] and now I'm like back to that point
[01:12:20] of like, I'm there on my own now.
[01:12:22] Like self-realization of like...
[01:12:23] Yeah, you're just like...
[01:12:24] You're good at this.
[01:12:25] Like, stop.
[01:12:26] Shut up.
[01:12:27] Get it done.
[01:12:28] Like, it's not about
[01:12:29] the biomechanics of XYZ
[01:12:31] but like, now,
[01:12:33] I've just lost like
[01:12:34] 35 pounds and like,
[01:12:35] I'm running twice a week
[01:12:36] which I've never done before.
[01:12:37] And like, I'm liking running now
[01:12:39] which like, I've never...
[01:12:40] Never thought
[01:12:41] I'd see the day.
[01:12:42] And I'm like...
[01:12:44] I'm thinking about signing up
[01:12:45] for like a half-minute
[01:12:46] on at some point
[01:12:47] but I got a weightlifting
[01:12:48] meat coming up first so...
[01:12:51] I was like, your weightlifting
[01:12:52] is gonna be like,
[01:12:53] who are you?
[01:12:54] I'm gonna try to do both.
[01:12:55] I mean, you're probably
[01:12:56] a half-minute.
[01:12:57] But I think it's just that grit
[01:12:58] of like, I wanna now see like,
[01:12:59] what my body's capable of
[01:13:00] and just like, there's all kinds of signs
[01:13:01] like, oh, don't do this,
[01:13:02] don't do that.
[01:13:03] No, you can do both.
[01:13:04] Like, we can be strong
[01:13:05] and capable in both areas
[01:13:06] of life.
[01:13:10] Yeah, it's funny
[01:13:12] because I think part
[01:13:13] of why I think I
[01:13:14] last shot across fit
[01:13:15] and I actually hated
[01:13:16] CrossFit before I started
[01:13:17] for like a year I was like,
[01:13:18] this is stupid,
[01:13:19] it's bad for you,
[01:13:20] whatever.
[01:13:21] But the scientific research
[01:13:22] strength conditioning
[01:13:23] books all said
[01:13:24] you can only be XYZ,
[01:13:25] you can only train one muscle group
[01:13:26] at a time,
[01:13:27] one energy system
[01:13:28] and CrossFit sort
[01:13:29] of broke that
[01:13:30] and was like,
[01:13:31] that's not true.
[01:13:32] And so I think
[01:13:34] I'm not going to do both.
[01:13:35] Now at some point,
[01:13:36] it becomes
[01:13:37] if you're doing it
[01:13:38] full-time and you have
[01:13:39] to be doing all that
[01:13:40] to get both outputs, right?
[01:13:41] You can do both
[01:13:42] pretty mediocre
[01:13:43] but you kind of also talked
[01:13:44] about consistency
[01:13:45] beats intensity,
[01:13:47] always, always.
[01:13:48] And so I would rather
[01:13:49] someone go in
[01:13:50] to the gym every day
[01:13:51] and not hit their...
[01:13:52] like,
[01:13:53] not go all the way
[01:13:54] up in their numbers
[01:13:55] and take a little off
[01:13:56] but get in there every day
[01:13:57] than the person who's like,
[01:13:58] well, I go in
[01:13:59] but I miss a lift every week
[01:14:00] for months
[01:14:01] on end and...
[01:14:03] but every time I go in,
[01:14:04] I go super intense.
[01:14:05] It's like,
[01:14:06] I'd rather you get the extra day
[01:14:08] and drop a little bit of weight,
[01:14:09] you know?
[01:14:10] And that's obviously not a
[01:14:11] weightlifting coach
[01:14:12] that's not what I train
[01:14:13] but just when you think about
[01:14:14] overall behaviors
[01:14:15] and yeah,
[01:14:16] so that's kind of
[01:14:17] what you're talking about there.
[01:14:18] But
[01:14:19] I don't know.
[01:14:20] Was there a question
[01:14:21] where did you find the question
[01:14:22] I was like,
[01:14:23] there's a book written about it now
[01:14:24] and it's something I've been seeing.
[01:14:25] Yeah,
[01:14:26] some of the top of my
[01:14:27] about it
[01:14:28] and just how like,
[01:14:31] yeah, athletes need to have
[01:14:32] some type of grit
[01:14:33] to be successful with things
[01:14:35] and learn to stop
[01:14:37] looking at all these little
[01:14:38] minute factors
[01:14:39] and just like,
[01:14:40] you got to put in the work.
[01:14:45] And I do think,
[01:14:47] well, let me ask you a question
[01:14:48] and then I'll kind of go off that.
[01:14:51] Do you notice
[01:14:53] a difference coaching
[01:14:54] females versus males?
[01:14:55] When it comes to that
[01:14:56] we're just in general
[01:14:57] coaching females for a
[01:14:58] small.
[01:14:59] Having grit.
[01:15:03] More just in general
[01:15:04] and then I'll tie it to grit.
[01:15:05] But there are some differences
[01:15:06] in coaching males
[01:15:07] versus females, yes.
[01:15:11] Like because you talked about
[01:15:12] your coach needed to like
[01:15:13] be mean to you
[01:15:14] whatever and
[01:15:15] this is an overgeneralization
[01:15:16] like some women
[01:15:17] and one way or another
[01:15:18] or the cheerleader for the women
[01:15:19] and there's more
[01:15:20] positive self-talk
[01:15:22] and things with where the men
[01:15:23] sometimes it's like
[01:15:25] dude, what the fuck
[01:15:26] are you doing?
[01:15:27] Like get your ass,
[01:15:28] get your act in gear,
[01:15:29] get your shit together
[01:15:30] and stop fucking around.
[01:15:34] Yeah.
[01:15:35] And sometimes you had to try it out
[01:15:36] and see because we make these assumptions
[01:15:38] based off of like the way
[01:15:39] that the world works
[01:15:40] and oftentimes they're pretty true
[01:15:42] to that but sometimes it's like
[01:15:43] oh am I doing this
[01:15:44] because he's a man
[01:15:45] and I assume that
[01:15:46] but really he needs
[01:15:47] a little more of the nurturing
[01:15:48] or this and that
[01:15:49] and so it's like kind of fun
[01:15:50] but you as a coach are figuring
[01:15:51] out what athlete eats
[01:15:52] what so you're already doing that
[01:15:53] but when I think about grit
[01:15:55] and then when we come
[01:15:56] to a meet
[01:15:57] and then my females are like
[01:15:59] hit me in the back
[01:16:00] and I'm like
[01:16:01] this is
[01:16:02] is that good?
[01:16:05] Is that good?
[01:16:06] No, okay.
[01:16:11] It's true,
[01:16:12] sometimes people don't
[01:16:13] want to expect or
[01:16:15] you know, whatever
[01:16:16] but when you think about grit
[01:16:18] it's again, it's just
[01:16:19] like a muscle
[01:16:20] and like the research does that too
[01:16:21] like she's done a ton on that
[01:16:22] but like
[01:16:23] that's why I say things
[01:16:24] like that is what I do
[01:16:25] so
[01:16:26] so
[01:16:27] so example everyone kind of
[01:16:28] knows like kids
[01:16:29] that go through stuff
[01:16:30] are more resilient
[01:16:31] later.
[01:16:32] And like grit
[01:16:33] and resilience are various
[01:16:34] synonymous, right?
[01:16:35] And so when you think
[01:16:36] about like the 15-year-old
[01:16:37] girl that you have
[01:16:38] like if she's never
[01:16:39] and she seems to be
[01:16:40] mentally strong
[01:16:41] but you think about these
[01:16:42] athletes that you face
[01:16:43] that like I have had them
[01:16:44] in sports like
[01:16:45] the kids that have never
[01:16:46] been through anything
[01:16:47] in their life
[01:16:48] and so that's why this sport
[01:16:49] and so this 25-year-old
[01:16:50] maybe like they haven't
[01:16:51] had any serious
[01:16:52] big things happen
[01:16:53] and so this is the biggest
[01:16:54] thing to them
[01:16:55] and that's why I'm such a
[01:16:56] proponent of like
[01:16:57] making people struggle
[01:16:58] before that
[01:17:00] like make them struggle
[01:17:01] make them get comfortable
[01:17:02] failing a lift
[01:17:03] and maybe that's not
[01:17:04] like kosher
[01:17:05] in the weightlifting world
[01:17:06] but to me it's like
[01:17:07] well what if they fail
[01:17:08] their opening lift
[01:17:09] and they have to know
[01:17:10] that they can then go
[01:17:11] lift heavier
[01:17:12] like they need to know
[01:17:13] that they can come back
[01:17:14] from a failed lift
[01:17:15] so it shouldn't be part
[01:17:16] of their everyday routine
[01:17:17] but if they fail a lift
[01:17:18] it shouldn't be like
[01:17:19] like they should be
[01:17:20] like yeah I fail the
[01:17:21] lift and I'm going to
[01:17:22] go do it again
[01:17:23] and I'm going to hit it
[01:17:24] like they need to be
[01:17:25] comfortable with the
[01:17:26] coming back from it
[01:17:27] and so when you think about
[01:17:28] grit and like grit is
[01:17:29] doing the things
[01:17:30] you don't want to do
[01:17:31] grit is showing up
[01:17:32] when you're not getting
[01:17:33] feedback because you don't
[01:17:34] have feedback
[01:17:35] because you're just
[01:17:36] supposed to keep doing it
[01:17:37] right
[01:17:38] grit is so many things
[01:17:39] but it really comes
[01:17:40] from experience of doing
[01:17:41] it and seeing
[01:17:42] that struggle is worth
[01:17:44] the outcome
[01:17:45] even if you don't get
[01:17:46] the win
[01:17:47] or the
[01:17:48] like on paper
[01:17:50] you're going to be
[01:17:52] about the result
[01:17:53] and it is the result
[01:17:54] of what I've gained
[01:17:55] what I've learned
[01:17:56] how I was able
[01:17:57] to develop me showing
[01:17:58] that I can make
[01:17:59] sacrifices
[01:18:01] like when you get
[01:18:02] to real maturity
[01:18:03] you realize
[01:18:04] that yes you want this
[01:18:05] thing you want
[01:18:06] that gold medal
[01:18:07] you want
[01:18:08] to hit your numbers
[01:18:09] but if you don't
[01:18:10] the last six months
[01:18:12] weren't a waste
[01:18:13] and that's the difference
[01:18:14] people will go like
[01:18:15] oh what a waste
[01:18:16] and it's like
[01:18:17] yeah, no
[01:18:18] right, you got discipline, you got to. So I mean, great is great. I think it's a lot about
[01:18:22] teaching and getting people in those situations early and if they have a venthrough stuff, like
[01:18:28] right, the kid that's like been through a bunch of trauma when they drop a barbell, they're like
[01:18:32] kid hurt me, right? Versus the person who has it and that's why it is really helpful to get to know
[01:18:37] each athlete individually and what they've been through and doesn't mean that if they've had a
[01:18:41] great life that they shouldn't be able to, like, it's not like you have to put people through
[01:18:46] trauma to build that muscle, but it's well if you're going to have like everything else kind of
[01:18:51] put together, let's find ways to make you struggle in other ways so you learn that struggling
[01:18:55] does not mean it's it's over. That rocksy. Yeah, we'll hold the background from Tina Gallery.
[01:19:04] Well I think this has been long enough Lauren. Any closing remarks you are here today for reminders
[01:19:12] for people? Oh, reminders. I would say that a reminder is just because it can't be measured,
[01:19:26] doesn't mean it can't be approved and Lauren where can people find you?
[01:19:33] I'm on Instagram at Warren Psychology. That's that's probably where you'll see most of my stuff so
[01:19:38] you can go ahead and reach out there follow me. I post a lot of tips and it's all relevant.
[01:19:43] Whatever you see the title if it says business owner, it says just replace whatever your sport is.
[01:19:47] Yeah, I've been putting out a lot of good content about work, life, balance, nutrition,
[01:19:56] everything else. You've been doing work there on the social media grind so
[01:20:02] Yeah, I turned like kind of pivoted to sell online and kind of realized and it's all just meant
[01:20:06] to be like, hey here's who I am and it's fun. It's a lot of work but it's fun to just put
[01:20:13] I basically asked myself how can I add value today? For sure so. And that's what I tried to put out.
[01:20:16] Thanks for coming on and yeah who knows you might get a lot of clients after this one so
[01:20:22] and we've got to have you have to have you come down and become a weightlifter for a day for a day.
[01:20:29] Yeah, I'm thinking I'm like let me come down on a side and get a lift on and see how it feels.
[01:20:34] All right, thanks Lauren. Maybe I will.
[01:20:38] Thanks Brett.