Field of Vision

Posted on Feb 19, 2008 - 9:06pm by MarkFu in Training Log

Once, while in the third round of a “Fight Gone Bad“, as I was doing wall ball shots, Valerie and Denise were each shouting encouragement to me-in stereo, one on the left and the other on the right. I yelled at them both, in an impolite manner, (is there any other kind?) to get away from me.

Another time, with the bar loaded for a maximum squat in the rack, some ‘roided out bodybuilder stands in front of me at one o’clock and strips down to his posing trunks and curses out his girlfriend to get the camera out and start shooting. Totally oblivious. How could anyone make a heavy lift with that kind of action in front of them?

With a potential new PR loaded on the bar for front squats, my pal Mike is standing in front of me at eleven 0′clock just stretching. While that was only mildly distracting, it wasn’t until I began the lift he started coaching me. For the first time, I dumped a front squat. It had to happen sometime.

For me, while lifting, coaching best serves me before or after the lift. Two women shouting encouragement in my ear works best when I can’t see them or better yet not at all. And bodybuilders stripping down to their Speedos isn’t ever going to add much to focus.

All that said, it makes me wonder, how much more I could lift, if I were able to completely tune out the distractions and focus on the accomplishing the task at hand; not just in the gym, but in life. I am certain Bret Favre is unflinching in the face of an onslaught of pass rushers. When he is not, bad things happen.

It is one thing to pile more plates on the bar to chase PR’s or to improve your technique, but the ability to focus like a laser should not be lost in the skill set. It is an area I need to improve on.

For my next challenge, I will attempt a record deadlift, with hot, fit, cheerleaders standing in front of me urging me on. Stay tuned.

On the lift after the failed front squat, I did get the PR of 255#, although it wasn’t pretty.

Here is the rest, all singles: 135/185/205/225/235/245/255f/255pr/225/225.

Josh ...
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