I'll admit I'm more of an emotional lifter but I'm not at the extreme where I need to smash my head against something before a set and I'm not one of those people that gets pissed and performs a rep in a blind rage. Just a little bit of rage can get me through just about anything. And even then I don't need it all the time.

At one point in my training (early on) I was a very emotional lifter and after some practice was actually able to get the same sort of rage firestorm as I would normally get, except I wouldn't have to think about anything. I could just flip a switch, do the set, and go back to normal with the added bonus of not having to visualize or remember anything! I can still do it, but now I can adjust the amount of fuel I throw on the fire.

More on this later..

One of my pet peeves is when people say "just get mad and lift up the weight"…

Yeah I've had a lot of people tell me things like that. That they "use their emotions and remember things that make them angry and all of that.

I've heard many reasons but the two main ones are a misunderstanding of the sort of thing Alan Watts would talk about with Zen and all of that. And the second, and most common, is a misunderstanding of psychological arousal and arousal in general. That is something I can tackle in another article because it is for sure a very important subject.

This all has to do with getting in "the zone" and centering yourself. For some this means a quiet, intensely focused and centered energy. For others it means being extremely 'psyched up' and aroused on an emotional level. I think the quiet and focused group have it closer to correct but as with two extreme opposite groups…both could could learn something from on another and meet in the middle, where the truth tends to lay.

I'll get up something on arousal later.

I really liked the part about Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic factors. I recently learned that music while working out is an extrinsic factor - because for me, the best workout is done in pure silence.

Also, I liked how to mentioned Beginning Powerlifting or some sort of similar article….I remember reading a Dave Tate article llke that.

One of my pet peeves is when people say "just get mad and lift up the weight"…LOL I have the worst workouts if I am angry. I don't go to the gym to get angry or to take out my frustrations in life. I believe in positive reinforcement when it comes to this. I'd rather go to the gym, do something exceptional which will help me build my confidence in myself to face other challenges of life. After all…we do some dangerous shit in the gym and we walk away unscathed and stronger: why add negativity to something like this? Pointless.

Nice article, E.

ps: Sorry for the mini-rant. I'm gonna write an article on this tonight after my deadlift workout - depending on how it goes down. :-P

Nice. I had a feeling you would write something like this.

You know me too well.