How to get the absolute MOST out of your time training
This week I posted on social media about some of the positives and drawbacks of having your phone with you in the gym.
This post had some great questions pop up from my community & some great discussion followed so I thought I would send out some key points to my mailing list to help spread the knowledge.
Recording your lifts is a normal part of day to day training in weightlifting now.
Whether we train in person with a coach or not, recording our heavy sets is a good way to track movement, technique wins & overall development in our weightlifting.
Recording can be a really good learning tool for someone who is a visual learner, or struggling to comprehend a specific cue their coach is giving them.
Plus, who doesnβt love going back & seeing how hard 90% looked at the beginning of the year & is boosted by how much easier it looks now!
However, I truly believe using your phone in the gym for recording your lifts can have quite big potential draw backs if you are not careful about your use.
If you are interested in the data I suggest my lifters collect in their training journals, we usually begin with:
How much the athlete is sleeping π€
- Their body weight π
- Their mood & motivation on a particular training day
& for females what day of their cycle it is.For all the juicy details about why head to this post for more information.
When we pick up our phone, often we habitually are checking apps and notifications before we even realise.
The social media drawcard is just too strong for our brains neurochemistry & immediately our focus is lost or split away from our training & redirected to our notification - whether it be work or social media related.
This constant interruption of focus has actually been shown to affect our ability to perform tasks to a high level or find a state of βflowβ to enable greater learning & motor development.
We need both high levels of learning & high levels of motor development to become proficient in weightlifting, I would argue this is basically the whole point of training?!
Check out the book Deep Work by Cal Newport for further details on this phenomena.
Another thing I see when a lifter is having a particularly rough session it is all too easy to just have a quick scroll in between sets to βnumb outβ from the struggles of training.
Before they know it, their focus has moved from their own lifting, to the comparison trap of social media and someone elseβs highlight reel.
Not only does this impact focus and motor learning, it also impacts mood and motivation which is already in low supply during an off session.
Other lifters will stay off social media but engage in something I call Paralysis By Analysis when using their phone.
I see the lifters recording their lifts and they proceeding to watch them in between every set & break them down in excruciating detail.
As above, this pulls a lifter out of the ideal training βstateβ (flow if you will) and can inhibit a lifter from keep in-tune to how they feel & the rhythm of their lifting.
The other issue with self analysis MID session is that it makes your coach null and void.
Your coach is not able to engage you the way they would like to when you are looking at your phone.
You essentially become isolated from your team when you are looking at your phone and the environment in the gym is effected.
When you are having a less than optimal session, cheering & contributing to being a good training partner with good team vibes can help pull you out of your funk & give you something external to focus on.
So⦠what sort of habits do we need to develop in order to use our phone for positive during training?!
These tips (especially aeroplane mode) can be absolute game changers if you find yourself struggling with:
Spending too much time in the gym, but not that much time working out
Comparing yourself to others or your previous self on social media or your video bank
Feeling like you are struggling to make progress on a technical aspect of your lift
Feel like youβre focusing more on how your lift βlooksβ then how it feels - weightlifting is SO much more about feel & rhythm
Not feeling engaged or supported by your team, maybe you being on your phone affects how approachable you are as a teammate?
