It's All In Your Head!

Self Hypnosis, how I have implemented it, and how it has impacted my performance

My last two training cycles (at time of writing- presumably eventually many beyond as well) I’ve delved deeply into training my mind. I’ve always been curious about it after hearing how highly JM Blakley talked about visualization, and decided to pick up a few books on the subject.

While I am no sports psychologist myself; I wanted to share my experiences, the benefits I reaped, and how I practice it.

Why

First- I must note a VERY important factor. You cannot will yourself to something you aren’t physically prepared for. The void things like self-hypnosis aim to fill is in what you are capable of and what you have the confidence to display. For example, a 500lb squatter cannot visualize himself to a 1000lb squat; but mental training tactics can help him curb nerves on meet day and actually display that 500lb squat in competition.

The main benefits I found with self-hypnosis are in a very similar vein. This past meet I actually had been to the meet in the prior year (more on why this is important later) and when I showed up to bench, instead of being met with the usual nerves I almost felt Déjà vu.

At some level, the mind cannot tell the difference between a detailed enough visualization and actually doing it. Effectively, you can do the meet or the lift before you do it in your head. When I came into meet day, I kind of just went into autopilot.

If I had to guess it is almost like what they say about propaganda tactics- if you hear something often enough, you will believe it. If you visualize yourself doing something often, your mind will perceive it as already done.

Outside of meets, a huge benefit I found is using it to refine technique. While by no means a technician, what I did find was it made my technique more consistent and faster to adopt changes. Take my squat, for example- I only squat once a week, but I can visualize myself squatting as often as I have a few minutes to spare. I’m getting much more practice without the real, physical fatigue.

How

With the benefits aside, how does one actually go about doing this?

Well, you can visualize whenever you want (i.e. daydreaming- which is very useful and much easier to do) but I prefer self-hypnosis. This sounds like gimmicky black magic bullshit, but the hypnotic state is a real thing.

Again, I am no scientist; but I can convey to you what I have read. Your mind is more susceptible to impression when it is operating at lower frequencies (think about how people try to learn things by playing audio while they sleep). To be more specific, when you’re awake your brain is operating at higher frequencies and is less permeable- these being gamma and beta waves (concentration and simple waking states, respectively). When you’re resting/relaxing, drowsy, or sleeping; your brain operates with much lower frequencies- alpha, theta, and delta waves (again, respectively). Your subconscious is more susceptible to ideas than your conscious states, so the idea is to induce a state of lower-frequency operation and guide yourself into implanting desired experiences, cues, or thoughts. Really, we are trying to tap into alpha and theta waves, as into delta you’d be out cold and not really able to tell yourself much.

To get there, you will need to find a relatively peaceful place to lie down or be in some relaxed position. Find a focal point and stare at it. I like to take six deep breaths, and then begin to tell yourself in your head that you are relaxing, that you are present, and you are calm. You need to learn to obey your inner monologue here. Eventually, tell yourself “on the count of three, I will close my eyes.” Count to three, and you should find that your eyes will close from the count alone. You can also tell yourself to cross your hands over your stomach or something similar. You will ultimately want your eyes closed, though.

If you can manage this- congrats, you have entered the hypnotic state! If not, try a little more. Continue to tell yourself to relax. I also like to very actively focus on/feel my heartbeat and find this helps me unwind. You should know you’re ready when your eyes start to feel heavy and your muscles relax a little more than usual. I also would like to note that it gets faster and faster to reach the hypnotic state the more you practice it. It used to take me about ten minutes, but now I can do it in under two. You learn what it feels like and little tricks to get yourself there.

Assuming you’ve made it to the hypnotic state, what do you do when you’re down there? Initially, start with just cueing yourself. Think of the things you need to focus on, and I would repeat them a few times.

Once you’ve done this a few times and think you’re ready for something a little harder, visualize the lifts. Be as detailed as possible and use all five senses. How do the plates sound being loaded on the bar? How do your wrist wraps feel being stretched over your wrists? How does the knurling feel in your hands? The music being played, background chatter, lights, colors, sounds, and even smells. Take it slow- visualize walking in, warming up, what jumps you’ll take, etc. The more detail you pack into these sessions, the more effective it will be. The first few times you do this it will take immense focus, but as you keep doing it you will get more effortless. Like with regular training, you get better with practice.

To be a little more detailed about what I feel, it is almost an out of body experience. You’re not really controlling any movement, you’re just thinking about moving. The better you get the “deeper” into the state you get- and admittedly I struggle to keep control of my thoughts at times.

Finally, to get out of the hypnotic state, I clear my thoughts and inside my head tell myself “on the count of three, I will open my eyes, feel energetic and ready to train.” When you count to three, you should find your eyes open.

When

I like to do this before I train, especially on days I am in gear. Usually, I will do this about 30-90 minutes before I train. I like to give myself at least a 15 minute buffer as I find I feel a little groggy after I wake myself, but experiment and see how you feel.

If I have a meet coming up, or if I am struggling with a lift in particular; I’ll do it every day and focus on that. The last two weeks of my last prep I visualized the entire bench meet almost everyday. From walking in to warmups through all three attempts, I pictured and “practiced” every detail. As I said above, it made the meet feel like something I had already done when the time came.

Further Reading

I am ultimately just a meathead. If this is something you actually want to give a shot, I would strongly encourage you to read “The Super Mental Training Book” by Robert K. Stevenson, N.D.. It goes into a lot of detail behind why these techniques work, and has chapters on how they’re implemented by real top athletes in a variety of different sports. However, it is out of print- so you will have to resort to eBay for copies.

If you need some other routines/suggestions, two other books I liked are “Getting in the Zone” by Dave Yarnell and “Psyching for Sport: Mental Training for Athletes” by Terry Orlick. Yarnell’s book goes through many examples in strength sports, while Orlick brings some examples from his time advising international and Olympic athletes.