Set Goals For Every Training Session
One of the many non-training activities you should be doing regularly if you want to progress as much as possible in weightlifting is setting goals for every single training session. I recommend doing this the day before. After the current day's workout is finished, write your journal notes about it, and then have a look at the next day's training session and set at least one goal for it.
This is a chance to truly prepare mentally for the session. Going into it with goals already in mind is a simple way to help you stay focused and engaged, and to keep you on task and accountable. Your goals can be anything you need them to be. It could be hitting a certain weight in the snatch, a certain number of reps in the squat at a certain weight, not sitting down between sets because you tend to rest too long and get distracted, keeping your self-talk positive, sticking to a single cue in an exercise, etc.
If you don't have the next workout because your coach doesn't give them to you ahead of time, come up with goals that aren’t exercise or number-specific. For example, you may make it your goal to not look at your phone a single time during your workout; to practice visualizing each set before you do it; to catch yourself if you start thinking negatively and turn it around. There are plenty of possibilities that don't require you know what the workout is beforehand.
If you want to be serious about weightlifting, be serious about weightlifting. That means preparation at all levels and of all kinds. Creating clear goals for every training session is one of the simplest but most effective ways to be prepared.
This is a chance to truly prepare mentally for the session. Going into it with goals already in mind is a simple way to help you stay focused and engaged, and to keep you on task and accountable. Your goals can be anything you need them to be. It could be hitting a certain weight in the snatch, a certain number of reps in the squat at a certain weight, not sitting down between sets because you tend to rest too long and get distracted, keeping your self-talk positive, sticking to a single cue in an exercise, etc.
If you don't have the next workout because your coach doesn't give them to you ahead of time, come up with goals that aren’t exercise or number-specific. For example, you may make it your goal to not look at your phone a single time during your workout; to practice visualizing each set before you do it; to catch yourself if you start thinking negatively and turn it around. There are plenty of possibilities that don't require you know what the workout is beforehand.
If you want to be serious about weightlifting, be serious about weightlifting. That means preparation at all levels and of all kinds. Creating clear goals for every training session is one of the simplest but most effective ways to be prepared.
