Mental Preparation for High Intensity Training

When properly performed, high intensity training is as much a mental activity as a physical one. It challenges your ability to focus your attention as much as your ability to contract your muscles. It challenges your will as much as your strength. It requires a total effort of both mind and body.

A few years ago I wrote an article about meditation and high intensity training. Since then I have been consistently practicing and refining my “pre-workout ritual”, and wanted to comment on it here briefly because I have found it to be of tremendous value. It has noticeably improved my concentration during workouts and my ability to push myself further than I did previously. While these things will benefit everyone they should be especially helpful to those who work out in typical, high-distraction environments and/or without a training partner to help motivate them.

When mentally preparing for my workouts I have a few goals; to improve my focus, reinforce proper form and to establish the proper mindset for training as hard as possible. The process I use is divided into three phases; quieting my mind, visualization, and entering the “high intensity” mindset. Depending on various factors the whole process might take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.

Quieting The Mind

The goal of the first part is to silence distracting thoughts or temporarily clear them from my mind to improve my focus during the workout. I find a comfortable place to sit, then sitting up  tall with my head high, back straight, and hands resting in my lap, I close my eyes and mouth, relax, and focus on my breath. I do not deliberately slow my breathing, I simply focus my attention on it, and the movement of the diaphragm and abdomen. If a thought of something other than my breath enters my mind I don’t dwell on it, I just return my focus to the breathing. When I feel my mind is “quiet” enough, usually after a few minutes I move on to the next phase.

Visualization

The goal of visualization is to reinforce proper form and improve performance. Eyes still closed, sitting up straight but relaxed, I shift my focus from my breathing to mentally rehearsing the workout. I visualize performing each exercise in perfect form, imagining myself moving against the resistance under perfect control. After visualizing each exercise, I move on to the final phase.

The “High Intensity” Mindset

The “high intensity” mindset is what I call a manner of thinking that facilitates an all out effort during exercise. Before starting, I think the following:

“Pain is your cue to work harder.”

“Find every fiber.”

“Leave no doubt.”

After this, I set up and begin. I will occasionally think through these again at the start of an exercise.

Explanation

“Pain is your cue to work harder.”

Many people terminate a set short of an all-out effort due to physical discomfort, usually muscular burning but also as a result of elevated heart rate, labored breathing and other sensations associated with high intensity work. These sensations often begin long before a person is anywhere near their true physical limits. Rather than associating increasing discomfort with fatigue and ending the exercise it should be associated with the beginning of the most productive part of the exercise and a cue to work harder.

On exercises like squats and deadlifts with high metabolic demand and on exercises like leg extensions and calf raises where the burn tends to be more severe I found this helps considerably.

It is important to note, I distinguish the pain of muscular burning and other uncomfortable sensations which is non-threatening from pain or sensations which may indicate an injury, which is threatening. Non-threatening pain is the cue to work harder, threatening pain is a cue to stop.

When working with clients or other subjects some might prefer to use the word “discomfort” rather than “pain” explaining that while the sensations associated with high intensity work might be uncomfortable, unlike true, threatening pain they are not an indication of injury. If any threatening pain is felt an exercise should be stopped immediately.

“Find every fiber.” and ” Leave no doubt.”

These are reminders not to end any exercise with any doubt as to whether another repetition could have been performed, or whether there might be even a single fiber or motor unit in the target muscles left unworked. Don’t stop until absolutely certain it is physically impossible to continue in good form.

Recommendations

The  first phase takes time to learn to do properly. I have practiced meditation on a semi-regular basis for a few years now, and it has taken a while to get to the point where I can just sit down, close my eyes and “quiet” my mind in a few minutes. It may take a while at first, but with practice your mind will wander less and your focus will improve. This is especially important if you train in a typical gym full of distractions like loud music, banging weights and screaming and other attention-getting histrionics.

During the second, visualization phase, try to imagine every aspect of the exercise, the feel of the bar or machine, the contraction in the target muscles, the position and movement of the body, and perfect execution of every rep. Imagine the weight you are using is immense, but you handle it with perfect control.

The third phase is, brief, only taking a few seconds. The specific phrases aren’t as important as long as they are motivating to you or help you maintain a high level of effort. These just happen to work well for me.

Although much of this runs contrary to the “psyching up” some people believe is necessary to train with a high level of intensity in my experience it facilitates even harder training because rather than a general state of increased arousal it creates a state of intense focus – like a precise, high-powered laser rather than an imprecise and undirected explosion.

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  • JOHN PROCKISH Dec 9, 2010 @ 0:13

    Drew, thanks for all those articles, still waiting for the book:)

    Do u think it’s necessary to keep pushing or pulling for 10 seconds after positive failure has occurred in good form of course..or how long should one inroad. I give 110% every time i work out…I am 45 years old and work out every 6 – 8 days on mcguff’s program, but have moved closer to your program guidelines recently. Actually started off on Fred Hahn’s program 5 years ago

    Thanks John

    • Drew Baye Dec 9, 2010 @ 9:20

      John,

      I recommend continuing to contract as intensely as possible for at least a few seconds. Occasionally you’ll think there’s no way you can possibly do another rep but if you continue to try as hard as you can you’ll end up surprising yourself and getting a few more. I don’t think 10 seconds is necessary, however. If you’re truly contracting as hard as you can and the weight doesn’t move after a few seconds, it’s not going to move.

  • Alex H. Dec 9, 2010 @ 1:33

    Awesome post drew.

    I love meditation but is specific for goals. For people unfamiliar, If you don’t want to go to deep into your spiritual self and just want the benefits of concentration then 10 minutes once (preferably twice) a day for vipassana meditation will do the trick. If you want to see whats inside of you and the skeletons that lurk inside from years ago then 20 minutes twice a day will do it. After awhile you will gain samadhi (or deep concentration) and it will feel good to the point where you will want to extend the time. Its not for everyone because I did the latter part and made me more of a pushover and introverted (after all you are focusing inward not out). so I focused on observing my thoughts for a brief amount of time. This works best for me.

    Also if you really want to build some mental fortitude. Us in florida and the general South East have the Free 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat in Georgia that runs year round. Still plan on doing this eventually.

  • David Dec 9, 2010 @ 2:26

    Good stuff. I find that every time I have a major breakthrough in strength, it’s actually combined with mental effort. Most noticeable on deadlifts/squats, sometimes others.

    I will be making small improvements, getting 12 or 13 reps and moving the weight up one step each time. Then suddenly, one workout, I will hit 13 and something just clicks inside me, like the pain and the weight don’t matter anymore. Next thing I know I’m lying on the floor panting and hurting after having done 24 reps with a weight I could barely do 12 with two weeks before.

    I just don’t know how to do this regularly. Maybe it isn’t possible. My wife usually trains with me. This never happens for her and she usually “hates” me when I do it.

  • Justin Park Dec 9, 2010 @ 10:22

    this is a great post. I have found that if I don’t do this kind of practice of bringing my mind into focus & mentally increasing my energy…I am less able to reach the neccessary intensity. And too, I am finding that this takes practice…practice to do, but then practice to maintain the intensity. Shawn Phillips discusses this kind of mindfullness preparation in his modified version of HIT…FIT (Focused Intensity Training) in his book “Strength for Life”. Slightly different protocols, but based on similar principles. Thanks for posting.

  • Diógenes Dec 10, 2010 @ 9:45

    Nice article again Drew. Like you said many gyms are full of distractions, it’s hard to focus, especialy when you need to feel your muscles and concentrate in the exercice form. In fact I’m wondering in buy some weights, barbells and train at home, where I have total control of the enviroment, no waiting time to use machines etc. In fact Drew what you think about this, Can I get as much intensity in my home with free weight than in gym, can I achieve the same results?

    Thanks Diógenes.

    • Drew Baye Dec 11, 2010 @ 16:02

      Diógenes,

      I believe you can train even more intensely at home due to the lack of distractions, and while high tech equipment has its advantages it is possible to achieve tremendous results training with a basic free weight set up.

  • Steven Turner Dec 12, 2010 @ 22:27

    Hi Drew,

    Great article – I think too often we devalue the importance of mind and its part in our training progression. I always take a few minutes to focus my mind to the mental effort that is required ahead of me. What I have noticed with mental focus aspect of training is that when I have finished my training my mind appears to extremely fresh, alert and destressed.

    I not sure if this is right or not but I think that mind focus helps the chemical balances within the brain. Another reason why HIT training his highly recommended for people suffering mental illnesses. HIT requires a strong mental application, your article has given a more precise process to mentally focus for the most benefits.

    I agree that you can get more intensity and better progress out of your training at home even with just a few basic pieces of equipment. Most commercial gyms have too many distraction especially the noise. Sometimes when I do visit a commercial gym with the loud music being played I think I am at a “disco”.

  • Paulus Dec 16, 2010 @ 13:44

    I’d say one of the best mental preparation techniques is not to spend your rest days thinking about training all the time! A lot of people who use HIT are guilty of this

    • Drew Baye Dec 18, 2010 @ 11:38

      Paulus,

      Great advice for most people, but for those of us who train people, teach or write about exercise for a living it’s unavoidable 🙂

  • Paulus Dec 18, 2010 @ 15:46

    Drew

    That’s certainly true. Perhaps professional trainers need somebody to train them?!

    • Drew Baye Dec 18, 2010 @ 16:10

      Paulus,

      I think almost everybody, including very knowledgeable and experienced trainers, would benefit from having someone else train them at least occasionally.

  • Mark Dec 22, 2010 @ 5:17

    Hi drew, an extension to John’s question…

    If one knows with 100% certainty that there is no way of completing another rep, is it advisable to complete slow and controlled half reps @ the top range of the motion until eccentric failure kicks in? Would that count as a valuable increase in the “Time Under Load”?

    • Drew Baye Dec 24, 2010 @ 1:29

      Mark,

      In most cases I do not recommend continuing post-failure with partial reps. If it is possible to continue with partial reps it is because the portion of the ROM being worked in is easier and the muscles are under less tension. Doing so continues to fatigue the muscles, but while this places a demand on the body’s recovery resources fatigue makes little contribution to growth stimulation compared to tension so you will very quickly reach a point of diminishing returns.

      There are specific circumstances where forced reps, drop sets, and similar set-extension techniques are beneficial, but if done incorrectly or too often can lead to overtraining and other problems.

  • Mark Dec 30, 2010 @ 21:09

    Drew, thanks for the reply my friend. But to clarify, I did not mean “post failure partial reps”. What I meant was in the “final eccentric lowering” of the weight PRIOR to failure………instead of going all the way down and just failing….instead go halfway down……pause and hold…then lift concentrically to contraction again…..then hold the weight until eventually eccentric failure kicks in. This way the TUL would be extended as opposed to skipping all of these steps and just lowering it and having a shorter TUL. The burn is crazy when I do this.

    Wouldn’t more fibers be engaged with higher intensity in this manner?

    • Drew Baye Dec 31, 2010 @ 12:50

      Mark,

      My previous answer still applies. Also, although you can guess, there is no way to know what rep positive failure will occur on to determine when to start doing partial reps. At the point at which most people assume they’ve reached failure they can usually perform a few more reps with proper training and motivation.

      If the weight was heavy enough to begin with all the motor units in the muscle will have been recruited within the first few reps. A higher TUL isn’t going to recruit more, and a higher TUL does not equate to higher intensity.

  • SB Feb 19, 2011 @ 20:18

    Hi Drew,
    Just found your blog today and this was the first post I read today and it was a real eye opener. I think I have been ending my sets at the discomfort stage that you have described so accurately. I will be repeating these phrases again and again before my next workout and WILL push through the discomfort.

    • Drew Baye Feb 26, 2011 @ 11:33

      SB,

      If you do it consistently it makes a big difference. After doing it for a while let me know how it’s working for you and if you have any questions.

  • Steve Jul 11, 2017 @ 14:20

    Excellent article, I’ve not seen this topic addressed often, particularly with regards to HIT style training. I will be 60 this year and the mental aspect is becoming much more important. I think incorporating this practice into my routine could make a vital difference. Great work Drew, thanks

    • Drew Baye Jul 14, 2017 @ 15:32

      Thanks Steve,

      A lot of people dismiss meditation, visualization, and other forms of mental practice and preparation as time wasting “woo woo” but there is plenty of published research and empirical evidence supporting its use. I wouldn’t recommend or spend time writing about it if I didn’t think it would make a positive difference in people’s workouts.

  • Steve Jul 11, 2017 @ 14:23

    Drew, what do you think of using headphones or even ear plugs, Golds is a horrible environment to train in

    • Drew Baye Jul 14, 2017 @ 15:25

      Hey Steve,

      I recommend getting a good set of noise-cancelling headphones. I prefer headphones to ear plugs because they are more obvious, and people are less likely to try to talk to you when you are wearing them.

  • Doug Jan 3, 2019 @ 6:38

    Love this article. I totally believe in visualization for all things, fitness and not fitness related.