The Placebo Effect, Mind Over Matter and Using the Force!
7 comments Oct 4, 2010 | High Performance, Intuitive Fitness
My Strength and Conditioning Coach, Bret Contreras‘ First Law of “Man Training” is this, => “You have to put plates on a barbell with the smooth edges on the outside and the indented edges facing inward. I tell clients that this “Keeps the Power in.” Lyle McDonald wrote an excellent article about this and it’s something that must be passed on from generation to generation. This alone tells you if a lifter is experienced or not.”
After reading Bret’s post, I had to read the Article by Lyle McDonald and it resonated very deeply within me. At first I thought Lyle was being facetious but then I realized that he was Serious! I then had to take note of the weird things I do that may or may not make any sense to others. For Instance, I always use bumper plates for lifting whether it’s Olympic Lifts, Squats or Bench Press etc. because I can lift kilos easier than I can lift pounds even if they add up to the same weight; I live in Canada and I work under the metric system.
You will also notice that I train in tights. I don’t do this because the company who markets the tights have biased studies that say that their “patented” compression increases power, speed and endurance. And I certainly don’t do this because it makes my Glutes look great! I do this because it makes me “Feel” stronger and reminds me that I am training to sprint faster, not just to lift more weight. I also have words written on my lifting shoes like POWER, SPEED, COMPOSED, FOCUS etc…You may even hear me quote Ronnie Coleman “Lightweight” before I squat 130KG for the first time ever which was 5kg higher than the previous time I tested my Max Squat. There is no way I could’ve done that if it was 285lbs and that’s 1lb less!
Many Athletes have strict routines they adhere to and as long as that routine doesn’t involve eating a dozen doughnuts before a marathon, those mental routines usually enhance performance.
<AUTHORS NOTE> – I have since increased my max squat to 143kg since starting to use DYNAMIS Fuel-XRM and when I hit that PR, my thought was this “Gravity is a wave and can be manipulated”….no joke.
Now…. How do you determine if your Placebo routines are actually working when you don’t have the time to read study after study, look for studies that don’t exist or create experiments of your own without the resources when you know in your heart it works? On the other hand, what do you do when you meet someone who does know the science and decides to tell you that Santa Clause doesn’t exist? My Advice is follow your instincts, listen to your intuition but also leave room for spontaneity and change. Don’t ever be afraid to give up the good to go for the great (I don’t remember where I heard that but it’s legit).
Case and Point for all you sprinters out there. I used to do a pre push routine where I would sink into a sumo squat 3 times to stretch my Adductors right before starting in skeleton. For 2 years I thought this was helping me. However, Once I realized the importance of a certain degree of muscle stiffness, I realized how much that little routine was hindering my top speed. Once I had the knowledge and understanding, I actually noticed how my ground contact time increased (not good at top speeds) because I could feel how much more effort it took to go from an eccentric contraction to a concentric contraction while I was pushing my sled.
It’s hard not to believe Mind over Matter isn’t just another cliche with all the anecdotal evidence and huge movement as of late on the benefits of Mind Power. I watched The Men Who Stare at Goats a month ago and they talk about Cloud Bursting. I was naturally inclined to try this phenomenon out for myself. I like to experiment with cool things I see in movies where I don’t have to risk my life…like trying to build a light saber with my own two hands…..I am still working on the actual LIGHT part of the saber. Now you may be thinking to yourself “CLOUD BURSTING”! What the Hell is that?!?!….I gotta tell you it’s more like Cloud Dissolving but it actually works. This is one of the best excersises I have tried for learning how to really concentrate – “It Keeps Me Sharp” – as George Clooney character says in the movie. Like the great sages of the past and even book pushers of the present have tried to teach us, concentrated thought can truly influence your reality. Now, is this all pseudo science? You can decide for yourself. Fire me a comment on here, the FB fan page or Twitter and I will explain how to “Cloud Burst”.
Another very interesting subject is the work of Masaru Emoto and his water crystal photography. His work shows convincing evidence supporting the fact that different vibrational energy has either positive or negative effect on water. Now think about this for a moment….if your body is made up of 65% water and your Brain 85%, what do you think are the effects of +/- Thoughts, +/- Words, +/- Actions, +/- Music or Sounds etc. Makes you think twice about complaining introvertedly or extrovertedly, doesn’t it.
Tips for Getting into the Zone so you can let go and feel the Force; Some of these you have probably heard and others you may have not.
- Get Plenty of Rest.
- Drink Plenty of Water.
- Eat Lots of Citrus Fruits, Grapes, Kiwis and other foods your Liver and Kidneys like to flush toxins. When your Liver and Kidneys are overwhelmed it is hard to stay focused and keep your emotions in check.
- Minimize/Eliminate toxic substances: Alcohol, Caffeine, Sugar, Salt, Preservatives; Again, these will upset your Liver and Kidneys causing major dysfunction in other areas.
- Solidfy your routine so you have left nothing unchecked before you are expected to perform. Doesn’t matter how big or what the occasion. Size Matters Not.
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Mad Dawg Mills
Photographer: Donna Mills; Mastered by Chelsea Kindrachuk
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wow 285 lbs sounds way heavier!!!
Tell Me About It!
I learned about “cloud bursting” a few years ago from Masuru Emoto’s book. I did the exercise, and it’s one of those things that let’s you know that you are WAY more powerful than you realize, and at the same time not being afraid to let go of the idea that anything is permanent at all.
I couldn’t stop laughing to myself when I first tried it. “Thinking” something is possible and “Knowing” something is possible is truly a remarkable difference. I said to myself “No Freakin Way” and then I tried another cloud and another until one day I got home and bursted one about a half a km across until it was completely blue sky and the cloud next to it just hung out….took me about 15min of intense concentration.
It’s funny, it was about 3 years ago the last time I practiced this… Then about two weeks ago I taught my son how to do this. It blew me away even more to see the magic coming from his expression… Kids already know what’s possible, or should I say, They Haven’t forgotten. One of the most powerful lessons I’ve ever learned is to be more child-like in my approach to things (Fresh, wonder, enthusiasm, and awe.)
That is Remarkable! I have competitions with my wife sometimes where she tries to make them bigger or into shapes and I try to burst them. It usually ends up where the cloud balloons but splits in two. I even nailed a fly bI agree totally. Child like wonder is a must for improving Quality of Life!
this is the way a blog should be! thanks!