sports psychology

The first step in working with a client is to figure out what they want and why they want it. The "what do you want" question usually has a pretty straightforward answer. The second question – why? – can ... Continue Reading

Have you ever seen the strong quiet type of person who carries him- or herself differently? He or she has a presence that demonstrates both strength and humility at the same time. The Navy Seals are often ... Continue Reading

When you design an exercise program, determining the ideal intensity is one of the primary considerations. Many coaches tend to make these recommendations based on what works best for developing strength ... Continue Reading

Need to up your mind game? Here at Breaking Muscle we want to help you become better at every aspect of training, including the mental side. Here is the list of the top ten sports psychology articles from ... Continue Reading

Most of us know enough about sports psychology to know that goal setting is important. But just how important goal setting is and how to most effectively apply it are entirely different questions. Deciding ... Continue Reading

In our exploration of the psychology of a weightlifter, we now come to a point just before the lifter is ready to lift the barbell. All physical and psychological preparations have been completed. It is ... Continue Reading

Continuing my comments on Edward W.L. Smith's Not Just Pumping Iron, we come to the final stage of the psyching up process. After you have relaxed, centered your mind, visualized the lift, grounded your ... Continue Reading

Continuing my discussion of Edward W.L. Smith's Not Just Pumping Iron, last week we talked about centering just before a big lift. This involved proper deep abdominal breathing, relaxing, and concentrating ... Continue Reading

A few weeks back I started on a number of articles on the mental side of lifting weights, but I still got diverted into some important technical issues along the way. Those dispensed with (for now) it is ... Continue Reading

Last week we looked at dealing with external noise that can affect our psychological preparation in weightlifting. Now we are going to look at the even more harmful internal noise. Expert Edward Smith ... Continue Reading

Last week I promised that I would continue my nascent discussion of the mental aspects of weightlifting. That I will do but with a big amount of help from a book now out of print, but one that still has a ... Continue Reading

Weightlifting is all about doing something that you could not do before. If you asked almost any layperson who has never trained before, male or female, to lift a 135-pound barbell to arms length they ... Continue Reading

The Matrix is one of my favorite movies of all time. It is enjoyable to watch. It is complex in meaning but simple in delivery. It leaves me wanting more. In all these respects, it feels like good coaching ... Continue Reading

Back when I was in film school at the University of Southern California, there was a phrase that popped up from time to time: “What does he think he’s making, The Godfather?” It was something said when a ... Continue Reading

“You gotta have heart. All you really need is heart. When the odds are saying you’ll never win, that’s when the grin should start” - Damn Yankees. It’s a classic line from one of America’s classic ... Continue Reading

The most notorious trash talker of all time is Muhammad Ali. Ali was never short on words - words for his opponents, words of prediction, and sometimes he just wanted to wax poetic to entertain the masses. ... Continue Reading

We all have seen “Johnny Gymlifter” at some point. He is often very talented and loves to try the big ones in the training room, even though he is often weeks away from a contest and way out of sync with ... Continue Reading

I want a lot of things. Some of them are things I imagine in passing it would be nice to have, but some of them are things I truly intend to obtain, in a way I have written about in the past. In other ... Continue Reading

I’ve been to a lot of coaching seminars and trainings in my day. Team building, coaching, continuining education, you name it. Suffice to say, I’m pretty familiar with the vernacular. So this week, not ... Continue Reading

Ever notice the odd rituals that many professional athletes across all sports have in preparation for competition? This preparation is huge in baseball, for example. Think Garciaparra and how ritualized ... Continue Reading

“There's something in your heart and it's in your eyes It's the fire, inside you. Let it burn” – The Roots “There's something in your heart and it's in your eyes It's the fire, ... Continue Reading

Recently when some friends of mine went out of town, I took care of their two dogs. I love dogs and have always been around them, but I’m not often a primary canine caretaker over and above taking them on ... Continue Reading