What You See Is What You Get

Categories: Blog Jan 20, 2016

I PR’d on my squat the other night.

It wasn’t a lifetime PR, but it was an 11+ year PR. It was a number I hadn’t hit since… Well, probably 1998 or 1999 now that I think about it. And I was 10-15 pounds heavier back then, not to mention almost 20 years younger.

Of course, there’s a very cool story behind the whole thing, which maybe I’ll share some other time, but the point is, I did it.

The reality is, it was a struggle. There was a lot of head trash to overcome. The last two times I attempted that weight with those sets and reps ended in failure - injuries, both times. And there have been injuries since then.

However, I have been preparing for this for quite some time now. And interestingly enough, I used a method to achieve this that I haven’t used in about 25+ years.

I was holding my baby girl in the nursing chair, rocking her, attempting to get her back to sleep. I closed my eyes and simply “saw” myself doing each rep. I visualized how each rep of each set felt, from the weight of the bar on my back to how the weight felt distributed in my feet, to how I felt my muscles contracting.

Visualization is certainly nothing new. 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist in Women’s Diving, Laura Wilkinson, used it to win her gold. She shattered her foot in a diving accident. She literally only had 3 weeks in the pool before the Sydney Games. Unable to enter the pool, she trained her dives in her head.

Our minds our powerful. VERY powerful. Our imaginations are where our goals start. They’re where dreams become reality.

That means the old cliche actually is true: “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

I’d take it one step further: “If you can see it, you can do it.”

The key is seeing it.

The Truth is, that PR was a very long time coming. Although I used visualization of the workout beforehand, that wasn’t really what was responsible for the success. It was only a small part of it. The Truth is, I have a vision, a way I “see” my life playing out, in my head. And so my actions align with those thoughts, that vision.

One of the things I have done, is believed that I could get back to where I was, and surpass those numbers. As a result, I engage in activities that enable me to do that. And while performing said activities, most times I’m thinking about that end goal.

For example, one of the things, well, really THE thing, that has helped me physically (and as a nice side effect, mentally) has been Original Strength Performance. This is essentially loading the OS RESETs. Doing so increases the sensitivity of your vestibular system, and therefore increases the efficiency of your nervous system. What this means is that you move better, more efficiently, with less effort. And that’s great news for someone like me who moved incredibly inefficiently for so many years.

So I crawl dragging 200 pounds of chain behind in the park up the street. While doing so, I’m not thinking about crawling. I’m thinking about my other goals. That vision, is always in my mind’s eye. The beautiful thing is, crawling is mindless. It doesn’t require and “skill” other than keep your head up, eyes forward, and butt down. So there’s no “technique” to focus on which allows my mind to “play movies” of my other goals.

Therefore, it’s just a matter of time before what I see on the inside, gets on the outside. How much time? Don’t know for sure. I just know as long as I stick with it, I’ll do it.

So what’s the point of me sharing this with you?

If I can do this type of thing, you can too. As I always say, I am not unique. I was not a “super-athlete” when I was younger. The only thing that I am that you may not be, is stubborn.

Remember, as long as you can “see it” in your head, you can do it. But you need to have a clear picture of what “it” is.

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