Happy Monday (on a Tuesday… oops)! This week’s Mindset Monday teaches you how to use your eyes to control your body AND mind.
They say the eyes are the gateway to the soul. But as our predominant information-gathering sense, the eyes also hold the key to our mind and what we’re thinking about on a second-to-second basis. When it comes to mental performance, the eyes are another tool to improve focus, drown out negative self-talk and allow the body to perform at its best.
By fixing our eyes on something throughout the lift (a line on the floor, a beam on a ceiling or a spot on the wall), we limit the amount of information coming into our mind that we have to process in the moment. It’s like closing out programs or applications on a computer or a smartphone, leaving more processing power to complete the task at hand.
Back in my baseball playing days, our mental performance coach would tell us to “find the pebble” on the ground between each pitch. Whether we were a pitcher, a hitter or a fielder, our objective was to zone out and clear out mind after each pitch to let go of the result (positive OR negative), because once it’s done, you can’t control it. Then, by revisiting the same pebble on the ground with our eyes before the next pitch, we re-established laser focus for the next pitch.
As a lifter, your “pebble” won’t be a rock on the ground, but something else in the gym or on the platform that you can consistently find for every set or attempt. The smaller the better to symbolize laser focus and tunnel vision.
Focal points have tremendous mental benefits, but they also set you up for physical success. “Where the head goes, the bar goes” is the old saying. If we set our head position properly, we’re more likely to maintain solid technique under the bar. For example:
Squat: you can look slightly down, straight ahead or slightly up to lock in your upper back position. Just don’t look straight down or straight up, as this will negatively affect your balance.
Bench Press: look straight up or slightly backward. You want your head pushed down hard into the bench to maintain your arch, and looking directly at the bar or out toward your hips can loosen up your upper back.
Deadlift: slightly down and forward (10-20 feet in front of you) seems to be optimal for most people. A neutral neck position (i.e., a “double chin”) will help keep your back flat and core braced. Looking straight down at the bar will likely round your back, and looking up too much will over-arch your back, leading to a poor core brace.