Self talk is the biggest thing that separates athletes who perform better on meet/game day than in practice versus those who shit the bed. This article covers how to use self talk as a powerlifter for better performance.
The narrative you tell yourself quickly becomes the reality. Fortunately, this is something you have control over.
The narrative doesn’t just start on meet day either - self talk is something you manage even months prior.
Leading up to the meet I’m trying to stay calm and not build the event up too much, so I’m telling myself stuff like:
“It’s just lifting weights. I’ve been doing that four times per week for 9 years. I know what to do.”
“It would be cool to hit some big numbers, but it doesn’t really matter. Literally nobody but me cares how I do. Plus there’s always next meet.”
A lot of lifters also question their own strength level and how much progress they’ve made, but here’s how I avoid that. The few weeks leading up to the meet I’m telling myself things like:
“I’ll have more on meet day when I’m not as fatigued” (which is likely factual too).
“I’m a gamer. I always perform well when you give me a crowd and someone to beat”
These are less about keeping anxiety down and more about keeping confidence high. That’s a trend that continues into meet day.
On meet day it’s about confidence winning over doubt. I’m not thinking stuff like, “Can I really lift this?” I’m saying, “I’ve literally never missed a third deadlift before. It doesn’t matter what weight is on the bar, I’ll hit it.”
Another example - If the person before me misses, I’m not saying, “Oh god, what if I miss too?” I’m thinking something positive about my abilities, like, "I've worked too long and too hard not to get this. Let's do it."
It’s self talk - it’s okay to be cocky and think things that you may not say aloud to others.
You are in control of your narrative. Even if a negative thought pops up, you can always stop, address it, and say to yourself something else that reframes things positively. It takes a lot of work at first. However, the more you do it, the easier it will get. Plus you’ll gradually start defaulting to being a bit more positive about the situation.
The funny part is, if you get better at doing this for athletics, you’ll get better at doing it for all aspects of your life. There’s no clear distinction between managing thoughts and anxiety task to task - it’s a generalizable skill.
So this isn’t just about being a better athlete, it’s about becoming a more capable human.
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Best,
Michael Elrod-Erickson
Founder and Head Coach, Premier Power & Performance
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