Having someone yell “You can do it”, You got this", etc. while I am under a weight or even counting my reps is extremely distracting and completely wrecks my concentration. Is this normal??? and how do you get your training partner to shut the F**k up so you can concentrate after you’ve told him umpteen times. I do not listen to music or have headphones to drown him out because I just like silence or normal gym sounds. Once again…is this normal because I don’t see that it bothers anyone else? By the way I am an introvert and fall under the “conscientious” personality trait of the 5 factor and HEXACO personality models. There is a model for central nervous system types that puts me in the “safety” or “risk averse” category( I can’t seem to find it at the moment)meaning I am the opposite of an adrenalin junkie due to the fact that adrenalin gives me anxiety. Thanks in advance.
I’d say a few things about this. Regarding your training partner, if you have genuinely attempted to get him to stop being a distracting jerkoff while you train, I’m curious while he is still your gym partner. Surely, you have the option of not going with him. And you can tell him/her that. Secondly, regarding everything you said about your personality, of course some people respond differently to certain training environments. Jordan likes training surrounded in the aroma of freshly baked bread and Chris Stapleton blaring in the background of an empty Crossfit gym. I’m more of a cookies and Tool guy personally. Some prefer to train in the solitude of one’s garage to the tunes of Biggie Smalls, or nothing at all. In any case, I would call into question the usefulness of “classifying” your personality in any sort of strict manner especially if there are any negative feelings associated with doing so. That is, if you actually do have anxiety, saying that you have this unmodifiable personality that just intrinsically carries with it feelings of anxiety and “introversion”–that’s likely to only lead to more anxiety/introversion and away from seeking a solution to your anxiety. I used to get anxious at the thought of training with heavy weights, but through redundancy of training with heavy weights I don’t anymore. We change dramatically over time through different life experiences, or at the very least we often do*,* and saying that you have this one necessarily enduring personality isn’t a very helpful belief to have if you want to change.
BTDUBBS, I’m really just rabbit hole-ing right now because I’m stuck without anything else to do at the moment.
Yep, you need to make sure this is clear with your training partner. Be explicit-do not yell at me during a lift. It’s distracting and I can’t handle it. Don;t do it.
If you say this to a training partner, that person should respect that and WANT to help you, which in this case, means shutting up.
And we can respond pretty differently, yes. Some people really like a lot of hype. I don’t, and I have to be fairly “zen” and focused for a heavy attempt. I don’t want to be slapped, yelled at, or badgered into a lift. The best training partner looks at me, says “Go, Leah” or “You’ve got it” BEFORE I unrack the bar, and then they let me lift.
I find that what motivates me–in terms of hype, training environment, music, etc.–can even change on a regular basis. Sometimes I really enjoy getting hyped and turning on loud music to lift to, though I haven’t yet dabbled in the sadistic arts of slapping, ammonia, etc. Other times I enjoy listening to R&B and other music that one wouldn’t normally associate with “working out.” I’ve tried listening to podcasts but I find that to really get into the podcast I have to drift too far out of my lifting mentality; thus, it’s either not really tune in to the podcast or not tune in to my lifting session, neither of which do I enjoy. Hardly do I ever enjoy training with someone simply because no one has similar training interests where I’m at, or those that do operate on different schedules; plus, it’s really my time to get away from people anyways–not to be too misanthropic or anything. I like changing venues from time to time, from commercial gyms to powerlifting gyms. There’s downsides to both: at the former, I’m basically a god who gets asked for training advice all the time, but virtually no one that trains there is strong (via programming anyways); at the latter, there’s a lot of people there that are strong (via programming and…other things) but because of that I’m nothing special and just sort of blend in.
SO…everyone is different, and even one person is different throughout time.