BY LESLEY TIMBOL
OVERTHINKING IN BODYBUILDING
BY LESLEY TIMBOL
( ADAPTED FROM DR . PATRICK COHN AT PEAK PERFORMANCE SPORTS , LLC .)
Have you or someone else told you to get out of your own head ?
Isn ’ t thinking a good thing ?
After all , technique and flow are crucial for both confidence and success in bodybuilding . However , this combination can be quite detailed . There are a lot of moving parts . So is it possible that thinking can become detrimental to athletic performance ?
Yes !
It ’ s called “ paralysis by analysis ”, which is a casual saying used to describe the feeling of being unable to make a decision due to overthinking a problem .
This often happens when you ' re dealing with too many variables and continually trying to find solutions rather than taking action and making a decision .
When you give yourself too many verbal instructions , your thoughts interfere with fluid mechanics . In other words , under performance is inevitable when you try to process too much information while competing . There is a time and place to think about mechanics and that time is in practice . However , even at SOME moments in practice , switching from consciously thinking to performance mode is beneficial , which I ’ ll talk about in a bit .
Overthinking interferes with mechanics , i . e . when a bodybuilder is thinking through their bodybuilding mandatory poses or routine .
Another thing my fellow brothers and sisters in iron , have you ever noticed that your mind “ wanders ” to the future and you might worry about things that can POSSIBLY happen , or it can “ wander ” to the past and replay the bad or cringe events at previous shows ?