It is incredibly uncommon to see someone perform a max effort squat, deadlift or clean without the assistance of a weightlifting belt. I bet most of you can count the number of times you have witnessed this feat on one hand. For those that have seen this, have ever asked them why they choose not to wear a belt?
The quality of your food choices determines how optimally your body functions. A vehicle will run farther and smoother on a higher grade of fuel. Your body is no different. Choosing foods that are higher in the vitamins and minerals that are essential to your health will go a long way in improving your performance.
Weightlifting forces the lifter to get in tune with their bodies. We know what warm-ups work well; we know what it takes to recover; and we know when things aren’t feeling right. But, then there are times when we think we know what we need, but we fall short. Training may not be going well, so we begin to think we may need “this” or should add “some of those” to our training.
At times – especially now – the aggregation of training and life can tax our bodies. Our sleep quality becomes poor. Our workouts aren’t working out. And then, all of a sudden, the onset of a cold welcomes its way into our lives. Yes, we have all been there before, and probably will find ourselves there, once again.