Psyching up....

Here is a good one. A study that shows that getting psyched improves performance at the Bench Press. It is true that the mind plays such a huge part in strength/power. SO much of strength is in the mind. **Please have a look after the article on an example of getting psyched.....

“Psyching-Up” Enhances Force Production During the Bench Press Exercise
David A. Tod


School of Biomedical and Sport Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia

ABSTRACT

Tod, D.A., K.F. Iredale, M.R. McGuigan, D.E.O. Strange, and N. Gill.

“Psyching-up” enhances force production during the bench press exercise. J. Strength Cond. Res. 19(3): 599–603. 2005.—

We investigated the effect of “psyching-up” on force production during the bench press. Twelve men (mean age ± SD: 27.4 ± 11.2 years) and 8 women (20.9 ± 2.5 years) with strength-training experience performed 5 bench press repetitions on a modified Biodex isokinetic dynamometer during 3 interventions. The interventions were counterbalanced and included a free-choice psych-up, a cognitive distraction, and an attention-placebo. Peak force recorded after psyching-up (mean ± SD: 764 ± 269 N·m) was significantly different from both distraction (703 ± 282 N·m, p = 0.003) and attention-placebo (708 ± 248 N·m, p = 0.01). The mean percentage increase in peak force from distraction to psyching-up was 11.8% (6 to 18%, 95% confidence interval [CI]) and 8.1% from placebo to psyching-up (3 to 13%, 95% CI).

The results of the present study indicate that psyching-up may increase force production during the bench press exercise in participants with at least 1 year strength-training experience.