Mental Strength
Many of the top performers in sport and life have a mentality that is unique. To those who do not have it, it is almost incomprehensible. In my quest to find out why some people are so successful (can be measured many ways- pick yours) I continue to find common factors in each of them. Gratitude, a do or die attitude, hard work ethic, attacking fears, and the practice of affirmations,visualizations, and meditation; all of these concepts sound so simple but the majority of people do not execute them on a daily basis. That is the difference. Anyone can name the qualities and practices, but the incomprehensible part, the part that leaves the majority envious, is the fact that some people actually live and carry them out. Here is a man, like him or not, who not only talks the talk but walks the walk. The video is 10 minutes long, but it might be worth it if it ignites any sort of fire inside of you. Below the video I share a quick rant on the role (or lack thereof) of repetitions during weight training.?

Physical
When training for muscle strength and size it’s not about the reps, it’s about the rep range. More than that, its about providing a certain stimulus to the body and by proposing a hypothetical number people are wasting valuable time. I give athletes and clients a range of repetitions they should probably achieve, mostly so they have an idea about what they should accomplish. The heavier the load the tighter the range I will give them. What is the point in telling an athlete to give me a set of 5 reps with 225 lbs on the squat when only 3 reps is what they are capable of? The last two reps will be forced jeopardizing safety and effectiveness, and the athlete will also feel like a failure. At the same token, if I tell an athlete to bust out a set of 8 reps on the squat with 225lbs and at rep number 8 they have 5 more reps in the tank (that would total 13 for those of you that failed 1st grade math), why should they stop? I am not advocating training to failure every set, but get something out of it by pushing! If I had a penny for every time I heard the client ask their trainer “how many reps?” or during the lift ask “how many more?” I could insert your own I am rich joke here. Regarding reps, make a call when to end a set based on the feeling and quality of movement. Feeling and quality of movement are important due to safety and getting the correct muscles to contract for a given movement. If something hurts, stop immediately. When assessing quality of movement, pay attention to postural changes and speed of movement. Speed is related to quality of movement because when speed slows down you can usually expect a drop in quality coming. As certain muscles are fatiguing your body will change positions to fire different ones. This can be dangerous with heavy loads and not what you want. The key is in finding a coach or developing the ability yourself to know when enough is enough each set, and why.