Fear of weight lifting failure

[Fiddleman 4,376]

So I was doing my WOD yesterday with the PT and she had me swing 45 lb kettle ball for 25 minutes, with 25 meter kettle ball carry every 10 swings (rest it on biceps while fast walking length of gym). I got 300 swings and my arms were on fire afterwards. On fire!!!! Should we be wearing hard hats before this type of workout? Lol! I always am concerned it is going to drop on my head and split my skull or it is going to keep going into the window or wall. What do some of you kettle ball swingers do to eliminate these worries? I don't want to be a first statistic of death by kettle swing.

I get the same concerns when lifting anything heavy ( bench, squat, etc) that it is going to fall on me and that is it. It is holding me back because the weight and I do not have a trust relationship. I am often lifting to fatigue and I hate the feeling of not being able to control the weight so now I have this distrust of it from the start, before I even start lifting. It causes me to fail way to early. The PT is always there to spot me, but I still fear being crushed.

Thoughts?

[cerenatee 90]

That's a hard one. To get stronger you're going to have to lift past the point where you can handle the weight on your own. When I use to lift, I would have my trainer hold his hands right under the bar as I lifted and we had a code word that meant "no matter what, you grab freakiing bar." In the beginning, he was too quick to give me assistance - male PT with female clients usually are - but after I told him to cut it out, I had to use the code word once or twice. If you're not already doing those two things, think about adding them and see if your trust increases.

I don't know how long you've been lifting, but usually over time you get to know your strength and your workouts so you start trusting yourself and your abilities. Kind of like when you have your first baby and you're freaked out about every cold but by the third child it takes broken bones to freak you out and by the sixth child not even that phases you. With time everything becomes the same o, same o.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

That's a hard one. To get stronger you're going to have to lift past the point where you can handle the weight on your own. When I use to lift' date=' I would have my trainer hold his hands right under the bar as I lifted and we had a code word that meant "no matter what, you grab freakiing bar." In the beginning, he was too quick to give me assistance - male PT with female clients usually are - but after I told him to cut it out, I had to use the code word once or twice. If you're not already doing those two things, think about adding them and see if your trust increases.

I don't know how long you've been lifting, but usually over time you get to know your strength and your workouts so you start trusting yourself and your abilities. Kind of like when you have your first baby and you're freaked out about every cold but by the third child it takes broken bones to freak you out and by the sixth child not even that phases you. With time everything becomes the same o, same o.[/quote']

Thanks for some reassurance. We do not have a code word yet, but it usually starts with "help me...". One of the issues is that I am lifting 10 lb over her body weight so should I ask for a second spotter when lifting heavy?

I have probably been lifting heavy for about a month 1x a week. On the other day of the week, I do body weight type workouts. The other 3 days I exercise during a week are all about cardio (running mostly) plus some lighter weights and body strengthening exercises like planks or wall sits at home.

[mikeross 216]

I love working out alone but workout with a friend on "push days" (chest, shoulders,triceps). He knows when I need him to step in and help me complete the rep. You should be lifting at a certain rep range to hit failure on your last rep or 2. With that said, If your doing reps up to 10, with the proper weight you should hit failure at around rep 9 or 10... your trainer should be counting and know when to jump in without you saying anything.

Over time you will learn your limits and can workout alone to the point where your hitting failure on your sets. I only have to use a partner of chest days and thats every other chest day. Its every other "push day" because 1 day I use dumb bells and not worry about going to failure cause I can just drop them on the floor. I use a partner on chest days that I am useing bar bells.

[Butterthebean 8,146]

I'd be willing to bet she's been spotting people a lot longer than you've been lifting, at least I hope so. There's nothing wrong with flat out asking her if she can handle the weight if you fail. Keep in mind she doesn't have to lift the whole bar, just the few pounds you can't lift.

Out of curiosity do you bench in a power rack of any kind. I almost always lift alone because I don't have anyone around to lift with, but I have a good power rack and I can set it up to spot me for bench press and squats. So even if I drop the bar, the cross bars will catch it before it crushes me.

As for the kettle bells, man I might have the same fear as you do. Do you ever use any chalk? It really helps with grip, especially once you get sweaty.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

I'd be willing to bet she's been spotting people a lot longer than you've been lifting' date=' at least I hope so. There's nothing wrong with flat out asking her if she can handle the weight if you fail. Keep in mind she doesn't have to lift the whole bar, just the few pounds you can't lift.

Out of curiosity do you bench in a power rack of any kind. I almost always lift alone because I don't have anyone around to lift with, but I have a good power rack and I can set it up to spot me for bench press and squats. So even if I drop the bar, the cross bars will catch it before it crushes me.

As for the kettle bells, man I might have the same fear as you do. Do you ever use any chalk? It really helps with grip, especially once you get sweaty.[/quote']

Thanks for the tips. She has been a crossfit trainer and spotter for many years so definitely knows what she is doing and talking about. In fact, she is the owner of the gym. I will try the chalk, see if it increases my confidence if gripping.

[Egadzman 13]

You could try weight lifting wrist straps to augment your grip.