One More Rep - A survey

[MN_FriendlyGuy]

At the end of a set... After fatigue has set in...
What motivates YOU to push out one more rep?

With the muscle screaming for you to stop...
What makes you keep going... one more rep?

[TeenWolf]

The sweet results. The sex the muscle gets me.

[slyfox]

The stubborn refusal to be average. The knowledge that just one more rep will make me that much better, even if it's just a tiny amount.

[joecomp2000]

with me it is the knowledge that the reason that I came here . the reason for the other sets , the training up to this point ....was all to get me to this last rep...
after all if you do the same , then you will not grow..
it is only by doing the last rep do you grow ...

it is only the team that wins the last out, field goal,the last basket , the last shot that wins..
the rest doesn't matter

[rugbyjockca]

It depends on my challenge on that day, so I have a few different tools I use.

I have a trainer who I like and trust, and sometimes I imagine him beside me urging me on for that last rep, or how proud he'd be if I get more than he asked for.

Sometimes I imagine a competitor next to me, doing the same exercise, matching me rep for rep, and knowing that if I quit before he does, he's one step closer to beating me in a competition.

When I'm doing sprints on a treadmill, I imagine a rugby game and I'm stepping it up for a critical tackle, or I just got a break with the ball in my hands and I need to use everything I have to get a try or save the day.

Sometimes it is just about focus: it isn't the number I do, it is HOW I do the rep, so I zoom in on parts of my form, making sure I'm cueing myself correctly, tuning out everything that is around me.

Sometimes I just grit my teeth and decide I will not let the bar beat me.

Sometimes (esp. with squats) I just don't want to get stuck at the bottom and look ridiculous, so I make sure I get that bar UP!

To be honest, I am usually more focused on my lift than I am in how I am motivating myself, so most of these tricks I have to pause at the start of the set and consciously decide what I am doing for each rep, so that if I AM going close to failure, I don't have to think about my actions...so it will be like "I know I can do 6 squats for sure. I will go for 8 and if that feels okay then I will do 2 more." I imagine myself in the middle of my set, how it will feel, what signals from my body I will use to decide if I can get those last 2 reps or not, and whether or not I will pause between reps, how I will breathe, when I will tighten my core, etc, etc. I do all this BEFORE I start, so that when the moment comes I'm not thinking, I'm just following the plan./

[joe]

There's no alternative.

[MN_FriendlyGuy]

BUMP!

This survey question was asked because I'll soon begin recording a weightlifting mp3 on the topic of ONE MORE REP. And a recording like that needs to be REAL, doesn't it?

Forum responses posted on or before the 1st of October (2015) will be considered. After that date, this topic resumes being an exchange of motivation thoughts for bodybuilders, powerlifters, and the dumb jocks who lift.