Training in Your Zone: Building Your Pre-Performance Routine as a Weightlifter
If you missed Part 1 of this series about performance anxiety -> learn why performance anxiety shows up for lifters, and the difference between nerves that help and nerves that don't.
In part 1, we talked about the Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) model, the idea that every athlete has their own range of arousal where they perform best. Some lifters hit their best numbers on the calmer side of the performance/arousal peak. Some need a moderate buzz. Some genuinely lift better when they're highly aroused.
Knowing your zone is step one. But knowing it doesn't change anything on its own. We need to learn how to find your zone on purpose; in training, on competition day, and in the two minutes after a missed attempt when everything in your head is telling you the day is over.
I’m Emma, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker that works with athletes to support their mental health and performance. Across a small series, I’ll be covering everything you need to know about performance anxiety as a weightlifter.
What this blog covers: How to identify your zone, how to train in it deliberately, and how to build your pre-performance routine and prepare yourself to lift under pressure even before you enter the gym.
A quick recap: what "optimal arousal" means
Arousal is your level of physical and mental activation; heart rate, muscle tension, alertness, the intensity of what's happening in your head. It’s an objective measure, not something that’s “good” or “bad”.
Too little arousal and you're flat: slow reaction times, poor problem-solving, no drive or power.
Too much and you're anxious: energy drains fast, technique gets rushed, and your brain starts doing things mid-lift it should have finished before you touched the bar.
Both ends cost you performance, this is the classic inverted-U relationship between arousal and performance described by Landers and Boutcher (1984).
What Hanin's IZOF model adds is that the "right amount" in the middle isn't universal, it's individual. Training mates might need to be slapped and screamed at before a PR attempt. You might need silence and a slow walk to the chalk bucket. Neither of you is doing it wrong. What you don’t want to do is copy someone else's arousal level because it looks like what intensity is supposed to look like.
Step one: find your zone
You can't hit a target you haven't defined. So let’s start with data you already have, your own lifting history.
Review your best performances. Think of two or three sessions or competitions where you lifted at your best. Not just the numbers, but how you felt.
Rate your arousal before those lifts on a 1–10 scale (1 = half asleep, 10 = completely wired).
What was your body doing? How was your energy on a scale 1-10? (1=no energy, 10=couldn’t contain the energy).
What was your head doing? Were your thoughts moving quick or slow?
Did you feel like you had control over your emotional state or did it have control over you?
Review your worst. Do the same for two or three performances that fell apart.
Where were you on that same 1–10 scales?
Look for the range. Your best performances will usually sit within a space of around, 5-8 out of 10. That space is our working zone. Remember, It's a hypothesis, not a verdict; you'll refine it as you start paying attention and developing your routine.
From now on, rate your arousal before you walk in the gym and before big lifts in training. You can do this by writing in your training diary, your spreadsheet or in your notes app. Over a few weeks you'll have your own evidence for where you lift best, which is going to be far more useful than any general advice about "staying calm" or "getting hyped."
Step two: train in your zone
This is an important step, we don’t just address our performance on competition day. We need to practice, train, and refine it. Your zone isn't just something you check on competition day. It's something you train.
Practise reaching your zone in normal sessions. Before stepping into the gym and before each top set, check your number. Too low? Bring it up. Too high? Bring it down. (We’ll learn how in the next section.) The point is repetition: regulating arousal is a skill, and skills built only on competition day don't hold up on competition day.
Deliberately train under pressure. Research on choking under pressure supports acclimatisation; deliberately exposing yourself to pressure in training so competition conditions feel familiar rather than threatening.
Practical versions for the gym look like: max out with people watching, film your heavy attempts, take attempts on a clock, take a ten minute break between your snatch and CJ’s, have your coach change your weights without telling you in advance, do openers in front of the whole gym at the end of a session when you're tired and everyone's packing up. The goal isn't to make training unbearable. It's to make sure the first time you feel competition-level arousal isn't at a competition.
Practise mistakes. Missing lifts in training isn't just physically informative, it's mentally necessary! If every miss in training is treated as a crisis, every miss in competition will be too. Normalising mistakes in training is one of the most consistently recommended strategies for managing performance pressure. Take attempts you might miss. Then practise what comes after the miss, which is exactly what your reset routine is for (yep, you guessed it, how to reset after mistakes will be in the next blog!!).
Step three: learn to move the dial in both directions
Regulating arousal isn't only about calming down. Depending on your zone and how you're feeling on the day, you'll sometimes need to bring yourself up! Consider the two most important parts of our arousal: mental (cognitive) and physical (somatic).
(Be mindful, this list is not exhaustive)
Strategies to increase arousal
Mental
Watching videos of previous lifts in high intensity moments.
Visualising. Visualise your lifts in high-intensity moments. Another skill that should be practised and built over time, not used only on competition day or sporadically.
Listening to/watching motivational podcasts/videos. It sounds cheesy, but the research is clear on this one.
Reviewing your training goals for the year. Remember what you’re working towards, build excitement for training or competition.
Music. Listening to stimulating music.
Using energising self-talk. Try using phrases like “Let’s Go”, “I’m Strong”, “I’m Powerful”.
Letting out a yell.
Physical
Jumps and fast paced movements. Plyos, jumps, and quick movements all increase physical arousal.
Stomping feet into the floor.
Slapping legs or back.
Using smelling salts.
Energising/Activating breathes. Try two short inhales, and one sharp and quick breath out (like you’re breathing out through a straw).
Strategies to lower arousal
Mental
Mindfulness. When your brain is spiralling or just moving too quickly, sometimes we need to anchor it on to something. If slowing things down is hard, try narrating (in your head or outloud) what you’re doing to bring your attention back to the present. Ie. “I’m stepping my right foot and now left onto the platform, I’m placing my right hand and then left on the bar”.
Breathing.
Whale breathing (Two breaths in, one big sigh out of your mouth-like a whale would blow out water)
Breathing with a visual anchor (choosing one thing to look at and breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth).
Creating your intention and plan for the session. Consider your intention you are bringing today, what do you want to focus on that’s not outcome based? How do you want to perform today? What will you anchor your attention to? Ie. I’m going to stay present on the platform today and I’m going to use my breath when I notice my attention shifting.
Physical
Gargle water or hum for 30 sec. This stimulates and regulates the vagus nerve to help our body settle (You might find this useful as a regulating arousal increasor too!).
Diaphragmatic breathing. Slow breaths, filling your belly and lungs, with your diaphragm as your anchor point, longer exhale than inhale. Practise it in training so it's automatic, not something you're learning for the first time while your name is being called.
Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). Scan for where you're holding tension; jaw, shoulders, hands, and let it go. Athletes in emotion regulation research describe progressive muscle relaxation as one of the more reliably useful pre-competition tools. *Bonus for the practise it gives us to build a stronger connection and awareness over our bodies.
Melt like ice cream breathing. Another option if PMR doesn’t feel right with your body.
One warning from the research: constantly monitoring yourself is mentally fatiguing itself. Athletes who reassess every rep, every feeling, every muscle report being exhausted by the end of a session. Plan ahead where you’ll check your dial, like before training, only before top sets, between attempts, and not continuously. This is why the routine is so important, it does the regulating for you, so you're not thinking your way through every attempt!
Building your performance routines (We’re finally here, yay!)
A pre-performance routine is a consistent, repeatable sequence you run before you even enter the gym and before every attempt (So think, two routines; one looking a bit shorter than the other). Consistent pre-performance routines are one of the most well-supported tools for managing pressure, they keep attention on the task instead of the outcome, and they're one of the only things on competition day that is completely within your control.
There are many uncontrollables on a comp day. The venue can change. The judges can change. Your opener might feel different in every warm-up room. But, your routine won’t.
Pre-training routine
Arousal check-in: Choose a consistent time that you will start your routine and complete an arousal check-in. New habits are best stacked onto habits you already have. Try adding your check-in to when you eat your pre-training snack. This is a cue that we’re transitioning into training physically and mentally.
Set your intention or your performance goal for the session. This means a non-outcome based goal that we’re going to use to anchor your focus for the session. Write this down in your training journal, your spreadsheet, or your phone. Ie. “I’m going to stay present on the platform today and use my breath to bring me back if I drift” or “I’m going to keep pushing today when training gets hard”.
Adjust your arousal to your optimal state: Choose some of the strategies from above to apply, notice how some of them might be better used pre-lift than pre-training. For example, we may not be using smelling salts before we even step into the gym.. Choose the actions from the above list based on what you need, and what feels best!
Choose one breathing exercise that you’ll regularly use just before training. After trying out a few of the exercises above to find which strategy feels best.
Example of a pre-training routine
20-30 mins before training
I eat my pre-workout snack and I check in with my arousal.
I set my intention for the session. Today it’s “I’m going to give the same attention to each of my lifts today by staying present and using a physiological sigh to bring back my attention if I get distracted by my thoughts”.
I will listen to my stimulating music on the way to the gym to increase my arousal.
Arriving to the gym
I’m going to do jumps in my warm-up to increase my arousal.
I’m going to take three intentional breaths throughout my warm-up.
Before moving to the platform
I’ll re-read my intention/performance goal I set for myself and do a last arousal check.
Pre-lift routine
A good routine for a lifter is short, specific, and repeatable. Consider if your routine will differ depending on the lift. Usually, the snatch being more technical, it often needs a calmer arousal level for most lifters than the clean and jerk.
Same physical sequence. Choose the order of your actions. Chalk in the same order. Belt at the same time.
One breath. Choose one kind of breath you’ll use as you approach the platform. You choose what breath you need here, pick one that will be easiest for you to repeat every time. Do you need a calming breath here or an energising one?
Self-Talk. What will you say to yourself as you approach the bar? Think of powerful words like “I’m strong” or “I’m powerful”.
Cue. Choose your technical cue that helps you bring everything together. This may be a good one to discuss with your coach!
Build it in training first. Run it before every working set, not just maxes. On competition day, the routine shouldn’t even be a second thought.
Conclusion & Next Steps -> Plan, Prepare, and Plan Some More.
Routines are one of the most effective ways to bring certainty into your training and reduce performance anxiety. Routines work when we practise them, make adjustments, and practise even more. The more opportunities we have to apply, the more feedback we have. Try implementing a pre-training routine into your sessions and before your lifts to build consistency and confidence in yourself as a lifter!
About the Author
Emma is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with a background in sport social work and athlete mental health. As a former competitive figure skater and current amateur weightlifter, she draws on both lived and learned experience to support the athletes she works with. She is the founder of Ryse Wellbeing, a mental health service based in Melbourne, specialising in the mental health, neurodiversity, and wellbeing of athletes. Emma works with young athletes navigating the psychological demands of competitive sport.
Book a consult at rysewellbeing.com.au
References
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Brooks, T., & Fleming, W. (2025). Strong Mind: A Weightlifters Guide to Focus, Confidence, and Resilience Under the Bar. Independently published.
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Hanin, Y. L. (1997). Emotions and athletic performance: Individual zones of optimal functioning model. European Yearbook of Sport Psychology, 1, 29–72.
Hanin, Y. L. (2000). Individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) model. In Y. L. Hanin (Ed.), Emotions in sport (pp. 65–89). Human Kinetics.
Hanin, Y. L., & Syrjä, P. (1995). Performance affect in junior ice hockey players: An application of the individual zones of optimal functioning model. The Sport Psychologist, 9(2), 169–187.
Landers, D. M., & Boutcher, S. H. (1984). Arousal–performance relationships. In J. M. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (pp. 164–184). Mayfield.
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