Not gonna lie, I was pretty psyched to see myself on the front page of Elitefts.com this week rocking the new premium apparel. Our super-cool product director Andy Hinsbergen hooked me up with some of that sweet new swag in advance, and it was perfect timing, because I’ve been dragging just a little in the gym the past week. With a little pump going in the new stringer tee, though, it’s basically impossible to have a bad training day.

It’s funny how that works, and maybe you’ve experienced the same thing: a new T-shirt or maybe a fresh pair of Kraits just seems to set you up for a good workout. It brings something fresh to the table, and that tiny edge is just enough to make the difference. Except… if that’s the case, does it mean you’re just as bad as the gym bros who insist on rocking a $200 pair of squat shoes and a singlet for their work sets with 315?

Posers and Imposters

I’m 100% behind Louie Simmons when he says that you shouldn’t have a $100 shoe and a ten-cent squat. If you think you need the flashiest kicks, or the newest shirt with the sticky crap on the back, or special-edition knee sleeves to lift weights, then you’re worried about the wrong damn things, and you’re probably never going to accomplish much through lifting.

On the other hand, I know a lot of really successful lifters who don’t think much of themselves or their progress, and that’s not a great situation, either. Dani Overcash has written some excellent articles on imposter syndrome and how deeply it can affect your performance in and outside of the gym. You should check out the full article, but here’s the long and short of it: the most driven, high-achieving people often have the lowest estimations of their own abilities, and, paradoxically, that lack of self-confidence can make it harder for them to realize their full potential.

If you fall into the latter category, you really need to do some soul-searching, and try to understand why you hold onto those insecurities. Obviously, that’s really fucking hard, and can take years – hell, maybe an entire lifetime. So as long as you’re aware of those insecurities, and remain curious about them, I see no problem with doing a little showboating in the meantime. “Fake it ‘til you make it” actually works really, really well, and there’s even some good research that shows looking confident will make you feel more confident, and translate into better performance. So hey, if that’s you, go grab that new stringer and maybe a new pair of Romaleos, too – the worst thing it can hurt is your wallet, and maybe looking like a badass lifter will make you more of one.

Beginner’s Mind

There’s another reason new gear can get you amped up to train. In Zen Buddhism, there’s a concept called “beginner’s mind,” and basically, it’s the idea that when you approach a new situation without any preconceptions – as if you were doing it for the first time – then you will do so with a more open, eager attitude. Obviously, that’s really, really valuable in training. At the same time, though, so much of training is based on routine and repetition that it can be extremely difficult to walk into the gym without any expectations.

You can probably see where this is going. Maybe you can’t change your routine, but you can change other aspects of your training – aspects like what gym you train at, or who you train with, or even what clothes you train in. Yeah, it might seem a little silly, but hey – our minds aren’t always the most rational things in the world. If you have to resort to tricks like this (or like the placebo effect) to get in a better mindset, as long as that results in better performance, who cares? At the end of the day, you still improved.

Wrapping Up

If this post seems like one long advertisement for the new clothing line, I promise it isn’t. I don’t get any kickbacks from the sales, so as long as you spent at least a second or two admiring my ugly mug and swole-ass arms on the homepage, then I’m happy. I do hope, though, that no matter what you wear, you can use this information to improve your training and maybe feel a little more confident in your everyday life, too.