Lifting balloons and the 85% Rule

Some time ago, I heard an accomplished weight lifter describe how he was able to achieve his extraordinary results.

Instead of gritting his teeth and “pushing” for maximum physical effort during his weight training sessions, he would imagine that the weights had balloons tied to them. He would still be lifting weights at the extremes of his ability, but his imagination would make them feel feather-light.

Of course, the actual weight would be unchanged. But he argued that the sensation and mindset of lifting something easily was much more effective than imagining a Herculean effort to lift this huge, hulking iron mass. Supposedly, this made his training more powerful and enabled him to lift significantly more weight than others without injury.

At the time, I thought it was a cute sentiment, but essentially another “athletic visualization” practice, a “mind over matter” issue.

Yesterday, however, I learned another principle, one that would suggest that our lifter friend was really onto something.

The principle is called The 85% Rule, and I first heard about it in Tim Ferriss’s 2020 interview with Hugh Jackman.

The idea behind the 85% Rule is that, if you perceive that you’re giving only 85% of your maximum effort, you can get objectively better results - faster, stronger, further, etc. - than when you picture yourself giving 100% effort, because at 100% effort, you introduce unnecessary straining, tension, and inefficiency, both mentally and physically.

Based on my personal experiences, in sports, trivia competitions, and especially, piano-playing, this makes sense.

When you try too hard, you end up getting in your own way. Better to relax a little bit and trust that your training and instincts will take over and lead you to excellence.

Today, during my workout, I imagined that there were little balloons helping me lift the weights during each rep.

And by golly, I feel like a got a better workout, without all the strain and tension of trying so hard.

Sure, it’s anecdotal and just what I happened to be feeling in the moment.

But isn’t my life (and everyone’s, for that matter) nothing more than a series of anecdotes and momentary feelings?

So try it out for yourself sometime. Instead of giving 100% effort (or 110%, as many driven coaches seem to encourage), shoot for higher performance.

Shoot for 85%.

Good luck! Let us know what you find out.