There are things common in Zen and weight training.
Focus in important, focus on the present, this lift, this rep. Make it the best you can but don’t get hung up on it. Don’t worry about failures. Weight lifting teaches you that there will always be failures and failure leads to growth.
The breath is important, it is the connection with the process of living. Breath brings energy into the body for use. Use it well.
The process of practice is important, not so much the outcome which we can not control 100%. In Zen we sit each day. Rather we are in the mood or not. We except our different moods as fodder for the practice. It is the same with lifting, approach each rep and set and session with the knowledge that however we feel in the moment is naturally how we feel and let this power our training. 

Don’t just know, do.

My name is Will Simpson. I’m a Zennist, woodworker, metalworker, fitness nerd, mental model explorer and information geek. You can connect with my more philosophical blog posts at Kestrelcreek.

LINKS FOR BEAUTY & MEANING

+ Rocket Fuel  When time catches up 
"A bad decision isn't only bad because we're uninformed or dumb. It can be bad because we are swayed by short-term comfort and ignore long-term implications. A bad decision feels good in the short run, the heartfelt decision of someone who means well. But there's a gap when we get to the long run."

+ The Magic of Being Held By the World

+ The Difference Between Love and Tolerance 
"I’ve said many times of my generation that we drink deeply from wells of freedom and opportunity that we did not dig, that we eat from tables prepared for us by our ancestors, that we sit comfortably in the shade of trees that we did not cultivate. We stand on the shoulders of giants.”

+ The Examined Life 
"Lately I see my life as one sweeping, continuous moment that is always taking place in the present. The whole sum of my life is with me at all times. It is all one instant, always one moment in time, as though my entire life took no time at all.”
"The choices you make on a day-to-day basis, a moment-to-moment basis, determine the kind of person you will be. Look hard enough at the present and you will see your future.”