So, for the past two weeks I’ve been stuck on my 125lb bench press. I’m doing rips starting strength novice routine, and I kept getting gassed by the last two reps of the last set. I went through it all again tonight, feeling really let down after having to get a spotter to help on the third set three BP sessions in a row…until I looked at my numbers and realized that I had accidentally thrown 10 extra pounds on tonight, breaking last weeks BP numbers by 5 pounds. Ugly? yes, progress? yes! Anyone else have a similar experience of tricking yourself in to busting a plateau?
Yesterday, my friends brother was deadlifting, kid is like 5’3 130 pounds, he goes for 275lb and barely gets it. He really looked like he had no more, since he hitched 275. Kid has good spirit so he wanted to try it anyways since his brother just had a 10lb PR.
He said load up 290 (15 pounds PR), my friend loaded up 305lb because he wasn’t paying attention.
The kid goes up to the bar and does it, no hitch,looked easy.
We said DUDE you got 300 in the tank, we look down and start laughing when we see he just pulled 305lb (30lb PR)
yeah it makes me think lifting weights is fake… strength is just all in your head. 90 lbs chimps can rip tires in half and we have the same genes/muscles as them really.
Then u look at some roided out freak and he’s not even as strong as some skinny powerlifter like Eric Cressey.
[quote]beeph wrote:
yeah it makes me think lifting weights is fake… strength is just all in your head. 90 lbs chimps can rip tires in half and we have the same genes/muscles as them really.
Then u look at some roided out freak and he’s not even as strong as some skinny powerlifter like Eric Cressey.
It’s all mental
[/quote]
That because the ROIDED FREAK(lol) probably has no idea what he is doing or powerlifting is not his thing.
Personally i have in my head i want to squat 1000lb, but I’m sure no matter what goes trough my head, i would unrack it and eat rubber flooring.
[quote]beeph wrote:
yeah it makes me think lifting weights is fake… strength is just all in your head. 90 lbs chimps can rip tires in half and we have the same genes/muscles as them really.
Then u look at some roided out freak and he’s not even as strong as some skinny powerlifter like Eric Cressey.
[quote]beeph wrote:
yeah it makes me think lifting weights is fake… strength is just all in your head. 90 lbs chimps can rip tires in half and we have the same genes/muscles as them really.
Then u look at some roided out freak and he’s not even as strong as some skinny powerlifter like Eric Cressey.
It’s all mental
[/quote]
Chimps, gorillas and other apes have muscle fibers that are far stronger than their human counter-parts.
A scared female chimpanzee was once recorded pulling 800lbs.s of force with one arm. I wish I could find the article I read it in, and add some legitimacy to my claim.
Either way, while we share a 98% similar genetic make-up, the 2% that makes up the difference is huge.
Strength could be called mental in the sense that it is a measure of the efficiency in which your neurons control your muscle fibers to create force. An untrained lifter may use 40% of their muscle, while a trained individual could use 75% (not accurate figures).
I don’t know that define strength as mental the way you want to.
I think what the OP and the mind over matter guy are getting at is that in theory one could direct one’s muscles to lift weights far heavier than your current presumed maxes if one could overcome the mental obstacle of doubt.
However, if this was possible, it would require the mental focus, discipline of body, and detachment of mind of a long practiced monk. Most people could not just shut out the “laws” of reality that most people take for granted in favor of a more flexible reality, nor could they shut out all of the doubt, fear, and other mental chatter which would prevent one from simply “doing” rather than “trying to do”.
Aren’t the tendon placements on apes responsible for their immense strength?
And didn’t we evolve into pussified apes so that we could use fine motor movements more effectively. Would kind of suck if your grip was so strong you broke every pencil you tried to write with. Would be kind of awesome too.
[quote]Makavali wrote:
beeph wrote:
yeah it makes me think lifting weights is fake… strength is just all in your head. 90 lbs chimps can rip tires in half and we have the same genes/muscles as them really.
Then u look at some roided out freak and he’s not even as strong as some skinny powerlifter like Eric Cressey.
[quote]Moon Knight wrote:
I think what the OP and the mind over matter guy are getting at is that in theory one could direct one’s muscles to lift weights far heavier than your current presumed maxes if one could overcome the mental obstacle of doubt.
However, if this was possible, it would require the mental focus, discipline of body, and detachment of mind of a long practiced monk. Most people could not just shut out the “laws” of reality that most people take for granted in favor of a more flexible reality, nor could they shut out all of the doubt, fear, and other mental chatter which would prevent one from simply “doing” rather than “trying to do”.[/quote]
I don’t think I was saying all that, but I see where you’re going. I had a shitty bench press session, and the next week I had a shitty bench press session(where I had been progressing steadily before), but on the third week, I accidentally added more weight, and pressed it AS WELL as I had been pressing the lesser amount.
I don’t think I tricked myself in to lifting the weight, I think I tricked myself out of feeling frustrated by a perceived sticking point. I dont think I could use the same technique to add a hundred pounds to my bench tomorrow, but I’m cool with 10lbs during a rut.
And the ape thing is all soft tissue and muscle composition, they’re freaky strong animals at any weight.
I think the ape thing is to do with muscle insertion, something like their biceps attach to their forearms halfway down so they have a massive mechanical advantage, probably a load of other factors too.
A couple of weeks ago I dropped the weight for the final set, my training partner forgot to do the other side of the bar, repped out and was like that seemed heavier on the right hand side, turns out there was 10lbs extra!
[quote]beeph wrote:
yeah it makes me think lifting weights is fake… strength is just all in your head. 90 lbs chimps can rip tires in half and we have the same genes/muscles as them really.
Then u look at some roided out freak and he’s not even as strong as some skinny powerlifter like Eric Cressey.
It’s all mental[/quote]
Why would you say something so retarded? That’s completely retarded. I’ve never heard anything so retarded.
[quote]LiftSmart wrote:
Aren’t the tendon placements on apes responsible for their immense strength?
And didn’t we evolve into pussified apes so that we could use fine motor movements more effectively. Would kind of suck if your grip was so strong you broke every pencil you tried to write with. Would be kind of awesome too.[/quote]
I believe you are right, oh wise and mighty deadlifting ape.
[quote]LiftSmart wrote:
Aren’t the tendon placements on apes responsible for their immense strength?
And didn’t we evolve into pussified apes so that we could use fine motor movements more effectively. Would kind of suck if your grip was so strong you broke every pencil you tried to write with. Would be kind of awesome too.
[/quote]
Yeah also a kill could support 2 guys eating 2500 calories a day just as long as 1 guy eating 5000 calories a day and generally speaking 2 spears are better than 1. Even if one is thrown a little harder than the other.
Also… being able to travel 10 miles a day over a summer covers alot more hunting groudns than travelling 1 mile a day.
Twisting some twine on a notched speartip to fasten it to a fishing pole and stabbing a few fish is alot easier than taking down a mastodon with a giant log I’d imagine.
We may as well all have vaginas. Our macho muscles are friggin useless.
[quote]Moon Knight wrote:
I think what the OP and the mind over matter guy are getting at is that in theory one could direct one’s muscles to lift weights far heavier than your current presumed maxes if one could overcome the mental obstacle of doubt.
However, if this was possible, it would require the mental focus, discipline of body, and detachment of mind of a long practiced monk. Most people could not just shut out the “laws” of reality that most people take for granted in favor of a more flexible reality, nor could they shut out all of the doubt, fear, and other mental chatter which would prevent one from simply “doing” rather than “trying to do”.[/quote]
I’d say lifting weights is 95% in your head. If you’re 100% confident in your lift, you’re going to hit it. Any self-doubt and it’s not going to fly.
It’s like being in a fight: you really want to wreck someone’s face, don’t hit their nose, punch through their skull.
When lifting, I visualize the end of the ROM, pretty much disregarding everything that happens in between: physical pain, struggling, etc., just push/pull like crazy completely in the zone.
[quote]pachell wrote:
Moon Knight wrote:
I think what the OP and the mind over matter guy are getting at is that in theory one could direct one’s muscles to lift weights far heavier than your current presumed maxes if one could overcome the mental obstacle of doubt.
However, if this was possible, it would require the mental focus, discipline of body, and detachment of mind of a long practiced monk. Most people could not just shut out the “laws” of reality that most people take for granted in favor of a more flexible reality, nor could they shut out all of the doubt, fear, and other mental chatter which would prevent one from simply “doing” rather than “trying to do”.
I’d say lifting weights is 95% in your head. If you’re 100% confident in your lift, you’re going to hit it. Any self-doubt and it’s not going to fly.
It’s like being in a fight: you really want to wreck someone’s face, don’t hit their nose, punch through their skull.
When lifting, I visualize the end of the ROM, pretty much disregarding everything that happens in between: physical pain, struggling, etc., just push/pull like crazy completely in the zone.
It’s really not that difficult…[/quote]
Yeah, its one of those situations where it is paradoxically easy and difficult at the same time. It is simply a matter of just deciding you ARE going to do it. However, like you say, you have to be 100% confident, and it can be quite difficult to shed all of the “rules” that we are taught to believe in which will inevitably create doubt about our limitless potential.