When I was younger I used to train really hard. I still tend to do so. But when I was younger, I don’t even remember why, but I decided that it would be important to test my ability to lift insanely heavy weights under psychological distress. To simulate that state, I did what I hate the most: I ran. I would run 1.1 miles in the windless, midnight heat of Texas (I got off work at 12am back then). I would time it so my roommate could try to beat my time next time he ran. Then I would rest for 3 minutes or 1.5 minutes depending on the day and do a 20-rep squat or warm up to a 3X3 squat. I would then do deadlift, bench, chins, and a single of clean and press for fun. I only weighed about 135 back then because I could only afford, on average, about 1300-1500 calories a day.
In the last year I’ve bumped by dead lift up to 375 for easy singles and my squat up to 365 for the same. I’m not that strong at the moment because summer break comes with a whole list of challenges that make routine gym adherence difficult. I did buy some on-sale equipment for the garage though. That brings me to my point. On days when it is inconvenient to make it to the gym, I do some dead lift, ab roll outs, and heavy bag in the garage. But I decided: why not do dead lift under psychological distress like in the old days. Anyhow, I was doing 255 for reps after hitting the heavy bag for three three minute rounds. Then today I did a three minute round and two five minute rounds on the bag. It was about 91 degree out, but the heat index was 102. I could only pull 205 off the floor five times before I felt like collapsing.
Moral of the story: in door strength training is definitely good for you and most certainly to be preferred to other fitness craziness. But, if you want to test your meddle (while taking safety precautions for heat and fatigue) doing heavy weights in a state of metabolic and psychological distress will certainly indicate what you’re made of. I’ll look up research on this topic and post it later.
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