The Mind Manifests Strength

Today I encourage you to test yourself. Take time out of your ho-hum routine and discover what your body is truly capable of. You'll be surprised.

The trick to testing yourself properly, however, is to turn off your brain (to an extent). Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about here. Usually when I do a plank (one of my favorite ab exercises, as many of you well know), I have my timer right in front of me and I time my plank for one minute and then rest and repeat-- pretty typical stuff. By the end of that one minute, like around 55 seconds, I find myself shaking, tired, and ready to see my savior "1:00" appear. The other day I took a different approach: I closed my eyes. I started my timer and then closed my eyes, and I stopped when I was shaking and tired, etc. Guess what? 2 minutes and 35 seconds.

I'm not trying to brag here (that's not even that great, anyway), but rather make a point about the power of the mind over the body. The amount of fatigue I felt after my "blind" 2:35 was the same as my usual 1:00, which can only lead me to infer that I have been working at a sub-maximal level for quite some time now.

This same phenomenon applies to counting repetitions. It's amazing how having someone else count for you will increase the amount of repetitions you're capable of, primarily because your mind isn't limiting your body to the habits its established.

Also a key element in this self-evaluation process is a sense of competition. If you have ever experienced running alone versus running with a team or group of friends, then you're already aware of what I'm talking about. A competitive drive, even if it's not to obtain points or win, but simply to just prove yourself or even show off a little bit, can be an extremely effective motivator. So now, I encourage you to compete with yourself.

How many push-ups can you do?
How many pull-ups?
How long can you hold a plank?
How fast can you run a mile?
How fast can you run 100 yards?

For those of you interested in knowing how strong you are but are a bit hesitant to test your one-rep maximum, which can be dangerous unless you have a equally as strong and qualified person there to spot you, then a basic formula you can use is that a 10-rep maximum is approximately 75% of your 1-rep max. For example, lets say you can bench press 130lbs for 10 reps (and by this I mean that the last two repetitions are difficult and that an 11th rep could not be completed), then by dividing 130 by .75 you would get your approximate 1-rep max (173lbs, in this case). However, I still encourage you to have a workout buddy present to both count for you and spot.

This obviously requires more intensity than a usual workout, so please, if you're going to do this DO NOT SKIP YOUR WARM-UP, COOL-DOWN, AND STRETCHING!!! Also, allow yourself a minimum of 48 hours of rest after your "test" to give your muscles time to repair and process lactic acid build-up.

These kinds of tests are crucial for anyone committed to a long-term fitness goal. They are a great way to motivate yourself, track improvement, and evaluate intensity. Go forth from this blog and exceed your own expectations!