Just saw an interesting article linked to on fark.com. However, as articles linked to on fark tend to do....the linke no longer works. However here is the article on some random blog:

Look a bit down the page...Article from New Scientist.com or something like that. (http://blogs.salon.com/0002729/2004/03/22.html)

Anyway, the gist of it is that muscle fatigue is not necessarily real. It's mostly in your head and surpassing obstacles is mainly a mental exercise more than a physical one. the guy seems to have some sort of scientific basis for the claims too....kinda interesting. I saved a copy of the article if anybody thinks I should post it in the forums. It's 2,367 words though.

IMO its a combination of both...your mind will tell you to quit LONG before your body actually gives out...the trick is to shut your mind off. Very hard to do, but anyone who's ever lifted to such an intensity where they're "tuned off" knows what I'm talking about...its trancelike...

Trancelike...sounds sweeet. I guess I haven't quite reached it yet.

/reminder: shut off mind.

No, no, don't shut off your mind.

Free your mind. :lol:

I was just coming on to post that article, but I said let me see if somebody already has, LOL. I knew I wasn't the only Farker here, LOL. Actually Fark.com is where I found John's site. I'm probably not the only one.

"Free Your Mind, and Your Head'll be Hollow" :eek:

Nonsense. Sure, it's somewhat in your head. I often could get another rep if I wanted. Or, I could do my 25 minute run in 20 minutes if I had to. Or, at the end of a sprint on my bike I couild actually go for another 10 seconds even if I feel my legs are about to burn off, but pretending that you can will muscle fatique away is just silly.

Similarly, if my max bench is normally 250 lbs, perhaps I could get 260 if I really tried hard. Perhaps if my life depended upon it I could get 275. But 600? Never.

Nonsense. Sure, it's somewhat in your head. I often could get another rep if I wanted. Or, I could do my 25 minute run in 20 minutes if I had to. Or, at the end of a sprint on my bike I couild actually go for another 10 seconds even if I feel my legs are about to burn off, but pretending that you can will muscle fatique away is just silly.

Similarly, if my max bench is normally 250 lbs, perhaps I could get 260 if I really tried hard. Perhaps if my life depended upon it I could get 275. But 600? Never.


I think its more of a thing that has to deal without weights. Like running, walking, jogging for example. Or even things like pushups, situps, crunches, pullups. Your body tells you your tired and you shouldnt proceed. You shut that off you will be able to do more and with greater amounts of quality. Your mind is full of negative thoughts. Thinking too much and letting your mind wonder can be dangerous. Just do it. Your body will adjust to whatever you force it to do. But in weights in other standards I would try to think about that unless its something where lets say you lift the car off someone it fell on by a miracle a work of GOD? I know things like that happen all the time. My grandmother did that once when the jack gave out and car was pushing against my grandfather. In your mind you have standards like say you never lifted more than that or ran faster than that. Your mind tells you cannot what so ever surpass that. I dont think the same works in lifting "HEAVY WEIGHT" but in lower weight and running yes. Just be careful. :)

I think its more of a thing that has to deal without weights. Like running, walking, jogging for example. Or even things like pushups, situps, crunches, pullups. Your body tells you your tired and you shouldnt proceed. You shut that off you will be able to do more and with greater amounts of quality. Your mind is full of negative thoughts. Thinking too much and letting your mind wonder can be dangerous. Just do it. Your body will adjust to whatever you force it to do. But in weights in other standards I would try to think about that unless its something where lets say you lift the car off someone it fell on by a miracle a work of GOD? I know things like that happen all the time. My grandmother did that once when the jack gave out and car was pushing against my grandfather. In your mind you have standards like say you never lifted more than that or ran faster than that. Your mind tells you cannot what so ever surpass that. I dont think the same works in lifting "HEAVY WEIGHT" but in lower weight and running yes. Just be careful. :)Well I think that with cardio it generally _hurts_ a lot more than heavy weights, and it's over such a long period of time that it can wear you down. Now matter how much you want it though, your body will fail. I've no doubt that professional endurance athletes have all but mastered the mind game of it. When you're at the last stretch of a race against the top-tiered athletes in the world, you're giving it your all. The body is undeniably limited. It can't simply crank out at full strength indefinitely.

I think that a lot of the stories of people lifting up cars, throwing buildings, etc. in times of emergencies are frequently exagerated, or ignoring the particulars of the matter. I remember seeing a guy on tv "lifting a helicopter". Well, that's what they called it. In reality he was deadlifting a section of it and had a superior leverage to do it. He wasn't calling on any super-human strength which, if applied controllably, could have given him a 3000 lb squat.