Generally, I dont like to show off my personal achievements- but today Im making an exception, and Ill share this one in the form of a brief story. The deadlift is one of the simplest and most primitive movements in weightlifting. You pick a bar off the ground. Then you drop it down. Done. That said, it is one of the hardest and most draining things one can do. Just at the beginning of this summer I was pretty proud to hit a benchmark of deadlifting 315 pounds one time. Today, I lifted that same amount for 4 reps. Just a few weeks prior I had attempted 340 pounds on a couple occasions, only to get it a couple inches of the ground at one point. I was feeling pretty good today, so I decided on a whim to attempt 340- and to my surprise it came up pretty easily. I knew right when I locked the weight that I would be attempting 350 in just a few more minutes. I sat down and meditated just behind the barbell until my breathing and heart rate returned to normal. At this point, I stood up and took three deep and slow breaths. I walked my feet to the bar, shins just an inch away. I took one final inhale and pounded my left chest with my right hand, just over my heart. This was paired a with a brief and powerful grunt as I tensed every muscle in my body. I reached down, grabbed the bar, and pulled myself down to it, every muscle tense like a spring ready to explode. I inhaled once again, braced myself, and began both pulling and pushing with every single ounce of my being- mental and physical. It came an inch of the ground and stopped; I however did not. I continued exerting the maximum amount of force I could, and after what felt like an eternity it began to move again, albeit quite slowly. At this moment I gave 110% and the bar started to accelerate, coming higher, higher. My legs straightened, the weight had been lifted. I held it for several seconds before dropping it. I felt lighter than a feather, with all the energy in the universe. I felt like I could go run a marathon. But I need my rest now, especially since this is my third consecutive day of intense full body weight training.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 00:51:48 +0000
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