Even wonder why incredible feats of strength are performed under pressure? Well, one answer comes to mind... the brain. You see, there is a way to stress yourself into doing a something. Think about it.
Remember when Bill Kazmaier threw those kegs with incredible speed at the world's strongest man a while back? Well, most of that was stressing himself into doing that so bad, that he forgot what he was doing or how fast he was doing it - sort of tricking the mind.
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I think that even more feats of strength can be done by fooling the mind. This is just a theory that I came up with in my years of training. I think that if you can fool the mind into doing something or forgetting it, you can definitely fool the body. It all starts at the brain.
For instance, at a meet, let's say that you failed at 300 lbs for a 2nd attempt on the bench, and you know that you have to do a 315 lbs lift for a 3rd at the meet. Obviously, you would hold back, right? Yep, but if you assumed you did 300 lbs and did 305 lbs instead, you're capable of 315 lbs. Right there, you just fooled your own brain, thus fooling the body that you did 305 lbs instead of 300.
You see, the brain sends messages to the rest of the body stating that the weight is too heavy, so your body preps itself for failure. The brain is the control center for everything, thus you have to trick that first in order to trick your body next. Powerlifters do this anyway.
Some lifters don't max out at the gym, thus doing their new (latest) max attempt at the meet itself. It's good to leave your mind in question, so that you can fool it. It doesn't know the body's new barriers yet. And as long as you push yourself higher, your mind will keep guessing.
Fooling The Mind: An Example
An example of a mind trick is this: Me and my training partner one day were doing walkouts prior to the WNPF Alabama State Championships. He told me that he was going to put 475 lbs on the bar. At this point, it didn't matter to me.
So, I was preparing myself for something that I know I can do for at least a walkout. I didn't look at the bar because my glasses were off (they always are when I'm doing squats). So as soon as I got ready, I went and did 475 lbs for a very easy walkout. The thing was, after I did it, I had really done 500 lbs!
Curtis.
I don't think that it was fear really, just the mental blockage that all powerlifters have when they know their limits. Sort of holding back, if you will.
The purpose of this is to push the mind (and thus the body) beyond its own self-imposed barriers. You might want to try this in the future with a partner or someone you trust, because that's the way it will work. As long as you trust that person, there's no reason to suspect a surprise. Prepare to amaze yourself with this technique called the "Mind Trick"!
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The
human central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord.
These lie in the midline of the body and are protected by the skull and
vertebrae respectively.
