Thursday Blowout

What would you normally expect to see as a rep count on an exercise in your average workout day? 15 reps over 3 sets? Maybe 20 over 4?

What happens when you take that number and blow it up? What happens when that number hits 50? 100? 200? More? We don't live in a world where every demand comes at you in neatly tied bunches of 10 or 15. It's similar to my point about loading with water or sand. The loads our world throws at us are very rarely evenly loaded with a nice convenient ergonomically pleasing grip. We get what we get and it rarely shows up right at our 10 repetition max.

We regularly explore the higher regions of rep counts in my clients' programs. So this isn't anything really new to them. However, a couple of weeks ago we set some seriously high goals, in the hundreds, on some very difficult movements. I wanted to take these particular folks on a journey.

What happens when you're standing at the base of a sheer rock face, there's no way back and you have to get to the other side? The path of least resistance becomes straight up. Where do you go mentally? Do you tell yourself it can't be done? Do you defeat yourself immediately? Do you jump in, hoping for the best, and live, mired in self doubt, asking yourself if it's worth it at somewhere around the 217th rep?

Or do you find that place of trust and faith? Do you find that place of inner strength and resolve that doesn't give you any option other than success? Given time and determination, you will finish. It's a test. In the case I mentioned above, it was a place we needed to go. Self doubt and darkness overshadowed the faith in one's own ability and conditioning. The goal was to push through as a group, to encourage each other through some of the most difficult and demanding training they'd ever seen in order that they would lead each other to the well of self confidence and faith deep inside. I don't mean to sound like a cult leader here or anything. Our daily grind often times doesn't seem to foster a sense of faith in one's ability to out perform expectation, so we forget it's there. We just have to dig down and find it.

You know what? They did it. They found it.

I'd put that same challenge out to you. When was the last time you seriously tested yourself? When was the last time you set out a task that lies on the very cusp of your ability and just went for it? When was the last time you searched and scratched your way forward until you finally found that well?

Stop in one Thursday. Tap into your well.