Mental "pain" versus muscle failure.
So, an interesting question for a Friday -- hopefully I'm understanding clearly.
By way of background, I'm a competitive long distance runner who does supplemental lifting for a few reasons (promoting bone density, supporting my running, fun to pick up heavy stuff)
I am used to pushing through a great deal of what I'll call "pain" during all out races. Not real "I'm injured" pain, but a sort of mental suffering that I think we're all familiar with.
When I run an all-out race, especially a 5K, it hurts like hell mentally, but it's pretty rare for my legs to actually fail (it has happened, but very rarely).
The other day, my personal trainer and I decided to try one rep maxes at the pull down and the bench press -- this was my first time trying them (I generally lift 4-8 reps in a set, often going to failure). We calculated it out based on what I normally lift, and warmed up with plenty of recovery.
I was expecting to hit a level of mental suffering similar to what I feel when racing all out, but I didn't. We pretty clearly just about hit my 1RM (I stalled out, and needed a very slight assist to complete -- so technically it wasn't an 1RM, but close), but I never hit that level of suffering where I really needed to dig deep mentally. Just muscle shaking and failure.
It struck me as interesting, especially given the mental toughness and struggles that seem so characteristic of the heavy lifting done by "real lifters". They fight a battle that I apparently don't face when lifting.
So -- when I run all out, I mentally hurt a lot, but rarely hit failure; when I max out my lifting, I hit muscle failure, but no noticeable mental anguish. I'm wondering why this is.
Perhaps just my differing levels of experience in running versus lifting? I know how to get to the edge in running, but not in lifting?
By way of background, I'm a competitive long distance runner who does supplemental lifting for a few reasons (promoting bone density, supporting my running, fun to pick up heavy stuff)
I am used to pushing through a great deal of what I'll call "pain" during all out races. Not real "I'm injured" pain, but a sort of mental suffering that I think we're all familiar with.
When I run an all-out race, especially a 5K, it hurts like hell mentally, but it's pretty rare for my legs to actually fail (it has happened, but very rarely).
The other day, my personal trainer and I decided to try one rep maxes at the pull down and the bench press -- this was my first time trying them (I generally lift 4-8 reps in a set, often going to failure). We calculated it out based on what I normally lift, and warmed up with plenty of recovery.
I was expecting to hit a level of mental suffering similar to what I feel when racing all out, but I didn't. We pretty clearly just about hit my 1RM (I stalled out, and needed a very slight assist to complete -- so technically it wasn't an 1RM, but close), but I never hit that level of suffering where I really needed to dig deep mentally. Just muscle shaking and failure.
It struck me as interesting, especially given the mental toughness and struggles that seem so characteristic of the heavy lifting done by "real lifters". They fight a battle that I apparently don't face when lifting.
So -- when I run all out, I mentally hurt a lot, but rarely hit failure; when I max out my lifting, I hit muscle failure, but no noticeable mental anguish. I'm wondering why this is.
Perhaps just my differing levels of experience in running versus lifting? I know how to get to the edge in running, but not in lifting?