A thought when at the gym today:

What is our goal with physical fitness and life?

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Maxing out and/or training until failure?

There are many different theories of working out, especially in the realm of bodybuilding vs powerlifting.

Bodybuilding is about getting the most epic muscles and muscle mass.

Powerlifting is about lifting the most weight off the ground as you possibly can.

The aims and ultimate goals are different.

With bodybuilding, a lot of bodybuilders “train until failure” (perform repetitions of heavy weights until they can no longer lift any more), in order to maximize their muscular mass growth. 

With powerlifting, the goal is to see what your ultimate “one rep max” can become — and there are different techniques and theories on how to get you there.

I cannot speak for bodybuilding, but at least my goal in powerlifting is this:

To never stop getting stronger.

And I measure strength in a purely physics-based approach:

The ability for my body to lift [x] amount of weight off the ground.

And to me, happiness isn’t the ultimate goal of being able to lift “X” amount of weight. I’m not “happier” being able to deadlift 405, compared to when I could deadlift 300, compared to when I could deadlift 200, compared to when I could deadlift 100 pounds. I was happiest when I perceived growth — preferably “week over week.” The simple measure was this:

Can I increase my one rep max by 5 pounds every week, into perpetuity?

And for me the greatest joy isn’t the ultimate amount of weight I can lift, it is the joy of becoming stronger this week than I was last week, or becoming stronger today compared to me yesterday!

Should I attempt “one rep max” workouts everyday?

I personally believe that we have not yet discovered the limits of the human body. It used to be believed a 4 minute mile was physically impossible for humans, and then we did it. Same with 500 kilogram deadlift (Eddie Hall). Same with becoming a billionaire — perhaps we will witness a trillionaire in our lifetimes.

How do our bodies become physically stronger? My theory:

Every workout, you attempt to lift a heavier weight than you did before. And in-between workouts, rest, recovery, and nutrition (eating lots of meat and protein).

Now the point of debates include:

1. How much rest do we need between our workouts in order to maximize our strength?
2. How often should we “max out” our lifts?

I’ve actually discovered that you can max out however often you want — as long as you have enough rest, strength, and willpower. For some of us, we can max out everyday. Some of us can perhaps max out once a week. But what I want to emphasize is this:

We are capable more than what we believe we are capable of. And also avoid any pseudo-science that you hear in physical fitness and science — most of it is bunk.

For example, I’ve been experimenting making out my deadlift as often as I can — sometimes everyday, and sometimes with a day of rest in-between. But I’ve pretty much been hitting the gym 7 days a week, and always maxing out my lifts (deadlift, squat, dumbbell press) with quite good success.

For example, – Monday: Max deadlift, and max dumbbell press – Tuesday: Mad squats, max dumbbell press – Wednesday: Max deadlift – Thursday: Max squats, max dumbbell press – Friday: Max deadlift – Saturday: Max deadlift – Sunday: Max dumbbell press

And honestly at this point, I don’t like sticking to a routine or following any rules. All I do is:

1. Go to the gym everyday (because I love it and enjoy it, not as a strange sense of duty).
2. Challenge myself to the max everyday at the gym. Attempt to max out, and to always push my body to the next level. If I am unable to perform a certain lift (failure), I stop working out, shower, go home, and the next time I’m in the gym, I attempt the same weight again, until I can accomplish it!

Failure?

I really hate the word failure, as it is tinged with this negative moralistic and ethical thing. 

Better to say:

Lack of strength (this time) to perform exercise “X”.

For example, if I try a 105 pound dumbbell press and I cannot lift up the weight, I don’t get sad or upset. I’m actually quite glad that I’m pushing myself to the limit — and now I’m glad that I have the knowledge that (currently) my maximum lift for dumbbell press is 105. So that’s my new goal — to strive to successfully lift 105 (once), and then once I can do it — work myself up until 110. Then in the future, keep pushing myself until I can do 120, then 125, then 130, 135, etc …

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Don’t be scared!

My 4 year old niece Amelia loves to say:

“Samchon [uncle]— don’t be scared!”

The problem a lot of people face in the gym is this — fear of “injury” or “hurting yourself”. My theory is that this is a big conspiracy to get you to hire trainers, buy fitness magazines, use strange exercise machines, etc. It is essentially a fear tactic to prevent you from attempting epic shit.

For example, I’ve never used a weight lifting belt, wrist-hand straps, knee wraps, special weight lifting shoes, or any of these funny accessories for weight lifting and never will.

Everyone told me that I would “injure” myself, and would always criticize my form or whatever. And I’ve been fine.

Never let the scare tactics of others discourage you, or prevent you from attempting epic shit. Only listen to yourself.

In fact, the best way to “encourage” yourself is to simply ignore or stay away from the discouragement or others (via negativa strategy from Nassim Taleb). I’ve also purposefully avoided reading anything online with powerlifting theory — it will discourage you more than encourage you, as with almost all modern media.

My rule of thumb:

Never consume any media with advertising in it, or else you’re getting suckered somewhere.

Conclusion: Maxing out in life 

Perhaps this is also an apt theory on life — strive to max out in life!

Because truth be told, at least with physical fitness — nobody is gonna care about how buff or strong you are, as there will always be Arnold, Ronnie Coleman, and Eddie Hall. 

What is better:

Max out in your physical fitness, in order to embolden you to max out in your artistic, creative, and personal life!

MAX OUT!

ERIC