Achieving my dream of dead, lifting five plates; I did it in the most adoptable of conditions, jetlagged, while in Phnom Penh Cambodia. Also with foreign equipment in a foreign gym. And I used liquid chalk instead of normal chalk. Yet I was still able to do it.

Therefore, my interventional thought:

Perhaps, when we are always striving towards the optimal conditions, we achieve less.

That, instead of striving for the optimal conditions, just follow your gut. If you’re feeling gutsy enough to attempt it, just give it your all.

Heuristics and general rules of thumb in life are cognitively useful, but they also hold us back. For example, instead of attempting a one rep max just once a week, maybe you could try it in less than that. For example, maybe you only need six days to recover, or five days to recover, or four days or three days or even two days. Or even one day. You never know.

Optimal is never!