A big thing I realized at the gym is that a lot of guys do not attempt one repetition maximums because they are afraid of failing in front of others. For example, if you attempt a very very heavy squat, and you fail and you ditch the bar behind you onto the safety pins, it is somehow seen as embarrassing.

Or, it seems that a lot of guys are reticent to ask other people for a spot. Why? I see it as a positive experience, and opportunity to create a new bond with somebody, putting your life and your safety in the hands of others. To ask for help or for a spot is actually a positive act of courage.

Also, the more you fail, the greater your progress towards insane greatness. For example, I haven’t done a heavy dumbbell press in a long time, and today I just did it for fun, and I noted that my strength has gone down considerably. A little bit annoying, but in the grand scheme of things, not a big deal. Why? Currently it is just an unfamiliarity thing, I’m just not used to the weights. In fact, holding the dumbbells felt really heavy, some thing that my body, and my wrists need to just get accustomed to.

I started off by climbing up from 50 pounders to 60 pounders to 70 pounders to 80 pounders to 90 pounders. Because I have easily done 100 pound heavy dumbbell press in the past, I just went up and tried to shoot for 105 pound dumbbell press off the floor, in order to get more leverages. I wasn’t able to do it, so I tried 100 pounds instead. I couldn’t get the 100 pound up. I’ve then tried 95 pound and couldn’t get it up either.

Technically, I failed three attempts in front of a bunch of guys, but it didn’t bother me. Why should I bother me?