Predictions
I couldn’t, after all, take part on the last Bench Press championship. Pity, but maybe for the best: the full-leg cast was really uncomfortable and would require a lot of help moving about. Monday I took it out and started wearing a Velcro half-cast. Now I can bend my knee, but not enough to have a decent bridge.
There is another nice BP championship on August the 4th in which I will have to wear this.
So, what to expect?
There are two possible answers: the first would be the scientific prediction of around 100kg – a little more, a little less. The second would be: the unexpected.
Cast and all, last week I did 4 sets of 4 reps with 68kg (149.6lbs) (raw) and called it a day. Went home and calculated the 1RM with this value and came to 75kg (165lbs). Adding 32% of bench shirt carry-over (that is what Fury Titan gives me), that comes to 99kg or 217.8lbs. With cast – moderate to no bridge.
The following week I tested the 1RM raw lift. The result was… 75kg (165 lbs)! What a surprise.
The question is: why did I lift 165 lbs? Because the formula based on regression analysis accurately describes the biological phenomenon of BP lifting? Or because I was biased by my own prediction? Predisposed to accomplishing the predicted, or fulfilling the prophesy?
A few months ago, I wouldn’t blink to answer: “option one”. Now I am not so sure. Mental barriers in strength (and maybe other sports as well) have as much to do with the known physiological phenomena of muscle contraction as the tip of an iceberg reflects its actual water content. There is much more to it – in physiological terms – than what we have empirical documented data about.
More later
July 26, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Sorry to hear that you missed the BP Championship. Strong lifts your getting with the limited mobilty. Nice! As for the two options I would say it is a combination of the two. The mind is extremely powerful and can easily make a weight feel heavy or light and create barriers. Like say you may be able to do more then 165lbs but you had 165 stuck in your head so you you got stuck there. But then on the other hand maybe if you didn’t calculate it to being 165lbs and didn’t think of 165lbs you might have been limited to 150lbs because you felt like it was really heavy and the mind didn’t know any better to say you can do more.