Limits and the power of the mind

[Saurus]

This post was inspired a comment by Bigkat in another thread.

There are no limits.

Michael Johnson is the only man to win both the 200 m and 400 m races at the same Olympics. He knew that to acomplish this, he would have to beat the world record in both events. Up to that stage, these limits seemed beyond what any human was capable of, due to the different nature of the two races.

The story goes that his coach, a few days before his race, trained him by making him run as fast as he could, and timed ever sprint. What he did not tell Michael Johnson, was that during every training sprint, he stopped the stop-watch a meter or two before the finish line. Every time Michael ran during his training, he had just managed to beat the world record - or at least he thought so. With every training run, he ran a little faster, knowing that he was capable of beating the world record...

To date, he is the only person ever to have accompished what was thought to be impossible.

[Saurus]

Similarly, in 1954, Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile barrier. For years leading up to that time, press releases had said that it was simply beyond the capabilities of the human body to run a mile in under four minutes. For many, many years, runners ended just up a second or two below the mark.

Isn't it strange, then, that within one year of the barrier being broken by Bannister, seven other runners did it in less than four minutes, just because they knew it could be done.

Makes you think, doesn't it...

[Target]

Wow thats a pretty insane way of looking at things but I don't really agree. Certain things are impossible for certain people. Like me I could never run a 4 minute mile because of physical problems. A dwarf probly could never be a olympic high jumper. I think people can do as much as their body allows and thats it.

[Saurus]

I think people can do as much as their body allows and thats it.

This is just it - the body allows more than you would think...

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Target

Wow thats a pretty insane way of looking at things but I don't really agree. Certain things are impossible for certain people. Like me I could never run a 4 minute mile because of physical problems. A dwarf probly could never be a olympic high jumper. I think people can do as much as their body allows and thats it.

You have got the wrong end of the stick, what the post was about is the power of the mind.....With weight training/bodybuilding unless you train with the "mind in the muscle" you can push as many weights as you want, but will never achieve your genetic potential.

A classic example is the pull-down, you can pull the bar down all day long using the back and the arms, but when you get your mind to visualise and move the lats downwards and inwards you can achieve a good workout with less weights.

Another way is a bodybuilder on stage will be able to tense virtually every muscle in his body just by standing there. you may of seen someone who can tense one side of his chest and then the other side individually, or tense the biceps individually that is only using the mind to contract the muscle....

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Doug

You have got the wrong end of the stick, what the post was about is the power of the mind.....With weight training/bodybuilding unless you train with the "mind in the muscle" you can push as many weights as you want, but will never achieve your genetic potential.

A classic example is the pull-down, you can pull the bar down all day long using the back and the arms, but when you get your mind to visualise and move the lats downwards and inwards you can achieve a good workout with less weights.

Another way is a bodybuilder on stage will be able to tense virtually every muscle in his body just by standing there. you may of seen someone who can tense one side of his chest and then the other side individually, or tense the biceps individually that is only using the mind to contract the muscle....

Hey ,

Through the power of suggestion you can program your mind to achieve your goals, focus on your trainings try to focus and feel the muscle working for which you need to concentrate on the exercise. Sometimes it helps if you can see the muscle and hit it hard.

[tadolfi]

Hey Alex,
Haven't seen you around in a couple weeks - good to see you posting!
Hope all is well.

Saurus - good info brother.

[Damien]

The power of the mind eh...

That's an interesting story about Michael Johnson, nice post mate.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by tadolfi

Hey Alex,
Haven't seen you around in a couple weeks - good to see you posting!
Hope all is well.

Saurus - good info brother.

Well I keep reading religiously the forum every day but lately I have been a bit busy

Thanks