At some point between rep 15 and rep 20, someone switched my legs out with wooden stumps. Stumps that clomped loudly on the rubber floor, refusing to bend where my knees had once been. But I was less concerned about them than the fire raging in my lungs, a fire that refused to die down no matter how hard I gulped down air in raggedy gasps. And I was only halfway done with my workout.
I had already done two sets of box jumps (regular, lateral, and depth) and 5 minutes of jumping rope as a warmup. Now my legs were starting to fail pretty hard on this circuit of plyometric dumbbell exercises (imagine a classic cheerleader or Mary Katherine Gallagher “Superstar!” pose) and my form was breaking down. At this point, you usually have 3 choices: you can pound out each rep as quickly as you can and torpedo form; you can nut up, go zen and focus on making each rep as perfect as possible, forgetting about the number of reps you still have to do and the burn in your quads and the fire in your lungs; or you can just give up.
I chose to nut up. Some days I don’t, depending on the exercise or what else is going on. But that day, I slowed down and concentrated on making my footfalls less leaden. I tried to forget about everything else I had already done and whatever else we might do, and I focused on what I was doing. I may have snuck in a small break between exercises and maybe even between the occasional rep, but I kept going.
And that’s Max Power. It’s not breaking your personal record day in and day out. It’s not squatting or benching 300lbs. It’s about choosing to nut up and dig down deep and believing that you can. That all you have to worry about is what you’re doing right now, and whether you’re making it count.
Barbara Hostetler says:
Nidia – you are an excellent writer! I agree that a MaxPower workout is like no workout I’ve ever had before. I’ve gone to various gyms and I’ve done my time at Curves, but Mike provides personal attention and helps to keep me motivated to do more and do better. I’ve been working out with Mike since April 23, 2009, and when I went to him, it was because I had a big problem. My doctor had just called to tell me that my diabetes was out of control and that he was going to put me on insulin. I’m 34 years old, and I did not want that, so I decided to make a change. I went to Mike to see if he could help me, and he really has. Over the past 3 months (exactly 3 months today), I’ve been working out with Mike twice / week and on my own two or three additional times / week, and the results have been amazing – I’ve lost 15 lbs, my blood sugar is just slightly above normal instead of “out of control”, my cholesterol is normal – down 70 points from where I was in April, my triglicerides were cut in half and are now in the normal range, and I’m doing great. My doctor attributes all of this to the exercise, though I’ve also made some minor changes to my diet as well. I have much more weight to lose, but this is a fantastic start, and I could not have done it without Mike. Working out with Mike has been the best possible kind of investment in my health and my future, and it is what will make the difference between me seeing my daughter get married a couple decades from now, or leaving her to grow up without her mother.
How to Lose Weight in a Week says:
I had fun reading this post. I need to read more on this subject.. Thanks for writing this great info.. Anyway, I am going to subscribe to your feed and I wish you post again soon.
SimoneI Valentin says:
Hola,I came across this page a few days ago and I have to admit that I have learned some good points already.I was hoping if you could put up some more tips about the right way to slim down.