Lessons From 100 Repetitions
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Ever since I began documenting my days, I’ve noticed an increase in my wanting to fulfill my fitness goals. I’ve been wanting to lift more, I’m more excited to go to the gym and I’m even more approachable when I’m there. It’s led me to go back to one of my all time resolutions of improving gym lifts.
I used to be a wrestler in high school and college so going to the gym and working out hard comes second nature to me. To this day, I’m a lot more comfortable exercising in sweats or anything a covers my whole body. There’s just something great about not feeling cold while working up a sweat. I’ve experienced a lot of plateaus in my gym career and have tried many methods to break out. The feeling of being stuck at one weight on a particular workout gets me so unmotivated that I work my hardest to break past it. Most of the time, it’s a mental block and sometimes, It’s simply the body not ready to handle a higher weight.
The last time I experienced being stuck on a certain exercise, allI I needed was to change my environment and my mindset. Deadlifts are my second favorite movement after power squat cleans. For 2 years, I simply couldn’t pick up 405 lbs. I tried 5,3,1 and 5x5 workout routines to get my body used to heavier weight, but none of it worked. I was finally able to pick up that weight when I asked some of the stronger guys in the gym if I could join them. They assured me that I could do it and sure enough that day, it went up smooth like butter. I give it up to adrenaline rush and also just a mental shift. By putting myself in a positive environment, I achieved my goal.
Lately, I still want to increase my numbers but actually doing the exercise is exciting me too. If the regular person works out 3 days a week, they will do one exercise a week, 120 to 160 repetitions a month. I’m a big fan of volume, lifting more weight at higher reps, so I thought of experimenting on doing 100 repetitions of certain exercises a week. I would yield about 400 repetitions a month and that increase is bound to make a visible change. I started with deadlifts, picked a challenging weight and started pulling like my life depended on it.
The first time I tried, I broke it down into 5 rep sets and did a few 6 to 7 rep sets in between. It was rough. My mind was cheering me on a the beginning, I wanted to quit when I reached around 50 reps and at the end I was only doing single reps just to finish. Eventually, I had to break out my wrist straps and weight belt for the extra safety and support. This reminded me of every single venture I’ve ever taken on in life. They always excite me in the beginning and after a few days, that wears off and I either give up, or just go through the motions. When I get to the end, I have the most fulfilled feeling and I’m proud of myself. Sometimes I get a bit of a second wind afterwards. This cycle of thought happened during the grueling 100 repetitions of 315 lbs deficit deadlifts. I acknowledged every single feeling during the workout and took mental notes so that I didn’t give up.
I finished the workout, went home and I was sore for 4 days straight. I promised myself that I would have to do the it again. The second time, I didn’t deviate from the 5 rep sets, and ended up only using the weight belt near the end. The self doubt wasn’t there because I knew I had already done it before. I remember thinking how much easier it was this time around and how my mind was more at peace. Now other pulling lifts feel easier so I will continue to do this exercise until I feel I'm ready to move on.
I’m expending the 100 repetitions exercise to other areas in my life. I’m making it a point to call people instead of sending emails. Talking on the phone has not been a strong suit of mine as I end up losing attention and stuttering around a talking point, so with the exercise, I’m hoping that will improve. Engaging 100 times a day on my various social media accounts is a challenge, but the more I do it, the more it pays off.
100 repetitions of one exercise is molding me to be better. If you find something that make you a better person, you do it over and over again.
