Are you stronger than you think?

Are you stronger than you think?

Almost certainly.

A 2007 study found that beginners almost always underestimated how much work they could do on a given exercise. They stopped before their muscles were actually fatigued. The good news is, beginners can grow muscle even without working to muscular failure.

What I find interesting though, is that folks in the study couldn’t tell the difference between a muscle being tired and a muscle being uncomfortable. Because they conflate the two, beginners often stop an exercise before they’re tired because it feels uncomfortable.

Not all trainees make the jump from beginner to intermediate lifters, but those that do, learn to accept discomfort. That is one the greatest accomplishments of my past decade of strength training, and something I strive to develop in all my clients. There is great satisfaction in developing the grit and mental fortitude to work through that which is uncomfortable, knowing that it is how you become stronger and more capable. This grit, this ability to work through discomfort, is a skill set that moves outside of the gym, into every aspect of your life. That is the beauty of strength training.