apparent weight?

[BearD]

Hey everyone. Ive been lifting weights for a few years, mostly for football and wrestling and decided I wanted to do powerlifting last march. I maxed in march with a total of 965. Recently I maxed with totals 1380. Back when I maxed 965, when I actually lifted the maxes, sure they were heavy for me, they were an all out max, but the weight didn't feel super heavy on me. Even though it was heavy, it felt like something I could do. When I maxed out recently, even though they were weights I could do with good form, they felt super heavy.

Like when I first maxed 225 bench, it felt hard, but doable. When I maxed 320 bench last week, when I got the hand off, I felt as if I was going to get plastered by the weight but had a nice clean lift with a good pause.

I guess my question is, as you keep getting stronger and stronger, even though you're stronger, will weights keep feeling more and more undoable even if you're very capable of lifting them?

[Sensei]

This question reminds me of a thread in General Chat recently asking why a newbie can train like a banshee and not be thoroughly trashed, whereas a veteran can do a few sets of ME work and be done.

This is probably a little more technical than you were looking for but a novice doesn't recruit motor units as efficiently as an experienced lifter. Part of the reason why newbies make such dramatic gains when they start lifting is that their body learns to use its strength. In other words, as you get stronger and more experienced, you can better push to the edge of the envelope.

Ever notice a novice try to lift a weight that is damn heavy? Usually, they give up as soon as the weight slows considerably and if the weight stops moving they are finished. An experienced lifter knows how to strain through the lift - that's not just a conscious decision to do so. The body has learned how to do that through practice, and has become more efficient at lifting maximal (or near maximal) loads.

[RhodeHouse]

Sensei hit the nail on the head.

Also, if you think it's heavy, it will be. It may in fact, be heavy, but you can't think it's heavy. That's how I try to approach it.