A few days ago a dude in the gym asked me what I meant when I said "people often mistake fatigue for failure," (he was referring to something I had written regarding HIT training). According to him, these were one in the same.
Now, there's no science to support my answer, but I'm pretty sure there is a difference. In my mind, if you're experiencing muscle fatigue through resistance training - no matter how severe - you can still make a muscle contract, or at least resist a negative movement. On the other hand, I define failure as a point where the impulse from your brain to a particular muscle group is momentarily interrupted resulting in a physical inability to either contract or maintain tension on the muscle.
I can't imagine someone going out of their way to intentionally tear a pec, but when you consider how often this injury occurs (more than any other muscle tear by far) I sometimes wonder. Bodybuilders have been known to do some ludicrous things and if you watch how some train, you can't help but think that they're actually out trying to tear something.
There is something venerable about the bench press. Above all exercises it is the one that seems to define one's strength. When someone wants to know how much you can lift they are generally referring to your bench. While squats and deadlifts can yield higher poundages, no one gives a rat's ass about either move. If you've got a big bench you've got a big image; everyone understands a bench press. And, if you understand the bench press, you know where the pec tear lives.
Sophisticated successful investors will tell you that the first million is the hardest to make. Thereafter, the money multiplies at a remarkable rate as your level of knowledge and sophistication increase commensurate to your success. However, if you're not careful, those millions can go right down the drain - you've got to maintain the system or the money goes away. Finding and keeping your abs follows an amazingly similar sequence.
This odd comparison, though, is wrought with one of life's little jests; money can't get you abs, but abs can get you money, just ask the Calvin Klein guy. However, building abs is indeed similar to building a fortune, and to many folks, coveted just the same.
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