I banged my elbow before a big squat set once and started bleeding down my arm. The adrenaline rush I got was great though, and invigorated my lethargic CNS. I pumped out a great set of squats after having a shitty warmup.
So a few weeks later I was feeling kind of lethargic again. I was about to rep out with 405, a bump up from last week and just wasn’t feeling it. I didn’t have any smelling salts (which I don’t like that much anyway) but I did have a pocketknife on my keys. So I decided to draw a little cut across the top of my thigh before squatting. Man did it wake me up. The light pain of the cut draws attention away from the pain of the set, and I overshot my rep goal by 2 with 405 quite easily. Since then, I’ve preferred cutting as a wakeup call whenever I feel kind of lazy in the gym as a way to psyche myself up.
If you need an extra push/rush, I’d recommend Spike. Or have someone punch you.
Cutting yourself sounds sort of… retarded.
Part of the phenomenon you’re referring to where you focus on a different (or more prevalent) kind of pain is called the Gate control theory of pain. You could replicate the effects with other less damaging trauma.
I bite the inside of my lip every now and then. Draw a little blood. Heals up right away. Less risk of infection than cutting your skin then hanging out in the gym with dirty shit all around.
Kroc said that he used digged a nail inside his arm to teach himself to support high levels of pain. I don’t recomend that by any means… But maybe one day i’ll gve that shit a try
i love the smell of blood and the visual of it. people don’t understand the sweet release of this but its been common for centuries of warriors…not so common now cuz blood is icky. Thing you need to do is wrap it after you cut…neosporin and gauze before you get to the gym,
I understand that it seems a little unorthodox, but I don’t really think it’s unsafe, we’re not talking about a gaping wound, exactly. I’ve used other stimulants before a workout in the past, but that’s more of a general feeling of being “on” in the gym rather than the psych up immediately before a workout.
The overall effect to be something like sniffing ammonia, but really, this is probably safer. That and you get a little mark to remember the PR by.
I’m not sure that biting your lip, even hard enough to draw blood, is going to elicit the same effect. Mouth injuries are kind of annoying and soft, not nearly as impersonal as a cut on an extremity. Besides, it affects eating and shit later. I’m not a fan.
I’m sure there is a point where you’ve inflicted enough pain, or in such a matter that the CNS shuts down, but the burst of adrenaline (and possibly endorphins as well?) seems to be tailor made by evolution for periods of extreme stress.
Ct. Rockula, this isn’t about bleeding all over shit man. It’s not really about the blood at all. It’s about the pain and the proverbial “slap in the face”. You sound kind of sick.
[quote]cyruseven75 wrote:
i bought emo grass for my front yard…the shit is the best, loves the rain better still no mowing, it cuts itself.[/quote]
that joke’s an oldie but a classic. seriously op, I would try to find something else to get yourself ready for a big lift. A good slap to the face should suffice.
I usually cut my jugular before a big ass lift. Seeing the blood spurt in the gym mirror with every heartbeat is pretty exhilarating.
That’s only before a 1RM or something because I usually need to change gym after I do that.
Most of the time I’ll stick to ripping some hair from my chest while letting out a Neanderthalian battle cry. That or the good ol’ sneaky 45 plate on the big toe because it can easily pass off as an accident. And as a bonus a cardio bunny usually run to me to see if if I’m ok and I bang her in the locker room to boost my test.