Twenty-five years ago, when I started lifting , you could be strong in private. Your failures belonged to you. Now, every workout gets filmed, every lift gets posted, every personal record gets compared to someone younger and stronger doing it for reps.

This effect is all the starker for the fact that we’re living through the golden age of human strength. The numbers powerlifters achieve today are staggering. John Haack totaled 2,254 pounds across the squat, bench, and deadlift at 198 pounds bodyweight. Colton Engelbrecht achieved a 2,645-pound total at 275. These represent leaps that my generation thought were impossible. Years ago, I spoke to many of the world’s leading practitioners of the bench, and these experts assured me that 800 pounds was a ceiling that would require the ev

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