The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness • Hacker News Board

Re: The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness

#41

Post by pc86 » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 7:25 PM UTC

Afton wrote: post #23

crikli wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I regularly participate in events known as GORUCK Challenges. They're 12 hour+ endurance events led by current and former special forces operatives from all branches of the military. Yes, there are plenty of young extremely healthy men at these events, but they're the minority. The majority of participants are over 30 years old, in good but not great or extreme condition, and tend to be 10-30% female. These events ar…

I can do 6 chinups right now (I happen to have tested last night of all things). If I tried to do 100 chinups, I would certainly be scheduling a Physical Therapy session tomorrow to deal with the pain in my elbow. Unless I was having surgery for a tear in my shoulder. There is lots to recommend "don't give up". But it also has to be tempered with "Stop if it hurts". You'll get fit/strong/endurancy-faster if you can k…

There is quite a difference between "this hurts because it is uncomfortable" and "this hurts because I am damaging my body." Most of the time you can tell the difference.

I've also heard it put this way: "If it hurts, it means you're doing it right. If you're in pain, stop."

Re: The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness

#42

Post by pc86 » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 7:31 PM UTC

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #40

beachstartup wrote: post #28

recently i hired a barbell / weight coach to train me (he really pushes me hard, harder than i ever thought i was capable of going), i find that i usually start wanting to mentally 'give up' at around the halfway mark during a training session. 40-60%. but since i'm generally healthy, the trick is to decide to go until i absolutely can not move anymore, whether it's 2 minutes or another hour. once you've made that de…

A technique I used was called "20-rep squats." It's been written about in a few places. Simply put, you choose a weight that you can do 20 squats with using good form. Next time you add weight to the bar and do 20 again, lather, rinse, repeat every week or whatever your interval is. It works well for working out alone because the goal is simple: do 20 reps with more weight than last time, even if it's just 1 lb more.…

20-rep movements are great for hypertrophy/building size, but are not going to do nearly as much for strength and the 3-8 rep range.

And squatting once a week will do even less than that.

Re: The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness

#43

Post by kondor6c » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 7:35 PM UTC

I'm reminded of this comic http://i.imgur.com/PuUBaVU.jpg There's a color version of it from "PVT Murphy's comics"

Re: The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness

#44

Post by gist » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 7:38 PM UTC

ErikAugust wrote: post #8

"Who is this guy? I’ve never seen anything like it. And during the race, I kept an eye on him and around mile 70 — he weighed probably 260 pounds, which is quite large for an ultra runner — he had broken all the small bones in both of his feet and had kidney damage and he finished the race." Running 100s at 260 pounds - and continuing through kidney damage and broken foot bones isn't tough - it's just stupid.

I also take issue with the worship of the billionaire. When someone has money they are eccentric and admired as if they have found some secret answer to happiness. When they don't they are simply crazy.

He says "“I asked him to come live with my family and I for a month…". I wonder the impact of having this stranger live with them to learn these arbitrary secrets (and to what end exactly we aren't talking about trying to stop smoking or learn to walk when you are crippled, right?) on his family and how they felt about it.

Re: The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness

#45

Post by pavel_lishin » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 7:38 PM UTC

thescriptkiddie wrote: post #35

stephencanon wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kidney damage will absolutely kill you if left untreated.

It can still kill you if treated, too. There's a reason you come from the factory with two of those - they're fragile.

Seems like all the more reason to avoid damaging them unnecessarily.

Re: The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness

#46

Post by beachstartup » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 7:41 PM UTC

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #40

beachstartup wrote: post #28

recently i hired a barbell / weight coach to train me (he really pushes me hard, harder than i ever thought i was capable of going), i find that i usually start wanting to mentally 'give up' at around the halfway mark during a training session. 40-60%. but since i'm generally healthy, the trick is to decide to go until i absolutely can not move anymore, whether it's 2 minutes or another hour. once you've made that de…

A technique I used was called "20-rep squats." It's been written about in a few places. Simply put, you choose a weight that you can do 20 squats with using good form. Next time you add weight to the bar and do 20 again, lather, rinse, repeat every week or whatever your interval is. It works well for working out alone because the goal is simple: do 20 reps with more weight than last time, even if it's just 1 lb more.…

my coach makes me do 20-rep squats and also 10x10 with less weight once every 6 weeks or so. that's the closest i've ever come to really giving up in the middle of a set.

Re: The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness

#47

Post by anigbrowl » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 7:41 PM UTC

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #12

ErikAugust wrote: post #8

"Who is this guy? I’ve never seen anything like it. And during the race, I kept an eye on him and around mile 70 — he weighed probably 260 pounds, which is quite large for an ultra runner — he had broken all the small bones in both of his feet and had kidney damage and he finished the race." Running 100s at 260 pounds - and continuing through kidney damage and broken foot bones isn't tough - it's just stupid.

It's also necessary in some circumstances. Kidney damage and broken foot bones probably won't kill you. Getting caught will.

Yes, but this isn't one of them. Inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality is a symptomatic of mental illness. I have been in a number of life-or-death situations and absolutely there are times you should just pursue your objective even if you get damaged in the process, or you won't survive. But if you are damaging yourself like that absent any actual danger, you have a different kind of problem.

Re: The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness

#48

Post by mrbill » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 7:51 PM UTC

crikli wrote: post #16

Afton wrote: post #6

These techniques are useful when you have a large pool of young extremely healthy men. Then when they blow out knees, shoulders, back, etc you can just select the ones who didn't break. Claiming that this is a useful and effective way to train is a terrible idea. The only reason this kind of article is useful at all is that virtually everyone who trains a sport fails to train hard enough . In other words, after you r…

I regularly participate in events known as GORUCK Challenges. They're 12 hour+ endurance events led by current and former special forces operatives from all branches of the military. Yes, there are plenty of young extremely healthy men at these events, but they're the minority. The majority of participants are over 30 years old, in good but not great or extreme condition, and tend to be 10-30% female. These events ar…

I hope to be able to do a "Light" sometime in the next 24 months, myself. The Tough and Heavy are just too much.

Gonna start out with a Kill That 5K.

Re: The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness

#49

Post by gist » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 8:08 PM UTC

ErikAugust wrote: post #37

ErikAugust wrote: post #8

"Who is this guy? I’ve never seen anything like it. And during the race, I kept an eye on him and around mile 70 — he weighed probably 260 pounds, which is quite large for an ultra runner — he had broken all the small bones in both of his feet and had kidney damage and he finished the race." Running 100s at 260 pounds - and continuing through kidney damage and broken foot bones isn't tough - it's just stupid.

I think the 260 pounds, kidney damage, and broken bones things might be the writer greatly over-dramatizing this part of the story, too. Why do I think this? David Goggins ran a 50 mile ultra a little over a month after the San Diego 100: http://ultrasignup.com/results_participant.aspx?fname=David&... (Scroll down to 2006). David is undoubtedly a very tough (and gifted) endurance athlete. No doubt about that - just l…

"No one should ever think that they should battle serious kidney damage (and risk death) in order to finish a completely optional foot race."

I agree. But I have to ask you this question (since I see that you are quite accomplished in this area from your webpage). Isn't there a strong mental component to people who do these types of things? (I don't have that currently although I have exercised nearly every day for the past 18 or so years..) My point is if someone goes down a certain path which they believe will make them happy (or fit) aren't they compelled to keep up with what they have started for almost mental health purposes? I am reminded of when I used to run everyday even when it was snowing or raining heavily (I used to tape bags around my feet). I no longer do that and looking back I think it was a bit crazy when I did (although it felt great and as if I had accomplished something by enduring harsh (to me) conditions).

Re: The 40% Rule: A Navy SEAL’s Secret to Mental Toughness

#50

Post by nostrademons » Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 8:14 PM UTC

I'm curious whether this would hold for creative, mentally taxing work like programming. I'd love to get 2.5x the coding time in, and I've found that I can often ignore my limits and keep coding long after my brain tells me that I'm exhausted...but then when I wake up in the morning, I find that I really should've stopped when I got tired, because it will take me 2.5x the time to unravel the mess I made the night before. Ignoring your brain doesn't work so well when you need your brain for what you're doing.