Oliver Sacks: on Weightlifting

the central YMCA in San Francisco had particularly good weightlifting facilities the first time I went there my eye was caught by a bench press bar loaded with nearly 400 when I looked around I saw no one in the why who looked up to such a weight no one at least until a short but hugely Broad and thick chested man a white-haired gorilla hobbled into the gym he was slightly bowlegged lay down on the bench and by way of warmup did a dozen easy reps with a bench press bar he added weights for subsequent sets going to nearly 500 I got talking to him later he was very genial he told me that his name was Carl Norberg that he was Swedish that he had worked all his life as a long shoreman and that he was now 70 years old I felt inspired by Carl and determined to lift greater poundages myself to work on the one lift I was already fairly good at the squat training intensively even obsessively I worked up to doing five sets of five reps with 555s every fifth day day the Simplicity of this pleased me but caused amusement at the gym saxs and his fives I didn't realize how exceptional this was until another lifter encouraged me to have a go at the California squat record I did so diffidently and to my delight was able to to set a new record a squat with a 600b bar on my shoulders this was to serve as my introduction to the powerlifting World a weightlifting record is equivalent in these circles to publishing a scientific paper or a book in Academia

Channel: Oliver Sacks Foundation

Views: 43,641

Keywords: Oliver Sacks, Interview, weightlifting, Anatomy (Field Of Study), Medicine (Field Of Study), Neurology (Medical Specialty), Neuroscience (Field Of Study), Memoir (Literary Genre), Autobiography (Literary Genre), Health (Industry), on the move, hallucinations, musicophilia, Powerlifting, Strength, Fitness, Weight Training (Hobby), Ric Burns (TV Producer)

Id: ShUHg32-Y0U

Length: 2min 25sec (145 seconds)

Published: Tue May 26 2015