Deontay Wilder Falls Back Into 1973 while being in a deep sleep.

No doubt some fighters black out when they get hit, but it's hard to believe Ali blacked out in that particular fight. 'Course, I wasn't the one in the ring with Foreman, but I watched that fight so many times and never once thought Ali was in the least bit of trouble. I'm sure a lot of guys blacked out when fighting Foreman, just never imagined Ali would have been one of them.

 

When I say blacking out, I don't mean for an extended period of time or passing out. Sometimes it's literally a fraction of a second. That's what I was trying to explain. You get a ringing in your ears and a buzz similar to a brain freeze. Or sometimes you freeze up temporarily like you stick a fork in a socket. If Foreman lands a flush bombs on anyone's jaw they're going to be rocked. That's why Ali kept rolling with shots, clinched, or put up his guard to discourage them and tried to get Foreman to go to his body instead.

I remember one time I worked a 3rd shift job and passed out while standing up, then I stumbled and woke myself up when I bumped into a container.

 

Plenty of fighters describe having no memory of certain rounds of fights, despite the film showing they were fighting well. Concussion wiped the memory? Out on their feet fighting on pure instinct?

 

I don't doubt that at all. When Larry Merchant interviewed Marlon Starling after the Tomas Molinares fight, Starling had no idea he'd been knocked out. Same with Curry vs. McCallum. It happens a lot in boxing, just VERY surprised that it happened to Ali against Foreman. If you had to guess, at what point in the fight do you suppose that happened?

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Foreman KO 1

 

Yes these things should be expected.
Just doing heavy squats, maybe not even to failure, I may get woozy & grey out for some seconds when I replace the weight.
It should not be at all surprising that with concussive force these are common effects.
And that professional fighters can be badly hurt & either not know it themselves, or disguise it well.

 

I took 850 lbs out of the squat rack, just to get the feel of it (I typically rep out 6 to 8 with 600 lbs). THERE'S an example of blackout out on my feet lol. I was able to take it back and set up, but as I went for some partial reps I could feel this blackness creeping up on my vision. Luckily I had the racks adjusted so I could just dump it with no injury.

 

RMII, you are RIDICULOUSLY Strong.

I only have the Smith machine at the gym I use for years now, but with free weights at my best I could do sets of 6-8 reps at just HALF of what you handle -well if I used wraps &/or a belt a little more.
What is absurd is that you are natural for a lifetime, right?
I dunno if you ever did Creatine, but I know you never even did in precursor or pro-hormones, fuhgettibout steroids or HGH.

And like me you are no spring chicken!
Hell you could compete in completely drugged-out age category contests, & likely rarely be beaten even without doing specialized training for it.
This is hard work yes, but you have unusual genetic potential.

It is very unusual to get to your level clean, even training for a lifetime.
160 lbs. dumbbels for 8 reps & good form, GTFOH!

 

You are very gracious, my friend. Thanks so much.

I do use Creatine, which helps keep water in the muscle for more leverage during heavy lifts. I never did steroids mostly because I have long, heavy metal hair and was terrified of going bald (plus shrinking sex organs...eeeeek!)

I use knee sleeves (big help for keeping knees warm, safe and on track)...I guess if I used knee wraps I'd be able to squat about 50 lbs more.

Definitely thinking about entering a Masters 2 competition.

I feel bad you only have the Smith machine at your club, you would rocket up a lot faster if you had access to a rack.

 

Exactly, Ali wouldn't be bragging about getting knocked out on his feet, that was never his style.

 

Yeah you are virtually all natural-I count Creatine as a bit artificial just because unlike say protein powder it is taken in a quantity that you cannot get from a diet, & some benefit is lost when you go off it. But I assume you think the boost over time has been something significant, but not very large. Some tell me it gave them bloating, although it seems to be safe...

Likewise free weights help, but if you can use any amount of weight on a machine simulating the movement, the vast majority of the benefit should be there.
So I would not increase dramatically from having a power rack-I both do not have similar unusual potential like you do, & anyway I have been lifting less for a while now, more bodyweight exercises, & am not trying to be at my very strongest.

Let me (& us) know when you might enter a competition!
And if it is raw/drug free, or as I say you still should do well against PED users, past & present.

 

Thanks so much for the encouraging words, my friend. Always very much appreciated and I hope you reach all your goals!

 

I took creatine back in the day (end of the 90's and a bit forward) when i was lifting out 3-4 times a week. It did exactly what it said on the tin (all the claims from the top mags) giving me pretty much exactly the 10% (10% was pretty much the claim back in the day when popularity really ramped up) extra in strength/lifts most notably the bench. I did the whole loading phase and then the maintenance dose. I used to cycle it on and off but can't remember what cycle i used. The cycle without it would have been small i think, maybe 2 or 3 weeks.

Creatine quite frankly was awesome. Amazing even. You got those very notable gains in quite a short time and never lost them with proper cycling. Granted there was no 10% quick gains to be had again but 10% when you think about it is HUGE for people that had been training for years, especially if they were competitive lifters (i wasn't btw). We all broke our pb's in no time. I personally didn't have any side effects that i noticed like bloating, stomach drama and the likes.

A little side story..........

I had a few guys (there was a group of three who trained religiously together) i used to mix a fair bit with at the gym, and if we were in the same clubs on weekends we'd hang a bit too. Anyway the smallest guy was, hmmmmm, let's say 120 pounds-130. He was also, what they describe in the industry, a hardgainer, which frustrated him no end as the guys he trained with were sizeable guys getting decent gains. He was also a little bit of a loose unit in some ways but i liked him.

Anyway i hadn't seen him a lot or taken notice of him much for a handful of weeks. Our trainer, who was a reasonably noted bodybuilder turned powerlifter who was then competing in the early age group of the senior championships (had an Australia record or two for a time i beleive) came over to me telling me he wanted a favor, he wanted me to have a squat comp with "D". Now like many i laxed a bit on the squat rack but i had around 50 pounds on D and had always done quite a bit more weight in all the lifts as you'd expect given the weight difference.

So over i go and boom we're on it. We progress up the weights and i'm think what the ****? We get up to our last weight and D does one more rep than me but by the absolute end his last couple of reps weren't quite full like mine were but we all laughed and fun was had. To say the difference in his squats from a handful of weeks previous was insane would be putting it very very mildly.

So the next week i don't see "D". The week after no D. I'm thinking where is he you don't just have a break after such incredible gains, what is going on. I think it was the middle of the third week when i asked another mutual friend, Russ (also quite skinny but he could power some bloody good weights for his size) where is D?!?!?!?! I told hid D put up some great weights a few weeks earlier and is gone.

So Russ tells me he's pretty sick. What happened was that he'd done a cycle of steroids, gung ho i bet, and all these gains were obviously from that. Our trainer knew full well but had always told us steroids were the best thing ever invented. He'd hammered them during his body building period. So anyway D missed about 6 weeks of gym. The day i saw him back he looked skinnier than he'd ever been (and not overly healthy) and mate he was flat out doing warm ups with the bar in various lifts. Not only were the gains gone but he was well behind where he had actually been.

Obviously steroids work miracles when done right, strictly in the strength/size at the time measure. I did however get a first hand view of what happens when you go overboard and/or don't know what you are doing.