Realising, and finally accepting that whatever had infected him was surely now making him stronger, he jumps on the spot in excitement and removes the clamps.

Throwing the smaller plates to the floor as if laughing at their puny 10kg of weight, he adds another two 20’s in their place – 220kg. Unexplored territory.

He readies himself excitedly under the bar and lifts it. It finally felt heavy and he lowers it to his chest before pushing… but to his horror it doesn’t move. He’s stuck! Not even one rep. The muscle failure came quick and fast and he now starts to wonder how he’d get out from under the bar. This was heavy. A lot heavier than he’d ever lifted before and it began to press onto his ribcage as his arms begin to fail.