unofficial, unconfirmed World Record: 1,250 Mills in <1hr

[Scott Sonnon]

Well, my friends, that was probably one of the most dreadful stunts I've ever performed.

:arrow: NOTICE: I highly discourage ANYONE from attempting this since even with significant preparation and incremental progression, it's painful and hazardous :!: This performance wrecked my hands (worse than when I broke the 1,000 barrier, required every ounce of my focus to keep form above an RT6 (after only 320 reps!), and brought me to tears during the last 50 reps (and not only because the sweat in my eyes. :oops:)

Although Guiness Book of World Records is still processing the submission application, I doubt at this time I will be going for 2,000 reps in the attempt. Firstly, because there's no way in hell I'm going to be able to do it in under an hour (a parameter), and secondly... I feel like I'm hitting the upper levels of possibility. Yes, that sounds fishy. There are no limits. Let me say it this way, I don't know if I'm willing at this time to sacrifice what it may take to reach 2Gs. 1,250 was awful. :x Time will tell. I've got a LOT of healing to do after today's iron debauchery.

It's been two weeks since my last marker. Time flies, but I needed every day of rest.

1,250 Mill reps in 53 minutes and 30 seconds with 25lbs. Clubbell

The works sessions in sequence produced:
May 12, 2004:
1 set of 400 (200R/200L) nonstop in 16 minutes 20 seconds.
That translated to roughly 24RPM.
And at 10min, I was at 125R/120L.

May 14, 2004:
1 set of 500 (250R/250L) nonstop in 18 minutes 34 seconds.
That translated to roughly 27RPM.
And at 10min, I was at 140R/130L.

May 17, 2004:
1 set of 610 (305R/305L) nonstop in 25 minutes and 9 seconds.
This translates to approx. 24RPM.
At 10 minutes, I was at 138R/130L.

May 25, 2004:
1 set of 1002 (501R/501L) nonstop in 40 minutes and 12 seconds.
This translates to approx. 25RPM.
At 10 minutes, I was at 140R/135L.

June 7, 2004:
1 set of 1,250 (625R/625L) nonstop in 53 minutes 30 seconds.
That translated to roughly 23RPM.
And at 10min, I was at 129R/120L.

So over the previous work session, I gained an:
1. increase of 250 reps
2. increase in 13.25 minutes more work capacity
3. increase of 15 minutes 3 seconds longer activity
4. decrease of 2RPM
5. decrease of 11 reps right arm and increase of 15 reps left in 10 min, for a total...
6. decrease of 15 points in my OCS numbers.
Many of you sent me encouraging emails. Believe me, they were needed, and they were appreciated. That was rough. I think the hardest thing I did before this was a 42 mile ultradistance marathon. Although that took me around 13 hours hours, and this just under an hour, I think this was harder. It was a glorious achievement, and I'm very pleased, but I'm wrecked now and need some time off to suck my thumb and heal.

Other interesting discoveries:

At approximately 760 reps, my calluses ripped off of my right hand, and it took until 1,060 reps until the pain stopped (endorphin release presumably.)

Blister and callus residue acts as a mild chalk increasing grip adhesion (though obviously at a high cost.)

At 1,100 reps (@40min and change), a non circulo-respiratory distress "2nd wind" happened. I am doing research to determine the source of this phenomenon. It's curious because simultaneous to this energy surge was a decrease in arm pump (obviously without any rest or change in behavior.) I can only hypothesize that since this is the typical OBLA (onset of blood lactate accumulation) wall of 40-45 minutes, and pushing through OBLA caused a reuptake/reabsorption of lactate as blood sugar. This must be at 'some' cost to the whole system, so before I 'rely' upon this, I need to research and understand what the system sacrifices for this energy surge (assuming that my hypothesis is accurate - it may not be.)

[Randell Waddell]

Congratulations.

See if you can con your darling into a good gentle massage, and then play with your little girl (as in lie on the floor probably and let her climb all over you.)

Cheers
Randell

:D

[Scott Sonnon]

Randell,

Amen, brother. But you're right, I won't be any more useful than as a speed bump for my daughter at this point. :lol:

[Connie Brown]

Congratulations on the accomplishment :D :D

and also on being able to type.

Not sure I want to see the pictures of the hands this time though.
I am girlie enough to want band-aids immediately

pics of speed bump, yes. :wink:

[Mike]

Scott, how has all of this effected your strength with the bruiser? Have you noticed HUGE strength increases translating over to the heavier club?

[Scott Sonnon]

Connie, no pix of das hands this time. So gruesome as to be embarassing. :cry:

Mike, you actually think I've touched a Bruiser during this experiment? Do you think I get paid time and a half for overtraining? :lol: Any limit strength carry-over will have to be determined after the official record attempt... and actually after a substantial resistance training vacation following it. I'll be Body-Flowing for a long time to recover from this.

[Mike]

Mike, you actually think I've touched a Bruiser during this experiment? Do you think I get paid time and a half for overtraining? :lol: Any limit strength carry-over will have to be determined after the official record attempt... and actually after a substantial resistance training vacation following it. I'll be Body-Flowing for a long time to recover from this.

I figured that, but thought I'd ask anyways!

[jlanning]

Scott,

Truly a amazing feat. It's crazy bold. Please keep us posted as to how you intend to recover.

Best regards,
Jack Lanning

[Dan Chomycia]

Everyone,

I got to see this first hand and I can say that I have never seen Coach Sonnon work as hard as he did today. I was thoroughly impressed!

Way to go Coach!

[sin_goodfellow]

Congratulations!


Your continuing attempts to reach the limit of potential are inspiring to us all, for in your hard work, sweat and pain we find inspiration to delve deep and dig in while pursuing our own goals and dreams.

[Coach Jones]

Absolutely Freakin' Amazing!!!

1250 times!! :shock:

I don't want to do anything that feels good 1250 times.

I can't imagine that there are too many people out there with this kind of focus and drive.

This is my favorite part:


At approximately 760 reps, my calluses ripped off of my right hand, and it took until 1,060 reps until the pain stopped (endorphin release presumably.)

How many others would go through 300 reps of pain for the sake of an experiment. Not many i'd guess.

Amazing accomplishment Coach!

Brandon Jones
CST Head Coach

[Doug Szolek]

Like Coach Chomycia, I was there to see this event firsthand. Doing what I could to hide how much it hurt to watch :x and offer some comic relief that wouldn't make him lose count :P

Seriously though, I watched Coach Sonnon begin his Mill-athon at the same time that I started my DROM session and after the 40some minutes that I put into my DROM he was still doing Mills. When training for OCS I realized that the Mills felt like an exercise that I could do forever... after seeing Scott do just that, they don't seem so pretty anymore.

Anyways, don't be fooled by the big numbers. To break this down, Scott did 62 1/2 nonstop sets of 10reps of the Mills (10/10). Most people can't handle 62 reps of Mills with the 25lbs Clubbell :shock: .

Congradulations Scott, you've pushed our perceptions of human limitation that much farther and made my density session with Brusier Metronomes much easier :)

In faith,

[Mike]

I'd probably lose count and have to start all over again! :lol:

[Jarlo Ilano]

Absolutely amazing!!! Upper limits indeed.

Inspirational to say the very least. Thank you for sharing this feat with us.

A thought on the arm pump change... It is said in cases of shock, that blood is shunted away from the extremities to the core. Just a thought, but I would say that level of exertion would count as some kind of shock!

Man, I would have trouble counting that high... :D

[Connie Brown]

Most people can't handle 62 reps of Mills with the 25lbs Clubbell® :shock: I think the emerging consensus is we (er, most people) can't even count that high and swing at the same time.

[David_11]

Coach I am impressed everytime you talk about clubbells let alone swing them that many times - its a true marker as well as an inspiration - thank you

[Scott Sonnon]

Thank you all for your kind words and support! Does anyone have any remedies for accelerating healing surface wounds? I'm open to try new things since I'm limited by the state of my hands at this point. Tt takes me about two weeks to heal my hands at this point. Thank you for all suggestions!

[Doug Garbarz]

Coach,

Congratulations on your amazing feat. When my hands get really chewed up, I use Bag Balm on them. I apply it throughout the day when I can (it's messy) and will coat my hands with it at night and wear gloves to bed. It might take some getting used to, but it works for me. Good Luck.

Doug Garbarz

[Scott Sonnon]

Doug, I'll check it out, thanks for the suggestion. What kind of turn around do you get with healing, and do you have any online resources for more information?

[Doug Garbarz]

Coach,

You can get more information at www.bagbalm.com. I started using Bag Balm on my dog's pads to help keep them healthy during the hunting season. It worked so well, I decided to try it on myself. I have no scientific evidence that its better than any other similar product but I know it speeds up my recovery time dramatically. After tearing calluses and the like I'm able to resume normal activity within a couple days at the longest, although my hands have never looked like yours in those pictures. It might even be good as a preventative before the fact. Also, it's available at many stores.

Doug Garbarz

[JasonE]

AWESOME JOB on the effort! :shock: :shock: :shock:

A couple of things to help you heal:

Vitamin E in concentrated oil applied to the open wounds. Take it as a gel cap also and you'll be beefing up the healing process from the inside and the outside. When you apply the oil externally, be sure to wrap/cover your hands afterward.

Omega 3 Oils taken orally will also help. They contain a lot of nutrients needed for the regeneration of cell walls.

Bromelain for bruising/swelling. It's da bomb. Take 2-3x the bottle's "Recommended Daily Dose" and stop taking it when the swelling has disappeared.

Plenty of REST - No CBs for you until your hands have healed! :lol: We want you intact for CST Epsilon!

[Scott Sonnon]

I'll definitely add in the Vitamin E. Good suggestion. Don't know why I didn't think of that. :|

I already take Bromelain (episodic) and Omega3s (supplement).

Oh yeah, and rest... :mrgreen:

[rbrown]

Coach, for what it's worth my family has always used my grandpa's linament recipe for any sort of cuts, abrasions, things of that nature due to it's (I swear) amazing healing and anti-infection properties. I have no "stats" on how much quicker things heal with than without the application of the linament, but it is faster. Anyway, the recipe is very simple.

1 part turpentine to 6 parts mineral oil.

That's it. The turpentine is the key, I believe, and the mineral oil is mostly to take the sting out.

Take care!

[Scott Sonnon]

Just a visual caution for those people who have been thinking that all they need to do is "gut it out." Even with significant preparation and longer time swinging than anyone else out there, the result still causes tremendous damage. There's no reason to do this for your 'fitness'. I did this for personal reasons... to see how far down the rabbit hole goes.
Please don't do this if you assume that it has any 'fitness' benefits!
http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/images/1250hands.jpg
Yes, there are blood blisters under calluses, and calluses on my finger tips. :(

[Paul K]

Coach,

My two cents for blister healing. Vitamin E directly on blister. Works wonders on open blisters. Just pop a vitamin E capsule!

Regards,
Paul Karpick

[Scott Sonnon]

Working on it, Paul! From a man with your hand knowledge, that means a lot. Thanks!

John Brookfield is also helping me, since he experiences something similar doing metal bending and scrolling art.

[JasonE]

Brutal... yet fascinating in a Discovery-channel sort of way. Thanks for the pic, I hope you heal quickly! :shock: 8) :? :lol:

[WarpedMind]

Amazing Scott!!!

Keep it up! You'll get that record, I know it!

By the way, don't go to any shows where you'll have to clap! :twisted:

[Scott Sonnon]

Strangely enough, I measured my BF last night, and was down to 7%. I'm working with Dr. DesMaisons right now on some research regarding this issue, but there's DEFINTELY a 'drift effect' of continued body composition changes throughout the days after my training sessions.

I'm only performing Clubbell effort sessions now, once every approx. two weeks. It baffles me how infrequently I'm working to achieve such incredible results.

To be honest, the chronic overtrainer in me tries to wriggle free and convince me that I'm cheating and other times that I'm slacking off. But this is just the impact of the direct relationship between exertion and recovery. The complexity, the force production, the extended duration and of course the volume of my work sessions 'drift' for two weeks now providing increased results BECAUSE OF the extended periods of active recovery.

What amazing discoveries this 'Experiment' unearths! Thank you for joining me on this little iron voyage, for contributing your ideas and suggestions, and for of course the support and encouragement you've all been offering.

[Scott Sonnon]

Just a note that CST strongman, Chris Lancaster, just nailed 338 nonstop Mill reps with the 25, after priming the area a few days before using a 15lbs Clubbell for 1,500 Mill reps. He will hit 500 reps with the 25 within a few weeks, I am certain.

Watch this Ironman. He's going to etch some stone!

[JamesLinn]

Congratulations Coach Sonnon!!!
You are inhuman [in a good way]

Melaleuca oil or balm works really well. It is also called tea tree oil.
We use it on everything now, from bruises to burns. It's a miracle.

Wishing you a speedy recovey!!
Sincerly,
James Linn



Thank you all for your kind words and support! Does anyone have any remedies for accelerating healing surface wounds? I'm open to try new things since I'm limited by the state of my hands at this point. Tt takes me about two weeks to heal my hands at this point. Thank you for all suggestions!

[Scott Sonnon]

Thank you, James. I'll check it out.