Daily Evolution from Mastering Tai Chi-Chapter 157: Strength to Move Mountains, Qi That Dominates the World

Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Strength to Move Mountains, Qi That Dominates the World

Brother Zui first did a demonstration in front of the squat rack, explaining the details of the barbell squat.

Wang Ye, already possessing advanced technical knowledge in many sports fields, quickly grasped the barbell squat technique through analogous thinking.

"How about it, want to try 100kg or 150kg first?" Brother Zui asked after explaining.

"Let’s go with 150kg," Wang Ye pondered aloud.

With his current insight and analytical ability, he could immediately judge—

The exertion in squats is very stable and efficient, requiring only the bending of three key joints in the lower body—hips, knees, and ankles—to lower the body.

In sports terminology, squats are considered fixed chain exercises, as essentially, the trunk is being moved rather than the barbell, with the barbell only needing to be fixed on the shoulders and neck, making it far safer and more efficient than open chain exercises like the clean.

In the clean, the barbell’s trajectory is quite erratic, so the body needs to use more strength and effort to stabilize it.

Therefore, most people who can squat 200kg might not necessarily clean 150kg.

But since Wang Ye can clean 200kg, naturally, he can also squat 200kg.

150kg is merely considered his warm-up weight.

Hearing this, Brother Zui hesitated, "Take it easy; I’ll assist you from behind."

"Thanks," Wang Ye approached the squat rack and lifted the 150kg barbell with his shoulders and neck.

The feeling was somewhat reminiscent of carrying a farm yoke in the village during his early years.

But the barbell is heavier, and the rod is thinner, so the shoulders have to bear more pressure.

An ordinary person might have their shoulders red and swollen just by lifting the rod.

After a slight adjustment, Wang Ye effortlessly performed 15 squats.

The 150kg barbell on his shoulders felt as light as a feather, without the slightest sense of weight or sluggishness.

"Holy shit!"

Brother Zui on the side couldn’t help but curse.

150kg is equivalent to the combined weight of two adult men. This weight is close to his maximum limit, even after years of training, he could only do 5-8 squats at most with 150kg.

And yet Wang Ye casually performed 15 squats right off the bat.

And he didn’t look exhausted at all afterward.

After finishing the squats, Wang Ye had no intention of further increasing the squat weight and instead informed Brother Zui that he was heading to the weightlifting platform not far away.

This time, he mainly intended to test the limit of his clean, rather than his squat.

Because the clean, known as the golden track and field move, most tests the explosive power of the human body.

Learning the squat technique was just a matter of convenience.

Arriving at the weightlifting platform, Wang Ye fixed 140kg of weight plates on each side of the barbell, plus the bar’s 20kg weight, totaling 300kg.

Seeing this, Brother Zui paled instantly, trembling as he said:

"Bro, this weight... for a clean? Are you a crane?"

Wang Ye didn’t respond, merely adjusted his stance and gripped the barbell with a hook grip.

He tried lifting the barbell slightly to about three centimeters off the ground.

Creaaak—

The barbell bar showed a slight twist, bent by the weight plates on both sides.

Wang Ye felt a terrifying force surging through his body, powerful enough to crush rocks.

But this power was just enough to lift the 300kg barbell.

"Shouldn’t be a problem for a clean."

Wang Ye put the barbell down, took a deep breath, and then suddenly unleashed the explosive power of his muscles.

If one could see the cross-section of Wang Ye’s muscle fibers at this moment,

They would see a large area of muscle fibers inside him instantly contract and tense up.

Like coal deep underground being squeezed and compacted by intense force and heat into diamonds, the previously relaxed muscles now became as tough as steel, even showing the special crimson bell carvings of the Golden Bell Shield technique on his skin.

Huh!!!

Wang Ye extended his ankle, knee, and hip joints simultaneously, displaying astonishing explosive force, hurling the barbell upward with great force.

The barbell formed a graceful arc, flipping onto his shoulders.

"Succeeded!" 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Wang Ye put the barbell back on the ground and exhaled all the breath he had held in, creating a loud hiss as air rushed out of his mouth and nose.

This breath-holding exertion method is called Valsalva breathing, commonly used in weightlifting to enhance explosive power and core stability temporarily.

Brother Zui on the side was already dumbfounded.

That was a freaking 300kg.

Though he didn’t train the clean often,

As a fitness blogger, he naturally knew how difficult the clean was.

The current world champion’s clean record in weightlifting is probably around 200kg.

Yet Wang Ye had just demonstrated a clean exceeding the world champion’s weight right in front of him...

Apart from Brother Zui,

Other trainers in the gym paused their workouts.

They all directed awestruck and envious gazes at him.

In the gym, such a situation would often occur whenever someone displayed extraordinary strength data, be it in squats, deadlifts, or bench presses.

The usually noisy and bustling gym would fall silent in an instant, as everyone unanimously directed their attention to that person.

And now, Wang Ye had undoubtedly become the center of everyone’s gaze.

"It’s still a bit too conspicuous..."

Wang Ye didn’t particularly care about the surrounding eyes. He sat down on the weightlifting platform, taking a short break and recalling the sensations of lifting 300kg just now.

The indescribable pressure made his muscles feel near their tension limit for the first time. It was like being hammered by a tens-of-meters-long forging hammer, knocking out the pent-up Qi and impurities within.

Even dropping from high altitudes or climbing a 50-meter rock face would only leave his limbs slightly numb, because movements like climbing and jumping primarily pressure his ligaments and bone joints, with muscles only playing a secondary role, thus not inducing such a strong muscle contraction sensation.

However, the clean gave him a distinct sense of muscle contraction. This feeling of squeezing out the deep potential of muscles became incredibly addictive.

Moreover, Wang Ye noticed that while weightlifting, the skill level of his Golden Bell Shield was also slowly rising.

Wang Ye believed it was because weightlifting caused significant wear on his skeletal muscles and the skin of his palms, thereby providing a tempering effect, leading to a noticeable improvement in the Golden Bell Shield’s skill level.

Much like striking the body with a hammer, following the "break and then create" principle, it tempers tendons and bones to enhance flexibility and strength.

After figuring it out, Wang Ye stood up again.

He began testing with clean weights of 350kg and 400kg.

He could feel that 300kg was definitely not his limit.

Because there was still considerable reserve power left in his muscles.