Did I ever tell you about the time I fainted while working out? It’s a story was embarrassed to talk about for so long, until now. I just realized that it doesn’t matter.

In fact, this story just might be a testament to the power of Bodyweight Training. Yes, you can push yourself so far that you’ll faint. You can really get results with bodyweight training, as long as work hard enough.

So, it was a typical training day in my garage gym. It Dominic, Dheeraj and myself, standing around trying to figure out what we were going to do that day. The workout ended up looking like this:

4 rounds of:

• 5 Chinups
• 10 Chair Dips
• 15 Squat Jumps
• 20 Kettlebell Swings, each side

Ok, so I did KB work. But the majority of that workout is bodyweight. In fact, it was those Squat Jumps that really did it for me. (By the way, this workout took me around 9 minutes, something seconds.)

The Heat of Competition

After Dominic scored an 11 minute round, I thought to myself, “Damn, I really have to push myself if I’m going to beat that great score.”

I mentally prepared myself, and fired away. After the first two rounds, fatigue started setting in. But I looked at my training partners and knew I couldn’t back down now.

I kept going. By the fourth round, I was pretty much very close to failure. I could feel my legs burning with lactic acid. I couldbarely lift myself up with those Chair Dips.

I remember performing 3 chair dips, resting, taking a breath and telling myself to just keep going. 3 more, deep breath, 2 more, deep breath, 2 more, finished.

Now, onto the squat jumps. After the first squat jump, I knew this was going to be a long one. I asked Dheeraj what my time was. I think he shouted out something like 8:30.

I dug down, and pushed past those squat jumps. Now, kettlebell swings. I had time. Dominic’s time was 11 minutes and I was close to the 9 minute mark.

But I just wailed through. I felt as though if I stopped swinging that kettlebell, I’d never be able pick it back up again. I just did 20 on each side, without any breaks.

Done! I dropped the KB, and sat down on the chair as Dheeraj stood up to write down my score. My buddies congratulated me as I felt the cramp on the side of my stomach.

Victory was Sweet….but at a Price….

Then I started to breath heavy. Dheeraj started his workout. And it made me mad that I couldn’t push him because I couldn’t catch my breath.

I usually love yelling at my partners to make them go harder. But I couldn’t. Then, I stood up and told Dominic that I wanted to go upstairs.

But the moment I took a step, I collapsed. On the floor. I couldn’t feel anything. I was scared stiff, because I’d never felt like this before.

I’d never pushed myself to the brink of muscular collapse. What was happening to me? The first thing on my mind was Rhabdo. Rhabdomyliosis is the rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue caused by injury to the muscle tissue.

No one had to call 911

Luckily, both Dominic and Dheeraj were medical majors. Dheeraj began monitoring my pulse and told Dominic to put something soft underneath my head.

He grabbed my schoolbag, and placed it underneath my head. He then went upstairs to get me some water. Dheeraj kept talking to me, making me take deep breaths.

By the time Dominic came back with the water, I had regained my composure. Within a few minutes, I was back on my feet, back to normal.

Glad it wasn’t anything serious. Just pushed myself too hard.

Don’t be Scared of Bodyweight Training

I revealed this story just to tell you how hard you can take it with bodyweight training. However, now that I know I’m capable of pushing myself past failure, I’m not doing it ever again.

That was a scary experience. But I still believe that bodyweight training is one of the most safest forms of training out there.