I often get the jitters, an anxious feeling, and the cold rush of adrenalin. When you start dealing with dangerous, heavy weight that could seriously injure you it literally becomes life and death. That is what I always liked about lifting weights. The danger, the focus required.
Someone once asked Andy Bolton what it felt like to deadlift over a thousand pounds. To which he replied "What is the most weight you have ever deadlifted?..... Just like that." Weight is relative. My 64kg get up feels just like someone else's 24kg get up.
Conquering your fears, and moving the immovable object is my drug of choice. Walking up to an impossible Snatch, or Clean and Jerk, knowing you cannot pull under it, and putting that fear out of your mind, the focus in the start position, blank, calm mind, instantly every muscle fires in perfectly timed sequence on sheer instinct. Then a fraction of a second later, to your shock, the immovable object is being held aloft, pinning you in an a#@ to ankles squat, but you cannot celebrate yet, you still have to stand up. Again you strain under a crushing load, and struggle against the immense tension and pressure, now you are running out of oxygen, every fibre of your being is burning, but you stand just long enough,on sheer will, to defy gravity.
Not to mention pushing yourself under the weight you struggled to stand up with threatening to fold you up like an accordion. The Jerk is the most explosive human movement with a fear factor to match. Most lifts are failed on the Jerk.
Everyone who plays the iron game knows that feeling of euphoria after a PR, tough lift, set, or practice. That is what keeps me picking up stuff day after day, year after year. Lifting does undoubtly change the brain. Some people thrive on the risk, some people let the weight win.
My hands feel cold and tingly just writing this.