The Strongest You Is Locked Behind a Governor

by- Josh Bryant

Remember that trip to Ciudad Juarez, senoritas, margaritas, and a night in jail that would make a priest blush? You had a few drinks and nothing in your brain was telling you no.

You are walking down Avenida Juarez when a wild bachelorette party from El Paso spills out of a rooftop bar like a busted pinata. One of the girls climbs up on the patio railing for the perfect group photo, the rail shifts, and suddenly she is hanging over the edge kicking her heels like a mechanical bull with a mean streak.

Before anybody can scream, you step in, grab her with one arm, and yank her back to safety like you are snatching a warm up weight. The whole patio freezes. Then the bachelorette crew starts cheering like you just saved their night, their friend, and their social media careers all in one swoop.

And you are standing there thinking, “Where in the hell did that strength come from?”

What gives?

Your frontal lobe normally keeps you from doing insane things. Add adrenaline and a couple drinks, and that built in governor steps aside and lets the real horsepower loose.

Strength works the same way.

SKILL AT PRODUCING STRENGTH

Displaying high levels of strength is a skill.

So ask yourself:

A) Do you want to be just slightly stronger than the average poodle dick?

B) Do you want to be a cock strong pit bull?

If you picked option B, then we dive into what Dr Fred Hatfield spotlighted 45 years ago that lifters still ignore.

It is called de-inhibition training.

Why?

De-Inhibition Training is all about kicking your body’s conservative protective mechanisms to the curb. Your body is already capable of lifting the heaviest weights you can imagine; you just have to convince it! Hypertrophy isn’t just about size—it’s the gateway to strength. Thickening those tendons plays a crucial role in De-Inhibition Training.

We’ve dug deep into psychological modalities in Jailhouse Strong: The Successful Mindset, Grounded in Gratitude, and Powers of the Mind—if you haven’t reviewed these, get on it! Techniques like hypnosis and mental movies are game-changers in De-Inhibition Training. Every lift you do helps desensitize the Golgi tendon organ (GTO) and other built-in protective mechanisms. The key is to expedite this process and break through those barriers fast!

Grab those books HERE.

Using De-Inhibition Training efficiently involves (but isn’t limited to) the following techniques:

Explosive Movements: Jumps, throws, sprints, plyometrics, Compensatory Acceleration Training, and Overspeed Training.

Josh in action:

Handling Supra-Maximal Loads: Static holds, partials, and weight releasers.

(Josh recommends static holds now, not walkouts — this was 23 years ago, but the principle still applies.)

Overcoming Isometrics: Maximal effort and intent—this one’s less common but crucial. Check out the Jailhouse Strong YouTube Channel for videos on technique and application.

Deadlift Isometrics with Johnnie Jackson:

Assistance Gear: Whether it is a Slingshot for bench press or a squat suit to overload your squat, getting used to handling heavy weight, even with help, builds de-inhibition training and the beauty is you can do it through a full range of motion.

Mental Rehearsals: Your CNS cannot tell real from vivid. Napoleon ran battles in his mind before war. Billy Graham preached to tree stumps. See yourself lifting supramaximal weights and you train de inhibition without touching a bar.

Heavy Strongman Movements: Yoke runs or farmers carries loaded above your deadlift teach your body to stabilize and produce supramaximal force. Confirmed by McGill and colleagues, strongman work “tricks” the nervous system into firing far beyond normal limits.

Josh overloading the yoke.

This is the tip of the iceberg!

Final Thoughts 

All strength training is de-inhibition training. You are slowly desensitizing the GTO and teaching your system to unleash what it has been holding back. But just like meditation, there is good, better, and best. We have cracked the code on the most efficient ways to fast track that process.

Your mind and your body are a team. You have to do the work physically, but you also have to do the work upstairs. The mental reps you run in the theater of your mind become addictive in the best way. You can get hooked on winning the story you play in your head or hooked on projecting yourself doing things most people think are impossible.

Choose the right addiction. Choose the one that builds you.

Let’s get to work.

Just like your nervous system has built in governors, my programs are built with this same concept in mind.