Super strength.

[wildwood]

I know about the temporary adrenalin release to a 'fight or flight' response but is there any authentic evidence that a man can lift unbelievable weights like 1000kg at such a time? I can imagine up to say double the normal strength but those enormous weights??
I've read that our close relatives - the Apes - have a strength many time that of Men and yet have no more muscle mass, the reason is supposed to be that they can consciously stimulate their muscles to maximum ability for everyday tasks.

Not exactly science, but there as no human anatomy category....

[LazyGun]

Well, at least in part the relative strengths of primates vs humans has been a little exaggerated.For a long time it was kind of assumed that primates were 5-8times stronger. This is now thought to be an exaggerated estimate.That said, chimps for instance are, pound for pound, probably 2-3 times stronger than an equivalent human which stems from a number of causes.

First is body architecture - limb length, leverage, subtle anatomical differences all of which added together mean that primates can generate more power in legs and most especially arms.
Second is most likely the reflex governing fine muscle control. Humans have greater neurological control over muscle response, leading to a kind of damping down reflex, whereas with primates the same reflex becomes much more an "all or nothing" response.

As to the other point of your question - incredible feats of strength by humans is often referred to as an example of "hysterical strength". There have been many instances documented in the media, but few have been scientifically validated, mostly because such events are not reproducible. It would also very probably be unethical :)

Adrenaline does a lot of synergistic things to the body - it improves blood flow to the muscles, and over-rides the normal muscle contraction cap, which in turn grants more strength - but that increased strength is short- lived, as is the adrenaline release triggered by the fight of flight response. Were it not short lived, there would be a very real danger of overstressing muscles, tearing tendons, or even displacing joints.

So feats of hysterical strength are certainly feasible, and have been documented. The level of feat or strength exhibited will be affected by muscle tone - so someone who exercises would likely be able to generate a larger response than those untrained.

[robert551069]

I have heard of a father who rescued his son from underneath his car. The car collapsed when the jack failed while his son was underneath it. The father lifted the car and the mother pulled her son free. Luckily the son was not seriously injured.
Afterwards the father tried to lift the car and found it impossible to do it again.

[beso]

Out muscles are far stronger than we normally need for ordinary living. We normally limit the force they generate.

Part of the training in sports like weightlifting is about overcoming those normal limitations. However this does cause stress on joints and can lead to injuries if not done intelligently as a whole development program.

I used to be a long distance runner. Part of that training is overcoming different psychological limitations. It make a huge difference to performance.

[modeller]

My daughter can make her body rigid under self hypnosis and be lifted up so as to to be supported by two chairs one under her ankles and one under her neck. She can stay there for 2 minutes without trying .She could do it for longer but we are worried it could result in injury.
However without hypnosis she can't do it for seconds let alone minutes.