Super Human Strength and an Injury on Church Mountain

Fence on Church Mountain, Co. Wicklow. © Eugene Brennan

In 2019 I was making my way down a gully on Church Mountain near Hollywood with my bike slung over my shoulder. I had cycled half-way up on the trails at the back of the mountain and was going to go further, but it was getting late in the day and I decided it would be wise to head home before it got dark. The gully was peppered with lots of rocks, covered in wet, slippery moss and algae and difficult to navigate. I was distracted by an annoying off-lead dog belonging to walkers behind me which kept barking at me. I lost my concentration, slipped and started to fall backwards, my bike pulling me down (which is why it's never a good idea to carry a ladder over your shoulder on a stairs). In that split second, I knew I'd smash my head off the rocks, so I threw myself forwards and upwards and managed to tear one of my quad muscles because of the amount of force it exerted. I had visions of having to call out mountain rescue, but managed to limp down to the road and make my way home, cycling with one leg. The next day I found it hard to walk and it took me 5 weeks to get back to normal. I hadn't done a lot of damage but this is by way of an introduction to an episode of Science With Dr Karl podcast where we learn how under extreme conditions, our muscles can literally tear themselves from the bones. Under normal circumstances, the "firmware" in our brains as Dr Karl describes it, limits the forces they exert.