Stronger?

I dread Friday gym sessions, because that's when Al the mean taskmaster is supervising the circuits. Lo and behold he was there pushing people very very hard. Near the end of the circuit he approached me and watched my form on the bicep curls, carefully, concentrating. Just when I was getting tired he asked me how many. I replied 15. He doubled the weight and told me to do two more and hold for 10 seconds, to which I struggled. Then he told me to do press-ups straight away! This time instead of doing three like last Friday, I managed 13! Al asked whether I was reaching failure (he meant momentary muscular failure, the point when muscles will fail after extreme effort). I nodded weakly. Al seemed satisfied with my efforts and marked my exercise card accordingly. I know he made a mental note that, come next Friday, he will push me even harder.