Stella's Adventures in Squatting Journal

Discovering the "Sphere"

Stella: This was one of those action packed "PR" kind of workouts. An IOL get together was occurring at World Gym Santa Cruz as I prepared to squat. The big discovery of the "sphere of balance" in this days workout leads to a great set but I can't minimize the element of supportive friendships in making the difference.

First things first. It was great to talk to Laree, Bill, and Sam. Were you guys sending me vibes or what?! I had a great workout! That's why I had to call twice, LOL.

Warm up: broomstick squats (new name for empty bar), 1 set Glorified Deep Knee Bends (Your name for 1x8 135, I might like doing 2 sets of these)

3x8 175 : Nothing new except I wasn't wasting energy trying to NOT rush through these. I'm trying to show them some respect and appreciation and use them to get focused.

3X5 215: I didn't "feel" the increase here mentally or physically. They feel as you describe-I'm working but not killing myself. While I know their function is building the base of strength and endurance, they act as a nice stepping stone during the workout. That's how I think of them and that's why I like them now.

4x3 250; 1x10 250: My intention the whole workout was to suppress any urges to rev the engine. I wanted to gun it on the last set and that's what I did. Before I tell you how great this felt (I'm sure you heard it in my voice), I should fill you in to explain some detail. There area few performance factors that came into play for "The Set That Made My Whole Day".

#1 Ants in the Pants Factor/Rest: I took an extra day off from training this week (Friday) since I had such an especially tough week at work so I did have a lot of leg rest since Tuesday. Since my friend was there working with me, I also wasn't as much of a clock watcher. There is longer than 3 minute rest times peppered in on some of the latter sets,some were probably close to 4.

#2 Empty Gym = Easier to focus, no idiots loitering waiting for the single squat cage.

#3 Confidence: Aside from getting verbal encouragement from you and Laree when I called, I trained with my friend who did a little powerlifting in high school. My confidence level was high the entire workout and that made me feel stronger (even nervous thoughts seem to waste energy sometimes). She verbally pushed me some but mostly reminded me about how much I've done to prepare for this as far as being consistent with workouts. I never analyzed it but I'm seeing that for me, confidence is very connected to how well I feel I prepared. When you've done the reading and completed the assignments, you can feel more comfortable taking an exam and even guessing on some of the answers. You know you've done all you could so you feel more relaxed and able to focus on the right things. This is why I sandbag. I have to feel like I've studied and worked before I'm willing to believe I will pass the test.

#4 Experience, Form: That first 245 the other day seemed so heavy when I lifted it off the rack. I had to mentally fight off the "Wow, this feels so much heavier than the 230" thoughts. I was pushing a mental comfort zone that day. The second time I did it, I didn't feel that same "back strain". Why? Well, the second day, my job was only form. I never thought about weight and I was released from any curious thoughts of a big increase or trying to get extra reps.

I'm going to describe something I've latched onto with form. This is not the all encompassing secret to squatting or anything but this is what I corrected. There are so many other things I have to do right from unracking to stepping into position to keeping my back straight but this one is where it's at for the lifting portion of the squat and a continued ability to manage heavier poundage. Remember when I told you about having to control a feeling on the ascent of my body wanting to pull forward from my belly button? That had something to do with my center of gravity. You described an anchor point in your back where you pull from to ensure you pull from your lower back to do hyperextensions-this same anchor point runs right through my body to the other side. That whole area is the center of my squatting universe. It's as if there is a 3 dimensional sphere around this center. The sphere simply travels up and down a straight pole as I crunch up and down. This is very simple, eh?

If I push the limits of the sphere with the slight bodily imbalances that come with fear, a lack of focus, or just inexperience, I lose my total strength capacity. I waste energy "panicking" to correct the stability issue and bring the center of the lift back into this optimal zone. The heavier I go, the smaller this sphere will become.

I know that came out very scientific-but it's the only way to describe what I feel when this is going on. I don't say "Oh no, I'm pushing the outer limits of the zone!" In fact, on better attempts, my mind mostly goes blank after the initial correction bullet points I say to myself before I unrack. This understanding made a big difference.

The last set, whew, that made me feel so good inside! The glutes, hammys, quads were all pushing up again and again and the mind was empty except for the upwards count. You know when you just nail something and feel good about it? The explosion of endorphins floated around me and carried me all day.

Stella

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