A love letter to my nemesis gym lift…..

So if there was a job which was to do high bar squats at a very moderate load, a few reps at at time, I am now your woman. I was so happy with my squats today, with the hip crease way below parallel, good ankle mobility, heels still on the floor, torso up, head up, knees over toes that in my excitement I would say, Sign me up for that. Unfortunately there is no job, nor competition for that level of mediocrity. It’s only Exciting when it gets Heavy, obviously!

Even though I still get the yips at a heavier weight and am always thinking about what can go wrong I am so chuffed to have significantly improved my squat style and range (with lots and lots of repetition and of other accessory exercises also) that I am feeling almost positive about the movement now. I wish that it was something that has been taught to us in school, rather than being able to make myself a gathered skirt or bake scones! And whilst I tell everyone how much I hate them I see no contradiction in simultaneously evangelising for the importance of doing them for those that are able to.

Why focus on it now? After all, I’ve been squatting this whole time (c. 7 years) and my max is 110kg. Shouldn’t I just be happy with that? Just take the tick in the box and move on. What’s different now?

Well now I am moving the weight better. It means I am now using my legs to move the load more than my hips. I am not sticking my head down and my bum back so much in the way of a small child playing hide and seek in order to move the bar downwards (analysis copyright coach Chris Allen) and thereby putting my lower back under massive strain.

It has taken a long, long time to get here for someone who could not even do a bodyweight squat (ie with no barbell or weights) a few years ago. It’s been a long slog, and one that maybe I wouldn’t have started if I had known quite how long. But this hopefully gives me a higher ceiling for future heavy loads, fingers crossed with less risk of injury.

I read something recently about the gym being a lifestyle, not a hobby, but I say let’s reclaim the word hobby. It’s my chosen hobby to keep going to the gym and trying my best to get my legs stronger and master the squat. The benefits of being able to do this are so many and various, from aesthetic to health, that it makes it a no-brainer, but I probably wouldn’t do it unless I got some fun out of it along the way.

But the fact that I choose to think of it as a hobby takes the pressure off. The world won’t end if I don’t do it, but I choose to do it because I quite like a challenge, it takes concentration and a little (for me) bravery, and also a proper squat is a neat trick that I hope to demonstrate well into my dotage. Last year my now 88 year old mum was showing me how easy it is for her to touch her toes, imagine of she had ever made it to strength training?

To me there is absolutely no downside to having strong legs, as I have written before and nauseam. And the squat is the ultimate demonstration/test of that. I have let squats get the better of me mentally many times and so in a way the thrill of the chase is still there….

So Squat Specialist then? Yes, that the aim (as well as bench 😉 . I have performed many 1000s and will no doubt do many 1000s more. I am eating more at the moment and am less busy with work this August than usual so I am taking advantage of these to focus on training. Lucky me. Let’s hope I can defeat the yips and report back on further progress sometime soon.