1 – 17 – 18 Find Your Squat (3 minutes)

One of my toughest experiences is going to sleep knowing I’ll have to squat in my workout the next day. Maybe it’s because it has such broad muscle recruitment, or because it requires flexibility and balance to execute properly, or because the bar path is so long, but whatever the case may be, it sucks. It’s terrible and awful and I hate squatting. I nearly passed out Monday morning, and I had only done eight of the ten reps I was supposed to do in that set. It’s also my weakest lift.

But it’s also the most important lift I do. No other exercise has positively impacted my athletic performance and overall health as much as the barbell squat. It builds strength and stability in every muscle group from the ribcage down, which is what matters for athletic performance. Because it’s so challenging I get a lot of growth response and psychological benefit from doing it. I think I tweeted one time, “heavy squats are my favorite part of the day once they’re over.”

I feel similarly about squats as church in that I never regret time spent in a squat rack or at church. Though my aversion to the squat rack, because of the unpleasantness of squatting, is considerably more than my aversion to steeples.

So what’s the point? Am I just complaining about squatting? Well, yes. But I’ve also got a theory. I think there are activities, exercises out there in every field and discipline that everyone acknowledges the value of, but nobody wants to do. In lifting it’s squatting and that’s why you see a bunch of top-heavy guys (I’m no exception) walking around the gym looking like those genetically engineered turkeys whose breasts are too big for them to walk.

I think I’ve found my spiritual squat. I went to Confession for the first time in something like two years the other night and I greatly enjoyed it. I found even the decision to go and the waiting for my turn to be very spiritually fruitful. I probably need to do it a couple dozen more times before I can decide if it’s my spiritual squat but based on how common the aversion of it is, and the unreserved love for it people who do habitually go have, I’ve got a hunch that it is.

Academic squat? This may not apply for other disciplines but I’ve forced myself to acknowledge that the best way to improve in math and engineering is to solve problems. It’s a lot more strenuous and energy-intensive than just reading the book or watching videos and trying to conceptually understand the concept. But I’ve found that practice ends up being more time efficient and leads to a higher level of conceptual understanding than just studying. (Note: on the flipside don’t try to solve problems before you have a basic understanding of the concept).

Extrapolate!

This is basically the pareto principle except it’s targeting a specific kind of activity. It’s something that everyone knows about and acknowledges the value of, and it’s something that people (generally) don’t like doing or find difficult.

This is really freeing if you think about it because if you accept it you’re freed from the search for the magic bullet. If you’re competing you stop trying to say, “What can we do differently to get an edge?” and start focusing in on what’s got proven results but you know other people won’t do. One of the few Harbaugh quotes I like: “It’s not that hard to outwork people because most people aren’t willing to work that hard.”