Jedi Mind Tricks to Up Your Squat
By Thomas Phillips
For www.EliteFTS.com
Have you ever noticed once you start to squat a weight that’s close to your one rep max or you get toward the end of a heavy rep max that it becomes very difficult to push your stomach against the belt? It’s almost as if you lost 5–10 lbs in a hurry because the belt actually feels loose. For a long time, I thought it was just me, but many other fellow powerlifters confirmed the same experience.
We all just assumed that it was as simple as needing much more abdominal work. However, I recently stumbled across something in my reading that made me understand exactly what was going on. You see, every once in a while, my training as a special education teacher crosses with my powerlifting experiences. I know that sounds weird, but let me explain.
Other than being a gym owner, family man, and practicing natural raw powerlifter, I’ve been teaching math and philosophy to emotionally disturbed adolescents for the past eight years on a full-time basis. I recently earned my master’s degree plus 30 in the field of education, and I have a special interest in current brain research. During my study of the book, Your Immortal Brain, by Dr. Joe Dispenza, I came across a paragraph that instantly reminded me of the experiences I was having with a really heavy bar on my back. Believe me. I know how crazy that sounds, but check out this statement from the book regarding the mid-brain’s fight-or-flight response.
“When your autonomic nervous system triggers your fight-or-flight response to prepare you for activity, there is a sequence of automatic internal event. An instant burst of adrenalin prepares your body. Blood flow is directed AWAY from your internal organs to your arms and legs, maximizing your ability to move so that you have the best odds of escaping.”
Reading that statement made me feel much better about what was going on with me as the bar got heavier. I always felt like I could push hard against the belt up to a weight around 90 percent, but then it actually felt as if the belt got looser despite my best efforts to push as the weight approached my one rep max. It turns out I was right. That is exactly what was happening!
So, what did I start doing differently? Do you read articles for practical solutions too? Good, let me give you a few.
- I know that some articles and lifters have said to crank the belt tight for your deadlift and leave it one notch loose for your squat (in order to leave room to push the belly out). I agree with that…until the weight gets close to your one rep max. I started to crank the belt on my squats as I went over 90 percent. Guess what? I recently hit a 20-lb squat PR in my first full meet since I destroyed my hip last summer. With the belt extra tight as I go into the hole and the fight-or-flight response starting to fire, the blood that leaves my core has a minimal effect because I have the belt cranked extra tight and I can still feel my belly pushing into the belt. Try it and see what happens!
- Since this is a neurological phenomenon caused by the fight-or-flight response, don’t allow yourself to get anxious before the squat. Instead, train yourself to be confident as you step onto the platform (and believe it or not, this CAN be learned). Present brain research is proving that an individual can literally “change his mind” by the way we train ourselves to think. The more we do it, the better we get. Practically speaking, have supreme confidence knowing that all of the work you’ve done is going to pay off instead of getting butterflies.
- Unless you’re an elite powerlifter, you should avoid getting overly fired up before the squat (save that for the deadlift). Two really good reasons why: 1) you’re still falling victim to the fight-or-flight response before you even touch the bar. I’m not saying you shouldn’t get excited, but keep it as internal mental confidence rather than excessive body language. 2) It is also important to stay mentally under control because the squat is a very technical lift. You need to remember to sit back, spread the knees, spread the floor with your feet, push your belly against the belt, keep your chest up, keep your elbows under the bar as best as you can, and drive your head back into the bar. That’s a lot of stuff to remember, and if you’re not an elite powerlifter (and sometimes even if you are), you won’t remember to do all of that stuff if you’re too worked up.
The squat isn’t a “grip and rip” movement. Practice internal confidence and extreme physical tension under the bar and mentally work yourself through that squat PR.
- Do more abdominal work but not just any abdominal work. Start doing ALL of your abdominal work standing for a while or at least in the vertical position. There’s a bunch of standing abdominal exercises to choose from so make them heavy and do them 3–4 times a week. The more practice you have doing abdominal work standing, the easier it is to have control over your abs in that position. This extra practice will help mitigate the above described phenomenon under a heavy bar.
Stick with these tips for a few weeks and see what happens with your squat. Like any new experience, it’s going to take a little while for your mind and body to get used to it, but I think you’ll be happy with the results down the line. I would love to hear your feedback. Until then, keep training hard!
Thomas Phillips is the owner of Fit-for-Life Personal Training in Marlboro, New Jersey. He is the 2002 Body-for-Life Grand Master Champion. He placed first in the deadlift at the National AAU, received first place at the AAU PL Nationals 181 raw division, and is a national qualifier for the sport of kettlebell lifting. Thomas also won back to back first place finishes in the National TSC elite class (www.the-tsc.com) and the U.S. Army certificate of Achievement in Physical Fitness. Thomas was chosen to be an RKC team leader for Pavel Tsatsouline. He is a certified personal trainer, sport specific trainer, strength trainer, and kettlebell instructor. Visit his website at www.ThomasPhillipsFitness.com or www.FitforLifeMarlboro.com.
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