Top deadlift sets suffering a bit but still flew through the BBB sets beltless and DOH. It was thunderstorming all morning, but I will do some outdoor conditioning this afternoon.
You’re right. I know I’m never going to have a smooth looking squat, and that never really was/is The Goal anyway. I just think I’m sometimes lazier than I should be about pushing my knees forward and squatting straight down. Maybe nitpicky. My quads feel it the next day, so I must be doing something right.
I feel like every week my legs get a little longer and my torso a little shorter. Such is life.
But the reason I am so all over it is: Speech has power. Have you heard about a nocebo or priming before in the context of communication?*
While usually it is used in the context of one person (therapist/ doctor) to another (patient), it can absolutely apply to self talk as well.
*Not rethorical or condescending, I am not sure how common these terms are and don’t want to come across as a know it all.
Yeah. You’re not being condescending at all. I think I’m a realist more than anything though. I’m not super good at lifting weights, and I’m just trying to get a little better.
Be kinder to yourself. Don’t put barriers in your way. It’s fine to not be super good, I am not either. I realized though that we can put limits on ourselves very effectively or we can give ourselves a push with the words we use.
Since I know you’re reading my log, you know I’m not that good at this myself but I am working on it and it is paying dividends already.
By telling yourself you’re front squatting the wrong way you’re installing an idea in your head which leads to frustration which leads to fear which leads to lack of progress or injury.
Now you have a lot of knowledge on these things are very self reflecting (although with a harsh tone), so the nocebo part isn’t fully justified here but I’d still say you’re engaging in a form of priming by talking so negatively about your lifting.
I don’t disagree with you. I think I pride myself too much on being a realist in many areas of life, which can be good, bad, or neutral. I guess I err more toward my elf-reflections on lifting as neutral than negative, whereas you (and presumably others) feel I side with the latter.
You had good depth and you got the weight from the hole to the top, it counts. As far as the ‘squat morning’ phenomenon that I think you’re referring to, you can possibly improve that with some mental cues. What helped me was visualizing ‘leading with the bar’ and ‘elbows up’, which forces me to keep my body erect while I come out of the hole. If I go forward at all like that I totally lose my rack, especially if I’m sweaty at all, which is most of the time by the time I get to the front squat.
Is this like:
“You’re probably too busy, but could you spare some time to talk with me about”…
Which I do all the time and then don’t get a response.
I need go change the tone but I’m so frickin polite and uncertain what an effective lead-in should look like!
My observations, and apologies if I’m wrong, are that you compare yourself to other lifters, specifically those that put in similar levels of effort to yourself. You’ve essentially taken all the elements that go into making a successful lifter and removed the one variable you have complete control over from the equation. Don’t just compare yourself to other people who put similar effort in, because by doing that you make your own efforts seem unimportant when in truth it should be all that’s important.
I’m aware that these sentences don’t flow properly, or communicate what I’m trying to say effectively. I don’t think inhave the mental horsepower to do that tonight though, so I may have to revisit this tomorrow.
Exactly - I realize that I’ve been tending toward that naturally, but need to find ways to “man up” and be more assertive. I don’t think I’ve actually used those words - I would see how pathetic it is and revise before sending - but have definitely had that self-defeating tone. One of a few things I’m going to “work on” personally is fixing that.
Clogging up @bagsy 's log with this, LOL. Everyone comes down on you for your self-defeating tone too, because they know you are better than you give yourself credit for; but I suspect (could be wrong) that that’s just how you like to present outwardly, on the forum; and that IRL you’re freakin proud of yourself for kicking the ass of your lifts, and, I’ll say it, compared to other ladies your size/weight/age. I HOPE you are; maybe you’re not and that would be an issue! You absolutely deserve to be proud of yourself. It’s not arrogance, its realism.
Rant over and I’ll stay off this now.
I’ve said it on a few occasions in a few logs, but to sum.
You can be humble without being meek, and you can have pride without being arrogant. But all that said, if you HAD to pick: pick arrogant. The whole world will work to tear you down: you don’t need to give them a hand. Overcompensate so that you end up at neutral if you need to.