Squat 'ass to grass' or don't squat at all

     
When I started training with Brandon back in June I was not strong nor was I flexible. I remember thinking every weight I picked up was heavy. And when it came to doing certain movements I, quite frankly, sucked. I couldn't get the form right or I just couldn't do it at all. One such exercise was barbell squats. Hell, I couldn't even do air squats without losing my balance and falling over. Brandon had told me that as I progressed I would get more flexible but I kept thinking to myself 'what's so hard about doing a squat?' I even recall one workout where Brandon put me on the Smith Machine (a weight machine that includes a barbell set in a steel frame that allows vertical movement of the barbell ~ See Gym Lingo, a vocabulary lesson) to help me get the form right. That day I even had Pete, owner of Muscle Inc., giving me pointers. I'm telling you it was bad and I needed help.

     So in September when I finally got the form right and could squat without losing my balance or falling forward or backward I was ecstatic. When I started squatting with just the bar (which is still 45 lbs of weight) Brandon told me I needed to squat 'ass to grass' or not at all. I became obsessed with making sure if I was squatting I was squatting as deep as I could go, ass to grass (or in my case, boobs to thighs) and with good form. If I couldn't do it right what was the point?  Brandon would remind me "head up, butt out, chest up, shoulders back, heels down." And eventually my form improved and we started adding weight. I realized how far I had come one Sunday afternoon in October when we had worked up to 80 lbs. (See When you realize how far you have come)I asked Brandon to take a video so I could see what my form looked like. 80 lbs was a lot but my true goal was to squat 135 lbs (two 45 lb plates + the bar) and to do it deep. 

     So we set a goal to squat 135 for 8 reps by December. Each Sunday was my leg day and we would alternate heavy weight workouts with high rep workouts. Each week we went heavy the goal would be a max PR 10 lbs heavier than the last time. If all went as planned I would hit 135 the first Sunday in December. As the weight got heavier Brandon would remind me to "tighten my core, two seconds down, one second up. Slow and controlled on the way down so your core stays tight." I had a tendency to go down too fast or 'free fall' as Brandon would say and my core would get lose and I'd break form. Brandon would say, 'Commit to the rep. Take a few breaths and get your mind right.' Once I got in the mindset where I could visualize myself going down and coming back up, squatting deep with weight became easier and I started to get excited about my goal that was approaching faster than I expected. 

    So the Transformation Challenge ended and Thanksgiving came and went and before I knew it the first weekend in December was here. Two weeks ago we began splitting leg day into a hamstring day and a quad day. And because we did hamstrings on Friday, we did quads last night rather than Sunday to allow enough recovery time. Last week on quad day I had squat 125 for 2 sets of 8. So last night when I entered the gym it was THE day. I was going to do 135, two 45 lb plates on the bar for 8 reps. This was a huge milestone for me. And after a restless night's sleep the night before and a migraine that morning I walked into the gym last night pumped. 

     Last night was leg day, quad day, heavy squats day and a chance at a new personal record (PR). We started by stretching, something that Brandon had recently told me he used to do religiously every morning but hadn't for some time. But that stretching was an important part of working out. So holding on to the rack I stretched out my quads, back and shoulders. I did a few air squats to stretch even more. Then I started with a couple sets warming up with just the bar followed by 3 sets slowly adding weight until I reached last weeks PR of 125. The one before THE ONE. One squat at 125. Tight. Clean. Smooth down and then up. When it was time to put the 45 lb plates on the bar just like the day we did deadlifts Brandon looked at me and told me not to be intimidated by the size of the plate. The 45's were only ten pounds heavier. He reminded me that I was strong enough, just have to get my mind set and do it. So I did it! I did 135 for one set and then another. My confidence was a little shaky on the first set but my depth was good and I made it to 8 without falling on my ass, dropping the bar, or giving up. We decided I would do another set of 8 and we would take a video to document it.

      The second set was the better of the two. I told Brandon that it was the better because after one set I had no doubt I could do it. Before I started the second set Brandon told me, "No fear, no doubt, bang it out!" And that is just what I did. When I look at the video I realize how super proud I am of the progress I have made in the short time I've been training. Less than a year ago I had never stepped into a gym before and here I am squatting ass to grass with 135 lbs of weight on my shoulders. When I first started training I remember one day looking at videos on Transform PT's facebook page. On the page was a video of a girl doing barbell squats. I was really impressed and secretly wished I could do that but never imagined I would. In fact, there are a lot of things I never imagined I'd be able to do. 

     Now I think about my next goal. 225 baby! Thanks to my awesome trainer (whom you can see spotting me in the video) who pushes me every step of the way and believes in me even when I'm not sure about it myself, I have no doubt that I will reach my next goal no problem.

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#asstograss
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