Dooley Noted: 6/22/2015
I source help for my personal training program writing from my amazing business partners, Joe Boffi and Jason Kapnick.
Since they are two of the finest athletes and coaches I’ve ever met, I trust them implicitly.
So, I was not surprised at all that barbell front squats showed up in my program.
They both know I hate them.
So, they put them twice in my training week.
This past week, Joe watched me grumble as I loaded the bar.
I don’t have to tell Joe all the things I hate about the front squat.
His words rang like a soothsayer.
“Get the bar closer. You won’t choke. It will be uncomfortable. Stop gripping that bar and get your elbows up.”
This weekend, he wasn’t there in person for Day 2 of those miserable front squats.
But he was still there.
I heard his voice and felt his gaze, as I listened to his cues.
He was like good conscience in my ear from afar.
But most of all, he was right to program the front squat.
It brings out all of my training issues.
I feel everything that goes wrong, if I let it go wrong.
The loss of intraabdominal pressure as I hyperextend my low back.
The elbows depressing as I grip the hell out of the bar.
The hip pinching as I pitch my weight into the forefoot too much.
We all should be doing things we hate.
It makes us better at things we hate AND love.
When I pick up items from the floor, I think of the front squat and its carryover into life.
And as I learn how to properly front squat, I understand how squatting is so wonderful for the back, hips, knees and feet – if you learn from your mistakes.
You can do the things you love.
But you can do the things you hate and learn from them.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley
