Squat for Peace.
Dr. Jack Barnathan
“It everyone squatted they would be so happy and fulfilled.
There
would be no terrorists.
No war. Why do something
evil when you’d be so…joyful. You’re at the squat rack! You’re celebrating your strength and growing ability! And if you’re building your strength in order to do good works, you’ll be fulfilled. Why would anyone choose to cause harm
or hurt when they could squat instead?!
The world should…Squat for peace!”
I
was teaching an ISSA class when during a break the discussion turned to the mind set of success and the above just come out
of my mouth. To me this explains the endless question of who wins and loses and the meaning that has to go behind the muscle if success is to be true. If there is to be any lasting achievement.
My proclamation of faith
was first greeted with laughter, but then one by one my students offered an agreement that I had stated (without fully realizing
it) a profound truth.
Yes,
squat for peace. Squat with meaning behind the muscle. Squat as if the whole world would be
lifted closer to Heaven with each rep. Squat as if it were both a solemn vow and celebration at the same moment. Squat to be stronger and give meaning to that strength.
Perhaps that’s the
first problem athletes have to realize when they are looking to achieve “peak performance”. It starts with the “why” of your workout. Why are you trying to become swifter? Stronger? Better
And most important - what
are you going to do with that strength once you’ve developed it? Are you going to look at your reflection
in every shiny surface you pass? Or will you understand another truth I’ve tried to share for years. That strength means NOTHING unless you use it to lift up others. Muscle means NOTHING unless it is shared.
Squat
for strength indeed – yours and others.
Squat for Peace.
An
old training partner of mine was one of the strongest individuals I ever met, with one major flaw. Just as he was about
to go for his personal best – a weight to be lifted that he never could approach before but had worked his way up to,
he would just blow it all with one statement.
He’d walk up to the squat rack and say “and now lets put our
ANGER into it”.
And he’d fail. Every time. Despite doing everything else right, he missed the most important point. Strength doesn’t
come when it is forced and is never at it’s best when invited to the squat rack with anger. Passion yes –
but negativity, never. There’s no “peace” in that.
The
meaning behind the muscle is everything.
In my Muscle Mastery workshops http://www.centerforstrength.com/id73.html I discuss this meaning over and over while teaching my students
a deeper understanding of the science of strength and achievement. One story sums it all up.
I
was watching my friend Dara Torres swimming with the US Olympic team during a practice before the games. The way she would cut through the water made me believe that she had uncovered the secret of Moses at the Red Sea. It just appeared to part before her. She was slicing through the pool with each stroke of her arms and legs
with no apparent difficulty.
Afterward
I asked her if she mentally looked at the water as something she had to “push” through (like squatting with anger)
and she immediately shook her head “no”.
I then asked if she had “visualized” the
water getting out of her way – pushing it apart.
Again, “no”. Finally she stopped
me and said “JB – it’s not something you have to force. When you are swimming right…the water helps you. It pushes me from behind with each stroke”.
Consider
that. An attitude that you can win if you do your job right and not try to force it. “Live right and angels will gently push you from behind” as the holy books proclaim. Maybe it’s the same when you “swim right”. Or “squat right”. No anger or negativity, but rather a belief in your strength supporting you.
Lifting you up and pushing you from behind.
The
9 Olympic medals (5 Gold) and dozen or so U.S., Olympic and world records that Dara has shattered seem to back her up her
belief. And I’m not going to dispute it.
And Dara is now embarking on yet another comeback for the
2008 Olympics when she will be 41.
She started this comeback while pregnant with her daughter. 31/2 months after Tessa was born Dara competed in a major competition, and set yet another world record. This at the age of 39! Most swimmers peak in their mid twenties!
Swimming
isn’t squatting but I’ve squatted with Dara and she fully understands what I’m speaking of. Her training has meaning. She is making a comeback to show Mom’s that you can have a family
and still achieve your other goals.
The angels are certainly
pushing her from behind. She “squats for peace”.
On
New Years Eve 1999 everyone was looking for a special way to welcome the new Millennium. I was invited by
a client to have dinner at a restaurant in Times Square to watch the ball drop. But I had another
idea.
I called my training partners and asked what they thought about us being
the first people to Squat in the New Millennium!
At midnight when everyone else was counting down “10,
9, 8, 7, 6…” in Times Square or watching the ball drop at home, I was in my basement squatting and counting reps
“1, 2, 3, 4...” into the new Millennium.
Yes, I do love to squat that much.
Lets
make this New Year one in which whatever sport or training technique we choose, we do it with heart. With meaning. If one of your training partners misses a workout that day the rest of you should decide one rep will be “dedicated”
to your missing comrade so at least their squatting with you in spirit. If you add that kind of value to your
“reps” each will be special – and not to be easily missed!
And
yes, if you choose you can lunge for peace. Bench press for peace. Swim, bike, play ball and even run for
peace. For me it’s the squat rack. The important thing is for each of us
to find strength in a place that makes your heart sing. And it’s vital that you do it for something more than your ego. Do it to build a strength that will uplift others and bring the world closer to the angels (as a religious leader once
described to me his definition of prayer). Make your squats a “living prayer” or affirmation of strength
and joy.
And then life will gently start to “push you from
behind”. Just do your work with love.
And don’t be surprised when those angels give you a little push.
Copyright 2006 Dr. Jack
Barnathan – All Rights
Reserved
People are always blaming
their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people
who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.
- George
Bernard Shaw
FAKE IT TILL YOU
MAKE IT!
Dr. Jack Barnathan
I
once listened to a famous motivational speaker share his interpretation of "concepting" the things you most want
in the world. This guru of great inspiration told his audience that they didn't wish hard enough for the things
they wanted. If only we could vividly picture in our minds EXACTLY what we want, then it would "appear!"
Not just "I want more money" - but an exact figure and by what date we wanted it. Not
just a new car but the model, year, leather trim and wheel rim. He told us we couldn't just say "I want the
girl / guy of my dreams to walk into my life" - but that we had to visualize exactly who our "soul mate" would
be. What color hair, eyes, their smile, their job, how much they earned (this guru had a funny way of bringing money
into every aspect of his "spiritual" teachings...).
In short this Wizard of Wishing told us
that our problem was that we didn't wish clearly enough for what we wanted to fall out of the sky into our laps.
As I sat there and thought about his approach I kept thinking "if the perfect person showed up for most of the people
in this lecture - they wouldn't recognize the person in that room who THEIR soul mate was suppose to be!! It's
not that the perfect person / job, etc hasn't shown up. YOU haven't shown up for them to recognize!!!
It's not the "other magical person" that we should be visualizing - but instead we should be clearly seeing
who WE HAD TO BECOME in order to draw that perfect person, job, whatever into our lives.
The perfect person
is out there. It's just that WE haven't shown up so they can recognize us as their "perfect partner".
We've got to wish a better person in the mirror, and then take the step to make it real.
"Fake it till you make it" is a phrase used in Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12 step programs which
I really admire. I learned about it when I was the director of a community Crisis / Drug Prevention Hotline (before
becoming a doctor). It's not about being full of fluff and just tricking other people into buying your snake oil.
That violates all the laws (and yes there are laws in the universe just like gravity and it will come back to kick you hard
if you do). What it is encouraging you to do is take the first, tentative steps toward your goal even though you know
you still have a lot of learning to do. Have an open mind and heart while walking boldly FORWARD. And that's
the key - walking forward.
You can sit and contemplate forever, but if you don't go to the
gym or take that walk you'll never experience the benefits of vibrant strength & fitness. It all starts with
that first step...
Your goal doesn't just show up and wink at you announcing "I'm here!!!"
You have to take the steps (and sometimes it requires us to look inside at what we need to improve. To change.
Sometimes, to move beyond the childish pursuits that could be holding us in a bad place.
Another
way of saying it is to "act as if..." In the Bible there are so many examples of individuals being told to
have the faith that a sea will part - or that you could move a mountain from one place to another or make a meal out of a
few fish and loaves.
Another way of describing it is FAITH. Faith in your dreams.
Faith in you.
But remember it must be a faith that is on it's feet and moving. Growing
in the world. Exploring. Sometimes making mistakes (we all do) and having to begin again or differently.
But we're moving. Growing. Acting as if and "faking it till we're making it".
And then, without you even thinking about it. That thing / person you were dreaming about, appears.
But remember, it was you who "showed up" first.
Olympic Performance
While Returning a Cable Box
Sitting in the 23rd street Time-Warner offices today with my friend
Dara Torres (4X Olympian, 4X Gold Medallist) helping her return cable boxes gave me more insight into how Olympians go to
the top than any ten books I read.
As you've already heard, Dara is making
another comeback in the Olympics. Just 3 1/2 months after giving birth to her first child (beautiful Tessa) she competed
- and set a world record. She will be 41 years old in 2008 when the Olympics come to China and you can expect her to
make history again.
We had to wait close to 45 minutes before being helped.
Instead of wasting time complaining we discussed Performance Cuisine and how modifying even the smallest detail of a diet
can change everything. We discussed fish and omega 3's, and how the source of fish oil capsules can make such a
big difference (what part of the fish is in there???)
Before the 2000 Olympics
Dara's coaches had her (and all Olympians) on high carb diets with little quality protein. That's changed completely
in 2000. But we discussed how for 2008 it's not enough to just eat "meat" - but the quality of the cut
is everything. Where it was raised? Free range or stalls. Discussed energy and Dara said
how recovery is so important in training and maintaining her edge.
Recovery is the key. Learn to recover and you learn to win big - and consistently. It's as simple
(and hard...) as that.
I almost regretted when they called our number and it
was time to go. I want to make every "wait" as productive. We discussed training technique later over
dinner. I'll save that for another Blog.
OK, that's your performance thought
for the night. I have to go "recover" now so tomorrow I can serve with 110%.
Onward...
