In the search for that new PR (personal record) in lifting
more weight, there are many techniques and assistance movements that can help
in accomplishing the goal of squatting, deadlifting, and pressing more weight. These
assistance movements work to train the central nervous system (CNS) by
overloading it with weight beyond your one rep max, beyond weight you can
normally handle in the full range of motion of a squat, press, or deadlift, so
that your body will be able to handle more weight. These movements use a
partial range of motion allowing the lifter to use more weight than they could
normally handle in the full range of motion. I’m talking about pin pulls, pin
squats, and board presses. For the sake of example I’ll focus on pin pulls.
Pin pulls are useful to increase your deadlift. In the squat
rack, you set the safety pins at a height at or just below or above your knees.
This helps with your lock out. With this movement I was able to use heavier
weight than normal. For instance the last time I did pin pulls I was able to
pull 500lbs with my last one rep max being 451.7lbs.
What does this have to do with faith? The assistance
movements train the CNS by overloading it with heavier weight in a partial
range of motion so that it will be able to handle it when using a full range of
motion. The spiritual exercises of Lent take us through a 40 day overload or
training session to make us holier with the goal of carrying that out through
Lent and beyond.
Ash Wednesday is March 5th. The season of Lent is
a time where we prepare and look towards Jesus’ resurrection. We prepare for
this through fasting and penance. Daniel Cardinal Dinardo once described Lent as
a “quarantine”:
“Our reality is that as a Church we need to go into quarantine. (The word comes from the Latin term, “quaranta,” meaning “40,” referring originally to the 40 day fast of Lent.) To be under quarantine means to be in another style of life for a provisional period of time. It is a time of truth about our spiritual health/spiritual sickness and our need for Christ to act in us and renew us. We reawaken our sense of faith, our sense of hope founded on the substance that we are loved by God and have been saved by the cross and resurrection of Jesus, and our sense of love, love for God first out of which follows the love of our neighbor, particularly the poor and the distressed.”I believe what happens in shocking the CNS with the movements described above is the same thing that happens when we really enter into Lent to shock our central religious/faith/spiritual systems.
Lent can be a powerful shock to the system in many different
ways. I’d like to focus on: removing, and adding.
When removing something from our life during Lent I usually
suggest something that will really make a spiritual difference. The classic
thing many people give up is candy or soft drinks. Now, I place no judgment on
people who choose candy or soft drinks but I feel if it is just something to do
and isn’t going to benefit you spiritually, I say you need to move on and pick
something meaningful. By removing things that may harm and hinder our spiritual
journey we are able to heal and be strengthened by its absence like pulling a
splinter out of a wound allowing the wound to heal.
When you take something away that leaves room to add. During
Lent we are also encouraged to add “accessory movements” to enhance our
spiritual journey. Some great ones to utilize are daily mass, Stations of the
Cross, the sacrament of Reconciliation, daily rosary, reading the daily mass
readings, practicing silence, Eucharistic Adoration, to name a few.
Cardinal Dinardo encourages both the positive and negative
practices (adding and removing) of Lent:
“The Lenten quarantine, the practices both positive and negative of Lenten observance and prayer, puts us in the “strike zone” for witness to the Gospel. It is not so bad that we strike out; it is only that we must learn from such failures and, like the Prodigal, hasten to the Father’s embrace.”
Lent is an ideal time to grow in virtue. In the gym, the
goal is to constantly progress. Lent may be relegated to forty days but what
was started in Lent should continue if possible. In the gym if you stop
progressing you either stay stagnant at a plateau or you regress. In the
spiritual life we are called to be holier each and every new day. We are called
to be saints.
Traditional Lenten obligations are:
Fasting: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: One regular meal,
two small meals
Abstinence: Abstain from meat on Fridays
To further enhance your Lenten journey subscribe to Fr.
Robert Barron’s daily Lenten reflections: Fr. Barron Lenten Reflections
If you’d like to learn more about some additional assistance
exercises you can see more here:
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