This week I missed a squat. It is something I have always been afraid of and this week it happened. Let me set the stage for you. In the gym, I was set to do a very big squat session. For me a big squat session is 5×20. I wanted to go 5×20 at 9.5 RPE. I mean I really wanted to go big. Since WB Fitness is all in favor of the “it isn’t a dick measuring contest” method of lifting I won’t say how much weight was on the bar. I will say, however, that it was significantly more than body weight and the only reason I say that is to underscore just how fucking scared I was when this happened.

My first set was a breeze. I flew through that shit. Twenty clean ass to grass reps and when I was done I was pumped. Gave myself

Tom Platz was a big believer in 20 rep squat sets.

a minute and got back in and the second set went really well too. I was getting really clean reps, good mind-muscle connection, I was really feeling it. The third set was harder. I still got my reps but around 15 or so I had to do a rest-pause before I could go back in. The time between sets 3 and 4 was nearly 5 full minutes. At this point I knew I was blowing myself up. I reminded myself, however, that I am used to 3×20 in my current workout so a lot of my body calling it quits had to do with my mind. This is a hurdle, like the 20 rep set itself, you just have to push through. Forget what you think you know and push that body.

I did my gorilla walk and worked up some anger mean mugging other people and generally channeling my rage. I hit the bar again and my fourth set was beautiful. Perfectly executed, clean 20 reps with no rests and when I re-reacked the weight I nearly collapsed. I really crushed that set, but my muscles were screaming.

The time between sets 4 and 5 was even longer. Maybe 10 full minutes. I used the foam roller, had a bunch of water, did some stretches and got back into it. At around the 10^th lift I knew I was running out of gas. My CNS was crashing and I was losing my connection to my muscles. I did a lot of rest pauses, not sure how many, on my way to finishing out the set. On the very last one, about ¾ the way up, my body just gave out. There I was, 75% through a squat, more than my own body weight across my traps and I knew I wasn’t getting up. I was pushing as hard as I could but nothing in my body was responding.

I knew I had the safety rack set, I knew in my head that I should be able to get out of this, but I will admit I was scared. All the months and months of injury rehab I was potentially going to spend were flushing through my mind. There goes my summer, the rest of the year is totally shot. With my mind scattering and the weight feeling like it was getting heavier every second I knew I had to do something. I got my mind under control and instead of trying to go up I went back to the bottom position of the squat knowing the weight would do the work.

One I got as low as I could I dropped to one knee faster than an NFL player hearing the national anthem. All of a sudden I heard the greatest sound, the solid clunk of the bar hitting the safety rack, and the feeling of the weight being lifted. I dropped my other knee and slid out from under the bar. Standing up I realize that I wasn’t any way worse for the experience. After taking the weight off and reracking the bar I put a single plate on each side and gave 10 more light squats very slowly. I just wanted to feel every part of the squat to make sure nothing was wrong.

Put a bar with no weight on your back and squat as low as you can go and look at where the bar is. Put the safety bar on the very next peg down.

In some ways I was very lucky, but also there was an element about this that wasn’t luck at all and this is the point of my writing this post. Before I do squats, every single time, I set my safety bars. I never, ever, ever squat without them. Years of lifting and I have never once needed them and still I have always taken the time to put them in. It doesn’t matter if I am lifting light or lifting heavy, it doesn’t matter if I am doing a few warm ups or a massive set, no matter what I am doing in that rack the safety bars are in and they should be for you too. If you get to the rack and the safety bars are not there because someone was deadlifting before you, find them and put them in. I can’t repeat enough, do not take chances with this.

It is very easy to forget that what we are doing isn’t just a game. Weightlifting, like boxing, isn’t a sport that you “play.” We are moving massive amounts of weight. Jnyx has an app, he texted me the other day that he had moved something like 50,000 pounds in his session. Go HAM every single day, go beyond what other people think is reasonable, do more than everyone else on the floor, but always, always be smart. We aren’t just going to be the hardest working lifters in the room, but we are going to be the smartest ones.

So get out there guys and kick some ass, but remember, always be safe doing it. In the meantime, it is Friday and so there is a Friday challenge. For my part, this weekend, I want to get into the gym and finish my 5×20 heavy squats and so I am making this my challenge to all of you. Try out a 5×20 set of squats with enough weight that the 20^th squat is around 9 RPE. While doing your 5×20 keep your form strict, try, as much as possible, to go further than parallel, keep your mind muscle connection tight, pay attention to your body and adjust weights (either up or down) as necessary and, for fucks sake, make sure your safety bars are in and at an appropriate height to save your ass should you need them.