let it settle

I would argue, in lifting, one of the most important parts of the entire bench press lift is making sure you settle. Let the weight settle at the top before you begin.

This is arguably one of the most important parts because if you start and just launch into the lift with the weight unsettled, wobbly, or out of control, your entire lift will be whacky. You won’t feel stable and strong on the way down or on the way back up. You have to start from a strong foundation.

It takes practice. It takes repetition and time to learn. Of course when I was first starting to lift, I didn’t know how to do this. Nothing felt familiar, and there was no muscle memory established because it was something I’d never done before. My body didn’t know how yet.

In the same manner, I’ve since watched other brand new lifters do the same thing. Unrack and immediately go down for the lift. You can’t have a strong foundation this way.

It’s so important to start at the top, pull your pinkies down, squeeze your shoulder blades together, down, and under, brace your body, push as much force as you can through your legs, breathe big into your trunk and keep your torso solid, get your arms exactly where you want them to be, let the weight hold completely still, let it settle into your joints and feel what it feels like… and then, only then, you begin to move down.

This can really all happen in just a few seconds! You don’t have to sit there forever fatiguing yourself with this process. But you cannot just unrack and immediately go down, keeping the momentum of the unrack going as you move downwards. This will throw off the entire balance, strength, and precise capability for the lift.

So, that was last night’s gym metaphor for me! You have to let something settle so you can start from a place of solid ground.

Probably this is true in more of life than what I realize. If I’m not starting something from a place of solidity and calm waters, my efforts are so much murkier and more likely to be chaotic and less concise and effective. Just like my bench press is so much more concise, powerful, and effective when it is properly set up from the beginning, from the very top, before I even start the movement.

I think many scenarios in our lives can be the same way. So this is a good invitation and reminder for me to let things settle. If there’s a hot button topic, massive challenge to face, very big, full-body, scary emotions about something… this stuff is unavoidable in life, and a lot of times, we have to move through it anyway. Often, there will not have perfect clarity or next steps until we’re willing to get messy and move through it. Yet there can be a brief moment, just like the few seconds at the top of the bench press, to collect your thoughts and settle.

Part of the process is having the maturity, self-compassion, and important self-awareness to notice when we need more stability for ourselves. When the platform we’re trying to launch from is not stable enough. Because just launching right away, going right into it enthusiastically or hastily, when nothing feels in control, isn’t always the best move.

Even when you are strong enough and capable of lifting a very heavy bar, your lift will be much less solid if it’s not set up well from the beginning. Whereas if you set up well, the exact same amount of weight on the bar can be relatively easy for your body and your strength, if you have properly prepared and lined up for it.

“Let it settle” is a cue from my coach. I can hear her voice in my head saying it.

Unrack. Let the weight settle. Begin.

Good advice, coach.