Birthday Squats

BW - 202

Squat -
BarX10
95X5
135X4
155X3
185X2
205X1

135X36

10 more lbs. and (obviously) one more rep than last year.  Just like last year, the two main obstacles are the mental aspect and low back cramping.  Between 15 and 25 reps, my mind insists there is no way I'm going to make it to 36.  Right around 25, my low back starts cramping up so that I have to kind of stand straight up at the top of each rep and round my upper back so that I can support the bar but relax my erectors for a couple of seconds.  At about 28, it becomes all determination, and I just drive on to the last rep.

One other thing I played around with is that when my legs started getting tired, I would shift my toes to point more forward.  This seems to distribute the load across the thigh musculature a bit differently, and I think it gave some muscles a bit of a break while recruiting others to soldier on.

I also ate a lot and drank a lot of coffee today in preparation.   We got free samples of breakfast sandwiches sent to work by a catering company, and I had 5 over the course of the day.

See you again next year for 37, birthday squats.