Sticking Points

For all my fellow weight lifting friends - you know when you are bench pressing there is a term called 'stick point'.  That is where as you lift the weight  you reach a point where you just can't push that weight any higher to its apex.  If you are working out with a partner they will stand at your head and put their fingers under the bar like they are helping with the weight.  The next thing that happens is amazing.  That weight you couldn't lift before - when you see your partner put their fingers in a position that you assume is helping you lift the bar you are then  able to push it right up without effort.  When in fact your partner is either not touching the bar or lightly touching it.  

What you couldn't do by yourself you have just done by yourself thinking that your partner is helping when they are in reality doing nothing.  That is what a stick point is and how it influences the person doing the lifting.  When you are on the bench you don't really know if they are helping you lift or not and you find strength that you didn't know you had. 

There are times in our lives when we reach a stick point and need a partner to help us think they are carrying the load.  In fact we hit sticking points more often than we would like to think.  When we get the illusion of help we often can do what we were unable to do before.  How often do we come up short or our goal  telling ourselves that that we can't do this task or the other when in actuality we have the strength to do it but we need a partner to support us even if it is an illusion.  

I am fortunate to have several people whom I can count on when I hit a 'stick point'.  These people are heavy lifters and you know immediately when they actually help you lift that bar and its weight. Then I have some good friends on face book I could refer to as my clean up crew.  When you get to a stick point and nothing seems to work your clean up crew can step in and it looks something like putting a frog in a blender. Or maybe wading through hell with a chainsaw to come to your aid.  When you enlist the aid of these friends in your life and they come to your aid your worries and concerns are over.  

I think we all need workout partners and a clean up crew.  When they step in you need to grab something that will hold you in place or you will get sucked into the void they create in their pursuit of justice and freedom.  My wish is that everyone had a workout partner and clean up crew as workout partners.  I'm very thankful for mine.  It is almost unfair when they are turned loose on sticking points as they don't slow down and the aftermath of their wake is not pleasant to look at.   

So to my workout partners and clean up crew I send you a very hearty THANK YOU for always being there for me.