Stephanie Mock has plenty of tips for sitting on a wall for 4 minutes and 28 seconds, but one of them stands out above the rest.
“Just remember you’re doing this for a great cause,” Mississippi State’s head Olympic sports strength and conditioning coach said. “I think that’s extremely important. It will be difficult, but you can make it happen.”
It’s Friday, and Mock is telling me about the Mississippi State softball team’s Wall Sit Challenge, created after freshman Alex Wilcox’s legendary 4-minute, 28-second wall sit right after treatment for ovarian cancer. Wilcox died in June 2018, and the Bulldogs created the challenge that fall to honor her memory and spread awareness of the disease. On Tuesday — April 28, or 4/28, it’s back: The team is challenging athletic programs nationwide to film themselves doing a wall sit for 4 minutes, 28 seconds in Wilcox’s honor and publishing it with the hashtag #428WallSitChallenge.
Mock, who joined Mississippi State in July 2018, says that’s easy — for her, anyway.
“I could go forever, let’s be honest,” she said.
How about for me?
“It will be difficult,” Mock told me. “I do promise you that.”
That’s right, I’m going to try this challenge — though I am absolutely not going to film it — for the purposes of this column. To do that, I asked Mock for some tips to survive 268 seconds on the wall.
Getting started
Find a flat-surface wall with nothing sticking out of it. Place your feet shoulder-width apart and make sure they’re flat on the ground. Slide down to a 90-degree angle at the hip and at the knee, like you’re sitting in a chair. Make sure your head, shoulders and lower back are flat against the wall — the latter allows you to keep your pelvis tilted forward and keep your core engaged, Mock said.
Just breathe
One key to surviving the wall sit is deceptively simple.
“Make sure throughout this extremely long wall sit that you are breathing,” Mock said. “Do not hold your breath the whole time — you will pass out.”
That’s good enough for me.
Sing along?
Four minutes and 28 seconds is a long time, so while you’re breathing, Mock recommends singing a song to pass the time and distract yourself.
According to teammate Carter Spexarth, Wilcox’s favorite songs included Mississippi Girl by Faith Hill, Meant to Be by Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line and Neon by Chris Young. Pretty much any country music would do.
I’m thinking I’ll go with R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.” I don’t expect to feel fine.
How to make it easier
By the end of the Bulldogs’ original Wall Sit Challenge video in October 2018, now-head coach Samantha Ricketts couldn’t keep her body at the 90-degree angle Mock described as optimal — and she wasn’t the only one.
Mock acknowledged sliding up a bit on the wall, ending up a little above 90 degrees, will take pressure off your lower leg as the wall sit continues.
Additionally, Mock said, starting slow and building up to the full time will help if you’re out of shape — like I am.
But managing to make it through can be a mental thing as much as a physical thing, Mock said, so prepare your mind as much as you can beforehand.
“I think there’s a big mental capacity that goes into it, too,” Mock told me. “You will start to feel a burn, so where are you at from a mental standpoint?”
Well, I’m about to find out. Here we go.
On the wall — a second-by-second account
0:01: Four minutes, 28 seconds? How hard could that be?
0:12: OK, yeah, this is hard.
0:28: For the first time, I remember to breathe.
0:50: I need to exercise more.
0:57: Still trying to breathe. Realizing this will be a lot harder than I think.
1:24: Had to straighten up a lot. A lot.
1:45: Afraid of inflicting long-term damage to my legs.
2:02: Straightened up again.
2:17: Almost fell down.
2:38: Grabbed nearby doorknob for help; really feeling the burn
3:05: Actually fell down.
3:44: Finding it hard to stand back up after nearly falling over.
4:15: How did Alex Wilcox and her teammates do this?
4:18: Stood up briefly for the last time
4:28: Freedom!
5:28: Still breathing a little hard; legs a little sore.
8:10: Wobbled into kitchen for water.
8:55: Thighs appear to be cramping. I didn’t know that could even happen.
11:34: We’re good … for now. I’m going to the Y as soon as it reopens.
Retrospective
I’m pretty sure I cheated a couple times. But faced with a choice between letting my legs give out and jettison me onto the floor or briefly stand up and take the pressure off, I took the easy way out.
Really, though, doing this — if I can truly say I did it — just gave me added respect for Alex Wilcox and her teammates. This isn’t easy under normal circumstances, let alone right after chemotherapy. It takes some kind of mental and physical strength to do that — a strength I’m not ashamed to say I do not have.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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