Over the past few weeks, I’ve been taking some refresher driving lessons in preparation for my driving test. I’ve been riding a motorbike for a few months now, and while I’m confident on two wheels, I’m ashamed to admit that I fit the stereotype of a female driver who can’t park a car. The parking portion of the test might very well rack up the most demerit points in my test, or worse – an immediate failure.

When I first learned to park, I was assigned an instructor who was the only one in the driving school using a pointer stick. I knew this only because she told me as she brandished her telescopic wand. She fired off cue after cue, barely pausing for a breath, all while swishing that thin metal stick across my eyes to drum on every window and mirror. “Align with the curb, shoulder to the number sign, check back and reverse until the yellow bar meets the handle, signal, check where your car is swinging wide, okay now reverse until the black curb, center of the lot, now you’re too close to the curb – that’s ten demerit points, blah blah blah…”

While I’m aware that a slow learner like myself learns best through mistakes, her speed-running through the instructions only multiplied them. All I ended up doing was following commands — not actually learning how to park. The car was eventually parked, but I knew I had to do some homework if I wished to avoid another duel between her wand and my nose.

I was watching a few parking tutorials on YouTube when a video was suggested to me, titled “Avril Lavigne Parking.” It could’ve been anyone, celebrity or not, but I was curious — how does the punk princess park a car? Man, was she good. She parallel parked a top-down convertible so effortlessly — no adjustments, perfect the first time, with a big smirk on her face the entire time.

While I think I have a decent chance of passing my test, I can’t help but wonder: will I ever park even half as smoothly as her? Somehow, this self-doubt reminds me of how new lifters can feel, even after a few weeks of consistent training. One was lamenting about their inability to “get it right” immediately under the bar, struggling to remember the sequence of cues before every rep – “was it breathe and brace before arching the back, or does the arch come first before the breath?” Another lifter expressed that even after understanding what to do, their confidence to maintain cadence goes out the window when it starts to feel heavy. “There are just so many things to concentrate on!”

Lifting, Like Driving, Is a Skill

The process of learning to lift shares more in common with driving than you might think. Like dancing, playing an instrument, or navigating a car, lifting is a skill — and skills are built through practice.

Practice is where the motor pathways of the sport, skill or activity, become embedded. With time and experience, execution of the motor pathways becomes automatic, to be relied upon under pressure, or whenever called to action. In the case of perfecting your lifts, every time you step on the platform becomes an opportunity for you to rehearse the movements. As you become more familiar with the structure and rhythm of each lift, you’ll start to turn conscious effort into unconscious execution — careful cues into reflex.

Ever seen someone go through a heavy set, with their coach giving only short feedback? That’s a lifter who not only knows proper form but has practised it so consistently that the sequence is clockwork. You might have gawked in admiration, but that could very well be you in the future.

Return the Bar to Position

Every drive starts with a stationary car, just like how every rep starts with the bar in the correct setup position.

Now imagine getting into a poorly parked car: the body’s crooked, the steering wheel’s turned, and the wing mirror is out of place, nudged by some oblivious pedestrian. What should have been a smooth drive-off is now full of annoying, unnecessary adjustments — all because the car wasn’t parked properly.

These apply similarly to lifting too. Setting up the barbell at the wrong rack height, misloaded weights, not flushing the plates into the bar sleeves, and not setting up safeties – a poor set up is just like a poorly parked car. Before starting your lifts, you should take note to make sure everything is in place. Bad set ups can cause anything from minor inconveniences to safety issues, so it’s better to be safe than sorry!

Check Around Before You Drive The Bar

Even with your car perfectly positioned, a good driver still does a quick checklist before hitting the road. The same goes for lifting — each rep has a short “mise-en-place” to complete before movement begins.

Let’s dissect the checklist for a squat from before unracking the bar till the lifter begins her descent:

 • Neutral grip

 • Bar on rear deltoids

 • Elbows set

 • Neutral neck

 • Eyes down, maintaining head position

 • Step out to correct stance

 • Balanced over midfoot

 • Big inhale

 • Brace.

Then — and only then — go.

That’s nine separate cues before the bar even moves.

Beginner lifters, identify the steps you aren’t doing correctly and focus double on them. Drill them into your skull. If mental notes aren’t working, write them down and review them before your sets. As for the steps you’ve already nailed, keep them in your mental periphery. Even seasoned lifters need reminders to stay sharp.

Even if your set up is on point, it doesn’t always mean that your movement will be perfect. For instance, a common issue is the maintenance of eye gaze and head position. You could struggle with maintaining the same eye gaze, head position, and neutral neck, finding yourself looking more upright with every rep, influencing your ability to stay balanced through the rep.

In this case, this form error will be one of your main priorities to focus on. Fix it at the top of the squat before every rep, or identify which part of the squat you start to shift your eyes. It helps to be attentive so you can anticipate any main errors before it happens.

Different Car, Same Skills

The more you drive, the more opportunities you get at navigating roads and parking the car — and the better a driver you become. Even when you drive different models of cars, your improved navigation and parking skills would still apply. You still perform the pre-drive checks, you will still steer the vehicle within your control, and you’ll still have to park. Switching cars within the same transmission shouldn’t make you a worse driver. Likewise, the skills and reflexes built through lifting should transfer seamlessly after getting used to the new vehicle. Going through your pre-drive/ pre-lift checklist should feel like having a background program running effortlessly on auto.

The lifting techniques you learn from performing the main lifts will apply similarly to variation lifts. Setting up for a variation lift means changing one or a few variables. Comparing the paused squat with the usual squat, the variable is the pause at the bottom which kills the stretch reflex. That doesn’t mean you change the other things – the grip, or stance, or lifting angles, or exhale at the bottom. You will still need to go through the checklist and apply the overlapping steps with the same quality and consistency as the main lift. The variation lift might take a little getting used to, like an unfamiliar new vehicle, but it won’t take long for an experienced lifter to get it right.

Training Consistency

If you drive once in a blue moon, you get to park only once in a blue moon. Some lifters who take long breaks between training can sometimes forget the little steps. One may argue that they can never forget how to do a squat, like how you’ll never forget how to ride a bicycle – but trust me, you will forget the little details if you’re not careful. Try training regularly for half a year consistently – that means no breaks – and watch the difference it makes in your lifting cadence and progress.

On top of training, you should also get your form checked regularly by a coach. This helps with identifying and fixing form errors that have slowly developed over time in your blind spots, which another pair of eyes can help with identifying.

One of the greatest benefits of consistent training is the steady accumulation of strength over your lifting career. Time spent under the bar conditions your body to handle increasing levels of effort, reinforcing both your physical capacity and technical precision. As your motor pathways become more deeply ingrained, they fire more efficiently, calling your strengthened muscles into seamless action.

Remember — lifting is a skill that requires practice. When the moment comes for you to attempt that long-awaited personal record, all those hours of disciplined training will pay off. Your setup will feel instinctive, leaving your full focus available for one thing: overcoming the heaviest weight that you’ve ever faced.

Park Nicely for a Better Drive-off

Personally, I don’t care very much about being an amazing driver or a fantastic lifter. It’s more about having the ability to execute basic tasks flawlessly, and perhaps just never letting anyone label me as “that lady who can’t park”.  Just like how unfazed Avril Lavigne was with parking perfectly in front of an audience, I hope a lifter like you can develop that same calm confidence under the bar, lifting with quiet precision and effortless power.