Chasing Records

Got in some decent work on squats yesterday, though it’s still lagging a good bit. Things feel a little bit off at the moment and I’m struggling to settle into a technique pattern that feels optimal and strong. I’ve been experimenting with tiny tweaks to the descent or how I attempt to drive out of the hole, but things still don’t feel quite right. This was the 3rd squat session of my new training cycle, kicking off week 3 of the cycle. I took about 6 weeks off after the meet. The squats are done with a light/moderate wrap. Body weight is hovering between 155-157 generally. This session wasn’t bad or anything, I just am not happy with how weak the squat feels at the moment.

Squat(405)- 3,3,3,3,3
Front squat hold- (405 x 20sec)(455x20)(485x20)(515x20)
Walking Lunge(150)- 8,8,8,8

Pretty straightforward.

2.5" Deficit Deadlift 450lbs x 3 @ 157

Well, I was going to do some farmer’s walks followed by some moderate weight pulls yesterday, but about midway through my farmer’s walk session I lost grip on one of the implements I built and it ended up landing kind of sideways which caused the feet to break off of it lol. So, I had to switch gears a little bit for the workout. Also, back to the drawing board on the implements! Regardless, I put in some good work on deficit deads. It felt good and it was solid.

Farmer’s walk- (110lbs x 40yds)(160lbs x 40 yds)(200lbs x 20yds)(240lbs x about 15yds and then a drop and a break lol)

2.5" Deficit DL- (135x5)(225x5)(315x3)(365x3)(405x3) - These were all done hook grip, but by 405 I had a tough time securing my hook on this Oly bar, so I added the straps for the heavy sets. I’m trying to avoid mixed grip and learn to hook heavy singles.
(430lbs x 3)(450lbs x 3)

Hyperextension(100lbs)- 20,20,15

Done.

At some point you realize that you have stopped working hard. You tell yourself you’ve been working hard all along, but then one day you work hard again and you realize that for a long time you haven’t been. And then you realize why you have stopped making progress. You have forgotten how to train. You have forgotten the process of the grind, which is what made you in the first place. And you stopped putting your soul into it. The thing about squatting is, it’s a primal endeavor. It’s raw. It’s life threatening. And as such, it requires an emotional response. I remembered this last night as I sat by myself in my gym and realized that I had forgotten how to train. I had forgotten how to grind, not physically but mentally. I had forgotten how to squat. Many people will tell you shouldn’t train “on the nerve,” and that certainly has great merit, but at the same time, if your training has no heart and no soul you will never break your limits. You have to find the middle. Learn when to throttle and when to pull back. Learn how to turn it off and only use it when it is absolutely necessary.

Yesterday was squat triples with 410. This session was better than 405, which was better than 395, which was better than 385. I still don’t feel very strong at the lift, but I “remembered” some important aspects of my personal technique that started to make things feel much more solid than they have been. My depth was better as well. Hopefully, this trend continues. Next week I’ll tackle 415.

7/23/17
Back squat(410)- 3,3,3,3,3
Walking Lunge(155)- 8,7,7,6

Pretty basic.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW7uouyhqkx/?taken-by=ape288

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In keeping with the idea of exercise rotation on my lower body accessory day, I decided to try semi sumo block pulls off a low (1.5") block yesterday. Those sucked and I’m not doing them again lol. I much prefer performing different varieties of conventional pulls somewhat frequently, and only using the sumo stance from the floor a bit less frequently. So I think I’ll stick with that from now on. Lesson learned.

7/25/17
Semi-Sumo 1.5" Block Pull- (135x5)(225x5)(315x5)(405x3)(455x3)(505x3)
“Front squat” carry (literally unrack the barbell in the front rack position and take it for a stroll- these were fun)- (135x10yds)(225x10yds)(315x10yds)(365x10yds)(405x10yds)(405x10yds)

First time trying those front squat carries. They felt really good. Mid/upper back has to fire like crazy to keep you upright. I could have gone heavier but I need to figure out a better way to set up for these before I start going too crazy. That’s all for now.

Got in some solid work yesterday on the sumo deadlift. I’m training it every other week at the moment. Working on progressively heavier singles to adjust to the hook grip and then throwing on the straps and doing a burnout set at the same weight. Yesterday was another good session. I’m starting to feel more and more comfortable with the hook grip. I’ve only done it a few times so far, but the pain and pressure I feel on my thumbs has decreased substantially and I could have easily held over 500lbs with the hook yesterday. I’m not going to deviate from my plan though, so the bar won’t be at 500 for at least 4 more weeks. Anyway, I cranked out 8 easy singles yesterday with 455 with 90 seconds rest between lifts. Then I finished up deads with a burnout set of 10 reps, also at 455. I rounded out the day with some farmer’s walks up to 240lbs per hand. Solid work all around!

7/27/17
Sumo Deadlift- 135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 405x1
455 x 8 singles
455 x 10

Farmer’s Walk- (110lbs x 50yds),(160 x 50yds),(200 x 50yds),(230 x 25yds),(240 x 20yds)(200 x 25yds)(220 x 25yds)(230 x 20yds)

Done.

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Deadlift 500lbs x 3 @ 157

Got in some solid work yesterday. This was my secondary deadlift session where I’m supposed to be rotating through different variations in a 3 week block. SO far I’ve tried stiff-legged, which I actually really enjoy, but I irritated some mild hamstring tendonitis last time I did it so I think that precludes that as an option. I’ve also done 2.5" deficit deads, which are a keeper, semi sumo block pulls off a 1.5" block, which I’m never doing again lol, and now regular old conventional deads from the floor. I think from now on my 3 week rotation is going to be deficit deads, 3" conventional block pulls, and regular conventional deads (unless this variation presents a recovery issue as I move deeper into the cycle). My primary deadlift day simply has me alternating between sumo pulls one week and conventional pulls the other. Sumo will be my “competition” style. Anyway, yesterday was solid. I ramped the conventional deadlift all the way up to a tough but solid max effort triple with 500lbs. I could have perhaps tripled a little bit more than this if I planned for it, but I wanted to inch my way up by doing triples on all the sets, rather than just the top set. So on my way to 500 I tripled 415, 455, and 485, which probably created some fatigue. Solid work though. After deads I did some front rack carries, this time working all the way up to 455lbs, which was pretty tough. It’s an exhilarating feeling knowing that one misstep is going to lead you having to bail on a barbell that will destroy your driveway lol. I should probably consider using bumpers on these, but then I won’t have enough weight. Oh well. And then I rounded out the day with a bunch of walking lunges.

8/1/17
Deadlift- (135x5)(225x5)(315x3)(365x3)(415x3)(455x3)(485x3)(500x3)
Front rack carries- (135 x a distance)(225 x a distance)(315 x a distance)(365 x a distance)(405 x a distance)(455 x a distance)
Walking Lunge(155)- 6,7,8,10

Done.

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Really good shit man. Your arms are crazy long in that video like you’re made to deadlift. Ha

I had them extended. It’s a new procedure. Don’t tell anybody :wink:

Still squatting once a week, not really sure why. Every time I’m warming up I find myself saying hmmm why not just deadlift instead lol. Anyway, another one in the books! I worked up to a poopy triple with 425. I still don’t remember how to squat, unfortunately, that’s for damn sure. I’m all the over place. I’ve been tinkering with things slightly pretty much every set just waiting to find that “aha!” moment, but alas, it has not yet arrived. I’ve been experimenting with bar positioning, stance width, descent path, the way I attempt to drive out of the hole, etc. Some stuff has felt better than others but nothing has really made that profound difference. I keep making the sticking point look really difficult even when it’s not because I’m so out of groove by the time I get there that the bar has to slow down substantially to allow me to bring it back into position to finish the lift. Oh well, I’ll just keep plugging away and it’ll come back eventually.

Squat- (385x3) (405x3) (425x3) (405x3) (415x3)
Front squat hold- (415 x 15secs) (465x15) (515x15) (545x15) (525x15)
Good morning(95lbs)- 10,10,10,10,10

Done.

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Got in some solid work on the 2.5 inch deficit yesterday for my deddy deads. I’m really loving this variation right now. It’s a hell of a lot of fun. I worked up to a solid triple with 460 last night and then moved on to some heavy front rack carries and finished up with reverse lunges. Good stuff. Upper body accessory work today and then sumo pulls tomorrow!

8/8/17

2.5" Deficit Deadlift- 135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 375x3, 415x3, 440x3, 460x3

Front rack carry- 225lbs, 315lbs, 405lbs, 455lbs, 500lbs!!! (this was tough, but I could do more. My biggest fear is just taking a misstep, having to dump the bar, and destroying my concrete. Fun exercise though. It’s quickly becoming a favorite of mine, it’s just a bit of a pain in the ass to set up).

Reverse lunge (off 3" deficit)- 145lbs x 8,8,8,8

Done.

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485x3 “stiff bar” DL @ 158

I’ve been switching off between using my Rogue weightlifting bar and my new Rogue deadlift bar for my different pulling variations. Last night was conventional deads from the floor with the weightlifting bar, which is quite stiff compared to the DL bar. I ended up working up to 485 for a solid triple. I think I could do more but yesterday wasn’t the most well prepared I’ve ever been for a training session. I had visited a distillery that afternoon and drank a bunch of different liquors and then I followed that up with a large burger and fries way too close to the session and my stomach was just so bloated that the belt was killing me every time I tried to pull. I felt like I was going to puke and had to stop a few times while getting set up just to let out a huge burp haha. Anyway, it was still a solid session so I can’t really complain. I finished up with some heavy barbell carries, just putting the bar on my back as I would for a back squat and taking it for a stroll. Similar idea as a yoke walk, but less of a learning curve and obviously more accessible. You can’t walk as fast though. Also, probably more dangerous. Final exercise was some reverse lunges to round it all out. Also, I just published a new video on my channel talking about why sumo deadlifting is more functional than conventional deadlifting so check it out and let me know what you think.

8/13/17
Stiff Bar Deadlift- 135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 375x3, 425x3, 465x3, 485x3
Barbell Carries- 225x2 trips, 315x2, 405x2, 475x2, 525x2, 545x2
Reverse Lunge(1.5" deficit)(150lbs)- 8,8,8,8

Done.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXwhYjChKEC/?taken-by=ape288

Deadlift 510lbs x 3 @ 158

Solid work last night! I went up to 510 for a tough triple on conventional deads, but this was after working my way up through 425x3, 465x3, and 495x3, so I wasn’t totally fresh. I believe this is the first time I’ve repped 5 wheels across multiple sets on the conventional deadlift, so I’ll take it. After deads I moved on to the trap bar deadlift. My trap bar holds 1 inch plates so these are also somewhat of a “deficit.” I’m doing them with a pair of small plates under my heels to help me keep more of the tension on my quads. I’m not sure I’m doing a very good job of it because my hips are kind of shooting up, but to my credit I did still get a quad pump doing this exercise haha. I finished up the day with some single leg RDL’s using the free hand as a brace. I did 5 sets of 10 with a 60lbs dumbbell, which I knew was a mistake the minute i stepped out of bed this morning because my hamstrings haven’t been this fucking sore in years. I’ll survive though. I’ve re-organized my training to allow more recovery time. So now there are two tough lower body days each week sandwiched around an “easy” lower body day that is focused more on speed and power. Should be a fun time. Let’s hope I can keep stringing these solid weeks together for a long time!

8/17/17
Deadlift- 135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 375x3, 425x3, 465x3, 495x3, 510x3
Trap Bar DL- 230x5, 280x5, 330x5, 360x5, 380x5
Single Leg RDL(60)- 10,10,10,10,10

Done.

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I put in some decent work yesterday, though I was still not recovered from Thursday’s tough deadlift session, so I was quite hampered on my deficit deads. I still haven’t gotten things quite right to allow me to deadlift intensely twice a week. Each week one session has suffered at the expense of the other, but I always have a plan! So I made a few small tweaks and we’ll see how they play out over the next couple weeks. Anyway…

8/20/17
Hurdles- (24in x 5), (27in x 5)(30in x 5)(33in x 5)(36in x 5)(39in x 5)(42in x 5)
2.5" deficit DL- (135x5), (225x5), (315x3), (375x3), (425x3)
Front rack carry- (225). (315), (405), (455)
Deficit Trap Bar DL- (230x5), (280x5), (330x5), (380x5), (400x5)

Done.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYCW6WaBfgh/?taken-by=ape288

Awesome log! Crazy amount of strength. I would love to get into Olympic lifting after I build up my overall strength. Will for sure follow along!

I had a question for you. For a rank beginner how would you setup weekly squatting? I plan on lifting 3x a week for a few months before adding any more training days. Would you back squat twice and front squat once?

Sorry for the questions, but my main goal is to get a big squat without any fancy programming, just a lot of hard work.

I personally would not have a novice start off squatting 3 times a week. I like to start people off with the smallest amount of work that yields progress, which when starting out is just once a week. When progress begins to slow down I usually add a second session.

A lot of people shit on it, but my preference for beginners is a 5x5 linear progression. I’ll teach people how to squat, have them work up to something heavy they can do with good form, and then start the 5x5 off with 60-70% of that number, adding 5lbs every week for as long as possible. With a total beginner, doing it this way, you’ll see increases of 50-75lbs by the end of that first training cycle. After 12-16 weeks, I usually repeat this process again, starting the 2nd cycle off with about 70% of the new 1rm. You can expect another cycle of pretty solid gains, though not as much as the first cycle. By the 3rd cycle is probably the first point I would consider adding a second session in. You can do front or back, whichever you prefer.

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Sounds great man! I will take that advice into consideration.

I did have a question for you. I went through you log in more detail and I’m truly amazed brother! You are strong as shit and the fact even with all the injuries you found a way to train around them shows your hard work ethic. Keep it up man!

But my question is this idea of squatting daily does appeal to me. Not so much for the rest of my life, but for like a 3 month period. I figure daily squatting (alternating between back and front) for 3 months would really hone in my technique which then I can go to a typical 1-3x a week and really start pushing the weights.

With this being the case, how do you program daily squatting? Do you just go up until a weight feels really heavy and then back off for 2-3 sets? Do you work in doubles and triples all the way up? I just want to get a better understanding of how to daily squatting works because I know you can’t do 5x5 every day.

Any information would be appreciate, thanks.

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Yesterday was my first session with this new recovery/power day that I’ll be experimenting with. The throws, jumps, and swings all felt great. I’ve always enjoyed that type of stuff and they help keep my joints limber while increasing explosiveness. They also should not interfere with my two main lower body sessions on Sunday and Thursday. The high bar back squats will be done on the Sunday session from now on, but I had missed them this week and I wanted to get started with them so I threw them in yesterday. I took a narrow stance and squatted as deep as I could (not very deep these days) for the first time in several years. Slow and controlled and very easy, but it felt good to stretch my hips out and sit down on top of my calves. I’ll add a little bit of weight next week.

8/22/17

Medicine Ball throw- 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
Jump squat(130)- 5,5,5,5,5,5
Vertical Jump- 5,5,5,5,5,5
Banded Kettlebell swing(100)- 15,15,15,15
High bar back squat(225)- 5,5,5,5,5

How long have you been lifting? What’s your best squat? I’ve come to the conclusion that daily squatting is really best used as a method of peaking the squat. The gains are not stable and as soon as you drop the frequency a lot of the “strength” dissipates.

That being said, here you go…

I usually start off exclusively with front squats. I usually plan to squat 6 days a week, with the option of throwing in a second session any day I choose. The goal is to work up to a heavy single, which is a completely relative term. I don’t just mean relative to me or to you, but also relative to the day. Your strength is going to fluctuate wildly. You may easily match your PR one day and then be down 30lbs the next day The best lesson you can learn is not to force it on the days it isn’t there. Which leads me to the “daily minimum.” This is the weight you can squat in your sleep. You have to establish this weight early onand then this becomes your goal weight. The weight you have to squat every single day no matter what. No matter how beat up or sore or tired. You have to hit the daily minimum. Make sure it is an attainable number. On days where you feel crappy, just stop as soon as you hit the minimum. On days where you feel okay, maybe go up a little bit higher and hit another single, and then drop 30-40lbs and knock out a few doubles. On days where you feel great, go for broke after you hit the minimum. As far as programming goes, there really isn’t any. It’s all by feel. Work up in singles every day until you hit your minimum. Keep going if you can, stop if you can’t. A few times a week or whenever it strikes your fancy strip some weight off the bar after your heaviest single and do some doubles for extra “volume.” Imo, you are better off skipping the doubles and adding a second squat session on the same day where you work up to another heavy single in lieu of this.This is not always feasible however for scheduling reasons.

Once I have increased my front squat a substantial amount (usually after about a month) then I usually re-implement back squats. I’ll string together a few back squat sessions and then I’ll start rotating between the two simply depending on my mood. Sometimes back squat in the morning, front squat in the evening. Sometimes back squat for 2 weeks in a row and then revisit the front squat. Whatever I feel like, but I usually fall more in love with back squats at this point. Programming is the same regardless. After about another 5-6 weeks of this the gains will usually stagnate.

It’s no joke and honestly there’s no point in doing it if you haven’t hit a pretty big plateau. Your body is going to hurt and you’re not really going to feel like lifting most of the time. All other exercises will also have to fall by the wayside during this time period. If you start being stubborn or stupid like me then you will just get hurt. Anyway, good luck.

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Thank you for such a thorough response man. I’ll keep this in my gym notes, when I do get to a point of needing to peak my squat.

My squat numbers are way to low to even think about something like this. I can do 205lbx 3x5 haha. So I got a lllooonnnggg way to go before even thinking about that. I’m currently just messing with sets/reps to get a feel for lifting with a barbell. I think I might go the 5x5 route for a 3 months before switching to something else. Thanks again!

Yeah, 5x5 is probably ideal at this stage. Good luck man!

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