I never really talk about training but here we are. If you have no interest in squatting no hard feelings in skipping this.
Forewarning I am gonna ramble and not really proofread. This is more a reflection.
I squatted 27 times in the month of October. It was a program specifically made to be difficult yet doable. It was written by the creator of the instagram page PenAndPaperStrengthApp. Every week it included 6 days of squat variation and a rest day on Sunday. Cool idea. Cool challenge. I took it as such.
Physical Pros:
I decided to run the program high bar and without a belt. During this period I really practiced staying upright, bracing my core, and pushing out my knees. Three things I wanted to work on. The daily repetitions held me hone in this skill. My numbers were based off a max of 330, which reflected my estimated high bar beltless max (Specific I know). I ended the program with a low bar belted max of 441. Not an all time record but as a comeback I am happy with it. I did not train deadlifts at all during this period and my deadlift actually went up, I hit a personal record of 554. I cannot give specific gains because I have squatted 501 in the past and deadlifted 550, but that occured 1-2 years ago. I will say I do not believe I had much over 500 deadlift before this program and was at about 415 or so for squat.
Mental Pros:
It was a challenge. I love doing challenges. 30 day challenges seem to be hip right now and are particularly challenging. Sticking to starting a workout with squats every day helped practice discipline. A characteristic I could absolutely use work on.
Physical Cons:
My body eventually got fried. I do not believe its optimal to squat daily even while varying difficulties. I personally just did not recover. It strained my training outside of the weight room and my knees also started to bug me. Disclaimer, I have been far more “fried” before, this wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t the least either.
Mental Cons:
I started to hate squatting. Not entirely, but I wasn’t loving it. I was not looking forward to working out. Especially on the days that included ramping, going to light to heavy to light to heavy. Was just mentally taxing.
Takeaways:
Would I do it again? Probably. How hard was it? 6.5/10 , but if i used a low bar max probably much harder. I have ran much harder programs before. Would I suggest it to a friend? Maybe with a low max as a percentage in order to work on form.
Squats.
