The Daily Squat Challenge, Day 15, Embracing the Grind
My heart rate was rising and stress was building up inside of me despite my best efforts to play it cool. I knew what was coming and there was no way back out of it without dissapointing myself by admitting mental and physical weakness.
I was driving to the gym, where I knew I had to try and break my front squat record. This would be the 15 consecutive day I had squatted to a max single. Sure I had been varying the types of squats from back squats to safety bar squats to front squats, the variety was the only thing keeping me going. But a straight weight front squat to a max single is something that always gets in my head long before I walk into the gym.
My last max effort front squat was on Saturday, only 6 days ago, when I had broken my personal record by 5lbs so I honestly didn't think I had a hope in hell of another PR today. Think about it, 6 more days in a row of training. 6 more days in a row of squatting! Everything I have learned about lifting weights told me that this was not going to be a fun training session with PR's being set.
Once again I was proven wrong by the bruttally effective Daily Squat Challenge. As tired as my legs, abs and back felt, my form was great and the weights felt pretty damn light. I ended up front squatting 345lbs for another 5lbs PR. The second one in 6 days and the 3rd one in 15 days. So far this program defies all logic, but the proof is in the pudding, and the pudding tastes great!
If you haven't taken the plunge yet and tried the Daily Squat Challenge, I encourage you to. It is painful, exhausting, and tedious at times, but as wrestlers say, you have to embrace the grind if you want to be a champion.
Here is the training session I did today. Nothing sexy, but it made me stronger.
- A1 Front Squat, ass to grass of course
- worked up to a max single of 345lbs
- no back off sets today as I wanted to focus on keg lifting
- A2 Military Press
- 135 x 5 x 5
- light pressing between squats to warm-up for keg pressing
- Keg Carry
- 2 x 60' with 200lbs
- Keg Press
- 170lbs x 4 x 2
- 200lbs x 4 x 1
- 170lbs x 2 x 2
Here is a video of some dude pressing a keg. It's not me, I can't press a 300lbs keg and I can't pull off the duct tape look. But pressing a keg is a fun way to spice up your training and the beer, water, sand or shot in the keg will move around on you. Forcing your core and stabilizing muscles to fire.
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