How To Squat To Maximum Everyday (And Not Die)

This post is a continuation of this video from my YouTube channel: How To Add 50lbs To Your Squat In 8 Weeks.  You should watch the video before reading this post or it won't make very much sense.

I'm simply going to detail in chart format the 8 week buildup to maxing out the squat everyday for the two hypothetical 400lbs squatters that I talked about in the video. It should be noted that in both of these scenarios (which should cover pretty much all recreational lifters) the lifter will not have truly reached a point of "maxing out" everyday at the end of the 8 weeks. However, for someone so unaccustomed to such high percentages being utilized so frequently, the gains will be enormous anyway.


Lifter A (already squats 3x a week, usually does 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps @ 80-90% of maximum)

	Session 1	Session 2	Session 3	Session 4	Session 5	Session 6
Week 1	380x1 330x3x3	380x1 330x3x3	380x1 330x3x3x3	X	X	X
Week 2	380x1 335x3x3	380x1 335x3x3	380x1 335x3x3x3	X	X	X
Week 3	380x1 340x2x2	380x1 340x2x2x2	380x1	380x1 340x3x2x2	X	X
Week 4	380x1 340x3x3x2	380x1 340x3x3x3	380x1	380x1 340x3x3	X	X
Week 5	380x1 345x2x2	385x1	380x1 345x2x2x2	390x1	380x1 345x3x2x2	X
Week 6	380x1 345x3x3	400x1	380x1 350x2xx2	410x1	380x1 350x3	X
Week 7	380x1 350x3x3	405x1	380x1 355x2x2	415x1	380x1 355x3	425x1
Week 8	380x1 355x3x3	435x1	380x1 365x3	440x1	380x1 375x3	450x1

Lifter B (squats once a week, does 5 sets of 5 reps at about 85% of maximum)

	Session 1	Session 2	Session 3	Session 4	Session 5	Session 6
Week 1	380x1 330x3x3	380x1 330x3x3x3	X	X	X	X
Week 2	380x1 335x3x3	380x1 335x3x3x3	X	X	X	X
Week 3	380x1 340x2x2	380x1 340x2x2x2	380x1 340x3x2	X	X	X
Week 4	380x1 340x3x3	380x1 340x3x3x2	380x1 340x3x3x3	X	X	X
Week 5	380x1 345x2x2	380x1 345x2x2	390x1	380x1 345x2x2x2	X	X
Week 6	380x1 345x3x2	380x1 345x3x3	400x1	380x1 345x3x3x2	X	X
Week 7	380x1 350x2x2	380x1 350x3x2	410x1	380x1 350x3x3	415x1	X
Week 8	380x1 355x2x2	380x1 355x3x3	425x1	380x1 365x3	435x1	X

Remember, these numbers are purely hypothetical. I'm simply taking guesses at how things may go based on my past experiences. Your results may be better or they may be worse. The important thing to remember is to learn what you are capable of on a given day based on how the ramp up lifts feel, and then to learn what you can do in terms of back off work based on how the maximum lift feels. Some days will be better and some will be worse, but by the end of the program you will see huge jumps in your 1RM the way I outline in these charts. The most important thing though is to learn your body. You have to be able to auto-regulate with training like this or it won't work for you long term. I can only outline so many hypotheticals, but eventually you will have to learn how your body responds to the stresses you are placing on it.

At the end of the 8 weeks I recommend dropping the frequency back down to 2-3x a week and continuing to squat to a heavy single with back off work in each session depending on how you feel. Once your numbers have stabilized and you have built your strength back up to what it was at its peak then you can consider daily squatting again. At this point you will probably know enough about your body as well as be conditioned enough to high frequency/high intensity squatting to simply jump right back in to squatting 6-7x a week.

One last thing, while you're doing this your legs are going to hurt. They will "feel" tired pretty much all the time and if you accidentally flex a quad too hard it will cramp. But do not be disheartened by this. You may think your legs are tired, but all you have to do is suck it up for a little while and they will soon become stronger than ever. Good luck!

Alec Enkiri's 12 Week Novice Strength Training Program

This is a novice strength training program. It is designed to build a base of strength for someone who is new to weight training. The 12 week duration is enough time for a beginner to make substantial progress on a handful of compound lifts. At the end of the program you should test your new maxes, and at this time you can choose to start it over from the beginning or move on to something else (e.g. a program more geared toward hypertrophy if that is your goal).

Every beginner, even those whose primary goal is not strength, should be introduced to weight training with a program such as this one: a simple, linear progression that focuses on a small number of compound lifts. Building a solid base of strength, even if it's just for a short period of time, will go a long way in making all future work done much more productive.

If you choose to run the program a second time, start over with 70% of your new max on all main lifts. Most beginners can probably run this program 3-4 times and still make good progress before they need to switch to something different. That means you can run this program alone for almost a full year. If you do this you will be much, much stronger than you were when you started.

The basic premise of the program is to complete 5 sets of 5 reps of the primary lifts (squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press). Whenever you successfully complete the 5x5 for a lift, you add 5lbs to it the following week. In the first run through the program you should be able to add 5lbs to the primary lifts every week (except for maybe the upper body presses). In subsequent runs you may get "stuck" at a certain weight for more than one week, and therefore will not make quite as much progress with each subsequent run as you did with the first one.

Anyway, enough talking. On to the program...

Workout 1: 
Squat- (start at 70%) 5x5 (on the final set do as many reps as possible with good form)
Bench press- (start at 70%) 5x5 (on the final set do as many reps as possible with good form)
Dumbbell row- 3 x 10 (each arm)

Workout 2:
Deadlift- (start at 70%) 5x5
Power shrug- 5x3
Hyperextension- 3 x 10-15 (add weight if necessary)

 Workout 3: 
Squat- (use the same weight as Workout 1) 5x5 (do not rep out on the final set)
Overhead press- (start at 70%) 5x5
Chin up- 3 x as many reps as possible 

Notes:

• These workouts should be done on a Mon/Wed/Fri or Sun/Tues/Thurs rotation, e.g. one day off in between workouts and 2 days off at the end of the training week.
• For the dumbbell row, using a little hip momentum is fine, but don't go overboard.
• For the power shrug, set the bar up on pins so you don't have to lift it off the floor, but don't set it down in between reps. To initiate it, push your hips back and then explode up and through with them as powerfully as you can while aggressively shrugging the shoulders. You can go heavy pretty heavy here, but don't go so heavy that you can't feel your hips "pop" forcefully, or that you are unable to shrug the shoulders all the way up. I also recommend using straps here or the grip will simply become too limiting.
• Most people will need to use some extra weight for the hyperextension. Focus on forcefully squeezing the glutes at the top of the movement.
• If you can do 3 sets of 10 chin ups, add 10lbs to your waist via a dipping belt.
• Remember to add 5lbs the next week every time you successfully complete a squat, bench, deadlift, or overhead press 5x5.
• The other exercises are assistance work. Do not worry as much about adding to these every week. 
• If recovery becomes an issue as the main lifts increase in intensity towards the end of the program, the assistance work can be dropped.
• Again if recovery becomes an issue in the last few weeks of the program, the weight for the 2nd squat session can be reduced by 10%.
• Log all of your workouts in a training journal.

Sample Week 1 and Week 12 workouts for a hypothetical lifter starting with:

• 175lbs squat
• 135 bench press
• 225lbs deadlift
• 95lbs overhead press

Sample Week 1:

Work out 1
Squat- 120lbs (4 x 5, 1 x 9 rep out)
Bench press- 95lbs (5 x 5)
DB row- 40lb DB (3 x 10 each arm)

Workout 2
Deadlift- 155lbs (5 x 5)
Power shrug- 135lbs (5 x 3)
Hyperextension- (3 x 15 w/10lb plate held behind head)

Workout 3
Squat- 120lbs (5 x 5)
Overhead press- 65lbs (5 x 5)
Chin up- 7, 6, 5   


Sample Week 12:

Workout 1:
Squat- 175lbs (5 x 5)
Bench press- 145lbs (5 x 5)
DB row- 55lb DB (3 x 10 each arm)
Workout 2
Deadlift- 210lbs (5 x 5)
Power shrug- 185lbs (5 x 3)
Hyperextension- (3 x 15 w/25lb plate held behind head)

Workout 3
Squat- 160lbs (5 x 5)
Overhead press- 100lbs (5 x 5)
Chin up- 12, 10, 8 

A very simple program that can yield great results. All you have to do is work hard, be consistent, and eat plenty of food. Good luck!