Nearly fifty days in, I wouldn't consider squatting every day difficult. Certainly it would be to someone unaccustomed to it, but the body adapts rapidly, and lifting daily soon feels fine. I've actually experienced less soreness than when I was training four times a week. As for the results, my squat and deadlift have certainly gone up, but by how much, I'm not sure. I don't have a power rack, so I can't truly max out on squats; I have to pick a weight that I'm almost certain I can lift. I have some nice personal records to list, however. A 325 for 5 high bar squat (I probably could've doubled this weight when I started), a 305 front squat (my max before was probably 280), a 365 for 2 low bar squat (was doubling 340 when I started), and a 460 deadlift (a five pound PR done yesterday, after not deadlifting for two weeks because of a busted shin. Since I've started, my body weight has increased by three pounds, and I've added an inch to my thighs (24 inches to 25 inches. Yes, I'll admit that I measured.). So what have I learned nearly halfway through this quest?
1. Rotate your squats daily. Learned this the first week. Variation makes squatting every day easier. Front squats are great for upper back strength and giving your legs something of a rest. High bar squats strengthen the quads more than low bar squats. Low bar squats allow you to lift a maximum weight. Pause squats build strength out of the hole. So on and so forth.
2. Rep PRs are as good as weight PRs. Hitting a new five rep max with a weight you used to be able to only double means you've gotten stronger. Higher reps build muscle. Squatting to a max is fun, but vary your rep ranges for best results.
3. Sleep is very important. I haven't been getting as much sleep as normal, and my workouts have been difficult. You need at least eight hours of sleep to train heavy every day.
4. Eat. Duh. A lot of protein, fat, and carbs. Gaining weight and heavy training go hand in hand.
5. You can do more than just squat every day. I've been doing a push/pull split along with my squats. After I hit day one-hundred, I think I'm going to bench press every day for one-hundred days. Focusing your training on a specific lift for a long period of time works.
So go forth and lift.
Nice article dude. But everyone knows lifting legs is a waste of time. Your best gains come from doing low weight / high rep bicep curls 1 week before Spring Break.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness though, those are really impressive numbers. I'm thinking I might try this!
ReplyDeleteCheck out this article if you're interested--https://www.t-nation.com/training/maxing-on-squats-and-deadlifts-every-day
DeleteKalif is right. Everyone knows you only work on the glamour muscles (bis and tris).
ReplyDelete