I squatted today and just had to share this story as I’m so fired up about it. 3 weeks ago I squatted 355 for a single, my best squat to date. Today I was planning on hitting 365 for a double. Maybe doing a little extra volume work after that. I’m warming up. 275 feels light. 315 I paused in the hole for a 2-count just for kicks, and it still felt light. I felt like a million bucks. Loaded up 335, 1 easy rep. Time for 365. Asked for a spot from some random dude, he didn’t know how to spot a squat. I told him don’t worry about it and went for it alone. 2 easy reps.
At this point I’m staring at the bar and realizing just how strong I feel today. Should I just do a bunch of sets with 365? Fuck that, I’m going for broke. I decided I’ll just keep adding weight to the bar until I fail. At this point I got another dude I know pretty well to start spotting me. All singles. 375, no problem. 380, fell forward on my toes a little bit, sloppy, but got it up anyway. 385, easier than previous set. 390 fairly tough but got it. Now I’m standing there staring at the bar again. I’ve been hoping to hit a 400lb squat sometime in the next 3-6 months. Now it’s looking like I might hit it TODAY. Fuck it, throw another 5 on each side. Going for broke. This is 45lbs more than I’ve ever had on my back, never mind squatted to parallel and back. Unrack it, and it feels good. I feel solid. Big breath, start going down. Explode out of the hole and grind out a nice, clean rep. Almost got stuck about halfway up but not a problem. Grunted out an “I got it” so the spotter never came close.
At that point I just said fuck it, I’m done for the day. I’m not doing any assistance work, I just spent an hour doing nothing but squatting. All told, 14 sets, including 6 sets above my previous max. I feel like a million bucks.
I dunno, I just had to share that because I feel so great.
Hell yeah man that’s awesome! That’s kind of how it was the first time I got 400 on squats too if I recall correctly, I went in the gym and was planning to max, but I think my old max was like 365 or something, wasn’t expecting anywhere near 400. Got in there and started warming up and each set just kept blowing it up, ended up with 400! Congrats!
[quote]Papashlapa wrote:
I squatted today and just had to share this story as I’m so fired up about it. 3 weeks ago I squatted 355 for a single, my best squat to date. Today I was planning on hitting 365 for a double. Maybe doing a little extra volume work after that. I’m warming up. 275 feels light. 315 I paused in the hole for a 2-count just for kicks, and it still felt light. I felt like a million bucks. Loaded up 335, 1 easy rep. Time for 365. Asked for a spot from some random dude, he didn’t know how to spot a squat. I told him don’t worry about it and went for it alone. 2 easy reps.
At this point I’m staring at the bar and realizing just how strong I feel today. Should I just do a bunch of sets with 365? Fuck that, I’m going for broke. I decided I’ll just keep adding weight to the bar until I fail. At this point I got another dude I know pretty well to start spotting me. All singles. 375, no problem. 380, fell forward on my toes a little bit, sloppy, but got it up anyway. 385, easier than previous set. 390 fairly tough but got it. Now I’m standing there staring at the bar again. I’ve been hoping to hit a 400lb squat sometime in the next 3-6 months. Now it’s looking like I might hit it TODAY. Fuck it, throw another 5 on each side. Going for broke. This is 45lbs more than I’ve ever had on my back, never mind squatted to parallel and back. Unrack it, and it feels good. I feel solid. Big breath, start going down. Explode out of the hole and grind out a nice, clean rep. Almost got stuck about halfway up but not a problem. Grunted out an “I got it” so the spotter never came close.
At that point I just said fuck it, I’m done for the day. I’m not doing any assistance work, I just spent an hour doing nothing but squatting. All told, 14 sets, including 6 sets above my previous max. I feel like a million bucks.
I dunno, I just had to share that because I feel so great.
Thanks for reading![/quote]
Hell yeah, congratulations!
Sounds like my squat day two weeks ago. Went from 365 to 405 in four weeks by pounding squats for three weeks and then taking a week off from them. Came back and hit a 40lb PR.
It is definitely among the best feelings in the world.
Maybe you added the plates up wrong…just kidding. Good work. Progress is not always linear. Many times it comes in big chuncks. Sometimes it just stalls.
[quote]Papashlapa wrote:
At that point I just said fuck it[/quote]
Congrats man. That’s the key… Ya gotta just say “Fuck it” once in a while.
It must have been in the air last week, because I did something similar on my squats. Previous best was 262 x 10. Then I put 302 on the bar to see how many I could do. I did 4 and hit a mental wall, so stopped.
Then I realized it was a mental (not physical) wall, so I took a short rest, said “fuck it”, got back under the bar, and did 302 x 10.
Joel, you wanna know something? Every now and then say, “What the fuck.” “What the fuck” gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future.
Putting yourself in a “do or die” mindset is the best way to get weights you’ve never touched before. Congrats on making it to the 400 club, its a good feeling. Keep working and 450 and 500 will come soon enough
