The All Squat Workout

Cry all you want about it and feel free to post on message boards how I’m over-training and how I will end up frying my CNS faster than an American T.V. plugged into a Philippines electrical outlet. But I’m a huge fan of banging away at squats for a whole session. No three and out token squats for me on squat day. That’s some really unsatisfying shit in my opinion; I’m gonna camp out and get after it for an hour or two straight. And when I’m done, I just walk out.

This type of training is nothing new. Big strong guys were unapologetically doing this shit 40 years ago; back when I was running around the house shitting in diapers. Hell, Paula Anderson was hitting golf balls and squatting for 4 hours a day over a decade before I was born and that guy definitely knew a thing or two about getting strong.

There is one caveat here though. You need to squat frequently to get away with this shit. So on your other gym days, it's a good idea to throw in a few sets to keep your body used to it. On those days, I just squat for my general warm up and move on. If you never get sore, that’s fine. But for me, the all squat workout will fuck up my whole week if I’m not already squatting frequently.

My squat was shit for a long time. I’m not saying that my squat technique anywhere near perfect now and I’m sure that a good coach could probably put 10% on my squat in one hour. But I will say that at this point in my life, my squat is automatic and consistent. I attribute this to a shit fuck ton of reps. There is no magic here. The more you do something, the better you’ll get at it, period.

My programming is pretty strange right now because I’m in the year of the “bulk”. So, although I’m trying to get stronger in general, the real focus is adding 20 pounds to my frame. So reps, reps, reps, eat, eat, eat is my current mind set. I got a wild hair up my ass a couple of months ago, that I’d work on hitting a 240x50 squat. This is Dan John’s fault by the way, because of something he wrote about a BWX50 challenge. 240 is not my current BW, but that’s the goal, so I’m using that number. I figure that it’ll get easier as my BW increases, so I’m starting there. Here’s how I have shit programmed now.

1. Hit a heavy double or triple for the day (not a max, but pretty hard, pausing some warm up sets)

2. (240xmax reps) trying to beat last week’s reps

3. Cut reps in half and do straight sets of 240 till I’m “done”

4. Hit some front squats if I feel “done” but not really “done”

5. Resume eating

There are a bazillion ways to go about this, but I guarantee that if you’ve never laser focused on your squats like this before, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with your body’s response. Plus it’s kinda cool to roll in and just get down with the squat for a solid hour or two. People will think you’re crazy and the hacks in the gym will start referring to you as “squat guy” behind you back after a while, but fuck them. You know what’s up!

Lessons Learned With a Bar in My Hands

As I went about my daily chores this morning I found myself thinking; “what the fuck do I stand for?” When you have children, these strange introspective thoughts tend to pop into your head every once in a while. “What do I stand for?” that’s an easy question for me to answer because I live my life by what I call the “man code”. It’s very simple by design; “A man lives a life of integrity and cares for & protects his family”. That’s what I stand for. If what I’m doing doesn’t support this simple code, then it’s fucking wrong…period. My son knows and understands the “man code”. Now that’s all fine and dandy, but it doesn’t exactly lay out a road map to living a successful life for him now does it? As I pondered this idea, my mind kept coming back to training and how the lessons learned in training all cross over into my life. So, in no particular order…here goes.

1. Small goals

Dreams are great and dreams are the foundation of goals, but the goals are the meat and potatoes. You want to live a jet set lifestyle, have a fat pad in the Hamptons and bang supermodels every night? That’s great kid, but maybe you should be focused on learning this math first. You want to be a world record powerlifter and you dream of standing on that platform with your arms raised in front of 3 white lights? That’s great, but maybe you should be focused on adding 5 more pounds to your squat this month. The small stuff isn’t fun and it’s not sexy, but achieving all of those small goals will eventually add up to a tsunami of success in the long run. There are no short cuts in lifting or in life.

2. Compound movements.

To be effective in life, you need to really focus on the big and important stuff. You cannot allow yourself to get wrapped up in the minutia of life. You should spend the majority of your time doing the boring stuff, the hard stuff and the shit that really matters. If you’re hosting a barbeque, “maybe you should cut that knee high grass first…Slick, and make that beer run later”. Same goes for getting stronger; you need to focus on the stuff that really matters.  Build strength and mass with a shit ton of heavy squatting, pulling and pressing, and do some detail work later, as time/energy permits. That’s where it’s at.

3. Consistency

Consistency over time is king. You’re going to have some good and some bad days, but 90% of your days will be boring and average. Whatever life hands you, you’ve got to keep punching that clock. Don’t get down though, because when you string all of those boring and average days together over time, it’ll add up to a shitload of progress. Adding 5 pounds per month to your squat is boring as hell, but if you keep punching that clock, you’ll have added 60 pounds in a year’s time. That’s a solid gain and that’s the power of consistency. Again, there are no shortcuts here; in life and in lifting. Be there for your family, show up on time, finish what you start; be consistent every day. You really can’t make up for lost time.

4. Specialization

We only have so much time and energy; and you can either half ass a lot of things or be really great at a few things. You have to decide what is most important to you and then really get after it. In life and in lifting, you need to balance what you want and understand that it’s a sliding scale. If one thing goes up, another thing will probably go down. You’re getting bigger and stronger…well; you’re probably running slower and putting on some fat. Your squat and bench are going up…well; your deadlift is probably in the toilet right now. Career’s going great and your making money hand over fist…well; you’re probably not spending a lot of quality time with your family these days. Understand? There is nothing wrong with this, and you can “balance” it, but if you want to be really, really awesome at one aspect of your life, then another aspect will suffer.

5. Sometimes, you just need to do some stupid shit

You’ll never really know what you are capable of until you’ve done some stupid pointless shit. My first triathlon was by far the hardest race I’ve ever done. At that point in my life, I had never competed in anything like that…not even a 5k fun run. I signed up for the race about 2 months out and proceeded train, I had to learn to swim first…stupid right! I didn’t get a wink of sleep and the race took about 3 hours to complete, and it took everything I had to will myself to the finish line. The mental toughness that this stupid shit builds, will bleed into the rest of your life. So last month my wife called me and said that the car overheated and she was about 2 miles from the house. It’d been a solid 6 months since I did more than a brisk walk, but “hell it’s only 2 miles”. I dropped the phone and took off running and I was there in less than 15 minutes. There is no doubt in my mind that I could blast out 10 miles to get to my family if I had to. That’s confidence built through stupidity right there.

Every challenge that life throws you is an opportunity to grow, to develop that mental toughness that will serve you for the rest of your life. You should seek it out in my opinion. So work 2 jobs and attend school full time when you’re young. One job and a family will be a piece of cake down the road. Join the Marines and endure boot camp…hell, try out for the Special Forces while you’re at it. A few sleepless nights with a new baby will be a piece of cake after that shit. Go out and do some hard shit, son.  

Staying Lean Year Round: Don’t Be That Guy!

I was sitting around at a corner sari-sari store shooting the shit and drinking a few beers with a friend a couple of days ago and he said something that sparked a brain storming session. Unlike me, he’s a friendly guy and actually talks to people in the gym. He said some dudes in the gym were bagging on him because he’s not currently sporting a six pack. Now this is a pretty big dude and although he’s a little smooth at the moment, he still has vascular arms and obvious muscle separation just walking around in a t-shirt. So what’s the problem?

Lattimer was probably a big eater off season

I experienced a similar thing a while back when a guy commented on my work ethic and said one day I’ll be as big as him. I was confused by this comment and thought the guy was delusional, since I probably outweigh him by 50-60 pounds.  What’s the definition of big? There is a bit of a language barrier, but what I think he meant was, a low body fat cut up look. So in his mind, being a 170 pound twink with a six pack, trumps actually being big and strong.

Not big, not strong...all twink.

This is so common. An average guy in my gym is probably 130-150 pounds and a “big” dude is say in the 170-180 range. The common denominator is that most of them are circa 10% body fat lean and although they train diligently, they don’t make any noticeable changes from year to year. They want to get freakishly big and strong, but their obsession with perpetual leanness is holding them back. They will never achieve the “look” they are chasing, because they want to have it 24/7. I’ll let you in on a little secret…those freakishly huge and lean guys in the magazines only look that way a handful of times per year.

The truly sad part is that many of these guys are on steroids. I don’t have any personal experience with steroids, but I can confidently say that they are wasting their money on that shit. If you’re not eating big it’s a waste in my opinion. It’s like pumping NO into a car with an empty gas tank and expecting it to perform. Fucking stupid!

So back to my friend, our ultimate goals are different, but the process to meet our goals is basically the same.  He works on strength to facilitate mass and I put on mass to get stronger. Here’s the conclusion that we both came to; if you don’t compete, to make the best progress, you should still train like a competitor for your given sport.

Think about it, a bodybuilder might do 2 shows per year and maybe just one that they consider to be the big show. How is that guy going to structure his training? He’s going to bulk up and then lean out for the show and see what’s going on. Then he will assess his weaknesses and work on being better for the next show. He will repeat this process over and over and continue to get better and better. Powerlifting is no different except that you’re peaking for strength instead of maximal size/leanness.

This is nothing new…it’s just good old fashioned periodization. So for the guy trying to get that bodybuilding look, I think peaking 2x per year is a decent way to go. I’d try to schedule these peaks around significant events like vacations and such to add a sense of urgency.  So it would look something like this:

6-8 weeks (Strength) get stronger on the heavy compound movements and eat big

6-8 weeks (Mass) coast on the big weights, increase the hypertrophy work and continue eating big

6-8 weeks (Cutting) increased cardio and tighten up the diet to peak

2-3 weeks (Awesomeness) coast, rest, and bask in your awesomeness

So you’ll only spend 10% of your time basking in your awesomeness and that kind of sucks. The truth however, is that you will at least be legitimately strong and awesome. And unlike your gym comrades, you’ll build yourself up to actual man size.

"Chow down"

 

Basic Training Structure: The Foundation

I was in the gym yesterday and noticed that everyone was walking around with, and referencing, the same program. The program was issued to members by the gym, and boy what a steaming pile of dog shit. It was a standard, balls to the wall muscle mag program; you know...body part split, 2-3 body parts per day, 3-4 exercises per body part, 3-4 sets per exercise, 8-12 reps per set, and everything was arranged all randomly. Like I said, a steaming pile of dog shit program. Actually, since there is no progression plan, is not even a program...it's just a shitty printed off “routine”.

Let me hook you up with some programming, Dawg!

To top it off, the plan calls for 20-30 minute cardio sessions done 2x per day, EVERY DAY! For those of you that are math challenged, that's 14 cardio sessions per week. The guy that showed it to me asked me how he should diet. “Dude, you need to be eating like a horse and drinking Crisco.”

As I wrote previously, there isn't one right way to go about your programming, but you should be using your fucking brain and doing your best to go about things logically. There are so many training variables and it can get confusing, and it would take several posts to just cover the basics. So I'm just going to lay out some foundational stuff here. The variables will change depending on your goal, training age, etc., but the foundation of “normal” programming doesn't really need to change that much. Three points.

1. Focus on the big movements, do them first (and) have a progression plan for said movements

This was the thing that really stuck out when I saw the above-mentioned routine. There was no star of the show exercise. Leg day for example was something like; 3 sets of leg presses, 3 sets of squats, 3 sets of extensions, 3 sets of dumbbell deadlifts (I'm not even kidding), 3 sets of leg curls, 3 sets of seated calf raises, and on and on. It was just a random list of exercises with no progression plan. If you have a list of 12 exercises to check off and the squat is number 6 on the list, how much effort do you think the trainee will give to it? That's the fucking star of the day and no one even knows it...they just half ass 3 sets of 90lbs and continue trudging away on the 2 hour “work” session.

1. continued (Choosing the main movement)

This is easy if you want to train like a powerlifter; squat one day, bench one day, and deadlift one day. If you like to train in bodybuilding fashion, your best bet is to choose the full range compound lift that allows you to lift the most weight & it'll usually be the right answer. That pretty much means that the power lifts will make it into rotation quite a bit. But if you really like to drill your shit down to things like specific arm days, that's cool, but the same principle applies. Kick off the session with weighted dips, close grips or straight bar curls, as opposed to press downs, kickbacks, and preachers.

This goes first

and this goes last...got it?



1. continued (Progression plan)

This matters the most, but at the same time it really doesn't matter so much. How you progress doesn't matter as much as the fact that you have a progression plan in the first place. It's all goal dependent. You can progress on weight, reps, density, or whatever else as long as it's in line with your current goal. I prefer to follow a specific system, but it can be as simple as progressing on reps until you hit a specific number, then upping the weight & lowering the reps and starting over.

2. Repeated effort work

You've already done some high end work for your main lift and now you can put in more work (assistance work) on the main lift, a variation of the main lift, another main lift from another day, or something entirely different (depending on how you have your routine structured). This will be another heavy compound movement done for more sets/reps. 5X5, 5x10, etc. Again, selection depends on your goal. There will be overlap as well. Someone working on top end strength might do rack pulls after pulling from the floor, but a bodybuilder might use the same exercise to develop his upper back. Same tool for different goals. It's not as important here, but I recommend to work on progression here as well.

3. Play time

This is where everything else goes. With the main movement and the repeated effort movement out of the way, you've pretty much done 90% of the work to get bigger and stronger. So now you can go have some fun. Use this time to do all of your lighter accessory stuff (single joint stuff, single limb stuff, and the fill in the gaps training). Don't get carried away with this stuff. If your training partner is screaming and slapping you on the head before a set of tricep push downs, you're doing it all wrong. Just get a good pump and split.



The real work is already done. This kind of shit is totally unnecessary at this point.

So a schedule could look like this for a strength oriented guy:

M- Squat

T- Press
T- Deadlift
F- Bench

A bodybuilder guy might roll like this:

M- Quads/hamstrings

T- Shoulders/calves
T- Back/ biceps
F- Chest/triceps

A sample strength oriented squat day would look something like this:

Squat (programmed) say 3-5 work sets of 1-5 reps (+warmups)

Olympic Squats 5x5
Lunges 3x10
Weighted abs (a bunch)

A bodybuilding oriented leg day would look something like this:

Squat (programmed) say 3-5 heavy work sets of 5-10 reps

Romanian Deadlift (programmed) Same as above
Leg press 3x10-20
Leg extension (superset with) leg curls 3-5 sets

The rest of the days would be the same basic structure. Pick the big joint movement to get strong on, pick a repeated effort movement to support the first movement, then do the other pump up stuff. Easy-E. Both of these setups represent a decent amount of work if you are really getting after it. You don't have to hit your muscles from every conceivable angle and grind yourself into dust with 40 set workout sessions to make progress. In fact, unless you are a rank novice, that shit will almost guarantee that you'll end up going nowhere.

 

 "Don't be that guy"

Squat: Elbow, Wrist and Forearm Pain

Elbow, wrist and forearm pain are pretty common for guys that squat heavy and often. When the weight started getting heavy, I was dealing with chronic pain on a regular basis. Everything I tried failed: grip variations, bar placement variations, hand spacing variations, etc. In the end, it was a major injury that ended up fixing it for good.

I tore my rotator cuff and bicep a while back and when I reentered the gym I spent 6 months doing nothing but squats an rehab work. For about the first month I was so fucked up that I literally had to use my right hand to place my left hand on the bar. What I discovered is that squatting with the injury totally fixed my elbow pain issue. Why? Because I couldn't squeeze and push on the bar. Hell, I couldn't even move my arm.

I ended up with a wider grip, but the real fix was my arm's relationship with the bar. I wasn't squeezing the bar, I wasn't pushing the bar, I was just holding the bar and letting it ride on my back. This is so simple and looking back, I feel kind of silly not figuring it out sooner. The reason I had pain (for years) was because I was squeezing the bar and inadvertently pushing up on it. So a heavy squat was not just a heavy squat...it was a heavy squat with a heavy static press (and) a lot of that weight was getting transferred down through my arms instead of my back where it belongs.

I'm sitting around 15 months post injury and my squat has improved about 50 pounds (pain free) in that time. I know that may sound like shit for some of you guys, but gains come slower and slower as your strength increases. You stronger guys will know what I mean.

Here's my advice. First, lower your training max a little and build back up. I think this is important when you are trying to make form changes because if you are operating too heavy, you're just going to end up doing whatever it takes to get shit done. What you are trying to do, is make a specific habit change and you're going to screw it up if you're in the gym bursting blood vessels in your eyes. Don't be a knucklehead, just drop the weight a little and work on developing the habit.

Shit happens when you lift heavy...but don't be in this mode when you're trying to sort things out.

Second, quit squeezing the shit out of the bar. I'm not saying that you need to limp wrist it or anything, but quit squeezing it like you're trying to open a jar of mayonnaise. Take a firm and manly grip, but stop there and quit trying to choke the life out of the bar. The harder you squeeze, the more you will end up pushing up on the bar without even realizing it.

Last, just let the bar ride on your back. You already have control and pushing up on it isn't doing jack shit to help you move that weight. Keep everything tight and let your legs and hips move the weight.

Here's the deal. If you're squatting heavy, it will hurt and it should hurt...that's just the game. It's okay for shit to get sore and “hurt”, but if you are feeling PAIN, something is wrong and you need to fix it. And I know from experience that this shit works.

"Give it a shot...what do you have to lose but some aggravating pain?"

Carb Backloading and Training Update

Screw Carb Backloading, it sucks balls and I want to stab it in the eye with a fork! I gave it a run and everything was great: I was pigging out every night, I was dropping fat, my energy was up and I was having some solid gym sessions. But man...as soon as school started up, it began to look like an intermittent fasting protocol and I started to feel like shit.

"grab a fork and make the first attack...lights out"

I really am happy with the backloading system, but it just wasn't working out for ME due to MY schedule and MY unwillingness to spend the extra time cooking and packing food. I live in a remote part of the Philippines and can't just pick up a tub of protein from GNC at the mall after work, so it's a lot of cooking and dining out for me. Sometimes you just need to make adjustments on the fly. So at this point, I'm just doing my no diet-diet. It's pretty simple; just eat like a normal human and do your best to make wise decisions.

To compensate for that added stress of school, I gutted my whole program after my last cycle. Man...that last cycle and plowing thru all of those heavy doubles during exams really, really sucked ass. I was so happy when I finally wrapped up the last session. Now I'm back to my “go to” program. I scaled down my assistance work to the “bare bones” essential movements and nothing more. I took maxes for my assistance lifts and then cut the start weight to 50%, and programmed them for increases. I also cut my training maxes pretty deep (20%).

My TITANIC ego is taking a major beating right now with all of the weight cuts, but I know I'm being smart about it and it'll pay off down the road. Everything feels light and easy (and) I know that I'll be able to roll past the new year strong without stalling. Side note: isn't it funny how the new year usually represent a goal line for people like “us” (and) a starting line for everyone else?

Yeah, that's about the right size.

Lazy Guy Programming

I'm probably the laziest mother fucker on the planet when it comes to programming. I use some common sense when I plug in assistance work, but I also REALLY try to minimize plate loading and moving around in the gym when I write my programming. I'm more of a camper guy...I like to unpack my shit, plant my ass in one place and go to work.

Just a leftover photo of Elisabeth Shue that never made it from my CPU to a previous post. My gift to you...lord have mercy....

I was at Pizza Hut yesterday pounding my post workout meal, and thinking about my session and thought...Damn...I didn't leave the rack for an hour and a half and still probably made 10X the progress of everyone else in the gym. To the untrained eye, I just mindlessly squatted for an hour or so. But in reality, I did my work sets and 2 assistance movements: I worked up to a heavy double (maximal strength work...check!), did 4X3 pause squats (addressed my weak spot out of the hole with some dynamic type work...check!), and did 5x10 burn outs at 50% (hypertrophy work to increase my strength ceiling and some extra grove work...check!).

Now I'm 30 minutes out of the gym and everything's pretty fried: quads, hams, glutes, abs, lower back, upper back, and erectors. I'm ravenously hungry and systemically trashed...so what the fuck else do I need to do? I didn't dick about moving all around the gym and I didn't have to load any plates after my top double, because after that I just stripped weight. Now that's what I call training economy.

I do the same crap every session whenever possible. Deadlift day for example; pull, stiff legs, and shrugs. It amounts to the same thing: I do my heavy pulling from the floor, strip it down for stiff legs, then use about the same weight for high rep shrugs. I hit the main movement, hit the assistance I think drives my deadlift, and never leave the platform. Now that's lazy man thinking right there!

FYI: here's my current schedule:

Day 1: Squats, pause squats, high rep squats
Day 2: Chins, abs (at home)
Day 3: Deads, SLD, shrugs
Day 4: Bench, press, row

That small home session floats with the bench session depending on my schedule and when I'm in town. I'm not even close to dead set on a schedule. I hit it when I can, but it usually works out to be every other day or so, and I try to squeeze in lighter daily conditioning. Conditioning everyday? Yeah...why not, a few sets of burpees or skips aren't going to infringing on recovery. Just gotta be smart and go easy.

"Go get big, strong and lazy"