The Great Squat Experiment: Week 7

Josh Trammell

Tuesday, 11/18/14

Still recovering from food poisoning, but I wanted to get in the gym and see what I could do. Wasn't going in expecting much - my goal was to come in, work up to 315-365, see how it felt, and if I felt like crap, leave, if I felt good, go a little heavier.

Low Bar Squats (Beltless)

 - 365 x 1, 1, 1, 1 - was very out of the groove. A couple of adjustments plus just working at this weight loosened me up and things felt better. Felt good enough to move up.

 - 385 x 1 - felt good, moved up

 - 405 x 1 - felt easy

 - 415x2 - new 2RM. No video, unfortunately. Wasn't prepared to set a PR after food poisoning.

Paused Low Bar

 - 365x3

Called it quits. Who says you can't set PRs after getting sick and not eating much at all for 3 days?

Wednesday, 11/19/14

Low Bar Squats with a Belt

 - 365 x 1 (add belt), 1,1

 - 405 x 1

 - 425 x 1

 - 450 x 1 - PR +5lbs



Conventional Deadlifts w/ Belt

 - 365x1

 - 405x1

 - 455x2 - PR 2RM - Not really KK/ Pete Rubish like. First time I've videoed these. Felt good though.

Sumo Deadlifts w/ Belt

 - 365x1

 - 405x1

 - 455x3 - PR +1 rep



 - 435x3

Thursday, 11/20/14

Felt very exhausted going on. That's why, typically, the day after deadlift days is a Pause squat to reduce absolute volume/loading and compression on the spine.

Pause High Bar Squats

 - 355x1

 - 375x1 - could've gotten 2, but it would've been a real grind. Decided against it.

 - 355x3 - PR 3RM +10lbs I believe

 - 315x3

Short ab/decompression/stretching circuit, and called it quits.

Friday, 11/21/14

4-second Eccentric High Bar Squats w/ Belt (That's a mouthful...)

 - 365x1, add belt, 1

 - 385x1

 - 405x1

 - 415x1



 - 385x3

Not a particularly big fan of these, but I never work on the eccentric phase of the lift, so I figured it was time to do so. Plus, it is a nice change of pace.

Saturday, 11/22/14

Felt absolutely wrecked going into this session. Tired, worn down, not really ready to get a lift in, honestly.

 Low Bar Squats w/ Belt

 - 365x1 - add belt

 - 345x1 - moved down to get my groove

 - 385x1 - felt horrible

 - 405x1, 1 - both sets felt awful. This is something I did earlier in the week, without a belt, with ease. Just called it quits here. Still got quality work in that 85%+ range, so it's all good.

Sunday, 11/23/14

Front Squats

 - 315x1

 - 355x1 +10lb PR. Haven't done these in like 6 or 7 months, so I was very pleased with the speed of this on camera. Also pretty obvious that there are some left-right differences in front rack flexibility from this video. Not very comfortable looking front rack, probably due to the fact that I just haven't done them in a while.



 - 315x3 +40lb PR

'Speed' Sumo Deadlifts

 - 345x 1 x 10 sets - about 60-90s rest between sets, focusing in on maximal velocity off the ground to lockout. Felt decent.

Paused Bench Press

Haven't been able to bench press due to elbow pain, but I got my compression cuff in, so I wanted to test it out.

 - 225 x 3 x 3 sets - not too bad. Had a couple reps where the left elbow just gave out on me, but I'm still probably good for about 270 right now. Could've done all sets for 5 reps. Decently happy with that. Need to get my speed back, but everything else was fine.

Monday, 11/24/14

Remedial circuit and recovery work. Nothing of note to post about.