Christmas Eve Squatting!

It's a Christmas miracle!  I walked into my hometown's commercial gym today and there was a kid actually squatting in the squat rack!  Even better, by the time I had foam rolled, warmed up, and done the power segment of the workout, he was done squatting and the lone rack in my entire gym was all mine...

Santa squats heavy...do you?

As we all know, Santa Claus was a world-class squatter.  So, in the spirit of Christmas, what better way to celebrate then to do some heavy ass squatting!  Each week the workouts are getting more and more brutal, and this one literally left me hobbling out of the gym.  My whole posterior chain, (lower back, hamstrings, glutes, and upper back) and legs were completely shot.  My legs are still incredibly weak coming out of the football season, but I'm exposing my weaknesses every week and working my ass off to make them strengths, and slowly but surely I can feel myself getting stronger.  

If you want to get stronger, you MUST squat and pull.  Deadlifts and squats are two of the best exercises because they utilize a number of muscles, some of which are the largest muscles in the body, which in turn prompts the body to release more muscle-building testosterone in the blood.  Additionally, due to the number of muscles recruited to complete a squat or a deadlift, you can use more weight than just about any other exercise, allowing you to move more weight and increase strength.  It may be a joke, but if you want to get huge and be strong, you really do need to lift things up and put them down, and get your ass under a heavy barbell.  

Brandon Lilly heavy raw squatting

The focus of this workout was heavy squatting, lowering the number of repetitions from last week, but increasing the rate of perceived exertion, effectively making you lift more weight.  That's the goal, to each and every workout or each week lift more weight, increase the volume, or move the bar faster.  We're always finding ways to push the envelope and get stronger.  It may not always be pure maximal strength, sometimes we may try to increase the speed at which we move the bar, or our strength endurance by increasing the volume or repetitions.  

That's the purpose of the back down set of squats, to push our minds and bodies by using a single, higher repetition set of squats after our heavy squatting in order to increase endurance and size in the lower body and core.

Give this workout a try but keep in mind, if you can walk out of the gym after this one...you're probably doing it wrong.  

Foam Rolling

General Warmup

Dynamic Warmup

Band Resisted Lateral Walks

Bodyweight Squats

Glute Bridges

Duck Walks

Power

Full Squat Jumps--4x5

Strength

Back Squats--3x3 at 9 RPE

*Worked up to 325 for 3x3

Assistance

Back Down Set of Squats--1x10 at 70% of estimated 1RM

*245 for 10

Supplemental Lift

Block Deadlifts--3x3 at 80% of 1st month estimated 1RM

*360 for 3x3

Single Leg Work

Cossack Squats--3x10 each leg

Conditioning/Abs--3 Rounds

Snatch-Grip RDLS--10

Pull Ups--Submax

Hanging Knee/Leg Raise--Failure

Using a snatch grip will add muscle
and strength to the entire
upper back

Abs

Front Plank--3x1:10