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Barbell Barbell squat everyday experience?

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Ny Wc

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Anyone try it? I just started easing into it a few days ago. Goal is to get my 1rm up and hopefully my dead lift too. I'm very nervous about it but I'm trying to give it a few weeks. High frequency training usually leads to pretty quick improvements.
 
If you haven't read "squat every day" by Matt Perryman I would highly recommend it. I used it for front squat, working up to a daily minimum and exceeding it on days where it felt good, following it up with back off sets. Had some slight knee tendinitis 5-6 days in but that went away through more squatting. I found the day after I did deadlifts that my squat suffered so kept DLs to once or twice a week - your results might be different. Got some decent PRs with front squat as well improvements other than weight increases - really grooving the pattern and getting comfortable under "heavy" weight.
 
@Ny Wc, my limited experience with squatting led me to reach the following conclusion as regards improving one's deadlift: If you squat like a powerlifter, with a wide stance, shins as vertical as you can manage, and just breaking parallel, you'll improve your deadlift because your squat is essentially a hip hinge, like a deadlift, just with the bar on your back. If, OTOH, you squat high bar back, or front, you'll find much less carryover.

-S-
 
These came to mind...

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I believe there is another from them in Venice but you get the idea.

Best as you unpack this.
 
If you're going to squat at least 5 days per week then use planned intensity variation as opposed to 'going by feel'. Leave the 'going by feel' to the pros. If you go by feel you'll be lost. With planned intensity variation you'll be able to make adjustments when things don't work out. And they won't work out because no one dials it in on the first couple of tries. And just because you've put together 2 or 3 successful cycles, doesn't mean you'll be able to maintain it for a whole year. When it doesn't work out, you mine your log; and because you planned intensity variation into your cycles you can adjust accordingly.

Pavel has some excellent suggestions in Beyond Bodybuilding where he recommends using some sort of heavy, light, medium intensity throughout the week and cycle to cycle. Use it from microcycle to macrocycle. Use the 60% rule!... it heals body and spirit!

All this doesn't mean you shouldn't autoregulate. Once you have some success and know how you're supposed to feel at certain times during a cycle it becomes evident when you may need to drop sets and/or reps. Autoregulation should be used sparingly though. If you find yourself autoregulating often then something is not right in your overall plan.
 
Personally I would never recommend it. You don't indicate what kind of weight you are using but if you have been lifting for awhile and squatting some good weight, it's not a matter of "if" your back or knees can take it, it's a matter of whether your central nervous system can take it. Many have used such a system for both the squat and the deadlift, but my experience is it's a pathway to overtraining.
 
banzaiengr said:
Personally I would never recommend it. You don't indicate what kind of weight you are using but if you have been lifting for awhile and squatting some good weight, it's not a matter of "if" your back or knees can take it, it's a matter of whether your central nervous system can take it. Many have used such a system for both the squat and the deadlift, but my experience is it's a pathway to overtraining.
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Its working really well for me so far but I don't do true maxes. I try to use a weight that goes up fast. I hit 325# yesterday.

I bet this program would be great with kettlebells. I do barbell clean and press, bench-press, and kettle bell single arm presses every 3 days and it's working great.
 
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Ny Wc said:
Its working really well for me so far but I don't do true maxes. I try to use a weight that goes up fast. I hit 325# yesterday.

I bet this program would be great with kettlebells. I do barbell clean and press, bench-press, and kettle bell single arm presses every 3 days and it's working great.
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Maxed 325 or used 325 as your training weight? What does a squat session look like sets/reps?

I've seen programs where they say to do 5x5 with 80% max, but the trainee can't do 5x5 with that weight. So they lower it to a weight they can do. Now they're doing every set with a weight that's at their top end for 5x5. I hope that's not what you're doing every day but I hope you get my point. Pushing hard every day squating is tough on the CNS.
 
banzaiengr said:
Maxed 325 or used 325 as your training weight? What does a squat session look like sets/reps?

I've seen programs where they say to do 5x5 with 80% max, but the trainee can't do 5x5 with that weight. So they lower it to a weight they can do. Now they're doing every set with a weight that's at their top end for 5x5. I hope that's not what you're doing every day but I hope you get my point. Pushing hard every day squating is tough on the CNS.
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My average day will be a "max" that usually/hopefully goes up faster than a real max (They call it a gym max usually or a comfortable max). Basically that means that it never stops moving to me. 325# was actually slow and stuck for a second near the top but that's really ok once in a while if your going for a pr. I did 330# today and it didn't even stick. I may have had 335# in me if I really wanted to grind out a rep. So that was a 5+ pr in less than a week for an easier rep.

You warm up with lighter weight and you see how you feel as the weight get's heavier. Once I get to the high 200's, I'm only doing one rep a set personally. If the weight feels heavy then you hit a rep that is going to be lower than your last pr. You want the weight to go up with at least a little speed but if your weak that day then your going to need to use lighter weight. When you feel strong and the weight is feeling light then you use more weight. If you get near your old pr and you feel like you can do it, you go for a new pr. Whatever you do, if you feel up to it then you can do a few back off sets with 2 or 3 reps. I usually do 2 sets but i've heard that the Bulgarians who trained like this for years worked up to training for hours. Squats AND OLY. lifts....

For me, if I feel weak then it's all about finishing stronger. I'll stop lighter than I have to.

You usually can't just jump into 5-7 days a week ( I do 7 and I'm loving it, It doesn't take long to hit a max and a couple of back off sets) but I have a history of Pttp and the 40 day program so I figured I would be fine. So far, so good...

5 x 5 everyday would definitely not be a good idea lol. 2 x 5 can work with the right weight (40 day program)
 
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A max is a max is a max. Actually your gym max is usually heavier than your meet max due to strict judging. You never answered the question, other than most sets are one rep. What does the session look like when you did 325? 135x10, 225x5, 255x3, 295x1, 325x1, and then a back off set of 255?

I'm very familiar with the Bulgarian Power Burst system, and there is one big thing that is never taken into consideration with it, and several other small things.

Anything can work for someone for 6 to 8 weeks, and if you are having success with it, great. But I don't know of many trainers that would recommend basically maxing everyday. Especially if you are using a belt and wraps. And even if you are not using wraps, I'd caution you on those days that you feel less than usual and continuing with it. That would be a day I'd say, no squatting today my friend.

Why don't you have someone set you up with a Plan Strong program for squats? Just my two cents.
 
Banzaiengr

Today was
135# x 3, 225# x 2, 275# x 1, 315# x 1, 335# 1 rep Pr. Big jump from 225 to 275 but works for me.

A max is a max but your not supposed to be maxing everyday. I don't know why they call it a max at all. It's the heaviest rep that you can do without grinding and you don't even have to go that heavy everyday. You would go heavier at a meet because you would really grind out the rep if you had to.
 
I too have used Nemisis with great success. A daily max isn't a true "max." It's all based on feel and works really well, in my opinion. Overtraining is bandied about like the boogeyman all the time, in reality the overall volume is waved and alternated between front and back squats, so load varies considerably. I used Nemisis before I knew about OS resets. Did mobility/foam roller crap for soreness...I want to retry Nemisis for 30 days using OS for warmup and recovery. Squat on!!!
 
I liked that if you get a "bad make" you owe yourself another set. Slow reps are ok, but grinders where form breaks down are not.

Overtraining is a rare medical condition, under-recovering and injuries from fatigue are far more common.
 
Hmm, very interesting information. I love the experimental aspect of it.

Geoff, I do find it interesting when you state "overtraining is a rare medical condition, under-recovering and injuries from fatigue are far more common". Yet in the article you cite, Everyday Training for the Everyday Athelete" Nick Horton states, "overtraining is not a complete fabrication, but it is close to one".

Think of the central nervous system as the central powerplant to a city. It’s a limited pool of energy. If the city gets too big and puts too much strain on a particular powerplant, the power goes out. Fatigue in the central nervous system explains the old, “throw a rock in the pool” effect of whole body movements. This is why you can do a hardcore leg workout today, come in the gym tomorrow, and find that the strength on your bench press is negatively affected. The fatigue in your bench press doesn’t come from muscular fatigue, but through neural fatigue, overtraining.

I like Jeff's idea of planned intensity. This or using a different variation of squat each day makes more sence to me. Going by feel has it's problems. Particularly if this is your first time through such a program.

But it has peaked my curiosity, squat on gentleman.
 
@banzaiengr A more likely reason your bench press is weaker after a "hardcore leg day" is because your hips and legs are tight and beat up, not Overtraining Syndrome(OTS). The bench press is a total body lift. If your body is not recovered from a hardcore leg day, you are not emparting optimal energy into the bar through leg drive, and maximal tension.

How much stress your CNS and body can handle in affected by many factors, mood, sleep, age, nutrition, genetics, just to name a few. Daily training is not for everyone. OTS is rare, a more widely used term I prefer is Overreaching. Where your training outstretches your ability, and strategies to recover and adapt.

A trained CNS is much more resilient than your muscles. I trained national level Olympic Weightlifting for many years, twice a day, and never suffered from OTS. Once past the beginner stages of training you do not make linear progress, performance may suffer in the short term, but in the long term you have to believe you are making progress. The Olympic lifts are arguably the the most intensive stress on the CNS because of load, speed, power, and muscle sequencing. The Jerk is the most explosive movement in sports.
 
Why are your legs tight and sore? Because your CNS hasn't had time to recover. This would not be true if you had just done wrist curls the day before. Had you just done wrist curls you would not have stressed enough muscle to stress the CNS like squats or deadlifts do.

Call it what you want, overreaching, under recovered, under nourished, not rested, it doesn't really matter. It all leads to the same thing. When you take the stress of living life and/or lack of sleep and throw in the stress of traning, particularly something like the squat, it takes it's toll on the CNS and the hormonal system. Keep this up for 2 months or two years depending on the person and it will result in some type of metabolic catastrophe, unless you are 1% of the population or juicing.
 
there's nothing wrong with squating daily, or doing any other compound movement daily, as long as, as @banzaiengr mentioned, you're not overstressing your cns. so you need to daily volume on the lower end and you need to cycle your training schedule. if you are working on multiple 4 week cycles the first 2 weeks of the cycle should be outright easy, you should feel like you're warming up, because essentially you are. you do that by keeping your weight low, beginning at 50% max and staying below 85% throughout the entire cycle. the idea is to build a base reliant upon super strict technique, only with great technique will you ever come close to your true potential (there are many other variables, but without great technique, it ain't gonna happen). squating daily is not bad, and it can be a great, the movement is not what's going to cause you damage, the way you do it might. some of the routines out there are designed to get you to a new PR fast, and they may work short term, but to truly build strength, it is a long, long, long term process, with many layers. so squat daily, but don't come anywhere near a max until it's test day. then start a new cycle.
 
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