I squatted 425lbs today and it feels fucking great. I could've written freaking, but you're not stupid and that wouldn't fool you. You know exactly what I mean. A 425 lb squat at a body weight of 245 isn't really that amazing, but it's a new record for me and it is just the beginning.
How Did I Get There?
I started lifting weights around the age of 15. I don't think I ever did real free weight squats. I mostly did the beach bro workout. Chest, arms, shoulders, and back once in a while. I did a few clean and jerks for football, but that was it. I only got up to about 205 in the bench and I'm sure my form sucked.
When I was 19 and moved back home from my college failure I lifted weights pretty seriously for about 9 months. I made the best gains ever and felt huge. I was on some type of program that was an upper/lower split and worked everything based off 1RM%. Looking back, it wasn't too bad of a program and I got my bench up to 255 if I remember correctly. I don't remember what my squat got up to, but at least I was working lower body.
Then I got away from the weights again, met my wife, got married, had kids, and got kind of fat. I wasn't obese, but I went from about 210 in August of 2003 to 235 in March of 2009. It was a slow weight gain and I worked out and dieted off and on during those years.
Reality Check
Life kind of sucked in the spring of 2009. I was working a job I hated (then I got laid off) and I had too many bills and not enough money. It was hard to find a new job and unemployment didn't pay enough so I attempted to join the Air Guard. I was told that I was too fat (I had a waist circumference of 42 inches) so I started working out. I knew that I needed to lift weights to maintain muscle, but at that point all I cared about was getting the number on the scale to get below a certain magical number that the military required.
After doing tons of cardio (a lot of swimming, which was actually fun), I lost about 12 pounds and then it stopped. I realized I needed to add weights in, started Rippetoe's Starting Strength, and dropped another 12 pounds pretty quickly.
At this point I had moved on from the Air Guard and was going to join the Navy active duty to study nuclear power because I scored 99 out of 100 on the ASVAB, which is some kind of military aptitude test. Long story short, I went to MEPS and was told that I was too old (27) for a job with a maximum age of 25. Because of the bad economy, the Navy had many people trying to get in so they didn't need to give me a waiver. In normal times I probably would have gotten in.
Rippetoe's Starting Strength
This was the program that I followed starting in May of 2009 and I followed it for almost a year. You can Google it for details, but it is a very structured program based around the main compound lifts. I believe every new lifter should start with this program if their goal is to get stronger, gain muscle, and lose fat. It worked great for me.
When I started this program my 5RM squat was about 225. I think I got up to 325 or so for 5 reps using this program. Then I got a job at LA Fitness, discovered many other training programs and experimented for a while.
I did a little bit of crossfit stuff, a lot of bodybuilding/high rep stuff, and a lot of dieting. I don't know what I squatted during this time because I don't think I went below 8 reps for about 9 months. I learned a lot and gained some decent size during this time, but my strength probably plateaued during this time.
Doggcrapp and Bodybuilding Training
I quit LA Fitness in September of 2010 and started working for myself doing personal training. I did this for about 9 months before becoming manager of Anytime Fitness. I made my own schedule during this time and had a great training partner so I never missed a workout and made great gains.
We did Doggcrap training for about 3 months and bodybuilding/high rep stuff for about 6 months. I didn't do much low rep work, but really pushed the high rep stuff, which must have carried over into peak strength.
Last July I was squatting with my training partner after a couple week layoff and was feeling great. We just kept pushing the weight up (I had never had more than 335 on the bar in my life) and doing singles. First it was 335, then 355, then 375, and I figured what the hell, I would go for 405. It went up pretty easily and I was amazed. That definitely shows that high volume does have a carryover to max weight if you are really pushing the high volume work.
The Lazy Year
That happened in July of 2011 and I have pretty much coasted this last year. I've gained too much weight (I'm at 245) and am going strong again. I have signed up for a powerlifting contest in November and will be competing in the 220lb weight class so that's good motivation to cut a little bit of weight.
Even with the nearly year-long plateau my squat has still gone up 20 pounds and I'm pretty sure I could have squeaked out another 25 (next month I will max again and will push for 440).
Summary
It took me longer than it had to, but I got there. The next 200 pound increase shouldn't take me 9 years if I'm doing things right, but who knows. Nothing ever goes exactly as planned and that's the fun part.
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