Friday, February 21, 2014

How Many Squats Can You Do with Bodyweight on the Bar?

I think there will be an online contest (maybe April Fool's Day - no joke) - 5 minutes, as many reps as possible, barbell back squats with bodyweight.

I'm looking forward to participating actually - with some lingering back issues, it's been a long time since I've felt comfortable pushing things. My numbers will be nothing to write about, but it will be a training day for me.

This is Sarge's classic performance:


Here is a more recent go at it - 5:00 time limit. Contestants were allowed to re-rack the weight within the time period:

4 comments:

Jeff said...

Boris,

I like this idea. Now the strategy boils down to weight loss or strength gain (or more likely a combination of the two).
What would you do?

Jeff

Boris said...

Hi Jeff,
Not an easy thing to answer there Jeff. Going into something like this ill prepared is going to be painful... I think if I gave it several months of prep, I'd want to be plenty strong and conditioned and make sure to lay off the junk food for a while.

I weigh about 190 right now. I'll try to weigh 185 for ease of loading. I'll do quite a few higher rep sets in the next 2-3 weeks to condition. If I had more time, I'd work on pushing limit strength a little, but right now I'm out of shape enough that anything will do.

BrockLeggins said...

I think you could set it up using Westside "inspired" principles - one day "max effort" (just some heavier sets - I wouldn't worry about actual maxes), and one day rep effort, rather than dynamic. Load up with your intended weight, and knock out some reps, leaving a few in the tank. Maybe even do a couple sets. You could also shoot for a goal number (say it's 50), and break it into say 5x10, and work to shorten rest periods between sets. Just a few thoughts.

Boris said...

Three weeks isn't enough to focus on much, so I'll be doing high reps 2x/week for three weeks in March. I won't be rushing things, but I'll play w. the rest intervals/density. Most days will just be w. 135 or so. I might throw in a heavier day or two just so 185 doesn't feel heavy. My only real goal is to have fun w. it and not wreck myself in the process.