February Squat Challenge Week 4

We’ve reached the end of the fourth and final week of training before the big test next week! It’s been gruelling, it’s been tough both physically and psychologically, but it’s definitely been worth it!

Heading in to this week the nerves and scepticism really started to set in. All I could think was;

“With ten days to go I’m still so far away from my target”, and;

“I’ve already set three personal bests, way above I’ve ever hit before…. How on earth am I going to go another 15 Kilos!?”

But yet again I went into it determined to prove even myself wrong. This week was by far and away the toughest week. Every session seemed to get heavier, each stretch session just didn’t seem to ease the pain and every ounce of food I consumed just didn’t feel enough to provide energy for the session ahead.

 

Heading into the week I had my mind set that on the Friday Re-test session I would be hitting 195kg. I was desperate to close the gap to 200 by as much as I possibly could! So that come the final day, that extra 5kg jump wouldn’t seem so daunting. Then Monday happened…….

Warm up went well, again it’s very methodical and drawn out, but it really is proving to me more and more that the way to consistently smash through plateaus, is through devising a routine that you can consistently do, session in, session out, ensuring your body and mind are both switched on to what’s about to come.

The session started and I am happy to say that I reached a new PB of 190kg (418lbs). This is where it became a concern though. As since beginning the challenge, this was the first weight where I’ve genuinely felt like the weight was REALLY heavy and didn’t go up as comfortably as I’d have wanted. If you watch the video (Day 22), the depth wasn’t fantastic and on the second rep, you can see my right knee buckle inwards slightly. I then panicked and started to use my back to heave it up. No pain was felt in my knee or back post session but my confidence definitely took a denting.

 

The next day also caused a bit concern. I woke up as usual at 5:20 and headed straight for the shower. After a minute or so I temporarily lost feeling in my left leg and my quad began spasming uncontrollably. Due to still being half asleep, I had no idea what was going on with my leg, and I just couldn’t stop it. I suppose it was inevitable that when doing this much squatting, at some point my legs were going to cramp up or spasm quite severely. I had just never had this before in my life and due to still being half asleep, I just wasn’t sure how to react to it. So I waited for it to cease, jumped out, stretched it off and got on with my day.

 

Then it got to today; re-test day. Again, due to what happened this week with the spasm and the struggle of getting 190 up, I wasn’t sure what to think.

Again though, just like in the previous weeks…… my concern was all nonsense….. as you can see from the video on the social media accounts, the attempt of 195kg (429lbs) actually went pretty well. I could get a little deeper yes…… but; no knee buckling and I managed to keep my spine in one safe strong position, without any hitching or heaving. So now I’m BACK and my confidence of hitting that magical 200 mark is sky high! It WILL happen and it WILL happen in precisely 5 DAYS!!!!! May I even dare to shoot for 205 or at a ridiculous push 210???? Who knows? We will see…. But the confidence for 200 is definitely there. And when this is achieved on Wednesday, this will be an improvement of 30 kilograms in 31 days! MINIMUM! A 30 kilogram improvement on a Personal Best that has stood for OVER A YEAR! It blows my mind thinking about it!

 

Furthermore, with the remaining participants in the group (we’ve lost a couple due to injury), they’re still smashing their Personal Bests alongside myself! This goes to show that the incredible work load really does go against anything that science suggests should work (providing you can stay healthy and the programme is done correctly).

It leads me to believe that all of us, and anyone who trains hard in a gym really can lift so much more than you would have ever believed capable! I’m pretty confident it’s all down to the psychological aspect! The psychological aspect of becoming just really comfortable in a squat rack, with heavy weight, performing a lift that when done on once/twice a week basis can be scary if attempting a PB.

 

After a big session and another brilliant week of training I’m off to treat myself to a big Nandos and then to start planning and focusing my mind on the big challenge of the week ahead!

 

Get in touch now if you want more info on this programme, as 30kg in 31 days proves that it really does work!

 

Yours in health.

 

Ben

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