Squats Challenge Chart
Shinyoung Gedris
I have noticed a difference already and we are only 15 days in. although i must say some of these are HARD, i have not done the pretzel one yet, im going to when i get home from work.. and im not going to lie. im a little terrified haha. but excited!!!!
Hi Cassey . I love your posts and I love that you are doing more videos with squats but I have a question. I have really bad internal varicose veins and would like to know if doing your 1000 Squat Challenge is going to aggravate them and if you have any videos or will make any on varicose veins stretches or ones that are safe to do. I know that losing weight will help, I am just not sure where to start. Thanks so much for the great workout videos
Hi, I am not on instagram and I am at work when you do these. Some of them I know but some I need a demonstration is there anyway you can show a snip it of the exercise or at least an explanation? thanks
I use to do her 1,000 squat challenge everyday then i switched to every other day and my knee got injured but i was hard headed and kept it up. But i know better now and it took a long time before my knee pain went away.
Oh KAY! OK! Why not? Yup! As a runner I think this would be very good way to get stronger in my glutes and quads, also all those complicated muscles around the hip joint. Oh, yes, also maybe firm up my bottom!!!
I am looking forward to tackling the 30 day 100 squat. I have struggled with trying to tone my inner and outer thighs. I experience hip and knee pain. so this will be a breath of fresh air and a goal I plan on tackling.
Cassey, I have loved your challenges before and today and will live them tomorrow. I am in for this 100 squat challenge and be happy about it, share it with friends. Thank you for this. So excited Aahh!!!
My first experience with Prilepin's chart was in the summer of 1993. I had entered my first powerlifting competition in the spring of that same year and had bombed out in the squat. I didn't give up and did the right thing by seeking professional help, not psychiatric, mind you (although I may have needed it). I sought out a powerlifting coach.
My search brought me to Mike's Olympic Gym in Mechanicsville, Virginia. I had a job painting houses that summer and worked 10 hours a day. I lived an hour (one way) from Mike's, so I knew that if I were going to get any stronger, I'd have to go where the strong go. In Richmond, it was Mike's. My training up to that point was progressive overload. I would do a set of eights one week, and depending on how I felt, I would go up five to 10 pounds for the next week when I went to a set of seven. At the time (and I think to this day), Mike Craven would handwrite all of the programs for his members. Mike is undoubtedly the most passionate and intense person I know when it comes to strength training. He networked with individuals like John Gamble (former strength coach for UVA who is now with the Miami Dolphins) and Fred Hatfield (otherwise known as Dr. Squat). This was all well before the internet, so networking wasn't nearly as easy.
He gave me my program, and there were percentages all over it. I was amazed. After a few weeks, I got up the courage to ask where he got his information. He showed me Managing the Training of Weightlifters by Nikolai Petrovich Laputin and Valetin Grigoryevich Oleshko and explained that the information was based on experiments with thousands of lifters in the former Soviet Union. I trained at Mike's for a few years and then left to try my hand at bodybuilding. After seeing the error of my ways, I went back to powerlifting. I read Powerlifting USA and had seen Louie's articles on training and was interested in his ideas. However, after seeing his ad for the Reverse Hyper and then an article about one of his own products, I was disenchanted and believed that he was simply trying to sell something.
There have been articles written in the past about Prilepin's chart. However, it has been over ten years since this information was reviewed. I've been asked several questions about the chart and how it can be used with beginners.
They also found that it wasn't enough if the lifter only did two reps per set. Either there wasn't enough of a stimulus (there wasn't enough weight on the bar), or the bar would move too fast (kind of like trying to throw a ping pong ball as hard as you can). Because of this, the lifter's form would break down. They also found that if the lifter did more than six reps per set, the lifter's form would break down from fatigue, which would train bad habits, and the bar would move too slow (if you train slowly, you become slow). The Russians found that a lifter could do anywhere from two to eight sets depending on how many reps per set the lifter did.
The combinations are nearly endless. Why the broad range? Well, the Russians realized that everyone reacts differently to a training program. So, if I respond better to higher reps, I would do six reps per set. But if you react better to low reps, you would do three reps per set. Prilepin also knew that there would be good days and bad days in training. If you were scheduled to do six sets of three, but you're killing it, you can keep it going and do up to (but not beyond) eight sets. The same holds true if things aren't going your way. For example, you had a rough night of sleep or the kids kept you up. Whatever the case may be, if you're grinding it out, only do four sets.
These experiments were done on Olympic weightlifters. Why is that important? Because that's all they did. They didn't run, play football, or throw baseballs. They lifted. So you need to account for this in your program design. In other words, you're probably better off going toward the low end of the total rep range rather than the high end. However, you can look at where you are in your season. If our athletes are in-season, we'll go even lower than the prescribed number of total reps. We bring it back up toward the higher end of the range for the offseason.
You also should consider that when the power lifts (squat, bench, and deadlift for those of you who STILL don't know) are done for a max move, they are done much slower than with the Olympic lifts. This can be more taxing on the CNS.
Olympic lifters don't wear supportive gear. Ever seen someone in a snatch shirt? Although it would be funny, I don't think it would be effective. So what do you say? You must lower your training weights when not wearing your gear.
Many of the programs that the Westside lifters use incorporate bands and chains. When accounting for this, Louie and Dave Tate count only the band tension at the bottom. So let's say you get 50 pounds of band tension at the bottom. Now we need to drop our training weight down to about 230 pounds.
We follow the basic Westside template with our intermediate athletes. We have a lower and upper max effort day and a lower and upper dynamic day (for more information on this, read Dave Tate's Periodization Bible parts I and II).
Beginner athletes will follow progressive overload for three weeks. The coach will handwrite the weights based on how the athlete did that week with a given weight. If their technique looks good, we go up. If they have difficulty with the weight or the technique, they stay at that weight until the technique is mastered. We then test using anywhere from a three to a five rep max (I know it's not a true max, but it gives the coaches and the athlete something to go by).
Week 2: We use a box on speed day, which is done first in the week. On max effort day, we take the box away. We remind our athletes that nothing changes. We still sit back, keep our chests up, and go below parallel. We test on free squats because it's only appropriate to squat in the same manner you're going to test.
Once we have a max, we'll do a three-week wave with the box going up by about 10 percent per week on our max effort day. We start at 65 percent. After this, we go to free squats for three weeks to give our athletes time to adjust to not using the box.
We adhere to Prilepin's recommendations. We do keep the total number of reps in a workout toward the low end. The numbers of reps per set are kept low to keep form from breaking down and to provide more coaching time. The athlete does two to three reps, and we tell them what they did right and wrong. They then do another set and repeat the process.
Our reps per set on the dynamic day are lower than what Prilepin would recommend. This is based on Louie's recommendations that you should keep the reps lower than normal to keep the bar speed high. Remember that the experiments were done on Olympic lifts, not power lifts. The power lifts can take longer to perform.
Probably the most important thing that we emphasize to our athletes is moving the bar fast. If you have an athlete under 70 percent and they move the bar like it is 70 percent, they won't get a training effect. Personally, my biggest problem when I started using Prilepen's chart was that I didn't understand my capabilities. A few ways of combating this is to put the athlete on a stopwatch. Time the concentric portion of the lift only. This always gets them competitive. Have them coach one another. Look at their faces. I've never seen someone who pushes with 100 percent effort look pretty. If their facial expression doesn't change, they're not pushing hard enough.
I hope this will give coaches a new perspective on training their beginning athletes. If you have any questions on any of the material presented, feel free to contact me at Kontoss...@mac.com or tako...@vcu.edu.
You might have seen various fitness challenge calendars show up in your media feeds. They range from the 30-day plank challenge, 30-day squat challenge, to the famous 30-day abs squat challenge. The 30-day abs squat challenge tends to get all the glory as it helps you work on your butt and six-pack. These are two of the critical areas most people target when they want to transform their physique. If these are among your fitness goals, then chances are you might be considering this challenge.
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