Squat Holiday Experience
Human Drive For Expansion And Fuller Expression Has Never Been Higher!
Shamefully, for most, this amazing leap into human potential is a spectator sport, travelling the world and investing big $ to see the NFL Super Bowl or Cirque Du Soleil. But never feeling it. Never being it.
While spectating can be entertaining the Real value is in taking that inspiration to build your own dreams. The Real experience is in the doing!
No matter what your level I guarantee the exhilaration of your first wall walk or 5 second handstand will mean more to you than watching a Chinese handbalancer slide down an incline pole on one hand handstand (has been done). I was criticised for bringing in movement like what Jared did today, an NRL athlete, who needs 100% specific training?? Bullshit! Expand minds and then see where performance can go!
Enter the Squat Holiday by Wolfgang Unsöld.
Knowing I Will Never Have a World Record Squat.. Why Bother??
The first question I got when posting about my journey to social media was.. Why? This is clearly a question from those sitting in the arm-chair watching others live (think TV).
Why Squat Holiday? Why 18 sessions in 6 days, 10x3’s in the morning, 5x5’s at lunch and 5x10’s before dinner?
Why would you not! If you're alive then live! You’re here to express unlimited potential, to be a role-model in a world that lacks leadership.
“No Way I Could Do That, I Don’t Have The Time!” Actually you have the same length of days as all the great people in history! Maybe like me you’ve already had (wasted) more days than Jesus had or Alexander the Great without creating a legacy to be remembered through the ages!
And so it goes. I lift because I am and it's part of a mission to change the world's understanding of it's potential.
Honestly, I started on a whim, carefully weighing up my other commitments for the next 6 days and my doubts about my ability to complete the 18 incrementally heavier sessions. I consulted my RealMOVEMENT Mentorhip brains trust, veterans of the Squat Holiday Battle, Chad Mgilll, Nathan Gould, Patrick Lane, Fred Marcerou and my partner in RealMOVEMENT coaching Mitch Pike.
After 5 sets of 3 on Day 1 the decision was made. I will complete the next 5 sets of increasing intensity, and then 17 more, always attempting to beat the previous sessions lifts.
SQUAT HOLIDAY - THE PLAN
Session 1 (9-10am) 10x3 5/0/X/0 - On 4 min
Heels on the floor. Sets start once you’re within 40% of your top set. 5 seconds never felt so long or so much like cardio! I started these at 80% of 1RM and added 3% / session most sessions.
Session 2 (12-2pm) 5x5 4/0/1/0 - On 3 min
Heels elevated. 30% difference between bottom and top set. 1 second less makes these feel great versus the morning session. 77% start. You can see some of these on Keegan Smith instagram.
Session 3 (4-5pm) 5x10 3/0/1/0 - On 3 min
Heels elevated, 20% difference between last set and first set. 57% starting weight.
SQUAT HOLIDAY - THE REALITY
On paper it’s good. In terms of total volume it was around 8 tonnes per day for my 150 1RM, not crazy. In terms of central fatigue I was ok. I wasn’t dribbling (a true sign of adrenal stress) and managed to have some productive working days building new components of the RealMOVEMENT Mentorship, calling new and existing tribesmen and women.
What’s tough is the monotony. It’s a black cloud that hangs from the first session until the last. For 6 days you’re never more than 16 hours from your next squat session. When you finish the eye popping 10th set of session one for the day, you know you have 5x5 and 5x10 to go. Still, it’s a little like climbing a mountain with bumps and challenges and aches and pains, but ultimately when it’s over you look back and feel a little sadness that it’s over. The journey has become a valued piece of your identity.
It was about the experience as much as strength. I was confident that I would get stronger if I managed to complete it but more than that I wanted to reaffirm my ability to take on a disgusting but useful challenge and succeed. Every session to the max, building on the previous. Is that even possible? It was for me, that's the journey.
What hurt most? My legs were sore on day 2, by day 4 it was all tendon soreness. On the plus side the constant feeling of pump in the legs gave me a glimpse of what big legs might feel like. I did it without a belt which is unusual for me now on high volume lifting. Still my back dealt quite well with the load. On Day 6 there were signs that my back had enough but I was able to complete the “Holiday.”
One of the best parts about the journey was training on my own for all 18 sessions but knowing that I had a crew to keep me accountable. There was no doubts about whether I would just go a little lighter. Nobody would ever know.. .. to take that possibility out of the equation I sent a video of the top set from all the sessions to my brains trust. Guys I respect who do the work. There was no way I was going to send them anything less than a true effort. These guys can spot a 90% effort and I didn’t want to give that. At the same time they challenged me to try to improve my technique and clean up those torturous last reps.
120x3 was top set on Day 1
140 x 3 on Day 6 - last of the squat posts on Insta. Day 5 squat below.
And so the lessons.
1. Don’t start the Squat Holiday. There is no return.
2. Don’t listen to dogma of only training legs 1-2 times per week. Listening to that advice in my 20’s cost me a lot of progress.
3. Build accountability into your challenges. I flooded my social media channels with what I was doing, no excuses! And built a team to push me through.
4. If you behave tired and beaten, you will be tired and beaten. I was actually listening to “The As If Principle” as I completed the holiday. Behave like it and you’ll be it! My knees hurt, my mind battled with the monotony but overall it wasn’t as physically draining as I expected.
5. Take on bigger challenges. The biggest limitation to our performance is low expectations of ourselves.
6. Overtraining is where your will and desire to complete the task is less than the demands of the task. Like point 4 but this is the big message.
7. Add mass not by focus on eating more but by demanding more of your body. We think about this but we don’t often do it so literally. It must be a shock above what is normal. I added on average 2.5kg over the 6 days without attempting to add mass. I’m still very hungry today. I didn’t eat according to Wolfgang’s guidelines, high meal frequency doesn’t work for me and I don’t use carbohydrate shakes. I ate 2-3 meals per day and 1 shake with coconut milk, berries etc. I did eat carbs each day instead of sticking to the ketogenic cycling plan that I have followed lately.
8. Wolfgang Unsöld did a good thing. This program has been completed by some quality coaches and athletes and will continue to spread. The tempo, 1 second concentric guideline for sessions 2-3 and heels elevated are key components of the program that shouldn’t be brushed over. See the original article with all the recommendations for mass gain and survival here. I made a few superficial changes to Wolfgang's protocol which you may notice.
What next? For me it's time for a double body weight back squat! This mythical number always seemed impossible to my skinny legs (and mind), now it's inevitable.
What's The Best Thing That Can Come From Me Completing The Squat Holiday??
To make you think! Why couldn’t you do it? No time? No gym access? Too weak? Too lazy?
Building up your training so that you can complete a Squat Holiday may be the push you need to become the person you really want to be. The squats don't matter to me but the behaviour does! By behaving like an athlete possessed by higher powers completing the impossible, you will change. You will never look at yourself, or your legs in the same way.
The Squat Holiday has expanded my view of what is possible, if I can do it many people can. If you don’t have the time make plans to take control of your life. It might not happen tomorrow but make a plan. It’s your life. It’s disappearing one day at a time. What will you have to show for it? 6 days of Squat holiday are 6 of the longest days of my life!
Is it time for a holiday?