On most days you head to the gym and ‘do the right thing’. You take out your training log, follow the reps and sets, add a little more weight than last week and walk out the door feeling pretty darn good about yourself. Other days, you’re not quite ‘feeling it’ and you spend less time squatting and more time chatting up the hot chick at the weight rack. Hey, it happens.
Then there are some days you just walk into the gym feeling extra pumped and super focused. Sure you could bang out your regularly scheduled training program. Hell, the way you’re feeling you could probably hit a couple of PR’s. But, today, you’re same-old training program just won’t do. You want to tackle something tough. You want a challenge. You want to train so hard that you crawl out of the gym. You want to GET CRUSHED.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help. Each week we’ll give you a tough, one-off workout that you can try when you are looking for the ultimate training challenge of just feel like you need a break from your regular routine. But be warned, this training program will leave you totally CRUSHED.
The King of all Moves
Squats are known as the “King of All Exercises” for good reason. Depending on which variation you choose, no other exercise challenges the quads, glutes, lower back, abs, upper back and shoulders quite the way squats do. By combining the two most commonly used variations – the front squat and the back squat – this workout will push all of these muscle groups to the max.
See the workout on next page.
Start by choosing a weight with which to load the bar. 135 is a decent baseline weight if you have a year or less squatting experience under your belt. 225 is a very solid, very challenging weight for someone who has a great base of strength and is very comfortable with their technique. Feel free to go with something in between those two or, if you are a boss squatter, push up as high as 315.
Set a timer for 10 minutes. In the first minute you will perform 10 back squats. Once you are done, rest whatever remains of that minute. At the top of the next minute, perform 5 front squats. Again, rest whatever remains of that minute and at the top of the third minute, go back to doing 10 back squats. Keep alternating between 10 back squats and 5 front squats each minute until the 10 minutes is up. By the end you will have performed 50 back squats and 25 front squats in a very small span of time. Brutal!
THE WORKOUT
5 sets x 10 Back Squats
5 sets x 5 Front Squats
Keep one weight on the bar the entire workout. Alternate between sets of back squats and front squats starting at the top of the minute and resting whatever remains of the minute once the set is complete. Leave weight used and any rants in the comments section below.
Dan Trink is a personal trainer, strength coach and nutritional consultant based in New York City. To find out more about Dan visit www.trinkfitness.com
