For an awesome tool to quantify weaknesses, fix those weaknesses, control common aches and pains, and all things recovery, check out our new book “No Weaknesses. Check it out here:
The Brand New Mash Elite E-Book: “No Weaknesses”
Check out the “Mash Squat Every Day” E-Book with 4 twelve-week programs for weightlifting, powerlifting, super total, and bodybuilding. Find out more below:
The “Mash Elite Program Sampler” is 8 of our Complete Programs that we’ve used to get our athletes jacked. All proceeds will go towards helping our team get to the American Open and take one step closer to their Olympic Dream. Check it out now:
==> Mash Elite Program Sampler
Squat Every Day II: Every Day All Day
Last year we release “Mash Squat Every Day” to the world. It was a huge success with hundreds of emails describing the gains and benefits of the programs in the original book. Like most of the programs at Mash Elite Performance things have evolved quite a bit in one year. That’s what sparked this book.
Over the last couple of years we have become quite famous for the strength gains realized by so many of our athletes. The original version was highly influenced by my friends John Broz and Cory Gregory. It started out as an experiment on myself. After I experienced the best gains in over a decade, I was sold. At 43-years old, I was able to:
• Back Squat 295k/650lb
• Snatch 135k/297lb
• Clean and Jerk 166k/365lb
• Bench Press 184k/405lb
• Deadlift 318k/700lb
• Clean 170k/374lb
• Jerk off Blocks 182k/400lb
• Front Squat 242k/532lb
Not only did I crush maxes that I hadn’t seen in over 12-years, but I was able to move better and my hips stopped hurting. My body was adapting to the daily stimulus in a very positive way. At first, I was totally confused by the results and especially the way by body was feeling. All it took was a little thinking on my part, and then the answer was clear.
If you’ve ever worked at a blue-collar job, then you will totally understand the results. When I was 18-years-old, I worked at my stepdad’s lumber company. I worked there the summer before college, and I can say that it was the hardest physical job of my entire life. The first week or two was a nightmare. I was stacking 200lb pieces of lumber all day long. It was crushing me.
The thing that really upset me was that I was working with men twice my age, and they weren’t even fazed by the daily volume that we were experiencing. Actually they were laughing at me. Here I was an athlete on my way to play college football, and I couldn’t even keep up with a bunch of old rednecks. How was I ever going to stack up against some of the best athletes in our country?
The secret that they weren’t sharing with me is that they had adapted to the workload over the years. Their bodies had responded to the stimulus allowing them to easily handle the daily volume. Have you ever shaken the hand of a man that worked in lumber? If you have, then you probably noticed a thick hand, monster forearms, and equally strong backs. Where they all just genetically gifted in those departments? No their bodies adapted to the daily stimulus and workload allowing them to easily perform the daily tasks. That’s what makes our bodies amazing.
Coach Glenn Pendlay talks about a study that he was a part of where mice were trained in two different ways:
Stimulus 1: X Volume performed 3-days per week
Stimulus 2: The same volume spread throughout the week on a daily basis
The mice that spread the volume throughout the week got stronger and noticed more hypertrophy than the mice performing the same volume in three days. The only conclusion that one can draw is that the daily practice of the movements performed caused the body to become more efficient at the movement. The efficiency allowed the body to recruit more fibers, become stronger, and get bigger.
I remember the first summer of playing basketball outside. At the beginning of the summer it was hard for me to hit three-pointers. The ball seemed heavy, and the basket seemed like it was 100-yards away. I practiced every day, and by the end of the summer I was able to drain three-pointers with ease. I practiced the skill, became more efficient at the movement, and my body responded by recruiting more fibers allowing me to rain three-pointer from anywhere on the court.
Lifting weights is a skill. Sometimes we think that lifting a barbell is somehow different than other sports. It’s not! It’s a skill like basketball, throwing shot, or pitching a baseball. If you practice, you will get better at that skill.
Different Volume Levels
Last year we came out with a workout that focused on frequency. It was low volume, high intensity, and high frequency. Since then, we have developed two other levels that are higher in volume:
• Squat Every Day Super Cycle (Moderate volume, High Frequency, and Waved Intensity
• Squat Every Day Super Cycle II (High Volume, High Frequency, and Waved Intensity)
We have found that 95% of all our athletes fall within one of these categories. Personally the first version of Squat Every Day works perfect for me probably because I am 43-years-old, and I have spent my lifetime building a baseline. Most females and rookie male strength athletes see much bigger gains with higher volume. They simply need that base of hypertrophy work to build the muscle mass required to be strong.
Basically no matter what workout that you try, you will find that you are one of these three types of athletes. Once you discover what works best for you, I suggest sticking with that type of routine until it stops working. There is always a chance that you will evolve.
For example, I used to be an athlete that thrived on high volume. Now I respond better to high frequency and low volume. I spent all those younger years building the hypertrophy and strength base, so now my nervous system responds better to a heavy stimulus on a daily basis.
Here’s the thing. If you are seeing results, stay with that type of workout making small moderations to force adaptation. If progress slows, switch things up. I never accept plateaus without at least making changes. You shouldn’t either.
I hope that this helps all of you with making decisions on choosing a program. “Mash Squat Every Day II” will drop sometime within the next couple of weeks, and it will contain “Squat Every Day Super Cycle” and “Squat Every Day Super Cycle II”. If you have the original “Mash Squat Every Day”, you will have everything that you need for the perfect program.
In cast you don’t have it, check out the “Mash Squat Every Day” E-Book with 4 twelve-week programs for weightlifting, powerlifting, super total, and bodybuilding. Find out more below: