harddeck242’s BodyBlog

This 20 rep squats is without a doubt the eye-opener I’ve been searching for.  Until now I’ve tinkered around the edges of hard work.  A few curls here, a chin up or two there.

Yes I’ve hammered myself but squats were the last real frontier for me.  I feel like I’ve always been afraid to jump head first into a really ugly workout.  I’ve explained before but I can’t articulate enough how much legs workouts really broke me down. Mentally and physically.  I have not ever never felt ill after a weights workout until this 20 squats thing. It literally takes me 3 minutes and a lot of breathing to squeeze out 20 of these f**kers and I’m not even hardly breaking the parallel plane with my quads.  I f**king love it.  I’ve done quite hard back workouts where I walk out feeling like I totally couldn’t do any more but to walk in and not be able to walk within the first 10 minutes - and THEN have to somehow get on with the rest of the circuit is just insanity.

I decided a long time ago after I watched a special feature dvd on the making of Superman and watching Christopher Reeves clean jerking and shoulder pressing that it’s man against iron - forget the machines, forget the cables, this is just you and a hard truth.  Nothing stands between me and strength but a real acceptance of what is real.  Squatting 80 kgs is a truth that i need to get to.  And through.

Had my second 20 rep squat routine yesterday and wow, what a difference 48 hours makes when you’re trying to get over your first full on workout in a month. It’s supposed to be done 3 times a week but i couldn’t do it.  I did same weight yesterday but only manager to get out 16 before i quit.

I am so super pumped to square up against it and i’ve gotta say I think this learning to love squats thing i’ve done this week is probably the most liberating thing I’ve gone through since starting weights two years ago.  It was like the last of my great phobias.  And even when i used to squat i would only go about 3/8 of the way down so’s not to lose control and possibly fall on my ass.

I love the simplicity.  No 5 day splits doing 5 exercises per body part. Just you, 5 other exercises splitinto a circuit and (hopefully) results.

I almost liken it to the S.P.O.T program I went through a year ago which was SUPERB.  I’ll do this for 10 weeks and I think if I don’t get my 6 kgs of mass like I want then I’ll do it for 6 more just to make sure I’m doing it right.

I want this. My diet is tight, I’d like to start researching fat metabolisers, and this is a core strength targeting program. 

like my russian friend always says,

You cannot be solid on feet until big like bear.

Yes mate!  I recommend this to any player wishing to see if they can actually pass out from doing an exercise.  Whoa that was so intense.  I only had 50kgs up but when i got to 14/15 it was literally 15 seconds between each of the next 5 reps.  But I got to 20 and I think the point is that I know I’ll have to load up 5 more kgs each side next time.  Time prevented me from doing the whole of the routine but that’s OK as I just wanted to get past those 20 squats to wipe the last of the fear out of my brain.  I swear at one point after my barbell rows i was hallucinating steam coming off my hands as I was blowing the sweat off. Which wasn’t possible I don’t think considering it was already about 75 degreesF in the gym.

Anyway it was a good GD time and I’m looking forward to doing it again on Thursday - if I can walk by then!

THAT’S RIGHT - I had one.  And it was beautiful.  First one I’ve had in 3 years.  I consider it …… reward.

It’s not a lifestyle choice that I’d look at making a habit but geez it was a lovely 1 minute 38 seconds.  I’ll run at lunch then back on eggs and tuna.

I’ve determined today that I have one problem with my new 20 squat routine that I am about to begin on Monday.

I’m afraid of leg work!  Not averse or a little iffy or even too lazy - I really have a hard time preparing myself mentally for a hard legs session.  Anywhere above the torso, sure, great, bring it.  But thinking about stepping up to the rack and letting go of all stability under that 60 kg bar is almost, to me, unthinkable.  I can run for 90 minutes, bodyweight squat x 100 in a day but …. 20 reps of heavy weight?

I want to be able to just not think about it.  The squat rack is THE most under-utilized piece of metal in the entire gym which, I suppose, is comforting to know that I’m not the only one who stays well clear.

But I don’t want to be one of another group of meat heads who don’t "like" doing legs coz tight shorts aren’t quite the fashion these days whereas tight t-shirts, well, the chicks dig ‘em!.  I WANT TO DO IT.

Which is why i wanted to vent the last of my mental garbage on this page and go in Monday feeling like I was born to do it

I stepped out of the car to walk up the 8 flights of stairs to the gym and something felt….. different.  WHat is it inside of you that makes one day great and the next bland?  I skipped Monday, half-assed Tuesday but this morning - I don’t know.  Maybe it was my subconscious brain’s way of telling me that I’d not done enough this week to satisfy it.

SO I get to the 6th flight and I hear the familiar sound of Harry’s thu-thunk! of his 30kg db’s hitting the deck after ripping through what I could only surmise was a monster set of his infamous bench presses.  Dude that was it!  I hadn’t heard that sound all week.  SO I ran up the last flight, dumped my stuff in the change room and scurried over to get to my own db incline, flat, pullover, flyes and get to feel and hear my own thu-thunk! ing on the deck.

Attack it!  I say that to myself as I push up more than I have in a long time.  I can feel myself coming out of the 5 month sleepwalk where an hour of jogging was considered a good effort.  And I suppose it is if you want to feel like a guy who can jog for an hour.  I’d much much rather feel like a guy who can get up 3 sets of 15 x 25 kgs though!

Don’t be lazy Matt, attack it!