Overhead squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps
Front squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps
Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 reps
Try to increase the load on each of the fifteen sets.

Molly goes overhead with a smile on her face!

One Rep Max Squat – Times Three!

From our VAULT! Check out this run down of how to gear up for a one rep max back squat, first written in 2011. Hopefully it will come in handy today! Today is a GREAT day to test your progress and get some numbers to use for scaling purposes in workouts.

First of all, get your head in the game. Forget about everything else that is going on in life and focus on this one lift that’s happening right now. Ready? Good. Approach the bar and place your grip slightly wider than shoulder width. Step under the bar, but DON’T LIFT IT.

This is a HEAVY load, so let’s get prepared. Standing in a quarter squat under the bar pull your shoulder blades back. Act as if you are trying to make them touch. Slide your grip inward as close to your shoulders as you can. Tighten every muscle in your back and turn those elbows up high and away. We’re using the muscles in our backs to create a platform for the bar to sit on. Lift your chest, point it at the wall in front of you and take a deep breath into your stomach. HOLD IT, and clinch every muscle in your stomach that you know how with a big belly-filling breath. Now, begin to stand up with the bar, but don’t stand up hesitantly. Stand up with some force. Let that bar know now that you’re going to make this lift.

You’ve done this before. We do air-squats all the time. This time you have a loaded bar on your shoulders, but that does NOT change the technique. Heels under your shoulders, toes pointed out slightly. Initiate the movement with your hips. HIPS BACK! Continue taking your hips back and away all the way down. PUSH THOSE KNEES OUT! Pretend that there is a big piece of paper under your feet and you are acting to rip it in half with your feet. All the way down below parallel. That last 1/2in feels like a mile with 300lbs on your back, but don’t cut it short.

Once you hit bottom you’ve got to tighten every muscle in your body, fight to keep that chest up, keep that stomach tight, and DRIVE through your heels. Keep your knees pushed out and drive as hard as you can. Drive as if your life depends on it. Thats 1 rep.

A few reminders:

– You get 5 attempts (listed as 1-1-1-1-1). Whether you make the lift or not, it counts as one of your five attempts – so gear up and get set for each attempt – make them count!

– Any attempt to lower the bar counts as an attempt. This means that if the bar is taken from the rack and a person initiates their hips backward, that counts as an attempt (one of your five reps). In another example, if you get stuck at the bottom of your lift and need helot to come up, that also counts as an attempt, and a failed set (remember, it’s ok to fail!:).

– The lift is finished only after the bar is successfully replaced in the racks.

– We will review spotting the back squat in warm-up. Remember, we NEVER spot an overhead squat or front squat.