Back At My Twenty Rep Squats For A While Now

I have not been posting here much at all recently. I have been busy and had a lot of mind clutter. That’s been improving. I wrote about it here before, but this time of the year is always tough on me.

Last summer, I was feeling better, so sometime in August I got the bright idea to restart the 20-rep squats. The last couple of times I went through this a couple of years ago, it really improved my mental focus. A couple of years have passed since I did this high rep stuff, so I started super light. I began this cycle at a puny 115 pounds, if my memory serves me correctly. As much as I want it all now, this isn’t about the short term. It’s about the long term.

My working weight is starting to get up there now. It’s not heavy yet, but it’s starting to feel more mentally challenging, but certainly manageable. Today I had to do 195 pounds. I didn’t make it past that the first time I did these widowmakers, but today was no problem at all. I expected that would be the case. One thing for sure is that, even at a lighter weight, especially when they get to moderate to heavy weights, they really spike the heart rate. Today mine got into the mid-170s.

I can’t lie and say that they were easy, but at the same time, they weren’t all that difficult either. This many unbroken reps, even at a light weight, is a mental challenge. I had actually been thinking about getting back to it in 2024, but I wasn’t even close to being in the right mental state to focus as these squats need.

Finally, I decided to get back to it, thinking it would be a great complement to the lower reps in the 5/3/1 program. I get great benefits from both. I highly recommend both programs!

Music today was Beyond Creation.