NerdStrong Gym - Back Squat, One Rep Max 295 lbs

Today's workout was to find our One Rep Max for Back Squats. We did this about three months ago so I was looking forward to seeing how much I improved (if any).

We started with a nice warm up "build" 2 rounds of 150 meter rowing & 4x inch worms. Then 2 rounds of knee hugs, toy soldiers, butt kickers and high knees.

For Proficiency we worked with Bands.. we worked on Ankle Mobility and then Hip Mobility.

And the Quest was the One Rep Max for Back Squats. Before finding out ORM we started with a much lower weight and did 5 reps, we then added more weight and did 3 reps before starting to find out one rep max.

My previous one rep max was at 145 lbs, but since then I realized that I have much better form if I take my shoes off.. so I did that this time around. I started at 145 lbs and kept adding 20 lbs, I was shocked when I passed 200 lbs as I was lifting it with ease, so I continued to add 20 lbs and soon pass 255 lbs. What was crazy is that I wasn't struggling with the weight, which meant I was still far from my one rep max. I added an additional 20 lbs making my total weight lifting 275 lbs and then I started to feel it but pushed through and managed to finish the squat.

Coach Andrew suggested that I go up by increments of 5 or 10 lbs but I was getting tired and I knew I only had one or two more lifts in me and our time was almost up. I opted to go up another 20 lbs to make the total 295 lbs. Now everyone else was close to being done so all eyes were one me. I brought the weight up and prepared for the squat, it was heavy but I was feeling pretty good. I went down into my squat and stopped for just a few seconds at the bottom before pushing with all my might and standing back up. It took some effort but I knew I still hadn't found my one rep max yet.. but I called it quits as I was tired.

Looking back I kind of regret that I didn't try for at least 300 lbs as that's a real milestone but I can't be upset as I increased my One Rep Max by 150 lbs.. that's more then double my original ORM. Next time we do our One Rep Max I'll be sure to surpass 300 lbs.

Coach Blair thinks in time I'll be able to back squat 400 lbs. If he would have told me this yesterday I would have laughed but after doing almost 300 lbs today I can defiantly see myself lifting that much in a near future and it's kind of exciting.

After our one rep max we moved on to the "Battle" portion of the workout which was 5 rounds of 10x Weighted Sit Ups, 10x Sprawls and 10x Push Ups. I found out that I can't do weighted sit ups, even with the lightest of weights it puts a strain on my lower back and causes some pain. I so did regular sit ups instead. We only had five minutes to five rounds which meant you had to go full steam the entire time and even at that I only got half way through round 4 before time ran out.

Overall a great workout and I'm still in shock I was able to back squat 295 lbs..