leg training jamin thompson front squat squatober

Squatober Challenge Week 4

For those of you who missed out on the action from previous weeks and need to catch up – you can still swipe the workouts from  Week 1,  Week 2, and Week 3 and get started.

Well this is it…

Squatober has finally reached its peak week.

For those of you who are still standing…

Still grinding…

And still loving the battle…

I applaud you.

So far we have completed 18 Leg Days in only 3 weeks’ time.

That’s right…eighteen leg days in just three weeks.

The average person trains legs maybe 3-4 times a month at best, but we have already out-worked that “average” monthly volume by roughly 600% and we are still going strong.

Now that’s all well and good, but like I said last week, we simply cannot let glories from the past distract us from the task at hand.

The challenge is not over, the task is not finished, our objective is not yet completed.

There is still one week of work to put in!

With that said, we are going to keep working hard, but we will be decreasing squat volume this week and will be following @penandpaperstrengthapp‘s taper until the end of the week.

Get ready to set some records on Friday!

SQUATOBER WEEK 4

Week 4 – Day 1
Warmup: (a) bodyweight squat x 10 + (b) bodyweight lunges x 20 + (c) chinup x 10 + (d) situp x 20
1. Back Squat + Kettlebell Swings (10 swings after each squat set)
1a) 1×5 at 50%, 1×3 at 55% (10 kb swings after each set)
1b) 1×2 at 60%, 65%, 70%, 75% (10 kb swings after each set)
1c) 3×1 at 80% (10 kb swings after each set)
2) Weighted chin-ups – 4×4 with a 1 second hold at the top
3) Hammer curl 2×10 + sprinter sit-up 2×10 *superset*

Week 4 – Day 2
Warmup: Barbell complex x3 (Snatch grip deadlifts x5 + Snatch high-pull x5 + Snatch x5)
1. Back Squat
1a) 1×5 at 50%, 1×3 at 55%
1b) 1×2 at 60%, 65%, 70%, 70% *one second pause at the bottom*
2) Bench Press 4×4 + Chest supported dumbbell row 4×8 *superset*
3) I-Y-T raise x10 + Band pull-apart x10 + Plank :30 seconds *repeat circuit three times*

Week 4 – Day 3
Warmup: 1 Arm Dumbbell Snatch x2 + Goblet Squat x5 (repeat 3 times)
1. Back Squat
1a) 1×3 at 50%, 55%, 60%
1b) 1×2 at 65%, 70%
1c) 1×1 at 75%
2. Overhead press 3×5
3a) Inverted Row 3×10
3b) Bar Rollouts 3×5

Week 4- Day 4
Warmup: Barbell Hip Lift 3×5 + Chin-Ups 3×5 + Lateral lunges 3×5 each leg
1. Back Squat 1×3 at 50%
1a) 1×1 at 55% with a 1 second pause at the bottom
1b) 1×1 at 60% with no pause
1c) 1×1 at 60% with a 1 second pause at the bottom
1d) 1×1 at 65% with no pause
2. Weighted chin-ups 4×3

leg training jamin thompson gifted nutrition squatober

Week 4 – Day 5
1. Back Squat
1a) 1×5 at 50%
1b) 1×3 at 60%
1c) 1×2 at 70%
1d) 1×1 at 80%
1e) 1×1 at 90%
1f) 1×1 at 102-105% *New 1 Rep Max Attempt*

Note: If your new max was too easy, attempt another max.

Week 4 – Day 6 “The Flush”
1. Back Squat at 50% of your new 1RM. *3 reps EMOM for 12:00*
2. Complete the following circuit 3 times:
2a) Kettlebell swing for 1:00 minute #70
2b) 1 arm kettlebell row for 1:00 minute right #70
2c) 1 arm kettlebell row for 1:00 left #70
Rest for 1:00 minute. Repeat 3 times.

leg training jamin thompson kettlebell swings

Supplements used for performance and recovery during the week:

Morning (on an empty stomach): Greens Powder 
Pre-workout: Black Coffee, BCAA, Powder (optional)
Supplemental Protein: Ambrosia Planta
Post-workout: Overtraining Solution

Steal My Meal Plan: Download Here

Printable Meal Plan Template: Download Here

Thanks for reading and good luck with Squatober.

Here are a few general training and recovery tips to help you crush it every week:

1. Eat enough calories: If you want to power through Squatober and not just simply “survive”…it mans you’ve got to eat right. The workout volume and intensity are both challenging, so you will need to provide your body with enough fuel to power through 6 grueling workout sessions each week. I strongly recommend increasing your daily caloric intake (by 10-20%) and using a few helpful supplements such as BYLT and 1316 to help you recover. You can use my daily meal plan outline as a template – just be sure to adjust the macros to your own needs.

Pro Tip: I increased my weekly cheat meals from 1 to 3 each week to give my body more needed fuel. Nothing super unhealthy, more more of a healthy “cheat” like Chipotle post-workout. 

2. Get enough sleep. I cannot stress enough how important recovery is if you’re going to complete all 4 weeks of this program. This means that sleep needs to be a priority. Your body is going to take a pounding and be awfully sore, but by getting enough sleep you will increase recovery ability so you’ll be able to crush it every single workout. I recommend getting at least 7 hours per night on weekdays, while shooting for 8-10 hours on the weekends.

3. Take ice baths. Like I mentioned above, recovery is critically important if you want to survive all 4 weeks. So head to your local convenience store and buy some giant bags of ice, fill up your bathtub, and ice up son. Try to hop in the ice bath at least twice per week.

4. Have fun. Remember, not every day will be a good day. Not every lift will make your highlight reel or Instagram. There will be days where you suffer, because THIS IS REAL TRAINING and it is going to get ugly. So when you have a bad lift or an off day, don’t beat yourself up too bad over it – these things are going to happen when you’re on a program like this. So stay positive. Relax. Enjoy the battle. Love the process. Even the King of the Jungle was once just a tiny cub who couldn’t hunt, protect, or feed himself. Remember that…

FINAL THOUGHTS

As you can probably tell by now, Squatober is not a cakewalk by any means – in fact, it may be a little bit insane depending who you ask.

During the past 4 weeks there was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (mostly tears) shed as I pushed my body beyond its normal limits workout after workout in ways I had never done before.

After all of the dust had settled at the end of the Squatober Challenge (that’s 24 leg days in a row if you’re keeping track) my butt has been completely kicked.

I’m tired, sore, and mentally exhausted.

But even though I got my butt kicked, I definitely feel a whole lot stronger and have a whole new confidence level in what my body is capable of.

Remember, if you’re pushing to be the best…if you’re pushing to redefine your limits and smash old PR’s…it’s always going to be a battle.

You will go through adversity.

There will be moments where you feel weak and insecure.

There will be days where you don’t feel like you have the strength to keep pushing on.

But walking the path to greatness means rising above all of the crap and committing 100% to your goal and then pursuing that goal with a relentless aggression.

If you truly want to reach the next level it means you’ve got to be stronger than any of the adversity that Squatober is going to throw at you.

It will be a battle…but if you truly want to get bigger, stronger…if you truly want to improve, it means you’ve got to want it so bad there is literally nothing that can stop you.

Not pain, not soreness, not fatigue, not time, not weak excuses, not anything.

This means having a hunger that’s so intense it can never be satisfied…and a passion that burns so deep it fuels you to keep working your tail off even on your worst days.

It’s this type of hunger and passion that will fuel you to outwork the competition and never settle for average goals or average results…because true greatness is never achieved by settling for mediocrity.

It isn’t talent or genetics or luck that will take you there…it’s the hard work, discipline, and perseverance through hardship and adversity that will ultimately determine if you will reach your goal.

You see, everyone says they want to be great, but who will walk the difficult path and put in the work required to make it happen?

“When the athlete decides what he really desires with all his heart and the price that he is willing to pay for it, he stops worrying about the small pains, those things that the opponent does, and any other stumbling blocks, and he focuses on the job at hand.” -Vince Lombardi

The choice is yours.

Thanks for reading and congratulations for making it through all 4 weeks of Squatober. Be sure to follow to follow Nate @grind2shine365 and myself @JaminThompson on Twitter and Instagram if you have any questions about the workouts. We will be dropping more workouts for you soon. Stay tuned.  

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