Mobility Monday Episode 34: Squat Every Day
There has been a lot of buzz lately around the #squateveryday challenge, made popular by MusclePharm’s president, Cory Gregory, inspired by John Broz, owner of Average Broz Gym. The principle is simple –squat daily, grow stronger. This movement of practicing exercises more than once a week marks a shift in perspective from the split routines of bodybuilding.
The days of 6 day split routines of Monday – Chest, Tuesday – Back, Wednesday – Arms, Thursday – Shoulders, Friday – Abs, Saturday – Legs, are left only to those looking to pose on stage. Big lifts and calisthenics are in, and this means you’ll have to work certain muscle groups more than once every seven days.
Back to Cory Gregory. Last year, he decided to embark on a quest to squat daily for 100 days. A powerlifter and fitness cover model, Gregory seems to have forged a new path in fitness, showing us that lean men can lift big and that aesthetic physiques can be achieved with heavy lifting. Now well past 500 days, he’s feeling stronger and more importantly, his knees and hips present no pain whatsoever.
As discussed in Greasing the Groove, a big part of the approach is to refrain from doing crazy amounts of volume on any given day. The volume will be achieved over the weeks of consecutive squatting. Remember, squatting, the “King of Exercises” has many forms. This includes the front squat, back squat, overhead squat, zercher squat and many other variations of the movement, including banded squats, pause squats, box squats, wide, narrow, high, and low bar squats.
Bodybuilding.com created a video on the history of the squat, featuring Cory Gregory and John Broz. Here you’ll see some of the pioneers of weightlifting, including Louis Cyr and Arthur Saxon, men whose feats of strength prove difficult to this day, even with some enhancements. As John Broz says in the video, these men were simply trying to be more badass.
