On most days you head to the gym and ‘do the right thing’. You take out your training log, follow the reps and sets, add a little more weight than last week and walk out the door feeling pretty darn good about yourself. Other days, you’re not quite ‘feeling it’ and you spend less time bench pressing and more time chatting up the IFBB Bikini Pro in the squat rack. Hey, it happens.
Then there are some days you just walk into the gym feeling extra pumped and super focused. Sure you could bang out your regularly scheduled training program. Hell, the way you’re feeling you could probably hit a couple of PR’s. But, today, you’re same-old training program just won’t do. You want to tackle something tough. You want a challenge. You want to train so hard that you crawl out of the gym. You want to GET CRUSHED.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help. Each week we’ll give you a tough, one-off workout that you can try when you are looking for the ultimate training challenge of just feel like you need a break from your regular routine. But be warned, this training program will leave you totally CRUSHED.
Barbell Back Squat
Two reps of the barbell back squat. That doesn’t sound so hard. Well, hold your horses, Tonto, because this progression is absolutely brutal. Start with 50% of your 1RM on the bar. At the top of the minute, perform two reps of the back squat. Rest the remainder of the minute (NOT 60 seconds, but whatever time is left after you performed the squat). Add 10 pounds to the bar and repeat. Keep adding 10 pounds and performing 2 reps every minute until you can no longer get the two reps. Obviously, this will crush your quads, glutes, core and the will to live. Don’t have a spotter? You can do the same workout with a deadlift, weighted chin ups or overhead press.
The Workout
2 reps every minute on the minute increasing weight by 10 pounds each set (as described above).
Leave your highest weight and number of sets in the comments section below. See you next week, when you’re finally ready to get out of bed after this workout and train again.
Dan Trink is a personal trainer, strength coach and nutritional consultant based in New York City. To find out more about Dan visit www.trinkfitness.com.
