Crystal clear blue waters met with sun-kissed, sandy beaches. Lazy morning walks, afternoon siestas and lavishly delectable dinners. These are the images we conjure when we hear the word ‘holiday’. Am I right? But what if we precede the word with ‘squat’? What comes to mind then?
If you’re someone who loathes squatting, or shies away from this challenging but absolutely necessary movement pattern, you might actually think you’ve hit the jackpot. Take a holiday from squats you say? Sure, I’ll do that—don’t like them much anyway.
Hold up, not so fast!
A squat holiday, in actual fact, means taking a break from all other aspects of training.
And only squatting.
For 21 days straight.
We live in an age where people gravitate toward the things they’re good at, shying away from what they find challenging or haven’t perfected yet. I see it time and time again in the gym. Here comes John Smith, here to do his 15 minute warm up on the rower, followed by a series of isolation exercises, the list of which I could recite back to him without a second glance. Or the chick in the multi-coloured leggings who does an even 20 minute spread on every type of cardio equipment, before finishing with 10 minutes of ab work.
Why do these consistent, yet unproductive routines prevail? Because we are creatures of habit. We get comfortable in our routines, and this comes at a cost to our growth and development.
Squats have been my Achilles Heel ever since I started taking exercise seriously. When I first started training with David O’Brien he pretty much refused to do squats with me because I was so bad at them!
Not really, but you get the picture.
In the scheme of things, I do consider myself to have a reasonable amount of strength, but squats quickly bring me back down to earth. Not wanting to accept this as my fate, when I heard about the squat holiday, I was all ears. What’s one way to get better at something? Do it over and over again. So that’s exactly what I did. I squatted for 21 days in a row, then retested my 1RM (max load for one repetition).
What’s one way to get better at something? Do it over and over again.
The squat holiday program was popularised by a guy called Wolfgang Unsold (thanks Wolfgang) and there are a few versions of it, including squatting 3 times a day for 7 days! 
Here’s what my weekly split looked like:
DAY 1 & 4: 3 x 10 with a 5010 tempo
Day 2 & 5: 5 x 5 with a 4010 tempo
Day 3 & 6: 10 x 5 with a 3010 tempo
Day 7: Box squat 1RM
Ironically, when I started the squat holiday I’d just gotten back from an actual holiday in Europe. I was a little dusty to say the least. But I was excited. I was really keen to feel stronger and more comfortable in my squat, and was looking forward to the mental challenge. My goal was to put weight on the bar every single session, even if it was only half a kilo.
My first session felt like a re-acquaintance with the bar, but every session after that until day 12 felt great. I was feeling tighter in the movement, my depth was definitely improving and my overall technique was cleaner. But Day 12 proved to be my first challenge.
My achilles on the left side was starting to feel very vulnerable and I was concerned I might do some serious damage. It was also the day that Dave and Jordy taught us the Wim Hof breath work. With no word of a lie, after we finished I was buzzing with energy and my ankle felt completely fine! So I smashed out my session and the holiday continued.
Days 15 – 18 were the toughest. My right hip flexor was getting tighter and tighter with each passing day, my left ankle continued to give me grief and I felt exhausted. But I’d committed to this and was determined to see it through. The body achieves what the mind believes. I read that somewhere once. But seriously – that shit works! Most of the time, the reason we fail at something isn’t because we’re physically incapable, it’s because our thoughts talk us out of it.
The body achieves what the mind believes.
Day 21 was the day I felt the strongest. It was as if my body sensed the holiday was coming to an end and wanted to finish on a high.
I PB’d on my box squat 1RM and my focus and intention of thought was stronger than ever.
The lessons:
- You must commit
- Be willing to get outside your comfort zone and test yourself
- Write your numbers down
- Don’t wear brand new runners that haven’t been worn in yet as they may cause ankle issues
- Stretch down after every session (especially dem hip flexors)
- Listen to your body but find a way to overcome the mental battles that will ensue
- Enjoy the journey
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience that is The Squat Holiday. I grew physically, mentally, and emotionally. I even managed to put 10kg on my previous 1RM back squat! I would encourage anyone who wants to improve their squat, test themselves mentally, or simply grow them pins, to give it a try. Looking for a supplement to help boost your immune system? Check out quercetin australia.
Let’s stop doing the things we’ve already mastered and start evolving.
Peace.
