Dan John: Wandering Weights, Our Epic Journey Through All Things Heavy, Issue # 19

I’ve been working hard this last week trying to teach a better way to balance the push, pull and squat work for most people. The numbers should be “about the same” weekly and monthly in terms of total repetitions. Many North American men need more pulling, of course, to balance out the years of over-pushing.
 
It then occurred to me that perhaps many people don’t know what I mean when I say “squat.” So, I thought this might be a good week to explore the squat.
 
Kicking it off, T-nation had a nice article on squatting. Now, I know powerlifting records are the “foggy bottom” of sports performance, but this is worth your time to explore the path of most of us probably entered strength sports.
 
Tom Platz on squatting: I almost wrote, “’Nuff said.” The Golden Eagle was the guy who first convinced me to explore high-rep squats in what I think was his first article inMuscular Development. Seeing him discuss those four sets of twenty in the back squat answered my question about why I didn’t have big legs.
 
Charles Staley answers a question about squatting in a recent Breaking Muscle article. I think we have to make sure to keep a balance in every discussion about any lift. Do we NEED to squat? The movement is important!
 
If you want to get better at squatting, squat. This article pounds that point fairly well.
 
Marlon Kazmierczak sent me this weightlifter squat workshop video. Thank you! There's a lot of value in understanding the squat.
 
I’m not a fan of squat fixes until we have a basic introduction and some repetitions, but if things still aren’t coming around, this article has the simple squat-fix answers.
 
This IronSamurai website is a personal favorite of mine. In one of my favorite writings ever, here's Nick Horton on intermittent fasting and O lifting. Lonnie Wade, this is the article that I was telling you about at dinner.
 
While looking for that Tom Platz article on squatting, I found this Anthony Ditillo classic on the Tight Tan Slacks site. It's loaded with smart ideas about getting very strong.
 
On the other hand, here's something new from Original Strength to add to the list of “If you could only do one exercise, what would you do?" question. 
 
There is a lot to keep in mind here, so to help you remember, let’s listen to what Mark Twain has to say on the  matter.
 
Moreover, I hope Wandering Weights instills a bit of interest in lifelong learning. This article inspires me on this path.

But, if you really want to be in a situation to sustain lifelong learning, this might the key to it.
 
Four plane flights in four days has given me a chance to think a lot about squatting. And the need to walk around every so often on six-hour flights! Until next week…

Dan
DanJohn.net

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