Reach a 1000-lb Squat Easily
By
Matt R. Wenning
The year was 1997, and I was a young high school student. I had actually just
turned 17 and started my junior year. This is when I entered my first lifting
meet. In the gym, I used to hear crazy stories from the older veterans about how
strong some of the lifters were. Before getting involved with Westside, I
thought a 600-lb squat was awesome because I was only breaking 500 lbs at the
time. In my neck of the woods, there were only a few people I knew of who were
close to the 700-lb mark, and they were legends in the lifting world around
town. When I went to local meets and saw 600-lb squats, I thought about how cool
it would be to achieve that strength.
Boy, times they do change. It seems like to a lifter at Westside, a 1000-lb
squat is common. But to most people, a 1000-lb squat is just a dream. Even some
of the most gifted lifters never make it to this point. So I’m glad I finally
made a 1003-lb squat in November 2006 and a 1055-lb squat in April 2007. One
day, I hope to make it to the 1100-lb mark, which is still a milestone. We are
on the verge of having 4–5 more guys hit the 1000-lb squat mark very soon at the
gym. How?
In this article, I want to give the hungry lifter working his way up the
ranks a chance to get to this 1000-lb mark possibly a little quicker and a
little safer. Even if 1000 lbs isn’t your goal, it really doesn’t matter because
the key is progress. In this article, there are some big points to pick up on
for beginners as well as advanced individuals.
The first key is believing. Do you believe you can lift that much or be that
strong? My mental state was to never set limitations on myself. I always knew
that if I worked hard enough and just as importantly smart enough, I would be
able to achieve any goal. I thrived on people telling me that I would never be a
good squatter, bencher, or deadlifter. This made me set out to prove them wrong.
Some people used to tell me I wasn’t built to deadlift. Now, I pull 775 lbs. I
wanted to be a good deadlifter. Then I wanted to prove them wrong.
The second key is training partners. Do you have people around you who are in
the best interests of your goals? Are the people you train with smart, driven,
and consistent? If they are missing any of these components, you’re setting
yourself up for disaster. There are many negative people who don’t want to see
you get better because they don’t have the balls to do it themselves. There are
also people out there with excuses instead of numbers. I would rather have the
numbers. There isn’t a person in my group who squats under 900 lbs. How about
yours?
The third key is training education. Are you a student of the game or a
meathead lifter? I never had the best genetics in the world, so I had to get
stronger by training smart. With all the success and scientific research
associated with the conjugate system, you’re a fool if you don’t use it. Optimal
volume and optimal intensity must be used. Without it, you’re basing your
training on imaginary numbers and putting your faith in subpar training methods.
Don’t go to a meet leaving your best lifts at the gym and don’t train in the
dark. There are many people who don’t believe this works for certain
individuals, but I’ve seen it first hand work on everyone I’ve had contact with
who was willing to learn. From single ply gear to drug free, there is only one
way to train—smart.
The fourth key also falls along the line of education in the form of
technique. You must be a master technician to lift large weights and do it
safely. Good technique takes a long time to develop, but at the top, there are
few sloppy lifters. We get better at technique by constantly coaching the people
in our group and working the proper muscles for the development of good
technique. Usually your weaker muscle groups will cause you to have bad
technique, so they must be trained religiously. There is a reason that Westside
has the strongest group of squatters in the world. Bad technique doesn’t fly at
the gym. Everyone is taught good technique and is responsible for teaching it to
everyone else they work with.
Feedback is a key ingredient to a great lifter. So if you’re lifting with
individuals who only care about themselves, it’s time to move on. A great lifter
comes from a great group. I’m proud to say that I train with more than one world
record holder. Greg Panora is one in the 242-lb class with over 2500 lbs. The
great Chuck Vogelphool has an 1150-lb squat in the 275-lb class, and Phil
Harrington has a 900-lb plus squat in the 181-lb class.
The last piece of the puzzle is what I call the gray area. The gray area
means it isn’t white or black. In lifting, I associate this with the two
different types of lifters in the gym. One lifter may push too hard, too often
while the other may not push hard enough. Both lifters are wrong in their quest
to the top. In lifting, it’s easy to do too much work while it’s also easy to
not do enough. How does Westside combat this dilemma? Our groups are made to
have a few pushers and a few timid individuals. This gives us the gray area. The
pushers will be held back slightly by the timid, and the timid will be pushed a
little more with the more aggressive individuals of the group.
Louie used to tell me that Larry Pacifico would train very hard but also
leave a little in the gym. Who can argue with his results? Alexiev and other
greats of lifting did the same. If you want to be on top, you must push your
limits but also make sure you can recover for the next workout. This is also
combated with using the conjugate system for volume parameters.
I hope this has given you another insight on the importance of training
smart, having good people around you, and knowing the value of hard work as well
as the importance of recovery. Hopefully, one day you will reach your goals.
When you do, create larger ones to conquer.
Matt Wenning is one of only a handful of people to total over 2600 lbs in
a professional competition, hold an all-time world record of 2665 lbs in the
308-lb class, and bench press over 800 lbs in a full powerlifting meet. He
currently is a private strength coach at Lexen gym in Grove City, Ohio, a
personal trainer to many executives and professionals at Capital Club Athletics,
and contracted by the US Army. He also works with firefighters, physicians,
children with disabilities, and all forms of athletes in the Columbus, Ohio,
area.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength
training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products
and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the
industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit
us at www.EliteFTS.com.
