Getting better at anything usually requires you to do more of the thing. I wanted to test out this theory and see how many pounds I can add to my squat if I squatted every training session for 100 days.

To be clear, I’m not squatting everyday for 100 days. I’m squatting every time I train, which is typically 3 or 4 days per week depending on the program.

Getting strong typically requires 3 things:

• Increasing absolute strength/skill via circa-max training (max effort training).
• Improving speed-strength and power (dynamic effort training).
• Appropriate training volume (hypertrophy training).

These elements are usually periodized and divided into distinct training phases (ie, having a volume phase, power phase, and strength phase), but I have never been a believer that different elements of fitness need to be separated. Each of these elements will be trained each week.

Because of the high frequency of training the squat, volume will typically be conservative, even during hypertrophy days to prevent premature burnout.

Will something like this actually work? We shall see, but as of yesterday, I started week 7 and 95% of my max moved like it was 80%. I’m only halfway through the program and haven’t even fully realized all of the gains.

On weeks that have 3 training days, I recommend training on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

On weeks that have 4 training days, I recommend training Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday OR Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

Do NOT exceed the stated training intensities or volumes. Upper body work such as bench pressing and overhead pressing is addressed twice a week with limited volume designed to maintain upper body strength. Remember that when we add intensity and volume in one area of our training, we MUST decrease it from somewhere else.

Let’s dive in.

Week 1:

3 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 2×3-5 @70%, 3×1-3 @80%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 5×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8
4. Abs: 2×5-10

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat: 3×5-8 @60%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 3×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8
5. Lats: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort, mix

1. Squat: 6×3 @70%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
4. Press: 3×4-6
5. Row: 3×5-8

Week 2:

4 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 2×3-5 @75%, 3×1-3 @85%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 5×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8
4. Abs (optional): 2×5-10

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat: 3×5-8 @65%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 3×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8
5. Lats: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort

1. Jump variation: 5×3
2. Squat: 6×3 @75%
3. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
4. Unilateral variation: 2×5-8

Day 4 mix

1. Squat variation: 3×3 @~65%
2. Hamstrings: 3×5-8
3. Press: 3×4-6
4. Row: 3×5-8

Week 3:

3 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 2×3-5 @80%, 2×1-3 @90%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 5×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8
4. Abs: 2×5-10

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat: 3×5-8 @70%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 2×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8
5. Lats: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort, mix

1. Squat: 6×3 @80%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
4. Press: 2×4-6
5. Row: 3×5-8

Week 4: deload

3 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 3×3-5 @70%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat variation: 3×5 @50%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 2×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8
5. Lats: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort, mix

1. Squat: 6×3 @60%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
4. Press: 2×4-6
5. Row: 3×5-8

Week 5:

3 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 2×3-5 @77%, 3×1-3 @87%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 5×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8
4. Abs: 2×5-10

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat: 3×5-8 @65%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 3×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8
5. Lats: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort, mix

1. Jump: 5×2
2. Squat: 6×3 @70%
3. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
4. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
5. Press: 3×4-6
6. Row: 3×5-8

Week 6:

4 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 2×3-5 @82%, 3×1-3 @92%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 5×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8
4. Abs (optional): 2×5-10

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat: 3×5-8 @70%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 3×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8
5. Lats: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort

1. Jump variation: 5×3
2. Squat: 6×3 @75%
3. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
4. Unilateral variation: 2×5-8

Day 4 mix

1. Squat variation: 3×3 @~68%
2. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
3. Press: 3×4-6
4. Row: 3×5-8

Week 7:

3 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 2×3-5 @87%, 2×1-3 @95%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 5×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8
4. Abs: 2×5-10

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat: 3×4-6 @75%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 2×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8
5. Lats: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort, mix

1. Squat: 6×3 @80%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
4. Press: 2×4-6
5. Row: 3×5-8

Week 8: deload

3 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 3×3-5 @70%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat variation: 3×5 @50%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 2×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8
5. Lats: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort, mix

1. Squat: 6×3 @60%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
4. Press: 2×4-6
5. Row: 3×5-8

Week 9:

3 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 2×3-5 @85%, 3×1-3 @90%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 5×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8
4. Abs: 2×5-10

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat: 3×4-8 @68%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 3×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8
5. Lats: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort, mix

1. Jump: 5×2
2. Squat: 6×3 @70%
3. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
4. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
5. Press: 3×4-6
6. Row: 3×5-8

Week 10:

4 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 2×2-5 @88%, 2×1-3 @93-100%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 5×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8
4. Abs (optional): 2×5-10

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat: 3×4-8 @72%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 2×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8
5. Lats: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort

1. Jump variation: 5×3
2. Squat: 6×3 @75%
3. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
4. Unilateral variation: 2×5-8

Day 4 mix

1. Squat variation: 2-3×3 @~72%
2. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
3. Press: 2×4-6
4. Row: 2×5-8

Week 11:

3 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 2×2-3 @90%, 2×1-3 @90-105%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Quads: 2×5-8

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat: 3×3-6 @75%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 2×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort, mix

1. Squat: 6×3 @80%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
4. Press: 2×4-6
5. Row: 3×5-8

Week 12: deload

3 training days

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 3×3-5 @70%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat variation: 3×5 @50%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 2×4-6
4. Upper back: 3×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort, mix

1. Squat: 6×3 @60%
2. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
3. Press: 2×4-6
4. Row: 3×5-8

Week 13: Realization

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 2×2-5 @85%, 2×1-3 @90-105%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Quads: 3×5-8

Day 2 volume, upper body

1. Squat: 3×4-6 @75%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Bench press: 2×4-6
4. Upper back: 2×5-8

Day 3 dynamic effort, mix

1. Squat: 5×3 @70%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Hamstrings: 2×5-8
4. Press: 2×4-6
5. Row: 2×5-8

Week 14: Prep

Day 1 max effort

1. Squat: 3×1-3 85%-95%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Quads: 2×5-8

Day 2 volume

1. Squat: 3×3-5 @80-90%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Upper back: 3×5-8

Day 3 

1. Squat: 4×2-3 @85%
2. Low back/posterior chain: 3×5-8
3. Hamstrings: 2×5-8

Week 15: Testing

Day 1: Testing

1. Squat: Work up to 1RM
2. Bench Press: Work up to 1RM
3. Deadlift: Work up to 1RM