After roughly 3000 reps of squatting, I could finally squat 225lb. I set this as a goal about 4 years ago when I first started weight lifting. The journey has been grueling and painful but it’s been a rewarding one because it’s made the early mornings and sore muscles worth it. I want to share my journey with you and what I’ve learned along the way to help you in your work out journey or just simply to inspire you to start or keep working out!
For anybody whose curious, here are some basic stats: I’m 5′ 9″ weighing approximately 150lb.
How it started
2018
I started weight lifting back in 2018. I went to the local gym about 3 times a week with a co-worker. To be quite honest, I only went to the gym because of my co worker. We were pretty inconsistent about going every week, but we would always try to hit a leg workout at least once a week. I remember the first time squatting a max of 105lb. I could only do 1 rep. My legs were incredibly sore the next day. I definitely was discouraged from doing anymore from how much pain I was in but I kept working out. Over time, there was a gradual increase in how much weight I could squat and squatting 225lb became a goal.
To be honest, I don’t quite remember why or how I thought 225lb was the ideal or highest goal for me when it came to squatting. I just knew back then that it just sounded cool. 2 plates of 45 on each side just looked cool to me.
2019 & 2020
Because of a shoulder injury, COVID, and laziness, I stopped weight lifting in 2019 and 2020. I did more at home calisthenics and plyometric exercises to supplement the weight lifting. I wanted to train my mind to get used to the feeling of working out early in the morning.
2021 & 2022
I picked weight lifting back up in 2021. Squatting 225lb was still the goal, but I was back at only squatting 105lb max. I knew I couldn’t just add 100 lbs to squat in one session so I focused on developing a more consistent work out schedule in order to hit my goal. That schedule looked like this: waking up around ~6AM, going to the gym, and working my legs for about an hour at least once every week. I wasn’t tracking my progress the first 9 months of the year because I was more focused on showing up to the gym and doing the workout.
When I was working out more consistently, I remember feeling unsatisfied after leaving the gym during some work outs. My thoughts were like “Eh…I felt like I could’ve lifted more” or “Am I increasing the weight or reps every week?”. I didn’t know if I was making good progress and that made me feel sort of unhappy. So I started to record my progress by writing how much I was lifting and how many reps in my phone notes. This helped tremendously because I was able to go back and look at my notes to see what I had to do for the next workout.
For example, if I looked at my notes the week before and saw that I was struggling to complete 7x reps of 185lb, then I would focus on pushing myself to reach 7x reps of 185lb on my current workout session. If I hadn’t tracked my progress, I wouldn’t have known that I struggled with 7x reps. I would’ve tried to shoot for 8x reps, fail, and then leave the gym feeling bad because I couldn’t hit a rep range that I wasn’t even capable in the first place. The progress gave me more confidence that I was heading in the right direction.
One of the key rules I set for myself when I started writing down my progress was to hit at least 10 reps of the current weight before moving onto the next weight target. I incremented my squat weight by at least 20lbs (adding 10lbs to each side of the bar). So 135 became 155. And then 155 became 185 ( this was only because I felt like it looked cleaner to put a 25lb weight instead of 2 10lb weights). 185 then became 205. And then 205 became 225.
I want to mention briefly that I was also eating more after developing a more consistent workout routine; however, I wasn’t on a set eating schedule so I won’t mention how that has helped aside from just getting more energy and muscle mass.
10/13/2022 – THE DAY IT HAPPENED
I remember setting up the 225 lb. The feeling of grabbing 2 45’s for the first time and putting it on the bar was like unlocking this major level in Super Mario brothers. I was staring at the weights for maybe a good two minutes. Now I don’t mean to sound dramatic but this was an important moment for me. I’m pretty sure the people around me didn’t care. Pretty sure they all lifted heavier weights than me anyways haha.
I remember breathing a couple of deep breaths and then lifting the bar. It was heavy for sure but all I focused on was doing at least 1 rep. When I completed the first rep, I had this feeling that I could do more. So I pushed to 3 reps and I put the weight on the stand. I definitely had that “I made it feeling”. It wasn’t as euphoric as I thought but I was screaming “I DID IT. OMG I DID IT!!!” in my mind. I later screamed loudly in my car when I finished working out.
2 Helpful Tips
I wanted to share 2 tips that have helped me in achieving my goal:
1. Focus on consistency over intensity
What does that mean? How does that look practically? Depending on where you are in your workout journey, it could mean setting a schedule to working out or increasing how many reps and weights you lift in lower amounts each session.
If you struggle with getting to the gym, then start by creating a consistent schedule. A key aspect of that consistent schedule is to start off with smaller amounts of sessions.
Set a certain amount of time aside in the morning or whenever your free to go and set how many times a week you intend to go. If it’s only once a week for 30 minutes, then do it only once a week for 30 minutes. If you feel like you can easily do that, then do twice a week for 30 minutes. The goal is upward and how you get there can be more achievable if you take small and consistent steps.
I’ve been the guy on the right before in the picture. There were days where I missed working out so I would feel the need to workout everyday with no rest day to “make up” for the missed days. I ended up burning myself out and missed even more days of working out. Don’t feel like you have to do that. Remember – focus on consistency over intensity.
2. Record your progress
Track your progress! You have to know where you’re heading to know that you’re going in the right direction. If you don’t track your progress, it’s like setting up your google maps, putting in your final destination, and then not even planning the route. You just see where you have to go and then hope to God or chance or luck that you get there. By tracking your progress, you have the knowledge to make smarter steps in your journey, which can lead to more satisfying work outs.
I’ve seen people bring a physical binder and notebook to record their progress. I use my phone notes app, which is pretty convenient. I’m pretty sure there are free aps that It’s up to you on how you want to track it.
So What’s Next?
In terms of squatting, I’m not too sure. I’m not exactly looking to squat 500lbs or some crazy heavy weight but getting stronger is a part of the goal when going to the gym. If there was another checkpoint, I’d say squatting 315lb, but I’m more focused on improving my form right now; I’ve noticed that I start using my back more for squats heavier than 185lb.
In terms of benching, I’d like to bench 225lb…but somehow I think that’s going to take way more time and effort than my squatting 225lb.
I hope you enjoyed my short recap of my journey and tips to squatting 225lb! If you have any tips or suggestions on how to work out smarter or better, I’d love to hear them!
