Today I’m going to answer a question that’s been on my mind for a while:
What would happen if I trained legs and biceps every day for 30 days?
Well, in this 3-part series, I tried it for myself, and the results were very interesting to say the least.
Scroll down this page, and you can find all 3 episodes of my “Squat Everyday and Biceps Everyday Challenge.“
For those who are interested in how I got such a crazy idea in the first place, I’ve got quite the story to share with you. It all started with an epic night out at the club less than a year ago.
Holy s#it! It was 4 am and I woke up cold, sweaty, and confused. A few hours earlier I had gone out to the club with my wingman, Alex and his corporate cohorts.
That night I brought home an Asian girl I met at a place called YOLO, and she was super impressed with my gains. Let’s just say I had an epic night at the club, AND after the club. (or so I thought!)
Little did I know I was about to experience the wake up call of my life that would change my anabolic pathway forever.
So 4 am rolls around and I wake up and this girl is missing. My first thought was she most likely was in the kitchen whipping me up an omelet so I could go for round 2. I walk in the kitchen to see my wingman Alex drowning his sorrows in a box of pop tarts (his favorite strawberry, no wonder he has dad bod.)
Then I go outside thinking she was probably on the cell phone explaining to her boyfriend why she didn’t make it home that night. I search the perimeter and she is still nowhere to be seen.
What in the world was going on? Was she married? Was this all a dream? Then I see a note on my bed. “Had a fun night, wish you didn’t skip leg day though. -J”
Now – I know that this story seems absolutely false and ridiculous – but you have to realize this was no ordinary girl. She was actually a super fit chick and was represented by a major supplement company.
She truly cared a ton if her boyfriend or hook up buddy skipped leg day, and so do millions of other fit chicks.
I was absolutely mortified. She thought I had the “complete package of gains” – but when we got to the business she saw that my legs just weren’t cutting it. Then I started to realize this phenomenon and what girls actually are super attracted too.
All of these years I thought that it was abs, biceps, and chest muscles that girls drooled over. Sure these muscles go a long way – but there are millions of girls that love a guy with a muscular butt and muscular legs.
This inspired me and a fire burned deep in my anabolic heart. I started crushing legs about a year ago and I haven’t stopped since. I’ve made some amazing gains in my legs and I’m ready to challenge my mind and body to the next level – so I’ve decided to squat AND do biceps every single damn day for the next 30 days.
Please follow along as I’m going to need a lot of inspiration to get through this next month.
Remember to NEVER skip leg day.
Now onto the meat and potatoes of this blog post… Let’s get into the first episode.
Squat & Biceps Challenge (Episode 1)
I’m starting off the squat and biceps challenge with a vengeance! In this episode I really hit the box squats and traditional barbell squats hard. The first 10 days were definitely the most challenging.
An interesting thing that I found out about squat variations:
Each version of squats is going to be an emphasis on different minor muscle groups – and you are going to find out very quickly where your weak points lie.
If you have weak hip flexors you are going to be super sore from doing box squats. If your hamstrings and gluteus need work the traditional squat is going to exploit this weakness. This was one of my favorite aspects of the squat challenge early on. I got actual field research on what my body needed to improve on. My box squats were stronger than my traditional squats so I knew I needed to work on my hamstrings and gluteus to bring up my squat.
So how did I feel during this first part of the squat challenge? Working out your arms and legs every single day is a huge challenge and it certainly takes some time for your body to adapt to this strenuous overload.
Days 7-10 I was by far the sorest out of any point in the squat challenge. After that I really started to adapt quickly and started to feel stronger every single day.
The arm workouts were going great. I made sure that I did at least 5 sets of a unique bicep exercise for each of the workouts.
Make sure you watch episode 1 (above) to get some great ideas for new bicep exercises.
Nothing will stunt your bicep growth more than doing the same arm workout over and over again.
Squat & Biceps Challenge (Episode 2)
Episode two was all about changing it up. I wanted to focus on other parts of my leg when my quadriceps were sore – so besides doing my 5 sets of squats – I worked in a lot of hamstrings after this.
The big mistake I made for the 1st 10 days of the squat challenge was I hit my quadriceps too hard after my squats. I went really heavy on dumbbell lunges and leg presses and this made me incredibly sore.
I learned my lesson and days 10-20 I went super hard on my squats for 5 sets – and then after that I did a lot more shapers and high repetition training. This was the perfect storm for me as I felt a huge improvement in my squat and felt stronger by day 15.
There were a lot of stiff leg dead lifts and hamstring machines accompanied my squat sets during days 10-20.
It was no coincidence that when my hamstrings started to feel stronger and more explosive that my regular back squat felt way stronger.
As far as my bicep workouts – it was really hard to get my arms sore after around day 10. I am used to training my arms a lot and no matter what I threw at them I felt like I couldn’t get a great workout. More on this in episode 3 when I touch on my results!
Squat & Biceps Challenge Final Results (Episode 3)
Wrapping up the squat and biceps challenge. So the big question – what kind of results did I get and would I recommend it to my buddies?
As far as the results – my legs improved a great deal in only 30 days. My barbell raw squat improved by about 30 lbs. and I can now do 3 plates on each side (something I have never been able to do.)
I also measured my quadriceps at the start of this challenge and they came in at 23 inches, now they are a shade under 24 inches! This was a huge improvement in only a month and I was really happy about that.
The improvements on my biceps were not as much however. I felt stronger with my biceps but the tape measure does not lie. I only gained about 1/8th of an inch overall on my arms.
It was really hard to make my arms sore and I felt that my biceps adapted very quickly since they are a small muscle group.
Going forward I am only going to work my biceps 1-2 times per week at the most – but focus on increasing the volume during these workouts.
Would I suggest the squat and biceps challenge? This is a hardcore workout challenge and it really depends on what your experience level is. If you have been in the gym for at least 3 years and can squat at least 225 lbs. and barbell curl at least 100 lbs. you should have the baseline strength to test your body to its limits and see what happens!
At the end of the day you guys have to be smart about training and listen to your body. If you are super sore and feel as if you are actually tearing your muscle during a workout, don’t try to be a hero! Rest it up for a few days and hit the gym hard when you are recovered.
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