Seventeen Year PR Timeline
2005: Back squat for the first time at Great Bay Athletic Club after reading about them in bodybuilder magazines I bought at the grocery store.
2006: As a senior in high school I back squat 405 with a couple of my training partners. Depth was suspect and I’ve wanted to do it again ever since.
2007-08: Keep back squatting (or front squatting) heavy once a week year round, never missing a training day.
2009-2011: I goblet squatted a lot in college, and deadlifted a lot, but there was only one squat rack in our gym so we didn’t use it often.
2012-2014: I have constant back pain, keep getting hurt and think back squats are the most dangerous, irresponsible, waste of time lift and no one should do them!
2015-2016: Maybe I thought they were so dangerous because I moved so poorly and have terrible range of motion, let me relearn how to squat and improve my mobility.
2017-2019: Discovered ultra running and rarely lift any weights.
2020: Time to start squatting heavy again. Following a training cycle and build up to 305 for the first time in over 10 years
2021: Wanted to build on last year’s squat program and spent the fall trying to get a PR. I ended up with 355, and most importantly, no pain.
2022: Planning to build on last year’s momentum and try for 405.
December 2022: Get hurt squatting, have a baby, training gets a back seat.
March 2023: Got PT, spending extra time breathing, mobilizing and warming up. Squat light once a week through May developing control and building confidence. Squat 305 easily in May and head into running season with confidence about my back.
August 2023: After a mountain ultra, I lean into kettlebells for training. I get lots of high quality reps in and enjoyed doing the same thing every day.
September 2023: Inspired by a member at the gym, I follow a program to squat every day for 40 workouts in a row.
November 2023: After the Easy Strength Program I’m feeling crazy strong and eager to give 405 a go, but know I need to be patient. I build to an easy single one day of 355. A few weeks later, I go for 365 and get it cleanly. After watching the video back, it looked easy so I made the jump to 395 and got it. I was stoked.
December 2023: The plan was for 3x1 long pause squats at 315. I was continuing my squat plan by building my confidence at 315. I thought if I can dominate 315, I could get 405.
The third single yesterday was the easiest of them all and had the longest pause, 4 or 5 seconds. I decided to go to 345 and see how it was. Stood it up easy and decided today was the day. I jumped to 375 and it was easy too. I loaded 4 plates to the bar and got it. Once again, most importantly, nothing hurts.
I’m pumped. It’s been a 17 year journey of fighting with, and trying to master the squat. There’s two points I want to make today, first, if you want to get better at something, you have to practice and commit to that thing. I’ve run only a handful times since August, and had to trade off other aspects of my fitness in order to get here. The other is that if there’s something you want to do, but don’t think you’re able, maybe you just need more time. There was more than one occasion when I thought I would never back squat again. I just needed more time, more patience and more practice.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
