If you have ever been to a gym then you know all about the ego lifter.  These are the people who sacrifice form so they can load up the weight. This comes in lots of form, but the most common that I find are the people who will not go full range of motion with their lift so they can lift more weight. You can see this on every single lift. It happens with barbells and dumbells alike (the absurdity of the leg press as ego lift is a whole other article). However, the ego lift which denies ROM that I see most often comes on compound lifts such as the two inch bench press and the half squat. Do not be a half squatter!

People often ask me questions like “what is your raw score” or what do you squat. The best I can tell them is I have no idea.

Practicing What I Preach

Knowing how much you can accomplish with one lift is not something that is going to be beneficial in any way shape or form. I squat in sets of 16-20 and find that for that rep range body weight is just about right. Whether I have weighed 175 or 225 (the extremes of my weight while being fit and with low body fat) body weight squats in the range of 16-20 have hit me at 9RPE. I don’t know if this translates to everyone, but in my experience it does. Being able to go 5×20 @ 9RPE of body weight squats is a good benchmark, I believe, for fitness.

What is my 1RM? I have no idea and I never intend to find out. Chasing one rep max is a fool’s game. I’ve seen guys in the gym with 405 or even more on their shoulders executing perfect form and nailing their squats and man, it is really cool to watch. But when I see them hit that one or maybe at most 3 lifts I know something. They are not getting the same benefit out of their workout as I am unless you factor in the ego boost and there is no place for that type of ego on Team WB Fitness. We have all sorts of other ego and we don’t have room for this particular bit of nonsense.

What I am saying is not only for squats. It goes for your deadlifts, your bench press, and every single movement you make with iron in your hands. If you can not make that motion 16-20 times then the weight is too heavy, you

Also goes for your other half lifts and PRs

are not getting maximum benefits, you are on the road to injury and you are only at the gym to play with your dick. Even if your form is on point, and nine times out of ten it isn’t, you simply aren’t doing anything of value. You aren’t getting stronger. You aren’t getting fitter. You aren’t building better and stronger muscles and your aren’t getting gains.

So why do people do it. People like to leave the gym and talk to other morons and tell them “hey I did a 405 pound squat.” It makes them feel big. But for #teambeater we would rather be big than talk big.

If someone tells you what their 1RM is ask them what their 20RM is. If they don’t know then tell them to come to this site and relearn how to lift. By no means am I saying that things like Eddie Hall and his 1000+ pound deadlift isn’t impressive. Shit, I’ve watched the video of him breaking the world dead lift record 1000 times. But seriously guys, go look at a picture of Eddie Hall. Is that what you want to look like? And I will bet you that in 10 years, despite still being younger than I am now, Eddie won’t be able to lift anymore and will have gone through numerous surgeries and recoveries where, barring any serious unfortunate accidents, I will still be doing what I am doing.

So enjoy your weekend Team Beater, but I do have a homework assignment for you. Pick one of the major lifts (Deadlift, Squat, Benchpress) and figure out your 20 Rep Max. Try to peg it down perfectly to 1×20 @9.5 RPE. When you get that number, stick with it. We would rather see you work up to 5 sets of 20 on that number than increase the weight. Trust me, your body will thank you.