The Benefits of High Rep Body weight Squats (My set of 525)

The regenerative power of bodyweight squats is no joke. When I injured my knee in BJJ due to a jump guard pull, I used them grease the groove style, 15-20 reps every 30 minutes, and I fixed my knee in weeks. I would feel better immediately after a set.

I'm 67 with a history of knee surgery. I couldn't do full squats but realized it didn't hurt getting out of bed in the morning. I started doing sort of a "box squat" on my bed in the morning and worked up to 4 sets of 25 with maybe 20 seconds between sets. WAY better than nothing!

The insane amount of dedication it takes to sit in one spot and do 525 reps of ANYTHING is amazing

I didn’t even know this, but due to no heavy equipment I had to resort to high reps. I was doing 30-50 reps of body weight squats, it legit cured my Knee problems.

By my late 20’s/early 30’s my knees started going to shit from squatting heavy weights. A guy I worked out with a few times a month was in great shape, good size and muscle development. He was a doctor and never did any lift with more than 225lbs(2 plates as we’d say). Once he reached 225, he’d only increase reps. He’d bench 40 to 50 reps, squat 20-40, bentover rows around 20, and deadlifts around 40reps with this amount. Smaller muscle groups, he wouldn’t move up in weight until he could easily handle the weight easily at 15 reps. Changed my whole perspective on working out. I went from a lean 240, that would be out of breath walking up a steep hill, to a 210/215 ish lean guy that had decent size and very good muscle endurance. I didn’t quite follow his exact routine as I would still lift heavier sometimes, but overall it made a huge difference on my conditioning and energy levels...also was just more happy and enjoyed working out even more. Joints felt/still feel so much better and I’m now 46. Unless you want to be the next Mr. Olympia , body weight and lighter weight is a much better way to train.

I watched this video 10 weeks ago and it inspired me to start with simple body weight squats, after being ridiculously sedentary for years (my iPhone says I’ve gone from moving just 1.5 miles/day 5 years ago to only 0.68 miles/day last year 🤦🏻‍♂️) I wasn’t even sure I could walk around the large block I live on without injury (lots of ankle sprains in my past). But something about this video, out of all the others I’ve seen everywhere, inspired me to set out to do something at least – just a few slow and careful squats. It was hard and a little painful at first, and I didn’t go very deep and held onto a door frame for support. Yeah, I was that out of shape! All I wanted was to avoid injury and make a little progress. Each day I added a couple more reps while trying to perfect my form and go a little deeper. I figured that gently increasing things, as I felt comfortable, would be better than nothing. I’m now on day 75 of daily squats. I’m in my late forties, and I am totally amazed at how fast this has turned things around for me. I’ve gotten as high as a 100 squat day (spread throughout the day in sets of 10-30) though I more often do half that; my form is solid, and there’s no pain. My squat progress felt so good that, after only a week, I started walking every day (slowly at first, but now I go out and walk between 1 and 5 miles every day, rain or sun!). I then added some push-ups, and just started some gentle scapula retractions (not even rows yet), always seeking good form rather than performance. I even did a full day of skiing just one month after starting squats, which would have been impossible without the squat training. I can’t express how cool it was to be on the mountain with my son for his first ski day, instead of sitting there watching. I realize this is probably not that interesting to most people, but I want to say to anyone who feels like getting more fit is impossibly hard: Just start with the tiniest thing, work on good form, and stick with it. It took me years to get into this mess, and it will take a long time to get out of it! A simple body weight squat is a good starting point. I love that I didn’t have to drive anywhere, change clothes, or put on shoes—just review proper squat form in my mind and start. That’s how easy it was to turn the tide. This channel is awesome and has all the right perspective. I’ve watched a little every day for inspiration. The very best part of taking it slow and perfecting my form is no injuries ! Thank you so much for wise and inspiring videos!

Thank you, this is great stuff. I trained for 5 years doing Professional Wrestling. Back when I was 26. We did 200- 300 Squats every practice. Now, I'm 46, and I'm a Personal Trainer.. I still do Squats. and I make all my clients do bodyweight Squats. They do make you mentally tough. Also, I feel like bodyweight Squats Make My Barbell Squats easier.

I can totally see why your channel is going to blow up in the upcoming year. Excellent content, with zero bullshit. Kudos brother!

This channel is a gem im glad i found it

Gives me the warm and fuzzies seeing all these brothers acheiving great things and feeling great with callisthenics. Like warriors of old... indestructible!! 💪🦁

I just found your channel and it's great Im 62, and do nothing but bodyweight exercises and I love it, and so do my tendons and joints, I subscribed to your channel too! I like how you keep your routine simple and the basics, thank you for a great channel.

This arrived on my YouTube out of nowhere Excellent, nice and simply explained and I reckon I'm going to give it a go

I used to do 300 every day, in 10 sets of 30, no idea why I stopped. Thanks for the reminder.

You're the first person I've seen covering this topic. I usually do stuff like 500 bodyweight calf raises in a set and then try to get reps past that, and this applies the same logic, just transfers it on to a more useful movement. Thanks for this man

Thank you for all these ideas man you are an absolute beast! I've started working out much more since watching your videos.

Been advocating this for years myself. The two most important movements one should do everyday is squatting and hanging (not necessarily a 'dead' hang). This represents a comprehensive, full body 'workout' that benefits almost all of one's joints and muscle groups as you've mentioned. Thanks for the vid.

Yes! i've been doing bodyweight squats and its been so helpful i was only really doing it for bodybuilding purposes and then i noticed new mobility and strength its been amazing

I have applied this same mentality but with some ballet plies. Plies in the first position and the second position are an incredibly good exercise for strengthening, adding definition, and increasing the overall mobility of the legs. And as you are turning your feet out it helps to improve total body alignment and the engaging of the core and lower back for maintaining balance. When I do them I will typically do sets of 32, 10 times, with a 30 second break between each 32 set. The turnout that one finds in these positions helps to engage the glutes, other connective tissues, and supporting muscles. Not saying it's the perfect way to approach this kind of exercise but it has worked for me and I have seen incredible results.

Thanks for reminding me how valuable these are. Gonna start up again tomorrow!

Totally awesome, dude! Amazing & inspiring!