The Squat Sponge

 
The one percent rule is a concept I came up with to work with the Luna Calendar to help me meet my weight training goals. With a really bad night job and as a Hard Gainer, I knew that the only way to make gains was in small increments, easier said than done. Training for small gains is a lot like panning for gold, in the weight room that’s filled with big egos floating on a cloud of Testosterone, where bad form and injuries was the norm as long as you are moving around heavy weight. No one I knew thought it would, I followed this concept for about 18mos I added to my bench 80lbs and 300lbs to my deadlift and 200lbs to my back squat. why did I stop, simple, peer pressure and I got a better job, guys would look at me with loathing because I would use the 1¼ lb plates to meet my goal. It got to the point that all the 1¼lbs and most of the 2 1/2lbs plates were gone, the guys were hiding the plates. When I stopped the 1% rule workout in concert with the Luna calendar my gains stopped and I regressed. At the time I did not know why it stopped, but I never said that I was smart.

The 1% rule, basically, I would schedule into my Luna Calendar a gain in either raw poundage or in repetitions for a given exercise per cycle usually weeks in advance. 1 cycle is a 28day period, which I call the Luna calendar. In the 28day period there 4 zones, light days followed by moderate days and heaver days which is followed by light days. I was learning as I went along but still 80lbs increase was very good me.

Example for mass and weight gain on the chest: 
Start out with 2 exercises 2sets each high reps
1st zone, Light days: warm up with pushups 1set 15reps
· Flies with 20lbs 2sets 20reps
· Bench press 2sets
1st set 115lbs 15to20reps
2nd set 135lbs 10reps

2nd zone, Moderate day 2 exercises 2sets + 1extra: 
warm up with pushups 1set 15reps
· flies w/25lbs 10reps
· bench press 3sets
1st set 115lbs 15reps
2nd set 135lbs 10reps
3rd set 135lbs 5to 7reps, using delayed return. At the top lower the bar for a count of 5 hold for a 


count of 2
3rd zone, Heavy day at 1% gain, look at it this way: 135lbs *10reps=1350lbs*1%=13.5lbs
warm up with pushups 1set 15reps
3 exercises 2sets+1
· Flies w/25lbs 10reps
· Bench press 3sets
1st set 115lbs for 15reps
2nd set 140lbs for 10reps= this is a 1% gain 140*10=1400*1%=14lbs
3rd set 175lbs for 5reps

4th zone, I would use this time to run.

As you can see it is slow and yes there were days that I wanted to do more. Yet gains came easily and regularly when I followed the program. 


Dan the Squat Sponge guy
 
 
Hello I’m Dan, the Squat Sponge Guy. I have been thinking for years, the problem is we all want results fast. As humans we think the more we do, the faster and better the outcome will be. When you are in the groove, it takes self-discipline not to go to gym every day, which is why it took me years to realize I was really hindering myself. All that I can say is just try it for one month it will win you over. Working out on the Luna calendar, is for the average person and the hard gainers, and for people that cross train say like Boxers or swimmers. Its one day on with two days off for rest which gives you time for life’s chores, not to mention it helps avoid injuries due to over training. The beauty of this is that it is so flexible. For example: one day I was scheduled to run, but there were heavy rains that day, because of the two days off, I can hit the weights with no problem. When you follow a 7-day workout plan, if you miss just one day it blows the whole week off. I broke it down to 28-day period, in this period there will be 10 workouts and 18 days off. There are many ways to use this calendar/ training concept. The schedule workout could be structured as follows. It could be used for overall wellness and fitness, as well as for power and strength. The long term planning offers great amount of freedom, Examples:
Running – for fat burning cardio
Yoga – stretching, meditation
Weight training – body conditioning and strengthening