“You guys squat a lot'

This is what I hear from many of the drop-ins who come to Crossfit Chiang Mai, and they are right.  I personally love to squat heavy, and there are a plethora of reasons you should too.

If you want to achieve the 'toned' look, you need to get stronger.  One of the best ways to get stronger is to squat heavy and often.  Squatting light weights doesn't force adaptation; thus, you don't get stronger. 

Squatting is one of the major aspects of strength training, as is the dead lift, press, and pull up.

The CDC lists the following benefits of strength training:

[Strength training]...can be very powerful in reducing the signs and symptoms of numerous diseases and chronic conditions, among them:

Arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, back pain, depression

And, [remarkably]... "Strength training can provide up to a 15% increase in metabolic rate, which is enormously helpful for weight loss and long-term weight control."

This is not ‘Joe Bro Biceps’ without sources, this is the Center for Disease Control with empirical evidence.  [As an aside; there are far too many articles/blogs/whatever with people spouting off information and people blindly accepting it as factual.  Always be sure to check the sources and look for facts to back up the claims]

You can read for yourself here:  http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/growingstronger/why/index.html

I understand it is hard to train some days; maybe you feel you just 'don't have it.' It’s important to persevere on these days.  If you want results they come with consistency and hard work.  There are no short cuts.  There have been many days where I've felt terrible, but still set PRs.  Of course, injuries and other limiting factors are exceptions, and in these cases, pushing yourself is not an option. 

But why squatting/deadlifting/pressing? Because these are the fundamental, multi-joint, compound movements for strength training.  Movements that will be your greatest asset in combating the chronic ailments previously listed on the CDC website (If done consistently and properly).  You can't clean if you can’t dead lift, you can't snatch if you can't overhead squat, you can't over-head squat if you can’t back squat... You catch my drift.  It's all about progression.

(http://community.crossfit.com/article/dissecting-fish)

As you can see, the variety of movements (blue) needed as a beginner is almost non-existent (and this is for 36 months!).  That is why we do what we do.  You see many of the same movements because they are the fundamentals [push up, pull up, sprinting, and jumping...etc].

From all of the books I have read on training, I’ve discovered that programming strength is as much of an art as it is a science.  When in doubt, I use K.I.S.S. ‘Keep it simple stupid.’  This graph reinforces that theory.  You can progress considerably by keeping it very basic.  By working on the fundamentals consistently we can start to build confidence and reinforce proper movement and technique.

Also, within this graph, notice the rate of improvement (purple).  Within the first year, an enormous amount of improvement in flexibility, strength, speed, and conditioning can be observed.  This is why, as a beginner, it is beneficial to keep it basic - variety isn't necessary.  By-products of increasing one's ability in these areas will include body recomposition, weight loss (diet abiding), and looking better naked.

Lastly, the rate of adaptation, (green) is at its highest the moment you walk in the door for the first time. As a beginner, becoming familiar with the movements and their names can be confusing and maybe frustrating.  The good news is, this will get much easier as you progress.  Meanwhile, your body is quickly adapting and creating better proprioception (i.e. agility ladder without staring down) and increasing muscle recruitment (i.e. squatting heavier weights).  Embrace being a beginner because your body is ready to adapt!

Here are three different members of our gym with very different body types.  They have been consistent with our protocol of three sets of five on squat and one set of five on the deadlift.  There has been some other forms of testing through these cycles (i.e 3RM or 1RM/max effort) but the work load is consistent.

The first is Mike Riley who started his very first 3x5 at 195lbs.  From July till January he has increased his 5 rep max to 305lbs (also note his 1 rep max being 300lbs on October 1^st).  Second, is Esther Wakeman who started her first 3x5 at 30lbs.  From here we worked on technique and took a step backwards in weight.  Notice, how this took place in late September, we then progressed to squatting without a box in October.  Just recently she performed a 5 rep max at 65lbs and 20 rep max with 50lb.  Lastly, Shelly Vander Molen Faucett started her deadlift 5 rep max at 85# in July of ’12.  In November she deadlifted 200lbs for a 1 and December she deadlifted 180lbs for 5. 

The programming is very simple and works.  Trust it.  I’ve done this with myself and experienced enormous gains.  Variety is great and that is what we do at Crossfit but some things won’t change.  The fundamentals are incredibly important.  Stay patient and work hard- the results will come.