Why I Don't Care About Your Squat Max

Everyone wants to specialize. Be a powerlifter, a runner, a yogi. But here's what I've learned from 14 years of training people: the folks who can do a little bit of everything are the ones who feel best in their bodies.

I call it General Physical Preparedness, which sounds fancy but really just means "your body should be able to handle whatever life throws at it." You should be able to carry groceries, play with kids, get up off the floor, reach overhead, and walk up stairs without thinking about it.

Most people want to skip this part and go straight to the sexy stuff. They want to deadlift twice their body weight or run a marathon or do some crazy yoga pose they saw on Instagram. And look, those goals are fine if that's what makes you happy. But if you can't touch your toes or you get winded walking up a flight of stairs, maybe we should work on that first.

Here's a common scenario: someone wants to get back into powerlifting. They used to compete years ago, and they miss it. Fair enough. But when you do an assessment, they can't rotate their torso without their back lighting up, and their shoulders are so tight they can't reach overhead without arching their back.

You might spend months just getting them to move like a human being again before touching a barbell. And when you finally do start lifting heavy, their numbers come back faster than they ever would have if you'd just started squatting right away.



Your body is a system. Everything connects to everything else. If one part isn't working right, other parts have to compensate, and eventually something breaks down.

That's why I love working with people who have disabilities or chronic conditions. They usually understand this concept better than anyone. They know their bodies intimately because they have to. They know what works and what doesn't, what helps and what makes things worse.

But even if you're healthy, your body still needs balance. You need strength, sure, but you also need mobility, coordination, endurance, and the ability to move in all different directions. You need to be able to get your heart rate up and bring it back down. You need to be able to balance on one foot and catch yourself if you trip.

Here's what I tell people: before you worry about being really good at one thing, get pretty good at everything. Build a foundation that can support whatever you want to do later.

Because at the end of the day, your squat max doesn't matter if you throw your back out putting on your shoes.