"Max" isn't just his name. It's a lifestyle.

Ivan Abadjiev (the founder of the bulgarian method) has died today (25.03.2017). An enormous figure in the worldwide weightlifting. Rest in peace!

The letter T in the juggernaut tshirt should have been someone doing an OHP not a DL.

all i heard was 165 kilos to 217 kilos. I'm ready for a hernia

What the heck is max complaining about. He's 17 years old and took his front squat from 165kg(so like 365lbs) to 217kg which is 477lbs in 6 weeks, are you joking? 6 weeks only that's insane. Than from 217kg to 230kg in 7 months? That's a 525lb front squat, I just don't understand, sounds to me like the program was working and is insane. most people cant low bar squat 525 yet alone front squat. He says to go from 230kg to 245kg took him 3 years. Well no doubt, that's almost a 550lb front squat, that kind of training can take decades. I love the Bulgarian training I have some many prs from it. I don't squat 3 times a day. I squat once a day. I than do bench training to a 1 rep max, than 3 days a week all do deadlift training, gains are insane

Unless you have the time and means, the Bulgarian system is for competitive lifters who have the benefit of being paid to train this way. Not for someone who has a 40+ hr a week job.

Max - i did this for 13 years dont do it Chad - it doesnt follow many of the priciples of a good training method dont do it Both - dont do a variation, build a good training program from scratch. Audience- You didnt talk about my varation of squat every day where i replace one of the session with over head squats, checkmate atheists.

Krushka means that someone is not fulfilling their duties, slacking on job or it can also be translated as cheating on your wife for example or vice versa. Krushkach is the actual way you call the person. Krushkam should be the infinitive form of this jargon word. For many reasons, performance was much higher years ago in lifting. Abadjiev main idea for maxes is that in nature the anmals don't go 50% when they have to perform, it is in our nature to go 100% and beyond. He believed maxing out creates a different response in the body on every level, than lifting with less. Neurologically you adapt to the weights over time and body is prepared for it. How much of it is true, I cannot tell, but the results remain.

Wish these videos were shot with rocking chairs on the front porch.

Years at a time for 5-10kilos, ya cause his front squat was at 550lbs, what do you expect. You cant add 50-100lbs when your front squat is already at 550lbs. It amazes me how their in shock with how long it took his front squat to increase

Would have been interesting to hear about injuries in a Bulgarian training style. I'm sure sure doing max singles everyday made people drop out like flies.

I think one of the underrated aspects to squatting everyday, is it's ability to teach you the importance of hard fucking work. My training suffered from paralysis by analysis. I know once I go back to a more sane approach I'll need to program better, but I feel like doing Bulgarian for a few months is teaching me lessons that I'll implement my entire training career.

This is pure weightlifting system and it is for fully professional lifters. I don't think this system will be the most successful for anyone this days. But I still believe this is the best system for weightlifting of all time.

The Norwegian team squats every day mostly in the 75-85% range with weekly volumes similar to Sheiko. So I think it is a mistake to say that "squat everyday" is the same thing as Bulgarian style or squatting to a max everyday.

GREAT stuff. like I can't describe it any other way. Between this and the westside video this content material is A1! keep it up

Just to remind you that back in the days in the Golden age of bulgarian weightlifting under the coaching of Иван Абаджиев.Bulgaria had golden medals in most of the weight classes, at some point we even had more than the Soviets.And just a reminder ,my country's population is 6 million.So I guess his training style is what separates them from the others.

i just love squatting.

This is a great video, HOWEVER, the "Bulgarian style" training for olympic lifting has since morphed into an RPE system where lifters will still squat 6-14 sessions a week, however, after a daily max they will do many MANY back-off sets (based on that max), squatting at least 40 minutes a session. As well, every 3-6 weeks, they will take a deload week. These are the proven modifications that have helped the junior Asian and Slavic weightlifters tremendously in their crazy high squat strength in a shorter period of time. (e.g. every junior male weightlifter back-squatting at least an easy 230kg regardless of weight) I would have preferred that you guys talk about this new system as opposed to the very archaic "Bulgarian style" training system.

Coming from a bodybuilding background this just blows my mind. Sometimes my legs take over a week to fully recover from a hard workout.

I like hearing y'all talk about the Bulgarian method. Not a lot of information out there that goes in depth on it. Much appreciated.

True bulgarian style training was invented for weightlifting, not powerlifting. In a max effort clean, the time that you spend under maximal tension is minimal (let's say for example 0.2s). A weightlifter can deadlift a lot more than he can clean and he can front squat a lot more than he can clean. So the only part of the lift in which he's really maxing out is the transitioning phase. A max effort squat however means multiple seconds under tension in which you truly max out. If you were to go 90% and higher on squats everyday over an extended period of time you couldn't catch up with your recovery, especially if you aren't on a real juicy stack. High frequency squatting is great, but maxing everyday is not ideal and the nagging pains will probably build up and you're gonna have to take some time off training completely

Still pushing for the next one being 5/3/1 lol

I can't get over that max could front squat more than he could deadlift at the start of his powerlifting. that quad strength is unreal.

use 5RM and fix this weight for a period of time, warm up to this weight then do one set every day, don't go to absolute failure but focus on the quality of mouvement, your body will automatically increase the repetition that you can do in one set, take a rest day when needed. This method works well for my weighted pull ups.

I would have liked to see Greg Nuckols in on this one along with Max.

I love this perspective; we need more of this. I like what you guys said about strength ratios; I hate how definitive and concrete some people, coaches/athletes, get when it comes to weightlifting. Especially with the squat. I always had issues with it but never know where and Im glad i heard this perspective to guide me.

People are hating because it's a youtube/IG craze. The ORIGINAL Methodology for Bulgarian Style Training is Daily Squat Everyday Maxes. Not the modern method, not variations of it. If you modify it, it ceases to be the original program. 30:23

I seem to grow more with less volume more frequency so I think this may work better for both strength and muscle gain in my case

I just added deadlifting everyday to my squatting everyday. People think I am nuts, but Im happy. Yes, max squat followed by max dead daily. And I am a 44 year old female. It saves time too. After max squat I just drop the wait on the platform. My max squat becomes my dead warm up. 30 and training is done. Then I bench or snatch or CJ, then go home.

Two intelligent powerlifters/weightlifters. What a breath of fresh air...! Great information. Subscribed!

I enjoyed the board behind you guys last time. It helped be able to follow along and connect points. Though as always amazing information. I love what you guys put out and it shows the true shift between written knowledge being passed and the emphasis coming in videos!!

I believe that the squat for the Olympic lifter can be used successfully everyday IF the speed is at or above certain level with weights 80-95% of TRAINING MAX.

Despite the fact your pump out great quality info in these vids, I like them because they're well edited.

Enjoyed the segement you guys did. Many years ago Erine Frantz had a book 10 commandments of Powerlifting which emphaszed the all or non concept meaning 1s. Adapted this to drug free lifting with singles added recovery and working hard increased my total where won 1st state meet 1985 two years latter 2x collegiate national champion and 1987 IPF JR world team individual bronze and team gold medalist. Ernie believed in sticking with basic lifts and working them hard. I modified one day all 3 lifts within 1hr lifting. was always in shape for meets. then another day bench during week and liter 90% Squat and DL day. My best Drug Free lifts 700 raw squat, 425 BP raw and 700 raw DL. Still kept strength into my 50s pulling Raw 650. Mentally have to be tough and motiviated to train this way.

Greg knuckols just posted a video about specificity. he said variations to exercises, like pause squat vs normal squat, or highbar vs lowbar have carry over because they are both squat motions. For example, if you train high bar squat and increase it, then when you go back to low bar, it will have increased as well. But similar lifts regarding muscles used like deadlifts and squats dont have very much carry over.

Fantastic piece. Great information and delivered very well.

I really like these critique videos! Keep them coming, please!

2:10 -How the fuck can you squat over 600lbs 3 times a day, 7 days a week, without getting injured or run down and catching a cold? And have enough time to eat shit and sleep? It seems impossible!

As usual, great stuff. How about critique/analysis of Soviet weightlifting principles (in 60's, 70's and 80's) for next installments?

Great vid. I max squatted for a little over a month before I had an injury (entirely unrelated to lifting), and although I didn't see much of an increase on my 1RM, it was a massive confidence boost under anything in excess of 90% 1RM. Oddly enough, I increased my 2RM by about 30 lbs.

Best lifting channel on KZfaq!! Sorry Mark Bell. Supertraning and juggernau is my motivasjon

Awesome content, really thorough and well explained. Could you make one on the Sheiko type training programs (High volume, high frequency, usually low intensity training on very basic lifts with little assistance exercises)?

A study has already been conducted in our lab examining the efficacy of squatting to a max every day with advanced lifters. It clearly worked to add a lot of weight, however the authors (Dr. Zourdos) etc were VERY careful to make sure to be very clear in that this method is not for someone to just jump into and most individuals would do WAY better on a more structured, periodized protocol. Squat every day may be useful as an intensity block within an overarching macrocycle that utilized more "normal" mesocycles that build up to it...

maybe the Bulgarian system works for elite athletes because it's like throwing the body a curve ball. After they've reached their peak using another system. Like a cycle only of a longer period of time. perhap if they peaked with that system they could improve by returning to the previous one.

Yeah squat doesn’t transfer over to deadlift nearly as much as I would have thought. When I added an extra deadlift day and pulled back on squats a little bit my deadlift started to really shoot up. This is as an intermediate lifter

So does this method probably make more sense if your doing Olympic lifting?

Agree or disagree you guys always debate the proper way. Good job!

Great discussion! i'd love to hear a rebuttal from someone like a John Broz or that Perryman fellow.

You fellas didn't mention the possibility of repetitive stress injuries, which is what happened to me when I tried. My left hip started to bother me after around month two and it took around two months for the pain to go away after abandoning this training method. I did see gains of around 10-15kg in the first month though, which I was more than satisfied with. Thus, if I try it again, I would probably not do it for more than a month.

Guys who like myself love this method, please dont take offence from these guys because all they want is for you guys to stop calling it the Bulgarian method, there is no powerlifter alive that does a true Bulgarian method, this method is called high frequency for strength, the modern version is like 90 percent modified and is only done 3 -6 months maximum or when you dont progress for a 2 month, once ur strength declines using proper rpe scale then just stop and switch to traditional and proven program's

I need to cycle front and back squats

Thanks for making this video, Chad and Max. Can you make a similar video critiquing Wendler's 5/3/1? Thank you.

The history speaks of itself. It was no good, but somehow our weightlifters were sweeping off the medals when they appeared in competition. It seems predictable enough. The rest is just excuses to not lift heavy. If you chose to be an Olympic weightlifter, you must put in the work that goes with it. And burn in the sport. Not save yourself for the life after the retirement. So this method is not good for the regular Joe, who thinks he wants to be a mediocre weightlifter for 4 days in a week for as long as he is alive.

I don't understand the squat every day program. I can't believe that anyone would make gains on the squat everyday and/or multiple times a day program. That would leave very little room for other exercises such as deadlifts or reverse hyperextensions. How can a person's back and lower body tolerate such a thing? How can a person over 40 or 50 tolerate such a thing? I do 3 training sessions per week. I have a full time job. I am pursuing a doctoral degree. I have family responsibilities. I wouldn't be able to do this. If I had nothing but free time and money I might be able to train every day but I'm not rich.

Max even looks traumatized talking about it lol

you can critique all day but the results are there medal after medal after medal

Excellent job CWS and Max.

When I scrolled past I was hoping it was a Blaha piss take vid haha. But I liked it and I have subscribed

I'd be interested in hearing from two folks who have written at JTS for a bit of a counterpoint, or more elaboration. Those two being Greg Nuckols and Travis Mash who both used Daily Squatting to bring their totals up from already elite levels.

It’s crazy USA isn’t anywhere near the top for Olympic lifting.

Fantastic content. I love the critical analysis. I'm not big fan of Bulgarian/daily squatting. But I totally agree with Chad. if it's used it should be periodic no more than 4 or 5 months tops. There are way more efficient ways of gaining strength.

it sounds like this could theoretically be useful if squatting was your lagging lift. If you took into account a short training cycle obviously not 13 years of 3 max(es) a day. which I still don't understand how that is physically possible

It's the best program for WEIGHTLIFTING not powerlifting or bodybuilding.

Using prillipins chart, wouldnt the work up sets, given they would still be high percent 1rm, create enough volume throught the week to induce hypertrophy.

I have been doing squats everyday, but definitely not near max effort. I also add in walking lunges the day after a normal squat or deadlift day. I do about 5 variations....to include box squatting most often...easy on the hips.

I can't believe it, this is crazy! is there any time to do anything else? how does one recover properly?

Could you do a critique of the American OTC programming? It would be interesting to hear what Max has to say about it and what they are doing wrong and right

so far i have gotten some hypertrophy, not tones, very good strength gains....and i am regaining mobility in my hips something i lost from a severe judo injury...the frequent neural work is helping me way more then yoga ever did to regain some mobility.....once full mobility is back i will drop frequency and boost volume....... 20 sets in 3 exercises takes me about 30 min....and it feels easy even lifting over 90% , so i think frequency is great for GPP too

wait... isn't there something that's being massively overlooked here? in 6 weeks he gained a huge amount of strength right?... sooooo why not do for example 6 weeks of squat everyday, followed by a 1 or 2 week deload/active rest period. and then do a 6 week Deadlift everyday for example, followed by the same 1 or 2 week rest phase. and rinse and repeat with a new lift every time. Bench Press, Overhead Press, Rows, pull ups, Dips, push ups, etc etc and then we u have all these lifts being really strong u can do switch to a different style which is more effective at your new level/more effective in the long term so u can use the method to get really big foundations/jump starts in strength in your lifts and then carry that strentgh to over programs also. with such crappy recovery and bad super compensation, how did he improve so much in those first 6 weeks? I don't get it, was it that steroids helped that much? or was it that when the body is put under that much stress it lerans to adapt and overcome so well and we just haven't got any science in it?

And classify benefit for steroid assisted/non-steroid assisted as well.

Thoughts on revolving max days? Day1-Squat, Day2-Bench, Day3-Deadlift, Day4-OFF, repeat...... Or doing squat maxes every other or every 3rd day?

from what ive heard the Greeks under coach Jakovou copyied the Bulgarians and made modifications do you know more about that ?

The verb is "Krushkam", and the person who does this is a "Krushkach". It means to slack off.

very informative! thanks for uploading

I think the reason that max had less carry over for this style is because he's a very quad dominant squatter, somebody a little more lowbar and hammy back dominant might see huge gains with this method, food for thought :)

Do you feel/think/know that 3RM or 5RM cause greater neural fatigue than a 1RM? I could believe that about 10RM, but I feel like 3RM or 5RM would be easier.

As a 50 year old raw powerlifter, I'm not going near this program. I can see modifying it to not maxing all the time, but I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing.

Proud to be Bulgarian!

"Krushka" generaly means to not put effort in something, while you are giving the appearance that you are doing it on maximum. Kinda simulating. :) It is used in all spheres in life, not just in sports. Most common for work etique of some people :) A man who "krushka" we say he is "krushkach". "Skatava se" is also used, when someone is "hiding" from hard work, or from doing something that may be dangerous or unpleasant, but needed - usually at the expence of others, who have to put more effort, because of him.

All the upcoming weightlifters come to Shumen Bulgaria 🇧🇬 to learn the sweet science of weightlifting 🏋️‍♀️

can you guys do a critique of the sheiko programs... id like to hear what you guys have to say about it

Just curious, why did you guys not work in front of the white board like the Westside Critique? I thought the white board was a good way to keep tabs on the "ratings" you guys were giving. That aside, great video

i have been squatting everyday for 60 days now, but now i am alternating between squat deadlift and sumo, then do one variation of pressing and finish with weighted chins

Chad looks so much healthier now than back then

+Juggernaut Training Systems you did a really great job at explaining how to programm, but will there maybe a video on more weightlifting specific programming and your approach at JTS to it?

Just gotta say that 3 workouts a day for 6 months is around 540. So still insane but not actually around 6k

Can this be applied for the deadlift, and also for a lifter who is not on PEDs?

The Bulgarian method. Great for running a country's weightlifting program. Terrible for running your personal weightlifting program. It's the epitome of soviet thinking - the individual doesn't matter if the goal of the party is reached. Respect to Abadjiev and his athletes though. It takes a special kind of person to put himself to this type of training for years on end.

I squat everyday for a workout. Its great and i have notice results.

I like too do daily squatting and benching for periods of time, say 9 weeks. Combined with some speed pulls I am able too make gains on all three lifts. After 8-10 weeks it is becoming dementrial, elbows and knees start hurting too much and lifts are stalling.

If it's so terrible (and it certainly sounds it) why was it ever done? I'd understand it being done for a year, to see how it goes. But this seems like a very long term training? EDIT: Oooh. Roids.

I dunno I cant follow a 'do x every day' program for longer than a few weeks. Amazing plato breakers but doing it for months and years is insane.

Hey Chad, great video! I have to say, I used to not be a huge believer in phase potentiation, and I did concurrent type training. Lately, however, I have decided to include an accumulation phase, and now I'm a few weeks into my intensification phase, and let me tell you: it works! I feel so fresh after switching phases, that 75-85% feels like nothing. I'm hitting six sets of five with 150 kg on the bench easy, when I used to get that weight for a double. Your videos, along with some stuff by Issurin is what convinced me to try it. Quick question though, if that 75-85% range feels really light, where I know I can most likely handle the same volume with 90%, would it be fine to bump up the weights a bit, even though it's not my peaking phase yet?

Fantastic content

This is amazing information. What system does he recommend for explosive athletes at JTS?

Speaking from my own experience I know that powerlifting meets are kinda spread out. This means it's not boom boom boom squat bench press deadlift one after another. I've known some meets to take a good part of a whole day. When I am doing a 1-2 hour training session in the gym, I find it hard to do say, one hour of bench press training, then one hour of squat or deadlift training trying to improve 2 lifts at the same time. If I have a good productive bench press session, I feel my energy is less for the deadlift or squat session when I train two lifts in the same training session. Even if I reverse the lifts and do the lower body lift first and the upper body lift second, I still have less energy for the second lift being trained. Does anyone else notice this?

I personally think this style of training works well for a block of training and not for continuous ongoing training. It certainly gets you more used to training often and heavy, but it takes a toll. Inflammation, mental fatigue, lack of hypertrophy and it's time taken away from your other lifts. To make continuous strength gains you need to continue to gain muscle, and this isn't the most efficient way to do that.

fantatic video i want to squat as little and get as strong as possible

Even with steroids how the hell did those guys ever recover.

Can you guys go over squatting with the sciatic nerve issues....find a lot of people can train up to a certain weight in the squat but plateau quickly because the weakness sciatic nerve pain brings to the lower back...