Squat Every Day
Author: Matt Perryman
This book came recommended from my mentor Stu McMillan via his blog mcmillanspeed.com. It’s main premise is stress and adaptation – two main underpinnings to training and performance.
I found Squat Every Day to be a very enjoyable read for a number of reasons:
- It was light and quick
- It covered a wide range of topics
- It had a clear and humble purpose
Matt Perryman does a great job of taking what could potentially be a very complex topic, stress and adaptation, and making it clear and relatable. He manages to hit most of the scientific principles but does so with avoiding any unnecessary jargon that may interrupt the flow of reading.
Squat Every Day contains information on the history of training, both state-side and around the world, psychology, biology, dynamic systems, personal experience and more. Psychology seems to take a dominant role within the pages and with my current obsession with the psychological aspect of coaching and competing this suited me just fine.
I found the chapter on personal experience slightly long-winded as I am less concerned with the details of Perryman’s particular program. He in fact mentions later in the book that it is not the details of a program that coaches should concern themselves with, rather a more general overview of philosophies and how the many variables are pieced together to work in that particular situation
Perryman continually stressed throughout the book that his words are not to be taken as gospel and his purpose is to merely contribute to the discussion on stress, adaptation, and overtraining. Had he put pen to paper with the intent of converting readers to his exact methods and ideals I would have found it difficult to jump onboard. He demonstrates a clear understanding of the individual nature of training and realizes that different athletes will benefit from different approaches and is simply documenting what he has found to be effective.
While the importance and benefit of researching those with opposing views of your own is undeniable. It is also refreshing to hear someone else’s thoughts on ideas similar to those of your own. Many of the concepts in Squat Every Day were first introduced to me by the staff at World Athletics Center. Reading how another party utilizes and makes sense of these concepts was very interesting.