Any Stronger By the Day fans?

[redfacebigdisgrace]

My PT has just left my gym and I’m fancying a change. I have joined a small group PT gym for a 6 week trial but it’s pricey at £200 pm. I follow Megsquats on Instagram and I
like her approach. I feel a bit more confident in my form after 1.5 years of PT although I’m not that confident on barbell squats having mainly used a Smith machine.

I would be interested to hear of people’s experiences. Thanks!

I use her programming when I'm away from my home gym & PT. I don't do so many accessories with my PT or the upper body work (my PT focuses on squat, deadlifts, sled, & lat pull downs for strength, and metcon /Hyrox conditioning training).

So I enjoy the SBTD programming for variety, and I think MegSquats help with form and the video guides on the app are really good. She's got solid expertise & is also down to earth - not like a lot of Insta "influencers". I'm doing a 6 week work trip soon, and SBTD saves me having to do my own programming. I like the Express version.

The Discord server is good, although I don't use it much.

It's v good value: $US90 for a year I think?

@YellowAsteroid thanks for that. It sounds great. I’ll see how my small group PT trial goes but SBTD sounds like a good option for me.

I think you can do a free 7 day trial. It's also worth looking at the FaceBook group (if you do FB).

I've been using it since November and I like it. I've lifted for a long time before that but having a set programme helps me to be more consistent. The programming tends to be in 12 or 15 week cycles, and from what I've seen so far, they tend to switch between being more focused on strength (eg we've just finished a deadlift cycle) or a bit more about gaining muscle (current one is 'peaks and cheeks' which has more emphasis on glutes and biceps) That said, the basic big lifts are always in there somewhere.

To me the benefits of megsquats over other programming I've seen is the flexibility - you can switch between 3,4 or 5 days, and a full version or express version. Also you can sub out exercises if you want, and it will give you a list of similar alternatives to pick from - which is good if you have an injury, or are limited in equipment.

If you can, use the 6 week PT to get more confident with squats! Will you be able to train somewhere that you can use safety bars? Knowing that you can easily bail out if you need to makes a big difference!

Oh, and I really don't get on with the Smith machine! Kudos to you - I find it quite difficult.

Far prefer ordinary barbell squats with a safety rack. You have to learn the correct form, but a squat isn't as technically finicky as a deadlift. I find the problem with the Smith machine is that I have to adjust my stance, depth etc to accommodate the machine - I tend to think that's the wrong way around.

Thanks both! I’ll definitely look into this. It does doing good. I think one of my goals at this new place will be getting my confidence up with squats with a barbell. I think there will be safety bars, yes. I do like the SM because it gives me confidence. It took a while to get my foot placement right but I find it good now. I think part of the reason was I was doing hyper trophy and my PT says the SM squats are more of an isolation move than the barbell squat which is more compound.