350 Bench But Squat Needs to Increase More

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

Hope this is the right place to post this. Here’s the deal, after about a three year lay off from lifting, I started lifting again the last week or so of March 2009. Max Bench 215, Max Squat 250. Today is the first time I’ve went to a one rep on regular flat bench in a while. Hit 350 with no bounce and butt on the bench, problem is the last heavy 1 rep squat, about 2 weeks ago, was 425. I’m not complaining about the progress I’ve made but I feel like my squats should have increased much more.

I started squatting 3 days a week to try and bring up my squats, does any one have a perspective on this as being helpful or detrimental?

Little more info,
Age 27
5’9" @ 230lbs
prob around 16% bf
Been doing WS4SB with some variations, (I usually do DE instead of repetition work)

2

The only way squatting 3 days a week could possibly be good, is if you have the best genetics, eat perfectly, supplement perfectly, and spend all of your non-lifting time resting and letting your legs do nothing but recover.

When you are done with a squat workout, are you completely spent? If not, you would be much better off doing a much more intense squat day once per week. Some people would argue for two. But I doubt anyone will chime in suggesting that three is wise.

Remember, your muscles do not grow during exercise. They grow while you are resting after exercise. Most people need at least 2 days (if not 3+) to get maximum gains out of an intense workout. When you do another workout before your muscles have recovered from the first one, you tear down some of the gains that were in progress.

Plus, your gains have been pretty even. What makes you think your squat should be gaining faster relative to your bench?

3

Thanks for the reply! Yeah I’m usually spent after every workout, although I have lowered the volume quite a bit on the three day squat workouts. I know what you’re saying about not enough recovery time. I obviously didn’t think it out well enough in that aspect, lol. I had looked at smolov and much of it is three days a week. As far as my squat versus bench, I feel like I will be hitting 4 plates on bench by the end of the year. Squats seem far off from hitting 5. Also, when I was in high school, I could squat over 4 when I could only bench 245. Granted back then my bench form was crap, but so was my squat form too. I think I might use one of those squat days for stretching and flexibility work.

4

maybe you should work on stretching and mobility work like you had previosly posted instead of beating yourself up. try doing DE for bench still, but repition for the squat. and really fine tune your form.

5

[quote]brauny96 wrote:
maybe you should work on stretching and mobility work like you had previosly posted instead of beating yourself up. try doing DE for bench still, but repition for the squat. and really fine tune your form.[/quote]
What kind of reps would you do for repetiion work? I find that I’m really sloppy after bout 8-10 reps. I’m definitely up for it, may take me a while to get used to higher reps. Whatever gets me stronger!

6

[quote]humanjhawkins wrote:
The only way squatting 3 days a week could possibly be good, is if you have the best genetics, eat perfectly, supplement perfectly, and spend all of your non-lifting time resting and letting your legs do nothing but recover.

When you are done with a squat workout, are you completely spent? If not, you would be much better off doing a much more intense squat day once per week. Some people would argue for two. But I doubt anyone will chime in suggesting that three is wise.

Remember, your muscles do not grow during exercise. They grow while you are resting after exercise. Most people need at least 2 days (if not 3+) to get maximum gains out of an intense workout. When you do another workout before your muscles have recovered from the first one, you tear down some of the gains that were in progress.

Plus, your gains have been pretty even. What makes you think your squat should be gaining faster relative to your bench?[/quote]

Smolov would recommend squatting 4 days a week during the base meso, 3 days a week during the intense. The gains people tend to see from that program are generally very good. I personally added 70lbs total to my 1RM (2.5 months).

That said, unless you’re looking for squat specialization specifically, I wouldn’t recommend Smolov. I was able to run a normal bodypart split on my non-squatting days, but my pressing movements dropped about 5lbs every two weeks throughout the program.

If you’re interested, check out the Smolov experience thread and read up on what other people have done: Forums - T Nation - The World's Trusted Community for Elite Fitness

7

[quote]Sharp4850 wrote:

[quote]humanjhawkins wrote:
The only way squatting 3 days a week could possibly be good, is if you have the best genetics, eat perfectly, supplement perfectly, and spend all of your non-lifting time resting and letting your legs do nothing but recover.

When you are done with a squat workout, are you completely spent? If not, you would be much better off doing a much more intense squat day once per week. Some people would argue for two. But I doubt anyone will chime in suggesting that three is wise.

Remember, your muscles do not grow during exercise. They grow while you are resting after exercise. Most people need at least 2 days (if not 3+) to get maximum gains out of an intense workout. When you do another workout before your muscles have recovered from the first one, you tear down some of the gains that were in progress.

Plus, your gains have been pretty even. What makes you think your squat should be gaining faster relative to your bench?[/quote]

Smolov would recommend squatting 4 days a week during the base meso, 3 days a week during the intense. The gains people tend to see from that program are generally very good. I personally added 70lbs total to my 1RM (2.5 months).

That said, unless you’re looking for squat specialization specifically, I wouldn’t recommend Smolov. I was able to run a normal bodypart split on my non-squatting days, but my pressing movements dropped about 5lbs every two weeks throughout the program.

If you’re interested, check out the Smolov experience thread and read up on what other people have done: Forums - T Nation - The World's Trusted Community for Elite Fitness

Really cool link. I read the first page, and I’m excited about reading the rest. I don’t think that is what I want to do though. I am going to go back to two days and do a rep day and a ME day. I may just need to take a breath and realize that I can’t gain a 100lbs a year consistently, lol. Wish it were that easy! Thanks for the advice.

8

Sure thing. I had looked at Smolov probably for 6 months before I ever decided to give it a go.
Good luck with your training!

9

I see some limited thinking in this thread.

You can perform any exercise very frequently. What you need to do is to manage the intensity. There’s a lot of info about this on the web and in books.

Secondly, you need patience. As long as you have progress, that is good. Progress can always become better, but once you start to become strong (ie. 440lbs+) in the squat, don’t expect miracles.

Smolov is not recommended unless you are 100% dedicated to the squat for that period of time. Many people have been injured on this program, and that always sets them back.

So find a level where you can stay motivated, and of course, if you want to, emphasize the squat for a period, and try some more volume and see what you can cope with. And stay away from injuries.

Becoming a strong squatter for a non-gifted natural athlete is difficult and hard. So enjoy the process, and celebrate your victories!

This is a lifestyle, not a speeding race.

– Stallion