If I were you I’d be squatting three times per week.
Either 5x5 raising the weight 10lbs week
Or
5/3/1 bbb
This is what worked for me.
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Glad I’m not the only one!
I love vanilla 531 for squat and bench, always seemed to permanently stall out on deads and ohp, whether bring a sumo puller made it less effective? Might give it another try convo at some point, but dark horse worked well for everything so that’s my go to at the moment.
I also love vanilla 531 for short on time - 2 day a week 1 hour sessions, stick squat and bench together and deads and ohp together then just add in accessories according to weaknesses/desires.
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Lots of great suggestions here folks, I appreciate it!
Where is you squat at right now ? How many days a week can you train and how long are the sessions?
I was using 235 as my TM, having gotten 245x2 pretty solid. But I just switched to high bar on someone’s recommendation and I’m not sure I could do 245x2. 225x2 is no problem.
I typically have a real session mon-wed-fri, with plenty of bonus WODs on top of that. Generally I try to touch a barbell 6 days/wk.
Sessions can’t exceed an hour, and the “off days” are typically 20 minutes.
Ever squat in a squat shoe?
Get some Nike Romaleos.
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Ok. I have some Nike’s with heel inserts, but I never use the inserts. I’m happy to give em a try next session though!
Is that how the romaleos are?
The heel is built into the shoe. They are hard and stiff.
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Thanks for the rec!
Ok so weights 3 days a week focused on strength but particularly the squat and bench.
My approach the last couple of years has been squats either 3 or minimum 2 days a week.
My coach has it broken down to a heavy season, medium or volume and a technique or weakness session.
Training is in 4 week blocks, then with a deload if I need one.
The heavy day is usually sets of 4 reps with weight and volume increasing over the 4 weeks, week 1 will be 3 sets of 4, week 2 - 4 sets, week 3 - 4 sets, week 4 - 5 sets.
Weight increases each week - week 1 75% week 2 80% week 3 - 84% week 4 - 87%
(% look a little odd because of rounding weights to the nearest 2.5% but you get the idea, generally increase is about 5kg a week)
When you start the next block you just add 2.5kg to the weight each week and repeat. Ideally you want a couple of reps in the tank on each set except maybe the last set of week 4.
For the volume sets the second session of the week, it is usually 6 or 8 reps, with weight a d volume increasing same as above (3 sets, 4 sets, 4 sets, 5 sets) weights are lower so first week is about 65-70% and add 2.5 a week. This is about getting god volume and good reps so no issue if the first block is too light.
The weakness or technique work is always 3 sets of 3-6 reps. Could be pauses or tempo work but usually to focus on something specific.
The training week for 3 days with 2 day squat is usually
Mon
Heavy Squat
Volume bench
Back work
Accessories
Wed
Deadlift
OH press
Back work
Accessories
Friday
Volume squat
Heavy bench
Back work
Accessories
If I was doing some technical work for squat I would add it after deadlift and drop the OH work (over head not a priority right now).
It doesn’t really matter what % scheme you use, 531 will probably work and is very similar. I found for me having a dedicated heavy day where I move heavier weights for less reps and volume work on another day really helped. Amraps and struggling at high reps with sub max weights didn’t do that much for me.
Sorry that was so long.
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Just got the chance to read this, and will re-read it again. No apology necessary for length!
I definitely like the two sessions per week for the focus lifts, one volume one heavy.
7/11/2021
Sunday afternoon update:
Friday morning, on rep 26 of the 31 squats, something happened in my neck. I had some pretty bad pain up the neck and headache for the rest of the session; and headache persisted throughout the day.
Saturday I had high expectations - JVFSB and my 20 minute back special. But on the first set of FS the hot pain in the left side of my neck just about knocked my to the floor and I was ruined the rest of the day.
Today, Sunday, I still have a lingering headache, and am smart enough not to try anything crazy. I’m even choosing not to do the 5x5 presses that are due tomorrow, which I normally knock out Sunday nights.
I’ve done several miles of walking this weekend, 200 pushups and a set of 20 unbroken pullups this morning; and some swimming. Any exertion causes pain now; walking is fine.
I’m hoping for the best with tomorrow morning’s session. I’ll wait on the pressing, maybe tomorrow night; and hope I can get through the squats and leg pressing in the morning.
The important thing is, I think it’s just a muscle strain in the neck, and not a disc. If it’s a disc that would SUCK. Either way I’m sure it’s related to my switch to high-bar, for which I probably should have lowered weight and taken more time to adapt.
I’m not going to let this bring me down mentally or set me back physically more than it absolutely must. And I must convince myself that it’s OK to take time away if that’s what it takes to heal, but I would definitely rather not!
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Any chance this could be an exertion headache ? Usually happens from holding the breath and straining. Your explanation of any exertion now causing pain sounds like this to me. Usually a few days rest is enough to get over it. It may be worth still thinking about talking to your doctor and getting it checked.
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The very definition of high rep squats lol!
It’s a first for me. But if its temporary and goes away by tomorrow morning I’ll be happy.
Last time I had this it was OK a couple of days later. The first time I did this (20 years ago) I ended up with a small subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is bleeding between the brain and the tissues covering the brain. It goes away on its own but I it took a little longer maybe a week off. If it doesn’t go away I would check with your doctor.
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The only thing that ever improved my squat strength (and indirectly deadlift) was attempting to do 25 reps in as few a set as possible. Start with a weight that is ~75% of your 1rm. Up the weight by 10lb once you get to doing it in two sets.
It’s really fast- at worst you’re doing 4-5 working sets and at best you’re doing 2 working sets!
I didn’t really gain any weight (that I remember at least) while doing this either. It was just nightmarishly hard.
I refined this to what I’m attempting now, but currently I’m just regaining strength and not building new strength, so we’ll have to see whether this works out after a couple of months.
What’s your current deadlift max and what limits it?
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Eh, I learned recently that I can literally take 5 months off from any barbell weight while losing ~25lb on top of that, then do like 8 months of barbell lifting capped to using about 95-135lb, and then regain most of my “lost” strength within a month and a half of returning to a gym.
I basically learned that people are telling the truth when they say you typically don’t really lose strength during an extended layoff.
And why on Earth would you want to high bar squat?
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I had something similar going for a TBDL widowmaker a few years ago. Any kind of exertion hurt for about a week or two from memory, especially Press variation. It mostly passes in that time, although I still get similar issues (although not too extreme) most Press sessions until I get my neck loosened up.
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That’s a cool suggestion, thanks!
Most recent was 335 for 1, I think, maybe 2. I haven’t really trained DL this year. I have a feeling it will improve quickly once I shift focus to it.
All my squats were turning into good mornings. A formerly competitive powerlifter who is close to my size and lifts next to me suggested I try it. I did, and mechanically it felt right, though the neck thing sucks and it will take some getting used to.
@dagill2 we will see in a couple hours, if it’s bad this morning I may have to cut things short on the epic leg program. A week of would suck. Did you take a week off, or push through it?
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I modified my workouts heavily to avoid anything that made it hurt too much. I honestly don’t remember what that looked like this far removed I’m afraid but it definitely involved no pressing or deadlifting for a while.
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