My squat is also well below my Deadlift. I think there’s a fear factor involved: i can push dl weights cause there is no consequence to failing a rep, i can just put the bar down. With squat im more conservative because i dont want to het stuck in the hole and dump the bar.
I think this cumulative effect over time, not pushing the weight up so much on squats adds up.
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I remember some time ago giving you input that the “bar was squatting you” or something like that. Doesn’t look that way to me any more, I think you may have ascended to the next level
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Oh damn, @Cyrrex you made my day 
I really did feel “in control” for at least the first 3 reps of that set.
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4/11 Monday
Squats
8x bar
8x135
8x185
8x225
8x235
8x215
SS those with band pullaparts and a few triceps thingys.
3x5 BSS bodyweight only
ss with 3x8 curls (my wife is begging me to make my arms match my legs)
DB C&P, singles, up to 85lb each arm.
Leg curls, leg extensions, glute/ham raises.
I was feeling squats in my spinal erectors. The top set matches last week’s top set, but for the 3rd set I took a step back and went a bit lighter. Kept technique good. I believe it was the right choice. Looking forward to thursday’s session.
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4/12 Wednesday
5 rounds: 5 pullups, 5 rows 155lb, 3 rollouts.
Bench press 3x6@185
Db lateral raise.
Had to check thr bar twice thinking i had unbalanced weights on bench press. Turns out my left arm was being strange. No idea why.
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4/14 Thursday
Squats
4x bar
4x135
4x185
4x225
4x275
4x275
4x265
EMOM for 10 minutes, squat singles:
5x225, 1x245, 1x265, 2x275, 1x265
Then i threw up.
1x20 glute ham raises.
The 4x275 squats didnt feel as solid as last week. Depth wasn’t as great and my knees were really trying to cave in. I could feel the bar going forward too.
So the point of the EMOMs was technique.
Idk whats up with the vomiting. Ive been “off” for days. Couldn’t finish my eggs this morning. Not eating enough.
Stopped on the way to work for several thousand calories worth of protein and fat. Doing my best.
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In othrr news, i think i finally broke 200lbs bodyweight. A serious milestone on this journey.
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Did the EMOM singles feel better?
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They did, thanks. I can really focus on the brace and depth with the singles.
Though i did puke after…
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Congratulations. This will make your 315lb goal easier.
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4/15 Friday
At home.
Bench press:
6x135
4x185
1x205
1x225
1x225
1x225
3x4x195
It felt good to tag 225 again. The reason I do so rarely is because I’m afraid of getting guillotined in my garage. I see images in my head of myself pinned, too weak to shimmy the weight off, gasping for help… But was more confident today and guess what? 225 was easy. Nothing to worry about. After the third single felt just a wee bit grindy I backed off, but I’m stronger than 225 for sure.
Bench press was pretty much the anchor for a bunch of giant sets, which included:
EZ Bar Curls
Sandbag Good Mornings (bear hug, 100lbs)
leg curls
leg extensions
BTN press
pec flyes
some kinda mostly-upright row
All in all, a total “bro” workout of the kind I rarely do. If I did this twice a week I’d look great LOL.
8 Likes
4/18/22
Squats
6x bar
6x135
6x185
6x225
6x245
6x225
Strict press:
2x135
2x135
2x125
2x125
DB clean to shoulder:
Worked up singles, 2 singles each arm at 100lbs.
Intentionally didn’t push the envelope on squats. The top set at 245 was hard but not maximal.
I noticed something though: Last several squat sessions my back-extension muscles are pumped after the set and sore in the following days. As the weight gets heavy I think I tend to good-morning it which loads those up.
Knowing this, should I use accessory work to focus on beefing up that part of my body, or does this rather indicate a technique flaw or muscle weakness (glutes, or quads, for example) that I should focus on, to help me maintain an upright torso and take strain off my back extensors?
Anybody’s answer is welcome but tagging @simo74 and @wiseman83 and @carlbm since you guys have been watching closely here lately.
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Video if you can.
It sounds like your chest is falling forward which can be lots of things.
In the mean time I would add in some good mornings, back hypers and core stuff. There is a good chance it’s your bracing.
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I found that, when I strengthened my quads, I stopped leaning forward so much in the squat.
My theory is that, since I was such a strong puller, my body was shifting weight to the hamstrings and lower back in the squat and away from the quads. It prioritized the stronger muscles over the weaker. This resulted in a squat that looked liked pulling.
When my quads got stronger, they carried more of the load, which had me more upright.
Biggest contributor was belt squats and focusing on front squats in my conditioning.
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I can vouch for this, @jdm135: I’ve been doing twice-daily tabata DB front squats for the past six weeks, and I just worked up to 325x5 for the first time this morning.
To be fair, I’ve been plodding slow and steady toward a 3-plate squat for quite awhile now, but I know these tabatas didn’t hurt. I think my quads are bigger and I know for sure they’re stronger.
Plus, it’s only 8 minutes a day—definitely the worst 8 minutes of the day, haha, but still only 8 minutes!
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@carlbm @T3hPwnisher @SvenG thanks all!
No video today Carl but you can probably see it in the video from last week.
Thanks Pwn and Sven. So more suffering is the answer, haha.
That 325 front squat is effing IMPRESSIVE. I mean good lord thats insane.
Pretty sure that’s always the answer!
Sorry, I see now that was poorly written: I hit 325x5 in a BACK squat. But the extra front squats helped get me there…
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Fyi
My biggest squat came after a period of good gains on my front squat. I added maybe 35-40kg to my 5rm in my front squat and within 6 months I hit a big back squat PR.
But my issue with my squat was not one of good morning the weight up. I lacked strength in the hole. But having stronger quads / a stronger front squat will never be a bad thing.
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I think at least for me that when the weights get higher there is always a tendency to good morning the squats. For me this comes mostly from fear of dropping too low into the hole and thinking I wont come back out. The funny thing is that going a little deeper and getting some rebound from the bottom usually makes the squat easier. Also depth can start to be an issue for me after repeated heavy strength blocks due to tightness particularly in the hips.
With regards to the confidence of hitting depth, for me there are two ways to improve this, number 1 is to just get stronger. Like the guys said above stronger quads is never the wrong answer. Secondly I use a tempo pause squat, this allows me to feel the depth correctly and gain confidence that I am going to be able to come back up.
The other obvious answer for the max sets is to also have a good spotter, but that isn’t always possible if you train alone.
2 Likes
4/19/2022 Tuesday
5 rounds of 5 each:
-Pullups
-Rows 185lb
-Ab rollouts
Tabata Goblet squats, 50lbs:
8 total sets, 8 reps each, except 9 reps on sets 2 and 3. That is a brutal thing to do and this was barely any weight!
5 rounds:
-5 bench press 185lbs
-8 upright rows, maybe 65lbs? (EZ bar + 50)
Was a great session. Took exactly 40 minutes.
The rows were way too hard, used tons of body english. Everything else was spot on. The Tabata stuff is from another world and has obvious benefits. Thanks @T3hPwnisher and @SvenG .
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