I believe both are impressive
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Yea, well of course, doing a fancy spin kick to a heavy bag is also kind of impressive but it doesnt count nearly as much as any legit fight won by a straight right.
Same goes with this. Some 20 rep maxes also are kind of impressive but in strength world no one actually gives a shit. People are breaking their back for 1RMs not without a reason.
IDK man, Iām with @tlgains on this one.
Me repping 405x5 on squats was cool.
Me repping 315x20 on squats was way cooler.
But I guess itās semantics. Heavy 1RMās are only cool to people who think they are coolā¦ I could give a fuck less how much someone squats, particularly in the powerlifting world. Iām just trying to look good naked and intimidate the normies around me.
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Well thats the reason why i said āin the strength worldā.
You will never Westsiders give a shit about your 20 rep max. You either lift some weight or you dont. I know its like a priority thing, but thats why i said āstrength worldā.
I care about someones 5 rep max just as much as i care about their shoe size. Its not impressive, as it just is NOT the way we measure strength in classic way.
All these X Rep maxes are kind of like physique class in bodybuilding. Guys dont have the genetics to do Open, so they stick the smaller class.
Its like in fights, only heavies are celebrated mostly unless the smaller guys are phenomenal. Because being a champ in middle weight is like saying āi can beat up small guys very wellā.
As the time goes on, people downgrade. They dont max, they do 10 rep maxes. They dont wanna be heavyweights, they cut water to be in the smallest weight class, etc.
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Is that strength world or powerlifting world?
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Its the same thing to me.
Then i realised there are strongmen and they do some reps also. Ok, lets say - powerlifting world.
But then again. Did anyone give a shit about Eddie Halls or Hafthors any rep max on deadlifts? Does anyone know any of their numbers besides Eddies 500kg and Hafthors 501kg dead? Anyone remembers their any rep maxes on anything? No? Why? Cuz no one gives a shit 
This is critical for moving the most weight. I made certain my core and spine were firmly braced. You donāt want any energy to push the weight up being absorbed in the core or spine. If they are rigid the energy will go to moving the bar up.
Never squat loosey goosey. Or any lift for that matter. Once that bar is out of the rack that is no time to relax and get your thoughts together. Do those before you unrack the weight. The squat really starts as soon as you ābeginā to unrack the weight.
I would say the video by Brian Alsruhe is extremely important to those wishing to squat heavy weight. You never need to be psyched out feeling the weight on your back.
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Maybe not, but Iām sure they do so thatās all that should matter.
One rep maxes are simply more popular because of powerlifting
Well Greg Doucette has Guinness World record in sumo deadlifts for reps. Anyone knew? Anyone knows weight or reps? nope. No one gives a shit. But we do know the big one rep maxes tho.
Hank, I could argue that most people are too fat or inactive to care about lifting.
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Hoping I donāt get Kanyeād hereā¦
#AllRepsMatter
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IMO, your max regardless of the number of reps is important to the most important personā¦ you.
It is good to be strong in both low reps and high reps. Why not try to improve both?
You will not excel in low rep max squats unless you master bracing your core and spine.
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Definitely, but after a while, you start to like it. There are few things that are more terrifying and exhilarating than walking out a third attempt squat. The whole time thinking, āif it feels this heavy at the top, what is it going to feel like at the bottom?ā Everything shakes and your body is screaming at you to rack it. You start to crave that feeling.
Just like you said though, to get used to the weight do some heavy āunracks.ā Walk it out, hold it for 10 seconds and rerack. Do it repeatedly. My father used to take a weight out of the rack and walk around with it. Hard to do at a gym, but you get the point.
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I cannot imagine doing that with a heavy weight. Walking back to set and walking back to rerack was a major task in itself, and done with great caution.
I would have to disagree. I know lots of guys that can build reps on 315 that still canāt squat 405. I used to hit 3x10 on 405 and I felt that was way more challenging than my maxing 500+ for one, but people always stopped and stared at the 5+ plates on each side but rarely noticed the 405.
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As a strongman, this makes me chuckle.
@pettersson I failed a 502lb squat twice in two different powerlifting meets. Both times, I got under the bar, it felt heavy, I freaked out and didnāt give it my all when the time came to push.
When I finally nailed it on my 3rd meet, I learned the secret: itās NEVER going to feel good.
Being strong and braced is awesome, practicing with heavy loads is cool too, I love Anderson squats, but giving myself permission to not feel good during the squat was huge.
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Iāve found that doing at least one warmup set at full weight for 1-3 reps helps me immensely perform better in my working sets. The first time I did it, I was sure that it would sap some of my reserves, but on my first set I banged out 2 more reps than I did the previous week.
I felt way more confident in my working sets by doing that one full weight warmup.
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A couple of things that may help:
- include some tempo pause squats into your training, learning to descend under control and pause at the bottom will help with the mental aspect of the heavier sets.
- Try and make all you reps the same, by this I mean make your set up, unrack, step back, brace, descent and ascent all exactly the same no matter whether you squat an empty bar or 400lbs. Once you repeat this many times, the heavier sets will become just another set with the same routine.
I would also add that a slightly slower descent with the weight under control is pretty common for most lifters once the weight gets up close to 3RM. Some lifters do benefit from the dive bomb approach but more take the steady approach.
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