I am probably weak everywhere, but squats are the weakest. I have recently overcome a lot of knee injuries, but the strength has gone away in the process.
Three hard days a week (aka starting strength) were too much. I think once a week is too little. I wonder about doing two work days and a speed day… At the end of the day, i dont really know what to do.
I am 6-0ish 248 lbs and turning 40 in a few months. I am about to have a mini powerlifting competition in my garage with some guys next month to get my official maxes, but my last maxes months ago were 455 deadlift, 340 squat for a double, and 275 bench. I also have 165 for two strict press.
I just did 10 sets of two with 315 on squat and it was hard as fuck.
This gives me the impression that you don’t workout at a fully equipped gym.
My advice is that you need to strengthen your quads before trying to get your squat weight to increase.
If all you have is the squat to build thigh strength, you are working to fix two different things at the same. Most important is proper body mechanics and most efficient bar path. Then you are also trying build thigh and hip strength (also back).
If you had a leg press machine you totally remove bar path and the body mechanics have many less variables. With the leg press you can build thigh and hip strength. Remember to have a reasonable amount of carryover to the squat you need to use full range of motion on the leg press.
Being 6’0" it is very likely that an efficient squat form will be a challenge. I was 6’0" and it took me until I turned 40 to figure it out. I had the hip and thigh strength that I had acquired doing heavy leg presses. Once I got the body mechanics and bar path down, the weight on the bar soared.
You could post a video of you doing a squat that is fairly heavy (something you can do 10 reps) and we might be able to help you optimize your form for maximum squat weight.
I do low bar, but figured that my quad strength was down, so i have been doing hatfields. They feel great on the quads, but i took a break from low bar to fix knee problems and i feel pretty weak in low bar now.
My gym is poorly equipped. Just a squat rack, a few bars, and some plates.
I made a cable machine for facepulls and tri work.
I have had some success with squatting 3 days a week, although given your comments regarding ‘a lot of knee injuries’ I am not sure more squatting is what you want.
If you did want to squat 2 days a week, I would just have;
1 Heavy day - 4 to 5 sets at 4 reps, progress weight over 3 weeks and then deload, then repeat with slightly higher weight.
1 Light or volume day - 3 sets of 8 at approx 70% of you heavy weight same 3 week progression then deload, i light to do these beltless.
1 Technique day - My go to hear is pause squats, but tempo squats are good too, or even tempo with a pause. This day the weights are lower and you are really focusing on technique.
If 3 days is still too much then go back to 2 days and alternate between the Light and Technique 1 block of each.
So go a bit more in depth with the heavy day. I am down for 5 sets of 4. But if I pick a weight, say 300 to start, do i do that the whole three weeks before deload, or do I progress each week before deload?
Also, i work out beltless except for heavy deads and standing press. My torso os small, so even my 3" belt limits motion. I have a strongman (nylon) belt that works for deads and i wear it under the actual belt for press
One thing you may find interesting. I did some leg press on a cruise in november. I loved it, but i was stil rehabbing the knee, and tried some single leg extentions. With the weight stack as low as possible, i couldnt do it with right leg.
For awhile i struggled to walk up stairs or climb ladder. I had to go up with left each step then bring up right.
Now i am damn near 100%
But yes. I would love to do a block on an actual gym to hit those exercises i never get to
Are you doing any single leg work currenlty ? Lunges, Bulgarians (rear elevated split squat),step ups ? Could be a good option to build some quads. My personal choice would be Bulgarians.
I have been doing stepups. They have helped immensly. I want to start bulgarians, but i have a bit of trepidation. I need to get over it and set it up.
I used to try to do lunges, but i experienced a lot of pain behind kneecaps, but i think i will do the heavy, volume, and technique day to start, then switch off technique day with bulgarians…or just do bulgarians on technique day after workout
It may be possible to set this up in your rack so you are holding a weight in one hand and the rack with the other hand. This will help a lot with balance until you get used to the movement. Could also do them with the SSB bar and use both hands to balance like a Hatfield squat
My typical 4 weeks for heavy day will look something like
Week 1 - 4 sets of 4 with 130KG approx 75% 1RM
Week 3 - 5 sets of 4 with 140KG approx 80% 1RM
Week 3 - 5 sets of 4 with 150KG approx 85% of 1RM
Deload - i use 2 options either a
Light deload - 3 sets of 3 with 120KG (65% 1RM) or
Heavy Deload - work up to a heavy double approx 160KG. Not an RPE 10 but a proper effort.
The next block i’ll just add 5KG or even 2.5KG and repeat,
I think it’s funny how you were sure on the weight but left yourself some wiggle room on the height. Exactly how I used to try to list myself when I wanted to be an athlete; coaches never fell for it.
Anyway, great advice in here obviously. If you’re still trying to build that quad up to a point of confidence so you can do the single-leg moves @simo74 suggested, two things that helped me were Anderson step ups and just standing up one-legged off a bench. You have a safety net and you are able to work yourself up to total control that you can take with you over to the barbell.
