I do the INDJS version of 5/3/1, I squat 4 times a month for a total of about 100 reps, warmups inclusive. I’ve never trained with a weekly volume beyond what you see in Madcow 5x5 (roughly 100 reps a week with warmups).
Squats today were weak, and I felt weaker with no good reason to feel that way. Given I had all the recovery time in the world it has to be one of two culprits:
I de-skilled because I didn’t have enough time meaningfully squatting
I’m under-training from a weight standpoint
I’m under-training from a volume standpoint
It’s one of these, I suspect (1) is a guaranteed partial culprit, and my likely plan of action there is to incorporate light squats pre deadlift and perhaps light jump squats afterwards.
I’m worried it may be (2) since with 5/3/1 I’m not working with anything remotely close to the high intensity 1-5 rep range that built all my strength in madcow.
(3) is possible but my bench and OHP are responding well on low volume. Perhaps doing the solution on (1) will partially cover some of the deficit on (3)? It at least eliminates a variable.
Thoughts? I suspect once a week squatting is insufficient for me
Edit: reading aloud I really am starting to suspect a little more volume could help.
Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time… a long time.
How strong are you OP? If you were used to squatting 3x a week on Madcow and backed off to 1x a week on 531, it’s possible the new lack of frequency might be the culprit. But thrice a week squatting is typically a beginner thing for a reason. It’s possible to make progress squatting once a week or even every other week. You just need to pick a program appropriate to your level.
I think there are plenty of paths to success. Some light squats on DL day could work - 5x5 at your first set weight is a common approach. Or you could do backoff sets on squat day.
Ok I’m convinced it’s either technique or something to do with bracing or high intensity work.
I failed my 5+ set of 415 on deadlift, after only getting 2 I immediately stripped a plate and cranked out a beltless 315 x 20 out of frustration. This suggests the strength isn’t gone, and I can still pull it out, but something is wrong when the weight is heavy.
Outside of technique is it possible that some kind of stabilizer is detraining? I would say CNS but I feel like that would mean all my lifts would detrain, not just lower ones?
I hit 445 for an easy 6* on my +1 day before the deload week. This is the point of the thread, I’ve come in weaker on lower after the deload and I’m trying to find why
*I actually have it marked as having felt easy in my notes lmao
This is very me — im sensing that the deload was a poor idea, at least for the length of time I took.
This cycle I’m going to stick to INDJS and a standard deload for upper as that’s working marvelously. For lower I’m going to keep adding squat and deadlift into each others days for a light component, and maybe reduce the length of the deload while doing explosive work.
My only other advice is you should keep a training log on here so we can better see how you set it up when you need help. It looks like you’ve been making posts asking for help on an almost weekly basis.