Just thought I’d ask–I went through the usual noob gains and now have a squat that’s in the low- to mid-300s (highest 1 rep is 340). Bodyweight is 180. I’ve been stuck at the 330-340 range for a while (1.5-2 months), but my other lifts are still increasing.
I guess my question is: is it just a mental thing within the 300s? One thing I’ve been considering trying is squatting less frequently…I currently squat heavy 3x per week, and I’ve been considering trying to move it down to 2 to see whether it’s a matter of recovery. Before I did that, though, I would cut back on cardio (currently do about 30-40 minutes per day of jogging). Thing is, I did all of these things up to this point with no problems, and, as I said earlier, it seems like it’s only my squat that’s stalled.
Just thought I’d get the thoughts of those who have moved through the 300s on squats. Was there a point at which you needed to cut cardio or squat less frequently to get your squat moving? I’d really like to hit a 400+ squat during the spring semester if possible, so just thought I’d fish for some thoughts on here. Thanks!
I am probably not the best person to respond but 531 took me from 325 to 405 and I was running all the way up to that point. I think reduced frequency, squatting once or twice a week and pyramiding your weights would work awesome.
Hello, this is my first post, and I don’t mean to hijack someone else’s thread, but I’ve become stuck on my own Squat Numbers and don’t want to make another thread when there’s already a similar topic up.
As some background, I’m a 340lbs fatty who started going to a gym in August 2010 at 365lbs, and started lifting December 2010 at 280 lbs. I started out with Starting Strength for 6 months, and switched to Madcow 5x5 when I stalled in the same area after 3 resets. I recently stalled out on Squat and Bench Madcow after 3 resets and an arm surgery. My 1RM Squat was 355 (Came a long way from not being able to Air Squat) and Bench is now at a 230 max.
Someone from my Gym directed me to the After SS section of the SS wikia and told me to pick one of the Strength or Powerlifting templates and go for a run on one of those. I chose the Russian Squat Routine because I heard it or the Smolov JR was a good test of mental toughness. I’m now entering Week 3. I’ve had conflicting advice on other lifts while on the RSR, so I’m doing heavy Singles/Doubles/Triples on Bench (Heavy for what I can lift now) for up to 8 sets, and trying to practice Chin-ups, but I still have to be assisted. I also do Decline Sit-ups.
I’m hoping this really works, but regardless, I’ve read that I shouldn’t try RSR or Smolov JR without a long rest period. I was wondering if after my RSR run I should go back to Madcow or try a new program to “shock” my body.
If I should move on from Madcow, what’s next? Sorry if my post kinda runs on.
I got up to about 330x6 just doing “straight” progression (3 sets of the same weight as many reps as possible, each session being the same weight as last time or 5 lbs more), but technique was starting to feel bad, and I was dreading the workouts (always felt like a grind, had the feeling that maintaining/increasing current progress was an unsustainable effort).
I switched to 5/3/1 style progression for squats (although I’m on a 5 day cycle instead of 7, and usually skip deloads) and have had very good progress so far… (started with 315x8 and have made it to 350x8 without dropping reps)
I believe the key components that helped mentally and apparently physically are using a cycled approach, where not every day is “max” day, leaving a rep or two in the tank, and working with sub-maximal weights. Especially if your current approach is a lot different than this (sounds like it is) and you suspect it might be a mental issue, you would probably benefit from it.
[quote]The3Commandments wrote:
I’m basically running a 2-way split that mirrors the BBB 6-day program. So, it’s alternating
Back/Chest/Bis/Calves
with
Delts/Tris/Thighs/Abs
six days a week. Should note, though, that I’m running a 5x5 rep scheme instead of BBB rep scheme.[/quote]
You said you squat 3X a week. Little confused on your program here (probably just me). You squat on delts/tris/thighs/abs? Do you deadlift on back day to?