First off, I’m not as strong as I should be for my size, I already know this. I’m 6’1" at 250 lbs. I can deadlift 420 lbs. for a 3RM but I can only squat around 335 for a 3RM with good form. Any heavier and I lose my form And I feel like I can’t come out of the bottom. I just started doing good mornings to help with my lower back strength. Also, I recently did my first box squat workout with the box set to just under parallel. Anything else I should be doing? From what I’ve been reading, most people seem to squat more than they deadlift. I’d like for this to be the case for me as well.
Alot of times beginners will out DL their squat…mainly because of bodyweight or form, because you are a bigger guy i would say its just your form you need to work on. If your getting stuck in the bottom then you need to kill your hamstrings. This past year my squat sucked outta the hole and i hit my hamstrings 4x per week on the GHR and my box squat went up 85lbs. in 4 months.
I would say this also…
Start with hitting your hamstrings hard
Next make sure your form is correct and while your working with form make sure you speed training is going well. Once you get your form better you can focus on speed even more.
if you are a brachiomorph (longer limbed individual), you will tend to have a stronger dl than squat.
people with short levered limbs tend to be better at squats and bench presses.
I, being a 6’3" brachiomorph get much better posterior chain stimulation from dling than squatting. I like to romanian straight legged dl better than squatting. Full&front squats and leg presses are the mainstay of my quad workouts.
Part of it, too, is that the squat has more and better gear for it.
At least, that’s my opinon.
Dan
Brachiomoph is long midsection short limbed.
you mean dicholomorph (sp?)
This may be just me, but I find that If I want to gain more strength in the squat, I gradually increase the poundages each workout. Try increasing the weight by 2.5 lbs each side for every workout. It may take a while but if you do the math, in 10 leg workouts you will have increased your squat by 50 lbs.
if you can put 5lbs on your Squat every workout then holy hell everyone would be squatting over 1000lbs. So lets see i squat 600, it will take me 40 weeks to squat a grand…
i’m just f$ckin with you but seriously, u need to really work…nothing is going to just come that easy, go read some back issues of T-mag written by Dave Tate… he goes into detail how they all squat. YOu just need to get stronger and i bet without a doubt that your form could be better.
of course there are going to be times when you cannot increase your poundage. At these times, just concentrate on increasing your reps - if you can do say 1 more rep with the weight then the time before, that’s a victory. just always fight for improvement from workout to workout. Eventually in time you will reach your goals.
cycomiko, I wonder if you have read the Body Type and Training Strategy
An observational analysis article by Charles Staley? It is in the t-mag archives.
Brachiomorph is long limbed (hence brachio).
How low are you going when you squat?
Listen to dirtydan. He shits you not.
Hmm, well then the article in T-mag is incorrect as to those descriptions.
Brachio means arm… yes. However:
brachimorphic: This means Having, or denoting, a shorter form than that of the usually accepted norm
dolichomorphic : built along lines that tend toward the slender or longer type.
Please read ‘Reader Mail’ at
this describes the mistake that Mr Staley accidentally reversed the two words.
Note- Before pointing out that someone is incorrect, and that they may have not done their research… do your research.
as i2ambler sez,
Charles got them backwards
Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah ditydan, I’m sure my form could be better. THe problem is despite my pathetic squat weight, I have the best squat in my gym (read: athletic club). So I really don’t have anyone to critique my form. I’ll check out those Dave Tate articles, though.
Apology:
Sorry guys, I assumed that Charles would be correct, and that was my research.
I humbly apologize and thank you for the correction.