Squats for Conditioning

Training
41

[quote]CrushKillDestroy wrote:

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:

[quote]Wilba wrote:

[quote]Sveti Ante wrote:

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
Looks to me like you’re training to bounce up and down in a squat position for long periods of time.

Great if you’re looking for a job in gay porn.

Not so much if you’re strength training.

Double the weight.[/quote]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

:))))))))))))

thats brutal![/quote]

Not brutal, childish and ignorant, sure, but not brutal.[/quote]

It’s the same treatment any other one-exercise, non-progressive plan would get here. Sarcastic dismissal.

I wonder, would all your fans be jumping on board if you were doing this many curls and calling it a day?[/quote]

Nope, he’d be an idiot for doing that.

But squats are a technically difficult exercise, using a large muscle mass, and he’s built progression into the plan by increasing the weight and the reps. Therefore, total amount of work done each session = more than the one before.
It’s actually quite an elegant plan in my opinion because it’s so simple, yet has every effect that he wants from it. Training economy.

So thats why i’m a ‘fan’. [/quote]

My first official fan. Makes all those gut busting workouts so worth it.

42

[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:

[quote]ArmyMBM wrote:

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:

It’s the same treatment any other one-exercise, non-progressive plan would get here. Sarcastic dismissal.[/quote]

What’s the big deal? If you don’t like it, then just explain why you don’t like it and have a civil conversation. Tell him where you the think the problems are. See, problem solving in action.[/quote]

It takes an Army man to tell a Marine he’s being unreasonable. :slight_smile: But yeah, the title of the post clearly states “Squats for Conditioning.” Had the post been titled “Squats for Strength” I probably would have joined in the ridicule (or not since I tend to be constructive). I’ve also considered adding light, high-rep squats to for purposes of conditioning. I was thinking more along the lines of 1-2 sets of 50 as part of a circuit or complex of some sort. So, the question still remains unanswered: What is wrong with doing high-rep squats for conditioning? I don’t see anything wrong with it other than it might cause some loss of maximal squatting strength (but it would certainly increase strength-endurance).[/quote]

It figures Army and Navy(me)can get along but not the Marine.

My max strength was nothing to write home about to begin with but has definitely gone up since I started this.

43

[quote]jskrabac wrote:

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
It’s the same treatment any other one-exercise, non-progressive plan would get here. Sarcastic dismissal.
[/quote]

What about sprint workouts? That’s one-exercise, one movement, and the only way to progress is to do more, increase distance, decrease rest interval, and/or change the terrain (i.e. hills, sand, etc.). Similarly, the OP can add reps, increase weight, decrease total time it takes to finish, and/or increase his ROM. There are just as many factors at play here that he can tweak to make this workout more challenging each time he does it, yet I’ve never really seen sprint workouts on here get this much negative feedback, even when they carry no indication of progression.

Moreover, give credit where credit is due. I wonder how many people on this site could do 225 for 20. I wonder how many could do the original 180 rep workout he posted. I could be completely wrong, but I imagine it to be quite a small percentage of T-Nation. If Dave Tate posted this exact same workout everyone on here would jump on that bandwagon and start incorporating squat conditioning into their weekly agenda…and, who knows, they might just be humbled by it.

My only negative feedback for the OP is that I’d be pretty pissed if I got held up behind you in the power rack on my squat day… [/quote]

I do sprints too. Another great kick your ass workout.

I train alone at home in my power rack so no worries about hogging the equipment.

44

[quote]Wilba wrote:

[quote]CrushKillDestroy wrote:

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:

[quote]Wilba wrote:

[quote]Sveti Ante wrote:

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
Looks to me like you’re training to bounce up and down in a squat position for long periods of time.

Great if you’re looking for a job in gay porn.

Not so much if you’re strength training.

Double the weight.[/quote]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

:))))))))))))

thats brutal![/quote]

Not brutal, childish and ignorant, sure, but not brutal.[/quote]

It’s the same treatment any other one-exercise, non-progressive plan would get here. Sarcastic dismissal.

I wonder, would all your fans be jumping on board if you were doing this many curls and calling it a day?[/quote]

Nope, he’d be an idiot for doing that.

But squats are a technically difficult exercise, using a large muscle mass, and he’s built progression into the plan by increasing the weight and the reps. Therefore, total amount of work done each session = more than the one before.
It’s actually quite an elegant plan in my opinion because it’s so simple, yet has every effect that he wants from it. Training economy.

So thats why i’m a ‘fan’. [/quote]

My first official fan. Makes all those gut busting workouts so worth it.[/quote]

Ha! No worries Wilba. Seriously, that’s a killer workout.

I often finish a workout with a single set of 225 for 20 — but not multiple sets. Hat off to you.

Dad was Navy and i’m Australian Police Force, for the record.

45

I don’t understand the hate since you are progressing in the time it takes to complete the same amount of work you did before, improved rep quality, and over time some combination of weight and reps completed. However if you feel like your ass is getting too big and still want a challenge why not try what you did with front squats.

46

[quote]JoabSonOfZeruiah wrote:
I don’t understand the hate since you are progressing in the time it takes to complete the same amount of work you did before, improved rep quality, and over time some combination of weight and reps completed. However if you feel like your ass is getting too big and still want a challenge why not try what you did with front squats.[/quote]

The problem with heavy front squats for high reps is that the upper back will fatigue making it hard to hold the bar in the rack position, assuming you’re using a clean grip. However, Tabata front squats are worth a try.

47

I would say that without doubt you are building some seriolus strength endurance. The cardio benefits seem evident from the way you’ve cut back on time. If you feel better and arne’t killing your knees, more power to you. I’m impressed.

48

I’m going to keep posting in here on the off chance there is interest to see my progress.

11\23\10

Set 1 - 135 X 10
Set 2 - 185 X 10
Set 3 - 225 X 20
Set 4 - 275 X 15
Set 5 - 275 X 13
Set 6 - 275 X 12
Set 7 - 275 X 11
Set 8 - 275 X 11
Set 9 - 275 X 10
Set 10 - 275 X 10

122 total reps. 8 more than last week.

49

[quote]Wilba wrote:
I’m going to keep posting in here on the off chance there is interest to see my progress.

11\23\10

Set 1 - 135 X 10
Set 2 - 185 X 10
Set 3 - 225 X 20
Set 4 - 275 X 15
Set 5 - 275 X 13
Set 6 - 275 X 12
Set 7 - 275 X 11
Set 8 - 275 X 11
Set 9 - 275 X 10
Set 10 - 275 X 10

122 total reps. 8 more than last week.[/quote]

I’m still reading. I saw on 11/09 you did a heavier workout. Having one day for strength and another for high rep/conditioning is actually a good way to go. Here’s something to try: on your high rep days, start by ramping up to a weight that’s heavy but still comfortable - this is not a max effort set and you shouldn’t be fatigued. Then do your high rep work. The purpose of the heavy set isn’t to build strength (although it might) but to fire up your nervous system. You should then be able to crank out more reps with the lighter weight, or use more weight for the same number of reps. That’s the theory, anyway.

50

I get what you’re doing. Its like doing body tosses with dummies for wrestling conditioning.

This is impressive, to me at least.

=)

51

wait…who has hepatitis?

52

[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:

[quote]Wilba wrote:
I’m going to keep posting in here on the off chance there is interest to see my progress.

11\23\10

Set 1 - 135 X 10
Set 2 - 185 X 10
Set 3 - 225 X 20
Set 4 - 275 X 15
Set 5 - 275 X 13
Set 6 - 275 X 12
Set 7 - 275 X 11
Set 8 - 275 X 11
Set 9 - 275 X 10
Set 10 - 275 X 10

122 total reps. 8 more than last week.[/quote]

I’m still reading. I saw on 11/09 you did a heavier workout. Having one day for strength and another for high rep/conditioning is actually a good way to go. Here’s something to try: on your high rep days, start by ramping up to a weight that’s heavy but still comfortable - this is not a max effort set and you shouldn’t be fatigued. Then do your high rep work. The purpose of the heavy set isn’t to build strength (although it might) but to fire up your nervous system. You should then be able to crank out more reps with the lighter weight, or use more weight for the same number of reps. That’s the theory, anyway.[/quote]

That’s actually how I started this. Every other week I was rotating high rep squats with heavy squats. As the reps went up I started to really dread the high rep week. Somehow I convinced myself to embrace it and keep going. After focusing on getting 225 X 20 and then doing it for multiple sets I realized that I had made more progress with my squat than I would have imagined possible.

So for the heavy set on a high rep day how much above the weight would I want to go and how many reps would I target? If 275 is the rep weight would 315 do the trick and for how many reps?

53

[quote]Wilba wrote:

[quote]MikeTheBear wrote:

[quote]Wilba wrote:
I’m going to keep posting in here on the off chance there is interest to see my progress.

11\23\10

Set 1 - 135 X 10
Set 2 - 185 X 10
Set 3 - 225 X 20
Set 4 - 275 X 15
Set 5 - 275 X 13
Set 6 - 275 X 12
Set 7 - 275 X 11
Set 8 - 275 X 11
Set 9 - 275 X 10
Set 10 - 275 X 10

122 total reps. 8 more than last week.[/quote]

I’m still reading. I saw on 11/09 you did a heavier workout. Having one day for strength and another for high rep/conditioning is actually a good way to go. Here’s something to try: on your high rep days, start by ramping up to a weight that’s heavy but still comfortable - this is not a max effort set and you shouldn’t be fatigued. Then do your high rep work. The purpose of the heavy set isn’t to build strength (although it might) but to fire up your nervous system. You should then be able to crank out more reps with the lighter weight, or use more weight for the same number of reps. That’s the theory, anyway.[/quote]

That’s actually how I started this. Every other week I was rotating high rep squats with heavy squats. As the reps went up I started to really dread the high rep week. Somehow I convinced myself to embrace it and keep going. After focusing on getting 225 X 20 and then doing it for multiple sets I realized that I had made more progress with my squat than I would have imagined possible.

So for the heavy set on a high rep day how much above the weight would I want to go and how many reps would I target? If 275 is the rep weight would 315 do the trick and for how many reps?[/quote]

315 would probably do it, and you wouldn’t need more than 3 reps.

54

Today was brutal. I have a bad cold and am totally congested and dehydrated and have a sore throat. I debated not squatting today and could have justified it but decided to try and at least get half a workout in. I was able to force my way through it even though I wanted to cut the day short after almost every set. I was winded after set 3 and knew I was in trouble. Had that great feeling that a puke was likely after each of the last 4 or 5 sets.

Set 1 - 135 X 10
Set 2 - 185 X 10
Set 3 - 225 X 20
Set 4 - 275 X 16 - rep PR
Set 5 - 275 X 13
Set 6 - 275 X 12
Set 7 - 275 X 11
Set 8 - 275 X 11
Set 9 - 275 X 10
Set 10 - 275 X 10

123 total reps. 1 more than last week.

55

That volume is crazy. I typically adhere to the lower volume approach being an Oly lifter but what you’re doing is so impressive I just had to comment. I have a friend that does something similar to your approach and his strength and size just went through the roof after a couple years of doing this.

We’re talking going from your set of 275x20 to 315+x10 in a couple of months up past 405 for 15 the next year and now he’s close to 500 for 10. One thing that did help him make those jumps were throwing in some meso cycles strictly for strength a couple times a year. You can check his Youtube videos under laborwage or here’s a link to one of his sets here

I imagine I could make it to the 4th or 5th set of your workout before I started yakking hard. Keep up the great work.

56

[quote]Dexter Falcon wrote:
That volume is crazy. I typically adhere to the lower volume approach being an Oly lifter but what you’re doing is so impressive I just had to comment. I have a friend that does something similar to your approach and his strength and size just went through the roof after a couple years of doing this.

We’re talking going from your set of 275x20 to 315+x10 in a couple of months up past 405 for 15 the next year and now he’s close to 500 for 10. One thing that did help him make those jumps were throwing in some meso cycles strictly for strength a couple times a year. You can check his Youtube videos under laborwage or here’s a link to one of his sets here

I imagine I could make it to the 4th or 5th set of your workout before I started yakking hard. Keep up the great work.[/quote]

Thanks for the post. Your friend is an absolute beast! What I love the most is how deep he gets on every rep. And his feet are really close together too. I need to work on bring my feet a little closer together but didn’t realize how much until now. Amazing strength. I checked out his other youtube vids - very impressive.

Where are you guys training, university? Are you competing?

57

OP, what does your weekly/monthly workout schedule look like?
how does this fit in your normal schedule and how do you recover from it?

58

I wonder, what amount do you have to squat, lets say in one hour for example, for it to prove or improve your aerobic capacity? I know that maybe no-one can answer this but I want to put this out here.

I have to add that I just love this idea of squatting for conditioning because I don’t have to add anything to my training, squats are enough. What’s better than to get everything out of one exercise.

59

[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
OP, what does your weekly/monthly workout schedule look like?
how does this fit in your normal schedule and how do you recover from it?[/quote]

Right now I’m only running once a week, doing 3 mile runs. I had been running sprints twice a week during the spring/summer. One of my achilles has been sore for months and I pulled a hammy a while back so I’m taking it easy on the running for a while.

Normal schedule is:

Mon - Sprints
Tues - Back/Bi
Wed - Squats
Thurs - Shoulders/Traps/Abs
Fri - off
Sat - Sprints
Sun - Chest/Tri

Currently:

Mon - Off
Tues - Squats
Wed - Back/Bi
Thurs - Shoulders/Traps/Abs
Fri- Off
Sat - 3 mile run
Sun - Chest/Tri

I used to do split squats and or lunges after back squats when I was doing a more traditional 5 or 6 set ramp up the weight squat routine. Right now I’m just going to keep on pounding out the squats and see where it takes me. As far as recovery goes I don’t really do anything special. My legs are usually very sore for 2 or 3 days after squatting. After my run tomorrow the soreness will be gone. From time to time I do some static stretching.

60

[quote]Wrah wrote:
I wonder, what amount do you have to squat, lets say in one hour for example, for it to prove or improve your aerobic capacity? I know that maybe no-one can answer this but I want to put this out here.

I have to add that I just love this idea of squatting for conditioning because I don’t have to add anything to my training, squats are enough. What’s better than to get everything out of one exercise.[/quote]

Try the 180 rep routine I posted using whatever weight you want. If you don’t feel ill at some point during then increase the weight next time. I don’t know if it will prove anything but I know I was gasping the first time I did 225 X 20 and now I can do lots of those sets in an hour so it must have done something for my conditioning.