I wanted to start doing front squats. Until now I’ve been doing low bar back squats on the 5/3/1 program. On my Squat day I’ve been squating, leg press, leg curls. Would you recommend just swapping out the leg press and doing front squats? Or Switch the low bar squat to front squats?
Not sure if this is needed but my goals currently are to lose weight and maintain my strength. I’m on a caloric deficit so making serious gains aren’t my main concern, but I have consistently been improving on my reps on the third set.
JW may disagree and I’m interested to see what he says. My recommendation is to do 531’s BBB but substitute front squats for back squats entirely. The idea is to focus on getting better at a specific lift. BTW leg presses and leg curls aren’t in the program at all so the 531 forum may not be the place for your question IMO. Much like you I’ve fallen into the trap of getting too creative, especially on lower body days. But when I did a cycle of BBB w/ front squats my low bar back squat was stronger when I came back to it.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Since it doesn’t seem to matter much I guess I’ll use Front squat as an accessory like Dave said and exchange it for leg press. Am I right in thinking that the Front Squat will help my quads develop better than the leg press? Which I guess will also carry over to my BBB.
[quote]pzimmerman1 wrote:
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Since it doesn’t seem to matter much I guess I’ll use Front squat as an accessory like Dave said and exchange it for leg press. Am I right in thinking that the Front Squat will help my quads develop better than the leg press? Which I guess will also carry over to my BBB. [/quote]
Why don’t you use 6 week blocks as outlined? Then you can switch and evaluate.
That’s the entire point of the programming: so you can make changes, even slight ones as this is, and maintain principles. At really, at the end of the day do you really think this is going to matter? Effort and consistency over the 10 Weak Point areas is paramount.
I’ve been doing the Triumvirate which I read about on this site (Tnation). I’m on my third cycle. I have been doing 3 days a weeks so I’m guessing that one cycle is 6 week block you are talking about? I think I’ve been doing it right so far, this whole front squat question would be the first time I’ve changed anything.
Thank you again for responding, I’ve really enjoyed the 5/3/1 program and will continue to use it. I didn’t want you to think I just started the program and was trying to change it right away.
[quote]pzimmerman1 wrote:
I’ve been doing the Triumvirate which I read about on this site (Tnation). I’m on my third cycle. I have been doing 3 days a weeks so I’m guessing that one cycle is 6 week block you are talking about? I think I’ve been doing it right so far, this whole front squat question would be the first time I’ve changed anything.
Thank you again for responding, I’ve really enjoyed the 5/3/1 program and will continue to use it. I didn’t want you to think I just started the program and was trying to change it right away.[/quote]
The normal program is 4 days/week with with a 3 weeks on/1 week deload cycle. One modification to the original program Jim has recommended is doing two 3 week cycles in a row to form a 6 week block with a deload on the 7th week.
I think what he’s getting at is that if you ever want to know if something works try it for a 6 week block. If you want to know if one exercise is better than the other, try one for 6 weeks, then try the other for 6 weeks. After awhile you’ll know what works and what doesn’t.
This doesn’t mean you can’t jump on the internet and ask questions… just that time spent in the weight room is a better teacher than any of us are.