I’ve been corresponding with SquatDr and he really vouches for alternating ATG back squats with box squats in 3 week cycles.
Another favorite is the Olympic clean for explosiveness.
Those are my new bread and butter.
For performance, being fresh and well rested is key. The workout should stop when performance starts to drop. No use in trying to get faster or jump higher when your legs and CNS are fried, right?
[quote]oboffill wrote:
I’ve been corresponding with SquatDr and he really vouches for alternating ATG back squats with box squats in 3 week cycles.
Another favorite is the Olympic clean for explosiveness.
Those are my new bread and butter.
For performance, being fresh and well rested is key. The workout should stop when performance starts to drop. No use in trying to get faster or jump higher when your legs and CNS are fried, right?[/quote]
Anything about how many squat sessions during the week for these 3 week cycles? Thanks, in advance.
With your max effort lift, do you rep out/ go to failure during the sets leading up to the 3/5RM set? Say i did my first set at 135 for 10 reps, would i not be able to do 11?
[quote]SquatDr wrote:
B.Ford wrote:
SquatDR,
How do you perform box squats? Do you pause on the box for a second or touch and go ?
yeah the way that i do them is to sit back which will break up the eccentric/concentric chain (down and up). so you will sit back as if you are sitting on the toilet, drive up with your head and chest into the bar and extend the hips in a pelvic thrust. common errors that i have seen that didnt transfer well to squatting was people lifting their feet off the ground while on the box and driving them into the ground, too much forward lean when coming up and not driving the head up, not using the hips enough. hope this helps.[/quote]
Thanks SquatDr.
[quote]tajam wrote:
With your max effort lift, do you rep out/ go to failure during the sets leading up to the 3/5RM set? Say i did my first set at 135 for 10 reps, would i not be able to do 11? [/quote]
none of the sets should be until failure. say you think you can squat 315 for three. then start with 135 for a few reps, then maybe 225 then 275 then 315, if you get that fairly easy, then go to 335. in that set, if you get two and know you wont be able to get a second one, just rack the weight.
[quote]enigma wrote:
oboffill wrote:
I’ve been corresponding with SquatDr and he really vouches for alternating ATG back squats with box squats in 3 week cycles.
Another favorite is the Olympic clean for explosiveness.
Those are my new bread and butter.
For performance, being fresh and well rested is key. The workout should stop when performance starts to drop. No use in trying to get faster or jump higher when your legs and CNS are fried, right?
Anything about how many squat sessions during the week for these 3 week cycles? Thanks, in advance.[/quote]
two per week. one day of max effort and one day of dynamic squats. hope that helps.
Alright thanks SquatDr and BobDigiNY. I know my question has been answered many times before between this site and Defranco’s.
What is your max deadlift squatDr?
[quote]JONBOY-UK wrote:
What is your max deadlift squatDr?[/quote]
i rarely if ever deadlift. mainly the only deadlifts that i do are stiff leg deadlifts with an overhand hook grip and i do 450 for reps. deadlifts just seem to wear me out more than any other lift and for that reason i dont do them. but they are a great lift and when i am doing sprinting i will do them.
Squatdr,
How much has your vertical jump increased since you started a serious strength training regimen?
I am working on my vert (not for any specific reason, aside from the desire to dunk really hard) and I will post and keep you guys updated on my progress. At this point I am just trying to get my squat and deadlift numbers up, so I have a good level of base strength before focusing on more explosive movements (following k. baggetts advice).
squat: 290 parallel, 245 atg (I’m 6’5)
deadlift: 365
[quote]SquatDr wrote:
enigma wrote:
oboffill wrote:
I’ve been corresponding with SquatDr and he really vouches for alternating ATG back squats with box squats in 3 week cycles.
Another favorite is the Olympic clean for explosiveness.
Those are my new bread and butter.
For performance, being fresh and well rested is key. The workout should stop when performance starts to drop. No use in trying to get faster or jump higher when your legs and CNS are fried, right?
Anything about how many squat sessions during the week for these 3 week cycles? Thanks, in advance.
two per week. one day of max effort and one day of dynamic squats. hope that helps.
[/quote]
This is probably going to sound stupid. So for 3 weeks you do box squats switching ME and DE. Then for 3 weeks you do ATG Squats switching ME and DE. How do you do an ATG DE squat?
[quote]enigma wrote:
SquatDr wrote:
enigma wrote:
oboffill wrote:
I’ve been corresponding with SquatDr and he really vouches for alternating ATG back squats with box squats in 3 week cycles.
Another favorite is the Olympic clean for explosiveness.
Those are my new bread and butter.
For performance, being fresh and well rested is key. The workout should stop when performance starts to drop. No use in trying to get faster or jump higher when your legs and CNS are fried, right?
Anything about how many squat sessions during the week for these 3 week cycles? Thanks, in advance.
two per week. one day of max effort and one day of dynamic squats. hope that helps.
This is probably going to sound stupid. So for 3 weeks you do box squats switching ME and DE. Then for 3 weeks you do ATG Squats switching ME and DE. How do you do an ATG DE squat?[/quote]
thats not a dumb question at all, just a bad explaination by me. for the DE you would still use a box, just lower it. the DE days almost always use the box, but i have switched it up or just lowered the volume on the DE box squats and have done jump squats, or pause squats instead of or in addition to, with great success.
hope this answers your question.
AC
[quote]tsvnation wrote:
Squatdr,
How much has your vertical jump increased since you started a serious strength training regimen?
I am working on my vert (not for any specific reason, aside from the desire to dunk really hard) and I will post and keep you guys updated on my progress. At this point I am just trying to get my squat and deadlift numbers up, so I have a good level of base strength before focusing on more explosive movements (following k. baggetts advice).
squat: 290 parallel, 245 atg (I’m 6’5)
deadlift: 365[/quote]
well its hard for me to define when i started “serious” strength training, because although i lifted and lifted hard, i didnt lift that smart for what my goals were. but i would say about 10-12 inches since 5-6 years ago. and of couse the higher you get, the harder those extra inches go on. since doing this type of box squat workout, it went up 6 inches in two years, with little plyo training.
btw, at 6-5, your 290 squat means you are generating quite a bit of power. i think that if you did a workout routine similiar to the one that i described, you would see huge gains.
good luck and look forward to seeing your progress.
AC
If you were doing a westside template for lower body (ME and DE days every week) how would you guys recommend adding in power cleans? Could they be used in place of something like RDL’s or glute ham raises as a supplemental exercise? If so, do you think it would be better to do them on the ME day or the DE day?
Squatdr,
Do you cycle any other exercises in your ME day aside from atg squats and box squats? Many westside templates I have seen focus on good mornings as a max effort exercise. Do you (or anyone else here) ever use these on ME days?
I tried out box squats the other day and I LOVE them. I am going to start incorporating them into my training, and I am going to switch over to a westside style template for my lower body.
[quote]tsvnation wrote:
If you were doing a westside template for lower body (ME and DE days every week) how would you guys recommend adding in power cleans? Could they be used in place of something like RDL’s or glute ham raises as a supplemental exercise? If so, do you think it would be better to do them on the ME day or the DE day?
Squatdr,
Do you cycle any other exercises in your ME day aside from atg squats and box squats? Many westside templates I have seen focus on good mornings as a max effort exercise. Do you (or anyone else here) ever use these on ME days?
I tried out box squats the other day and I LOVE them. I am going to start incorporating them into my training, and I am going to switch over to a westside style template for my lower body. [/quote]
the workouts that i follow have me sprinting, then lifting, starting with oly lifts. so i will clean first then do the ME squats, and on my DE days i will snatch first. i dont do the good mornings even though westside guys do them 70% of the time for their ME days. i just dont like them as a ME exercise and feel much better doing them as supplemental exercise for squats. i have receieved great results, just changing the squats, i even do front squats every now and then for ME. i have a list of the squats i use for ME day and they seem to really work well for me.
i also follow simliar workouts for upper body with good results.
hope that answered your question.
AC
I just finished doing push-jerks on my DE leg day and my wrists are killing me. Am I doing them wrong? Military presses have never hurt my wrists.
Also, with Dynamic Box Squats, I feel almost as though the box is only there to indicate the depth of my squat. Is it proper to sit back even with dynamic box squats or do you just tap off the box and explode up? My back is seemingly always at 45 degrees through the whole movement… I know you are supposed to sit back when performing them for max effort, but is it different with DE?
I was reading Louie Simmons’ article on Explosive Power and Strength and he prescribes two movements he has found to be better than the power clean. He has you kneel on the floor with the bar across your legs, then jumping off of your knees into a power clean or a snatch. Has anyone tried these excersizes?
SquatDr, do you do any jumping on your leg days and/or during extra workouts? Thanks.
[quote]tajam wrote:
I was reading Louie Simmons’ article on Explosive Power and Strength and he prescribes two movements he has found to be better than the power clean. He has you kneel on the floor with the bar across your legs, then jumping off of your knees into a power clean or a snatch. Has anyone tried these excersizes?
SquatDr, do you do any jumping on your leg days and/or during extra workouts? Thanks. [/quote]
i have tried the exercise that you described. its good but honestly i like cleans a lot more. i do a few jumping movements on my leg days before squats but after the oly lifts. i find that i actually jump higher after the oly lifts because it charges up the CNS.
[quote]BobDigiNY wrote:
Monday’s workout:
dynamic warmup
wide stance squat to parallel
135x10
225x8
275x7
305x6
335x4
355x2
305x4
single leg squats - 3x8 w/50lb db’s
reverse hypers - 4x10 on swiss ball on bench
weighted decline situps - 4x10 w/55lb db
i haven’t done wide stance squat in about 6 months due to trying to get my narrow stance atg up. this is defranco’s 6 week vert workout but instead of trap bar dl im squating. if you guys have any comments on my workout let me know.
[/quote]
Maybe its trite, but for improving your vert you basically need to strengthen your posterior chain. So I would prefer the deadlift, especially when youre doing pistols additionally. At times I`d use High pulls instead, too.
[quote]Hennes wrote:
BobDigiNY wrote:
Monday’s workout:
dynamic warmup
wide stance squat to parallel
135x10
225x8
275x7
305x6
335x4
355x2
305x4
single leg squats - 3x8 w/50lb db’s
reverse hypers - 4x10 on swiss ball on bench
weighted decline situps - 4x10 w/55lb db
i haven’t done wide stance squat in about 6 months due to trying to get my narrow stance atg up. this is defranco’s 6 week vert workout but instead of trap bar dl im squating. if you guys have any comments on my workout let me know.
Maybe its trite, but for improving your vert you basically need to strengthen your posterior chain. So I would prefer the deadlift, especially when youre doing pistols additionally. At times I`d use High pulls instead, too.[/quote]
just so i am sure, you think i should do deadlifts instead of squats, right?
i have been unable to do deadlifts because of a badly sprained thumb, but when i can, i do deadlift and will definitely trap bar deadlift when i get to school as long as my thumb allows. however, personally i have had better results from squating heavy rather than deadlifting heavy. i do understand your point and will continue to dl as soon as i can. thanks for your response to my workout.