June 27: I squatted 325 x 3. My previous PR was 315 x 2 on June 24. The big jump was mostly due to bringing my stance out a little which gave me a ton more strength and really engaged my hamstrings. It felt awesome and strong.
I wasn’t able to squat again until July 4th. I hit 325 pretty easily and missed 340. I wrote in my log that I lost it cause it rocked forward out of the hole.
THEN disaster struck and I couldn’t fit in a squat session until July 15 where I just barely made 325 x 1. I wrote that it was very slow and awkward and I’d basically forgotten how to use the wide stance.
July 18 afternoon: I badly failed 330 with a lot of knee cave in. And a little later failed the 2nd rep of 305.
July 18 evening: Kinda got the wider stance form back and hit 325 for a slow hard rep.
And now this evening July 22: I thought I’d got the wide stance form down again. But no. fucking 225 felt slow. I pussied out part way down with 325 and didn’t hit depth. And I just barely made it back up anyway. Knees caving in and forward, I couldn’t feel my hamstrings at all.
TLDR: I squatted 325 x 3 last month with a wideish stance which felt strong and natural, now I can’t even get 325 x 1 and my technique is complete dogshit as my brain has apparently forgotten how to squat.
I hate to do it but I have to ask for help on this. I’d really appreciate it if anyone more experienced than I am has some perspective or advice. Thank you very much for helping.
You missed a lot of squat days and your squat numbers went down? Unbelievable!
Seriously though, don’t let something like this get in your head. If you keep going for broke and failing then you’ll just create a mental block for yourself. Dial back the weight, get your form down and your squat will shoot back up. Guaranteed.
[quote]TigerTime wrote:
You missed a lot of squat days and your squat numbers went down? Unbelievable!
Seriously though, don’t let something like this get in your head. If you keep going for broke and failing then you’ll just create a mental block for yourself. Dial back the weight, get your form down and your squat will shoot back up. Guaranteed. [/quote]
thanks, I needed that common sense. It had very much gotten into my head.
Now I feel like a drama queen, but I did just what you said and nailed a bunch of doubles just at 285. I realized that instead of pushing my knees out at the start, I was actually pushing them forward… It feels much stronger now.
Thanks man!
Yeah this is why I dont like going too heavy. I think the 1-3 rep range can be real iffy. With a weight like 435 squatting for me right now i know for a fact i will be able to get 5 reps. But with 465, I honestly could just miss the weight entirely. Its just the nature of the beast. You mentally have to be in the zone like nobody’s business for 1-3 reps because one slight hesitation and the whole thing comes crashing down. I like doing 6 rep sets for the bulk of my work because i think it keep things alot more consistent and allows you to work the form a bit more
And even though I’m not the biggest Louie Simmons fan, I believe one great point he made was that you have to separate testing from lifting. Every workout shouldnt be a make or break kind of test, the focus should be on the work being done not an assessment of your abilities every workout. Although every lifter falls into this trap I believe, i know i have
[quote]@JC_Tree_Trunks wrote:
You mentally have to be in the zone like nobody’s business for 1-3 reps because one slight hesitation and the whole thing comes crashing down.[/quote]
That’s exactly why I like to do it. It works very well when things aren’t falling apart around me. But then again, maybe things fall apart so often BECAUSE of it. It’s certainly quite precarious…
[quote]
And even though I’m not the biggest Louie Simmons fan, I believe one great point he made was that you have to separate testing from lifting. Every workout shouldnt be a make or break kind of test, the focus should be on the work being done not an assessment of your abilities every workout. Although every lifter falls into this trap I believe, i know i have[/quote]
Absolutely, I only realized that fairly recently. It was probably the most important thing I’ve learned in my time lifting.
I try to stay 2 reps or so shy of my estimated 1RM on heavy lifts for that reason. IE: triples with my 5RM, singles with my 3RM, etc.
Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it!
I’m conducting an experiment after my meet this Saturday (July 28). I’ll have a heavy squat day and a light squat day. The heavy day will be where I go balls out following Ed Coan’s routine. Then the light day will be where I take 80% of the number that I did on the heavy day, and do that for reps. It will be a lot of volume, but it will give me a chance to really work on my form and try and nail that shit down.
My suggestion to you - more volume and more frequency.
CS
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
I’m conducting an experiment after my meet this Saturday (July 28). I’ll have a heavy squat day and a light squat day. The heavy day will be where I go balls out following Ed Coan’s routine. Then the light day will be where I take 80% of the number that I did on the heavy day, and do that for reps. It will be a lot of volume, but it will give me a chance to really work on my form and try and nail that shit down.
My suggestion to you - more volume and more frequency.
CS[/quote]
I’m following your log, that’ll be interesting to watch. 
I should have clarified, those numbers in my OP are just the high points of those sessions. I typically end up with 20 or 30 reps total per exercise. Certainly not crazy volume, but not as low as that post makes it look.
Now that my schedule is slightly normal again, I’ll be squatting 3 times a week again.
Thanks for the help.