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Barbell Easy strength for Squatting

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flightposite

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I’ve seen this discussed briefly in the past on dan johns forum but I haven’t seen it addressed much on this forum. I’d be interested to know from those that have used easy strength if they found it to be the easiest way to increase the squat or if it failed to work for squat strength like others have reported. And has anyone found tweaks or other versions of easy strength outside the 40day program that have worked for squats?

I’m reminded of something Pavel said about easy strength.
Lift as heavy as possible
As fresh as possible
As often as possible.

I’m looking forward to the discussion.
Thanks
 
I confess to never squatting in my life due to it offending the basic principle of human dignity but a friend stole my Plan Strong program (designed for me by Fabio for deadlifts with hypertrophy) and reckoned it was the best squat program he ever did. I mention that because while Pavel's word above are wisdom in principle, Plan Strong does not follow that approach as such. With Plan Strong you do not lift as heavy as possible, while the sub-maximal volume does get pretty crazy at times and three times weekly training means you're sometimes back in the gym sore from the last workout.

Edit: apologies, this was a bit off post
 
I squat everyday/nearly every for more than 4 months (start from beginning of last August) due finger injury. My squat gain 20-25 kg (from 120 kg to 145 kg atg squat, and if I want I can hit 145 kg for 3-5 times per week). Sometimes the squat is hard, sometimes is quite easy (once I finish my sessions for 5 minutes with 6 singles from 70 kg to 135 kg), sometimes it's normal. I would not call it easy strength.

If you want to squat everyday, go ahead. It's easier than most people though. If you want a guide, you can read John Broz's article, or get a free pdf of Bulgarian Method from Greg's Stronger by Science (It's quite close to many successful program with intensity at 70-75% of 1RM). Or join Clarence Kennedy's patreon (I do not in that place, but Clarence shares that he squats everyday for sets of 3/5 and he seems to share many interesting things on his patreon).
 
I have not done easy strength per se but squats almost every day for a month with reasonably heavy weights. I did it for rehabilitation and not performance so I didn't do any tests. Still, I got up to decent weights every day, 150kg/60% I think, for triples or fives, and it was very comfortable and easy to rack up a good amount of volume without any other aspect of my training really suffering. Personally, I see no reason why it shouldn't work.
 
A specialized squat program tailored to you is probably going to be the best and fastest route to your biggest squat numbers, but that may depend on your training background. If you are a relative squat novice, anything will work.

The general rules of thumb given on p. 86 (at least in my copy of Easy Strength) are pretty universally applicable imho:

1. Use a limited number of "big bang" exercises - for example, the deadlift and the floor press from Power To The People!
2. Lift two to three times a week.
3. Keep the volume around 10 reps per lift or 6 when using only singles - for example, 5 x 2, 2 x 5, 532, 3 x 3, 343, 424, 1234, 4321, 12321, 6 x 1, and so on. You may stay with the same weight or vary the weights from set to set.
4. Keep the reps in the 1-5 range, emphasizing doubles and triples
5. Rest about 5 minutes between sets. Practice Fast & Loose relaxation drills in between.
6. Train in the 80% to 95% 1 RM intensity zone. Always leave a rep or two in the bank.
7. Go for a PR, single or rep, when you are feeling exceptionally strong, but stop short of an all-out max. Set a "sort of max." Always back off after a PR.
8. Vary the intensity every workout, either through Power To The People! cycling or through less structured advances and retreats.
9. Don't stop strength training in season, but reduce the volume by two-thirds to one-half. For example, do 3 x 2 instead of 5 x 2 or 3 x 2 instead of 3 x 3.
10. Finish your workout feeling stronger than when you started. Stop the workout if your performance is less than perfect, and come back another day.
 
I’m really enjoying all the replies so far. It’s interesting to see all the different approaches.
But just to be clear I’ve used easy strength style programs like justa singles, power to the people and the likes. I’ve also used systems like plan strong, Smolov and many many others. My squat is at a fairly decent level but I’m always looking for ways to improve it.
But this thread is really about why so many say the squat doesn’t work well in Easy strength.
I’ve seen this on several of Dan Johns YouTube videos as well as his forum that he stated squats don’t work well.
I am just curious as to why and if it’s universally true or if there seem to be work arounds.
Mostly curious I guess.
 
I am just curious as to why and if it’s universally true or if there seem to be work arounds.
I and other members on the forum have a private discussion about the squat. Seems like it requires more volume than normal easy strength routine.

This is a letter from Greg about Bulgarian Method. Hope that you guys enjoy it:
 

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I might be in the minority here, but I have found that as I've become stronger and older, I squat less and less. I only squat 1 day per week and my squat is in the lower 500's. I need more time to recover. But I am still pushing.

But don't misunderstand me, I still consider the barbell squat as the crown jewel of my training program. I still have goals to get to 550 this year.
 
I’ve seen this discussed briefly in the past on dan johns forum but I haven’t seen it addressed much on this forum. I’d be interested to know from those that have used easy strength if they found it to be the easiest way to increase the squat or if it failed to work for squat strength like others have reported. And has anyone found tweaks or other versions of easy strength outside the 40day program that have worked for squats?

I’m reminded of something Pavel said about easy strength.
Lift as heavy as possible
As fresh as possible
As often as possible.

I’m looking forward to the discussion.
Thanks

I'm going to say "no".

Like of other competitiveweightlifters, I squat every day, in one form or another, and practice sitting in a squat for 30 min, cumulative, every day

So, given all that...why am I saying no?

Because "Easy Strength" doesn't have enough volume to keep the pattern and flexibility necessary to get really good at squatting.

A GTG approach is much better.
 
I think there may be big differences between persons.

Some people are more built to squat, so to say. And maybe there is a psychological part as well, in addition to the skill. And then there's mobility and flexibility.

I think high frequency certainly has its place but great squats have been developed with doing it only once a week.

One method of making the higher frequency more tolerable would be to use variations.
 
Best progress I ever made with squat was during a twice weekly split. Heavy 1/2/3 one day, lighter CAT work few days later. Squatting for me definitely takes more than it ever gives. Ended up squatting little over twice bodyweight near end of that cycle.
 
I’m really enjoying all the replies so far. It’s interesting to see all the different approaches.
But just to be clear I’ve used easy strength style programs like justa singles, power to the people and the likes. I’ve also used systems like plan strong, Smolov and many many others. My squat is at a fairly decent level but I’m always looking for ways to improve it.
But this thread is really about why so many say the squat doesn’t work well in Easy strength.
I’ve seen this on several of Dan Johns YouTube videos as well as his forum that he stated squats don’t work well.
I am just curious as to why and if it’s universally true or if there seem to be work arounds.
Mostly curious I guess.
There's an post on the Dave Draper forum covering a few variations with which people have had success.
 
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