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Barbell Squat program

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solarbear said:
I need a program that is going to alleviate my stress and just give me something to do. I've actually been thinking of running The Bear for squats on Sun and Thurs, Sunday pushing myself and Thursday just taking it easy and doing 3-4 of the 80% sets. But I am open to any suggestions.
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Perhaps it's time to just write your own programming?

If you know what you have in mind or want/need, just write it yourself.
 
solarbear said:
Yes. I was not sure how to fit it into 2 days per week though. I made a little spreadsheet to try and figure it out. Has anyone tried it?
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It is on three days for a reason. Maybe I'd go with dividing the high rep days to medium + low like:
20 -> 5+5
25 -> 10+5
30 -> 15+5
35 -> 15+10
Once medium day got to 35 reps maybe I'd do
2 3 5 4 5 6 2 3 5
and so on. But not in low rep day.
 
I will go against the grain here. I am 49, for reference, so I am even more archaic than the original poster. Lots of things can make me stiff, and deloads do not help that they make it worse. It is perfectly feasible to push for 6-10 weeks on a program cycle, without chemical help, and stretching helps. Extra light volume, both in the form of back-off sets and additional light work in other days. Moving the affected muscles helps via active recovery, moving blood through the area helps clear things like lactic acid and replenish the cells, these things help. So does glucosamine.
 
Hardartery said:
I will go against the grain here. I am 49, for reference, so I am even more archaic than the original poster. Lots of things can make me stiff, and deloads do not help that they make it worse. It is perfectly feasible to push for 6-10 weeks on a program cycle, without chemical help, and stretching helps. Extra light volume, both in the form of back-off sets and additional light work in other days. Moving the affected muscles helps via active recovery, moving blood through the area helps clear things like lactic acid and replenish the cells, these things help. So does glucosamine.
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I don't think what you've said contradicts what many have already said. When I say 3 weeks is a general limit, I'm talking about high volume AND high intensity - if you wave things and vary exercises throughout the mesocycle(s), that can be extended.

As far as deloads making it worse, as you've said light work and active recovery helps - a deload/backing-off doesn't necessarily mean time off. If I want stiff knees and hips, a sure fire way for me to get them is to stop squatting altogether.
 
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Hardartery said:
I will go against the grain here. I am 49, for reference, so I am even more archaic than the original poster. Lots of things can make me stiff, and deloads do not help that they make it worse. It is perfectly feasible to push for 6-10 weeks on a program cycle, without chemical help, and stretching helps. Extra light volume, both in the form of back-off sets and additional light work in other days. Moving the affected muscles helps via active recovery, moving blood through the area helps clear things like lactic acid and replenish the cells, these things help. So does glucosamine.
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Huh.

I'm 51 and never found de-loads to make my mobility worse.

Then again, my mobility maintenance routine doesn't change when I de-load.
 
Hardartery said:
Extra light volume, both in the form of back-off sets and additional light work in other days. Moving the affected muscles helps via active recovery, moving blood through the area helps clear things like lactic acid and replenish the cells, these things help. So does glucosamine.
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Deload does not mean take the week off. If fact, it is exactly as you describe, above. I think we are in agreement.
 
william bad butt said:
Deload does not mean take the week off. If fact, it is exactly as you describe, above. I think we are in agreement.
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I think we re mostly in agreement. I like an extra session at light weight sometimes, but I don't tend to replace the normal one with it so I don't know if it counts as a deload. Varying things, as you noted, also makes a difference. I did not lift for several years due to a chronic health issue (We know this in hindsight, had no idea I had the condition at the time) and discovered that age plus time off equals flexibility issues that have never existed ever before for me. I can rack a bar again now, but it took a lot of volume and a lot of pain to go with all of the stretching I could find to try. It's getting better, somehow, but if I don't take heavy weight for a few weeks I will absolutely pay for it when I load it up a little again. I don't need a lot of volume at higher %, but I need SOME volume at higher %. But I may be on my own weird planet with that.
 
solarbear said:
Yes. I was not sure how to fit it into 2 days per week though. I made a little spreadsheet to try and figure it out. Has anyone tried it?
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I tried it a couple of years ago and made no gains at all unfortunately. I was sleeping terribly at the time though so blamed this.
I liked the format but found the long sessions really long and there was a lot of pressure for others in the gym to use the rack.
If you reformulate to twice weekly I would look to maintain the delta 20 proportions to wave the weekly load.
Once I get a barbell at home next year, I will try it again for sure.
 
Pete L said:
I tried it a couple of years ago and made no gains at all unfortunately. I was sleeping
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That is a bummer. I really like the look of the cluster sets alot. I've done them before and they were fun. Mostly I did 2 rounds of 235 and 10. So that would be 40 reps. Thinking of maybe starting at 40 reps and adding 5 or 10 reps a workout till I did the full 3 rounds of 235&10. Deload. Then do 235 at a heavier weight. Start at 20 reps and keep adding till I got 30 to 40. I might give something like this a go. I have always used linear progression... increasing workload is kind of foreign to my programming brain.
 
solarbear said:
I am looking for something to follow that lays out loads, sets and reps. I would like to run it 2x per week as that is what fits my family schedule, Sun and Thurs.
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5x5 as laid out in the Tim Ferris blog w Pavel.

5x5 as laid out in an article here.

PlanStrong. Not great on twice a week but might be worth a try. Maybe a third day in one week every month.

-S-
 
solarbear said:
Yes. I was not sure how to fit it into 2 days per week though. I made a little spreadsheet to try and figure it out. Has anyone tried it?
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Kinda. Trying this simple approach.

Day 1 “Heavy” - 25 reps
Day 2 “Light” - 15 reps

Keep the intensity high and wave the volume. Light day helps with recovery.
 
solarbear said:
I have always used linear progression... increasing workload is kind of foreign to my programming brain.
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I actually can't remember the last time I used vanilla linear progression for squats. Maybe 7-8 years ago?

My default is a two-factor progression of both volume and load.

I don't increase the weight until I hit the volume target.

And once I go up in weight, the volume goes down and builds back up again.

It's slower progression, but gets you really dialed in on the form and owning the weight before increasing the load.

My injury rate has declined dramatically since switching over from straight linear progression.

At age 51, that's pretty high on my list of priorities.
 
watchnerd said:
I actually can't remember the last time I used vanilla linear progression for squats. Maybe 7-8 years ago?
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I suppose I have been running 531 for years and years. So I am enjoying exploring new ways to make progress.

Current plan is to do a heavy and light day... heavy day below:
4 Weeks at about 90% of my 10 rep max: 2351023510 clusters... adding 23 in week 2... 5 in week 3... and 10 in week 4...
Deload for a week.
3 Weeks at about 90% of my 5 rep max 23523523... adding 5 in week 2... adding 23 in week 3
Deload for a week
Light day: 2 sets of dead lift at 90% of 5 rep max and the first Cluster (23510 or 235)

I will see how that goes. I have made some improvements to my squat form so starting light seemed like a good idea. I have never really done clusters before so the change in reps seems to add extra stimulation. Started it this week and so far feels fantastic.

After I finish the 2 months, I will evaluate how much strength I have gained and either run it again with higher weights or perhaps go for more pure powerlifting sets and reps. Was considering trying the sets and reps for the Kettlebell program Strong Phase 1 with squats. Working up to 10 sets of 3 with 140 would probably help me get over the 180 hump.
 
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