my squats have stalled around 60kg

YUp!!

and from there, one can de-load by doing something like EDT or GVT.

There ar some individuals who have made so much progress with a volume routine as compared to a strength progression since they are predominantly slow twitch

 

I think some of us have realized that you can train muscle groups rather than strictly the movement and there is carry over. I think Westside demonstrates this beautifully by alternating squat, GM, and deadlift.

And since you brought up personal experience...I've related that as I spend more time bring my front squat up, my back squat and zercher squat go up. And on another personal experience note...I'm a person that needs to deadlift frequently or my deadlift does not go up.

 

i raised my squat by focusing on my lower back and hips for a long while... people underestimate how good mornings and deadlifts can improve things.


also the 20 rep squats will help raise your squats out of a rut.

 

it does vary from person to person...

Some people can get their deadlifts up by focusing on power cleans and high pulls while others need to deadlift, even if its once in 10 days to make it go up

 

Yeah, Cressey was talking about that a bit back. He's also one that needs to deadlift frequently to keep his deadlift up. Back when I was not in the gym but worked out in the backyard I didn't have enough weight to work a heavy deadlift. I did have enough weight to work heavy cleans though and high pulls. So, I cleaned and high pulled a lot. I deadlifted once every 3-4 weeks and my deadlift got weeker compared to deadlifting once a week.

 

Good Mornings aren't always good for improving your squat, personally I have a strong good morning compared to my other lifts. When my form goes on back squats it always turns into a good morning movement, legs straight followed by the good morning. If i wanted to train another movement to improve my squats I would be looking at something that doesn't use the lower back so much. This is why I said that supplementary exercises need to be based on your personal weaknesses.

 

There could also be some other factors to consider

1. You don't bend at the waist and use too much lower back rather than using your hips
2. You have a different sticking point so your quads could be your weak link

 

wow

blimey, lots of food for thought there! I'm doing leg press then straight-leg deadlifts, so I should be working hamstrings and back as well as quads. Taken the firm decision to change my routine once a month, coz otherwise i tend to get in a rut, so we'll see how this goes - I'll do squats again next month and see if anything has changed.

I see what you mean about a progression, 10, 8,6, actually what i usually do is build that into my warm up, so yesterday I did

leg press:

52kg x20 reps (warm-up)
102 x 12 reps
132x 7reps
132 x6 reps
(I tried to do 142, the next weight up, on this last set, but couldnt shift it at all )

my straight leg deadlift keeps going up tho, yesteday i did 60kg for 6 reps, thats as much as i am squating at the moment, is this odd? I would have thought squats would be heavier. but then squats have got stuck.

thanks again for all the posts!

 

Honestly, you're wasting your time with the leg press. it can neve come close to squats

 

Its the same thing.. If the reps are same.

I always use the leg extension machine and the leg press. Sometimes I do the curls, but I hate those lol

 

I know squats are the superior exercise, but leg press will give me a bit of variety. Regularly changing your routine seems (from what i have read) to be at least as important as doing compound lifts. I will go back to squats in a few weeks. If nothing has changed I will change up the reps or something ( i will have to think about it when the time comes)

:Angel:

 

Its your decision but believe me the leg press is one of the worst exercises and where did you read that changing your routine regularly to be important?

You need consistency in order to make progress...

And changing the reps will not really do anything for you...

Trust me on this, i've ben down that road before be it training myself or training people..

The solution to your answer is by doing squats on a progression

 

My quads are my weak point in my squat, which is why I was pointing out that good mornings aren't a squatting cure-all for everyone, since improving my lower back further may help my squats, but wouldn't help target my weak point.

I think the only thing you get from a leg press that you don't from a squat variation of some sort is the ego boost at the increased weight you can shift.

 

Listen to TheMachine.

The whole idea about needing to change routines regularly is not really true. This is the sort of BS that comes from places like Flex magazine to hide the steroids involved.

You need a routine with built in progression. Maxing out all the time is very tough on the joints and CNS, your body will plateau quickly with this.

I've personally wasted too much time and effort doing my own made up workouts, with pretty poor results.

Take a predesigned routine which lots of people have had success with (e.g Bill Starr 5*5, HST etc) and follow it.

 

How do you know your quads are the weakpoint?

 

By cross referencing with other lifts, such as the good morning funny enough. I'm not saying it's the only weak point, but it's probably the biggest.

 

Hmmmmmm......

somewhere, but i forget where, I read that changing your routine is good because your body adapts to the one you're on and stops making progress. Tho my other exercises have been making progress without much changing of the routine.

TheMachine, can you give me a little more detail on what you mean by a routine with built-in progression?

in the meantime I'm off to gooooooogle Bill Star 5*5

laters

edit: hmmm again, found some stuff by goooogling but not really a description of how to run it for a beginner/intermediate like myself (not really a beginner, been training for nearly a year, but not really an intermediate because I havent gained all that much. ) Can you describe a rough program for me, or link to a good description of one? thanks

 

The 5x5 is already a good start. There are other progressions out there but this is already very easy to do

 

5x5

I can't find a good description of it. Do you have a link you can point me to, or can you describe it to me? thanks :Angel:

 

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