I have written a lot on this blog about the value of slow and steady base building, yet I want to emphasize that brutal hard work works. After you have spent a year doing steady training and have ATLEAST a 100kg (225lb) full squat (dont lie on depth and form), you can give any one of the following specializations a shot. Any one of these will easily put on 20 kgs to your squat within the time period mentioned. You must back off correctly if you wish to retain the gains from any one of these programs. I have covered how to do that in the previous post.
I have done several squat specializations myself and have applied many of my programs on several track and field athletes. They have not yet failed me- a 20 kg gain is always delivered. I personally have done specializations for relatively challenging variations of the squat- high bar narrow stance ass to calves, front squat, bottom position squats in the power rack etc. . Keep in mind that my main objective was never the squat for its own sake. All the specializations my students and I have undertaken have been done with the target of improving some athletic quality. Whatever variation you pick, you will make great gains, just make sure you can use atleast 100kgs for the variation you want to specialize in.
Routine 1
3 week specialization
This one is meant for guys who feel that they just lack leg strength overall and need to get into shape quick. This program will do a lot to increase your running speed (medium sprints) and your ability to put the shot.
Please do this routine in the off-season.
The recommended variations are:
The high bar, 1/2 inch heel elevated, hip width, ass to calves squat.
The overhead squat.
The belt/ pyramid squat.
Whichever variation you choose, you must keep your torso vertical on every single rep. I do not mean neutral spine, I mean body literally vertical. You must descend and ascend in a straight line. If while squatting you feel pressure on the lower back at all, it means you are leaning forward. If you do not have the mobility to do this, do the belt/ pyramid squat or dont do this specialization at all. You should actually be able to keep your lower back and abs relatively relaxed if you wanted to. If you cannot do this with atleast 100kgs (this is a lot tougher than it sounds) do not do this specialization.
The weight will always be on the heels. Clench your glutes at the bottom. Toes should be slightly out and the knees should be over the toes. This routine is designed for squatting rock bottom. If you have problems with this do any one of the other routines here.
On the bright side, every single person who has done this program has gained 20kgs on their squat and 2 inches on each thigh. More importantly, I have three guys who have increased their shot put distance by a full 4 feet after this program.
In all the squat variations, you will try to accelerate as much as possible. A slight jumping of the bar off your back is a good this here. We are looking for speed on every rep.
Also don't be an idiot and estimate your max on the basis of your ego. Whatever you estimate, its probably safe to reduce it by 5%. Estimate it too high and you will pay.
All right, here is the routine-
Each week has three workouts. I am assuming a Monday Wednesday Friday split.
Week 1
Mon-
Warm up how you see fit
Squat
4 Sets of 17 reps with 65-68% of maximum with 90s between sets.
2 Sets of Hanging leg raises/ ab wheel rollouts whichever you prefer for as many reps as you can.
You can follow this up with whatever upper body work you want. Keep the total number of work sets below 5 for the upper body work. No other lower body exercises. This goes for all days.
Wed-
Squat
10 reps with 70% of your max. 120s rest
8 reps with 75%. 120s rest
6 reps with 78%. 120s rest
4 reps with 83%. 120s rest
2 reps with 87%.. 120s rest
Fri-
Squat
6 sets of 3 reps with 87% of your max. 180s rest
Week 2
Mon-
Squat-
4 sets of 17 reps with 71-74% of max. 90s rest
Wed-
Squat-
10 reps with 75% of your max. 120s rest
8 reps with 77%. 120s rest
6 reps with 80%. 120s rest
4 reps with 85%. 120s rest
2 reps with 90%.. 120s rest
Fri-
Squat-
6 sets of 5 reps with 88% of max. 180s rest
Week 3
Mon-
Squat-
7 Sets of 4 reps with 93% of max. 180s rest
Wed-
Squat-
6 sets of 3 reps with 96% of max. 180s rest
Fri-
Squat-
5 sets of 3 reps with 100% of max. 180s rest
Routine 2
6 week specialization
This routine is designed to increase acceleration from a dead stop. This is particularly good for improving your sprint start, your clean, your snatch. It is not so good for improving your jumping ability however. I am not sure why but I think it is because it is very hard to do this program with maximum acceleration at the top. This routine is suitable for guys in rugby, sprinters, Olympic lifters and martial artists.
This routine will not increase your size particularly, but will increase your squatting ability very rapidly.
The recommended squat variations are-
Front Squat with or without heel elevation. I prefer without.
Overhead squat without heel elevation.
Chambered bar back squats.
Trap bar deadlifts with the lifters standing on an elevation/ platform such that at the bottom the lifter shoul be in a full ass to calves squat.
This is another routine that requires Ass to calves performance. If you do not have to mobility to do this, go for routine 3 which is for parallel squatters.
All right, here is the routine-
There are 2 workouts per week. We will assume Monday and Thursday. Upper body work must be done separately, preferably on a different day. Ab work must be done after the squat workouts.
Week 1
Mon-
Warm up as you see fit
2 sets of 5 full squats with good form with 80% of max.
1 set of 5 bottom paused squats (go down to rock bottom and pause for 2 full seconds at the point at which your muscles are well tensed and your hamstring and calves are mashed against each other, and come up without rocking or bouncing in anyway) with 72% of max.
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 72%. (set the bar low enough such that you are a good 3 inches below parallel when you set up. Explode up from the bottom, and drop back down)
120s rest throughout
Thurs
2 sets of 3 squats with 86%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 78%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 78%
120s rest
Week 2
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 83%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 75%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 75%
120s rest
Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 89%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 81%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 81%
120s rest
Week 3-
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 86%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 78%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 78%
120s rest
Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 92%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 84%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 84%
120s rest
Week 4
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 89%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 81%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 81%
120s rest
Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 95%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 87%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 87%
120s rest
Week 5
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 92%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 84%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 84%
120s rest
Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 98%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 90%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 90%
120s rest
Week 6
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 95%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 87%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 87%
120s rest
Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 100%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 93%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 93%
120s rest
Each workout is to be followed by 1 set of 20 45 degree hyperextensions or reverse hyperextensions or seated good mornings or good mornings (change the exercise each workout) with the heaviest weight you can handle for that rep range.
After that you will perform 1 set of 20 hack squats on the toes with a kettlebell or heel elevated high bar close squats (cyclist squats) or bar bell hack squats, or machine hack squats (change the exercise each workout) with the heaviest weight you can handle for that rep range. After that do your ab work.
Routine 3
3 week specialization
This is a rather radical routine that always breaks advanced-intermediate guys out of their rut.
This is meant to boost whatever variation of the squat you are using for whatever purpose. Unless otherwise stated, the version of the squat you will use is the version you are trying to improve. Any squat variation may be selected.
This system is loosely based on the smolov base mesocycle. The smolov works great but I wanted something which was less brutal but fairly effective. This routine will put 15-20 kgs on your max squat, as long as you back off correctly as discussed in the previous post. The second week is brutal and will kill you if you cannot already squat atleast 140kgs or 315lbs. Anything less than that, find a squat variation you can perform for routine 1 or 2 or use overhead squats for routine 1 (that will increase your squat pretty dramatically) or just spend some more time building a base.
Warm up as you see fit. All upper body and ab work must be minimal and must be done after squatting. No more than 3 total exercises per session. Rest days are complete rest.
The routine is-
Week 1
Day1- Workout
7 Sets of 5 with 83% of your max. 150 second rest
Day2- rest
Day3- Workout
With 68-72% of your max do the following series of reps. Rest 10 seconds for each rep performed.
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 8-15 (go for max)
Day4- rest
Day5- Workout
Power Snatch from the floor with 80% of your best snatch.
10 sets of 3 120s breaks
Day6- Workout
9 Sets of 3 with 89% of your max. 180s breaks
Day7- Rest
Week 2
Day1- Workout
7 Sets of 5 with 83% + 6kgs. 150 second rest
Day2- rest
Day3- Workout
With 68-72% of your max do the following series of reps. Rest 10 seconds for each rep performed.
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 6-15 (go for max)
Day4- rest
Day5- Workout
Power Snatch from the floor with 80% + 4kgs.
10 sets of 3 120s breaks
Day6- Workout
9 Sets of 3 with 89% + 6kgs . 180s breaks
Day7- Rest
Week 3
Day1- Workout
7 Sets of 5 with 83% + 10 kgs. 150 second rest
Day2- rest
Day3- Workout
2 sets of 15-20 reps with 68-72% of your max
Day4- rest
Day5- Workout
Power Snatch from the floor with 80% + 6kgs
10 sets of 3 120s breaks
Day6- Workout
9 Sets of 3 with 89% + 10kgs. 180s breaks
Day7- Rest
Routine 4
6 week specialization
This routine is meant for early intermediate guys. It for those who are squatting in the vicinity of 120kgs (275lbs) and want to get to three wheels or 140 kgs (315lbs) as soon as possible. All the guys who have done this program with me were high school athletes and as such it works really great for that category. 2 sprinters and 1 shot putter to be precise.
Any athlete who is at this stage, with about a year of training under their belt will benefit from this. Most athletes who are squatting 120kgs are relatively small and therefore the emphasis in this program is on hypertrophy. If you want to pack on inches to your thighs in record time, look no further.
You will have to eat a lot during this program. No matter how much you eat, it will probably be too little.
Recommended variations-
Full ass to calves squat
Below Parallel back squat
Do not use ultra wide stance squats. While a full range of motion is not essential in this program, half or above parallel squats will not cut it. Have someone watch your form from the side- you may not be going as deep as you think. I will never forget the first time I squatted 3 wheels (140kgs) and I thought I went down and put it up like a boss, only to learn from my training partners that it was almost a full inch above parallel. When you are forced to go the distance you may find you need to reduce your numbers by 20-30 kgs.
All three of my guys who have done this routine had increased their thigh measurements by 3 full inches and increased their bodyweights by 5 kgs. And the gains kept coming in the following months. One of them put up 4 wheels (180kgs or 405lbs) just 6 months later, and gained another 6kgs. You have got to eat on this routine though.
Please do this routine in your off- season only as the volume of work is pretty crazy and you will experience unbelievable soreness.
All the workouts are preceded by 2 light sets of 5 of clean and presses and 5 heavy sets of 5 on Monday, 3 on Wednesday and 1 on Friday. You re clean the barbell on every rep. You increase the weights you use in the clean and press by 1 kg the next week. In 6 weeks you would have increased your clean and press by 6kgs, which is decent improvement. Do one set of parallel bar dips after the workouts to maintain chest hypertrophy. Do 2 reps short of your maximum.
You will do a few sets of chin ups throughout the week. Don't go overboard on it, but try not to let your chin ups regress. Even if you just maintain your chin up performance, you would have become stronger at chin ups due to the bodyweight increase.
You will do 2 hard sets of hanging leg raises or ab rollouts or weighted incline crunches (weight behind the head) after the dips every workout. Change the exercise every workout and dont spare your abs. Give it your best for those 2 sets.
The routine is-
Week 1
Monday-
Warm up as you see fit and do your clean and presses
Squat-
Do cyclist squats (heels elevated and feet together, with a full range of motion)
4 sets of 20 reps with 60s break with 50% of your max normal squat. Pause at the bottom of every rep.
Expect an insane burn in the quads.
4 sets of 15 single leg RDLs with 25-30% of your deadlift max. Do not let go of the bar during sets and do not bounce the bar off the floor. Use full range of motion and pause the bar on the ground at every rep. 60s break.
Do your dips and ab work
Wednesday- (should be done outdoors)
Warm up as you see fit and do your clean and presses
Leg work-
Walking lunges with 50% of your best ordinary squat.
Walk for distance- 100m If you are doing this indoors, just figure out how many trips up and down the gym you will have to make to cover 100m.
You need to cover the full 100m while not stopping more than 4 times. 2 times is ideal.
Keep your torso upright at all times. Do not let your knees come inwards or your front heel to come off the ground.
Take medium to long steps. Do not step one front in front of the other but a little to the outside. Your toe should point slightly outward. The back knee must touch the ground on every rep. The danger of breaking your knee against concrete will teach you control.
Go straight from one rep to the next. Do not stand on 2 feet for a second and go to the next rep.
Try to finish the full 10m in as little time as possible, without rushing individual reps.
When you are done, do 4 sets of 8-12 reps of arched back good mornings with the same weight. 120s rest.
Do your dips and ab work.
Friday-
Warm up as you see fit and do your clean and presses.
Squat-
Do 8 sets of 3 with 84% of your max in the conventional squat. Take 150-180s rest. Do every rep perfectly.
Do your dips and ab work.
Week 2-6 are exactly the same as week 1, except you will add 3 kgs to the weights you use for all exercises for all sets and reps for weeks 2, 3 and 4. On weeks 5 and 6 you will add only 2kgs more. Thus on week 6 monday you will be doing 4 sets of 20 cyclist squats with 50% of max + 13kgs.
You will add 3 kgs every week until week 4 for the friday workout as well. In week 5 and 6 you mat add only 2kgs or 3 kgs depending on how strong you feel. Thus the last workout will be 8 sets of 3 with 84% of max + 13-15kgs. In the last workout you may keep ramping up the weight every set and see how high you can go. Most guys do a triple with 84% of their old max + 20 kgs on the 6th or 7th set. Your actual max will go up even further.
I hope you find these programs useful. These systems have proven their effectiveness time and time again with various body types and age groups. If you give any one of them a shot, please tell me your results in the comments section.
I have done several squat specializations myself and have applied many of my programs on several track and field athletes. They have not yet failed me- a 20 kg gain is always delivered. I personally have done specializations for relatively challenging variations of the squat- high bar narrow stance ass to calves, front squat, bottom position squats in the power rack etc. . Keep in mind that my main objective was never the squat for its own sake. All the specializations my students and I have undertaken have been done with the target of improving some athletic quality. Whatever variation you pick, you will make great gains, just make sure you can use atleast 100kgs for the variation you want to specialize in.
Routine 1
3 week specialization
This one is meant for guys who feel that they just lack leg strength overall and need to get into shape quick. This program will do a lot to increase your running speed (medium sprints) and your ability to put the shot.
Please do this routine in the off-season.
The recommended variations are:
The high bar, 1/2 inch heel elevated, hip width, ass to calves squat.
The overhead squat.
The belt/ pyramid squat.
Whichever variation you choose, you must keep your torso vertical on every single rep. I do not mean neutral spine, I mean body literally vertical. You must descend and ascend in a straight line. If while squatting you feel pressure on the lower back at all, it means you are leaning forward. If you do not have the mobility to do this, do the belt/ pyramid squat or dont do this specialization at all. You should actually be able to keep your lower back and abs relatively relaxed if you wanted to. If you cannot do this with atleast 100kgs (this is a lot tougher than it sounds) do not do this specialization.
The weight will always be on the heels. Clench your glutes at the bottom. Toes should be slightly out and the knees should be over the toes. This routine is designed for squatting rock bottom. If you have problems with this do any one of the other routines here.
On the bright side, every single person who has done this program has gained 20kgs on their squat and 2 inches on each thigh. More importantly, I have three guys who have increased their shot put distance by a full 4 feet after this program.
In all the squat variations, you will try to accelerate as much as possible. A slight jumping of the bar off your back is a good this here. We are looking for speed on every rep.
Also don't be an idiot and estimate your max on the basis of your ego. Whatever you estimate, its probably safe to reduce it by 5%. Estimate it too high and you will pay.
All right, here is the routine-
Each week has three workouts. I am assuming a Monday Wednesday Friday split.
Week 1
Mon-
Warm up how you see fit
Squat
4 Sets of 17 reps with 65-68% of maximum with 90s between sets.
2 Sets of Hanging leg raises/ ab wheel rollouts whichever you prefer for as many reps as you can.
You can follow this up with whatever upper body work you want. Keep the total number of work sets below 5 for the upper body work. No other lower body exercises. This goes for all days.
Wed-
Squat
10 reps with 70% of your max. 120s rest
8 reps with 75%. 120s rest
6 reps with 78%. 120s rest
4 reps with 83%. 120s rest
2 reps with 87%.. 120s rest
Fri-
Squat
6 sets of 3 reps with 87% of your max. 180s rest
Week 2
Mon-
Squat-
4 sets of 17 reps with 71-74% of max. 90s rest
Wed-
Squat-
10 reps with 75% of your max. 120s rest
8 reps with 77%. 120s rest
6 reps with 80%. 120s rest
4 reps with 85%. 120s rest
2 reps with 90%.. 120s rest
Fri-
Squat-
6 sets of 5 reps with 88% of max. 180s rest
Week 3
Mon-
Squat-
7 Sets of 4 reps with 93% of max. 180s rest
Wed-
Squat-
6 sets of 3 reps with 96% of max. 180s rest
Fri-
Squat-
5 sets of 3 reps with 100% of max. 180s rest
Routine 2
6 week specialization
This routine is designed to increase acceleration from a dead stop. This is particularly good for improving your sprint start, your clean, your snatch. It is not so good for improving your jumping ability however. I am not sure why but I think it is because it is very hard to do this program with maximum acceleration at the top. This routine is suitable for guys in rugby, sprinters, Olympic lifters and martial artists.
This routine will not increase your size particularly, but will increase your squatting ability very rapidly.
The recommended squat variations are-
Front Squat with or without heel elevation. I prefer without.
Overhead squat without heel elevation.
Chambered bar back squats.
Trap bar deadlifts with the lifters standing on an elevation/ platform such that at the bottom the lifter shoul be in a full ass to calves squat.
This is another routine that requires Ass to calves performance. If you do not have to mobility to do this, go for routine 3 which is for parallel squatters.
All right, here is the routine-
There are 2 workouts per week. We will assume Monday and Thursday. Upper body work must be done separately, preferably on a different day. Ab work must be done after the squat workouts.
Week 1
Mon-
Warm up as you see fit
2 sets of 5 full squats with good form with 80% of max.
1 set of 5 bottom paused squats (go down to rock bottom and pause for 2 full seconds at the point at which your muscles are well tensed and your hamstring and calves are mashed against each other, and come up without rocking or bouncing in anyway) with 72% of max.
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 72%. (set the bar low enough such that you are a good 3 inches below parallel when you set up. Explode up from the bottom, and drop back down)
120s rest throughout
Thurs
2 sets of 3 squats with 86%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 78%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 78%
120s rest
Week 2
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 83%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 75%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 75%
120s rest
Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 89%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 81%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 81%
120s rest
Week 3-
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 86%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 78%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 78%
120s rest
Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 92%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 84%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 84%
120s rest
Week 4
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 89%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 81%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 81%
120s rest
Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 95%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 87%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 87%
120s rest
Week 5
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 92%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 84%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 84%
120s rest
Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 98%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 90%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 90%
120s rest
Week 6
Mon-
2 sets of 5 squats with 95%.
1 Set of 5 bottom paused squats with 87%
1 set of 5 bottom up squats with 87%
120s rest
Thurs-
2 sets of 3 squats with 100%.
1 Set of 3 bottom paused squats with 93%
1 set of 3 bottom up squats with 93%
120s rest
Each workout is to be followed by 1 set of 20 45 degree hyperextensions or reverse hyperextensions or seated good mornings or good mornings (change the exercise each workout) with the heaviest weight you can handle for that rep range.
After that you will perform 1 set of 20 hack squats on the toes with a kettlebell or heel elevated high bar close squats (cyclist squats) or bar bell hack squats, or machine hack squats (change the exercise each workout) with the heaviest weight you can handle for that rep range. After that do your ab work.
Routine 3
3 week specialization
This is a rather radical routine that always breaks advanced-intermediate guys out of their rut.
This is meant to boost whatever variation of the squat you are using for whatever purpose. Unless otherwise stated, the version of the squat you will use is the version you are trying to improve. Any squat variation may be selected.
This system is loosely based on the smolov base mesocycle. The smolov works great but I wanted something which was less brutal but fairly effective. This routine will put 15-20 kgs on your max squat, as long as you back off correctly as discussed in the previous post. The second week is brutal and will kill you if you cannot already squat atleast 140kgs or 315lbs. Anything less than that, find a squat variation you can perform for routine 1 or 2 or use overhead squats for routine 1 (that will increase your squat pretty dramatically) or just spend some more time building a base.
Warm up as you see fit. All upper body and ab work must be minimal and must be done after squatting. No more than 3 total exercises per session. Rest days are complete rest.
The routine is-
Week 1
Day1- Workout
7 Sets of 5 with 83% of your max. 150 second rest
Day2- rest
Day3- Workout
With 68-72% of your max do the following series of reps. Rest 10 seconds for each rep performed.
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 8-15 (go for max)
Day4- rest
Day5- Workout
Power Snatch from the floor with 80% of your best snatch.
10 sets of 3 120s breaks
Day6- Workout
9 Sets of 3 with 89% of your max. 180s breaks
Day7- Rest
Week 2
Day1- Workout
7 Sets of 5 with 83% + 6kgs. 150 second rest
Day2- rest
Day3- Workout
With 68-72% of your max do the following series of reps. Rest 10 seconds for each rep performed.
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 6-15 (go for max)
Day4- rest
Day5- Workout
Power Snatch from the floor with 80% + 4kgs.
10 sets of 3 120s breaks
Day6- Workout
9 Sets of 3 with 89% + 6kgs . 180s breaks
Day7- Rest
Week 3
Day1- Workout
7 Sets of 5 with 83% + 10 kgs. 150 second rest
Day2- rest
Day3- Workout
2 sets of 15-20 reps with 68-72% of your max
Day4- rest
Day5- Workout
Power Snatch from the floor with 80% + 6kgs
10 sets of 3 120s breaks
Day6- Workout
9 Sets of 3 with 89% + 10kgs. 180s breaks
Day7- Rest
Routine 4
6 week specialization
This routine is meant for early intermediate guys. It for those who are squatting in the vicinity of 120kgs (275lbs) and want to get to three wheels or 140 kgs (315lbs) as soon as possible. All the guys who have done this program with me were high school athletes and as such it works really great for that category. 2 sprinters and 1 shot putter to be precise.
Any athlete who is at this stage, with about a year of training under their belt will benefit from this. Most athletes who are squatting 120kgs are relatively small and therefore the emphasis in this program is on hypertrophy. If you want to pack on inches to your thighs in record time, look no further.
You will have to eat a lot during this program. No matter how much you eat, it will probably be too little.
Recommended variations-
Full ass to calves squat
Below Parallel back squat
Do not use ultra wide stance squats. While a full range of motion is not essential in this program, half or above parallel squats will not cut it. Have someone watch your form from the side- you may not be going as deep as you think. I will never forget the first time I squatted 3 wheels (140kgs) and I thought I went down and put it up like a boss, only to learn from my training partners that it was almost a full inch above parallel. When you are forced to go the distance you may find you need to reduce your numbers by 20-30 kgs.
All three of my guys who have done this routine had increased their thigh measurements by 3 full inches and increased their bodyweights by 5 kgs. And the gains kept coming in the following months. One of them put up 4 wheels (180kgs or 405lbs) just 6 months later, and gained another 6kgs. You have got to eat on this routine though.
Please do this routine in your off- season only as the volume of work is pretty crazy and you will experience unbelievable soreness.
All the workouts are preceded by 2 light sets of 5 of clean and presses and 5 heavy sets of 5 on Monday, 3 on Wednesday and 1 on Friday. You re clean the barbell on every rep. You increase the weights you use in the clean and press by 1 kg the next week. In 6 weeks you would have increased your clean and press by 6kgs, which is decent improvement. Do one set of parallel bar dips after the workouts to maintain chest hypertrophy. Do 2 reps short of your maximum.
You will do a few sets of chin ups throughout the week. Don't go overboard on it, but try not to let your chin ups regress. Even if you just maintain your chin up performance, you would have become stronger at chin ups due to the bodyweight increase.
You will do 2 hard sets of hanging leg raises or ab rollouts or weighted incline crunches (weight behind the head) after the dips every workout. Change the exercise every workout and dont spare your abs. Give it your best for those 2 sets.
The routine is-
Week 1
Monday-
Warm up as you see fit and do your clean and presses
Squat-
Do cyclist squats (heels elevated and feet together, with a full range of motion)
4 sets of 20 reps with 60s break with 50% of your max normal squat. Pause at the bottom of every rep.
Expect an insane burn in the quads.
4 sets of 15 single leg RDLs with 25-30% of your deadlift max. Do not let go of the bar during sets and do not bounce the bar off the floor. Use full range of motion and pause the bar on the ground at every rep. 60s break.
Do your dips and ab work
Wednesday- (should be done outdoors)
Warm up as you see fit and do your clean and presses
Leg work-
Walking lunges with 50% of your best ordinary squat.
Walk for distance- 100m If you are doing this indoors, just figure out how many trips up and down the gym you will have to make to cover 100m.
You need to cover the full 100m while not stopping more than 4 times. 2 times is ideal.
Keep your torso upright at all times. Do not let your knees come inwards or your front heel to come off the ground.
Take medium to long steps. Do not step one front in front of the other but a little to the outside. Your toe should point slightly outward. The back knee must touch the ground on every rep. The danger of breaking your knee against concrete will teach you control.
Go straight from one rep to the next. Do not stand on 2 feet for a second and go to the next rep.
Try to finish the full 10m in as little time as possible, without rushing individual reps.
When you are done, do 4 sets of 8-12 reps of arched back good mornings with the same weight. 120s rest.
Do your dips and ab work.
Friday-
Warm up as you see fit and do your clean and presses.
Squat-
Do 8 sets of 3 with 84% of your max in the conventional squat. Take 150-180s rest. Do every rep perfectly.
Do your dips and ab work.
Week 2-6 are exactly the same as week 1, except you will add 3 kgs to the weights you use for all exercises for all sets and reps for weeks 2, 3 and 4. On weeks 5 and 6 you will add only 2kgs more. Thus on week 6 monday you will be doing 4 sets of 20 cyclist squats with 50% of max + 13kgs.
You will add 3 kgs every week until week 4 for the friday workout as well. In week 5 and 6 you mat add only 2kgs or 3 kgs depending on how strong you feel. Thus the last workout will be 8 sets of 3 with 84% of max + 13-15kgs. In the last workout you may keep ramping up the weight every set and see how high you can go. Most guys do a triple with 84% of their old max + 20 kgs on the 6th or 7th set. Your actual max will go up even further.
I hope you find these programs useful. These systems have proven their effectiveness time and time again with various body types and age groups. If you give any one of them a shot, please tell me your results in the comments section.
Another great post. BTW I have some questions on squats, right now I'm focusing on building endurance with the one legged squat but I have reached a plateau at 2 sets of 20 do you think it's a good idea to increase the intensity by adding weights and then return to the weightless version? Also I tend to do fairly slow reps (always with full ROM to build strong joints, tendons and ligaments) when I work on strength on every exercise to ensure that the technique is perfect, do you think that faster reps(building explosiveness) could help to build endurance in the same way incresing intensity would(i.e. working on faster explosive reps and then return to normal reps)? Also another question out of curiosity, what do you think is the general threshold, working on leg strength, after wich the proportional increase in power(explosiveness) and endurance stops?
ReplyDeleteThank you I am glad you enjoyed the post.
DeleteAdding weight and returning to a lesser intensity never seems to work in closed chain exercises, if you can already do anything beyond 15. A long time back I was unable to reach my first set of 20 pushups and I thought if I mastered diamond push ups, I would be able to get 20 standard pushups. In about 3 months I hit 2 sets of 15 reps of diamond pushups. I then when back to standard pushups and I got weaker. Then I tried an experiment where I tried an all out set of wall pushups and to my amazement I could not do more than 35reps. That was when I realized that strength endurance is a very specific thing, and must be trained separately.
Doing the explosive thing does not work either, I am not sure why, but a lot of us tried it and got no results.
Ultimately we were all training for a "squat bodyweight for reps" contest (weight equal to bodyweight on the bar) and after about a month of playing around we came up with the following program. There were 3 of us and we all used this program for 3 weeks. I went from 22 reps to 57 reps in that period. One guy went from 15 to 38 and the other guy from 18 to 46. I would think that this program would work for the pistol squat as well.
The program is based on the idea that strength endurance at any strength level is related to the time under tension your body can tolerate at any given strength level. So you must use a variety of tactics to get a large time under tension with the required resistance. We also figured that high frequency would work because that's how we all had improved our distance running ability.
The strength benefits of this program are minimal, but you will enjoy great hypertrophy and your strength endurance will go through the roof. All squats were done with the target weight unless otherwise stated. For you that will mean all squats are unweighted pistol squats.
Mon- 5 sets of as many reps as you possibly can in decent form. 90s breaks
Tue- ladder of 2s. Keep going until you fail. Rest 10s for each rep. After you fail, rest 60s and go for one more set of as many reps as you can.
Ex- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 17(failed to perform 18), 15 after 60s.
Wed- 9 sets of 5 heavier squats. 60s breaks. We used 1.2-1.4 times bodyweight on the bar. You could use a 10-20kg weight in your hands. Add 2 kgs every week.
Thurs- As many sets of 8 as can be performed with 45s breaks. If you get more than 9 sets, increase to 9 reps per set. Whenever you can do 9 sets add a rep.
Friday- 5 sets 1 rep of ultra slow squats. Start from the bottom and do the concentric first, then do the negative. Each rep should last 180s. 90s breaks. These will be brutal.
Sat and sun off.
After 3 weeks of this, take a week off and go for a max effort set. You should get atleast twice the original amount of reps. If on monday of the 3rd week you do not do more than 35reps (if your current max is 20) in at least one of your sets, continue the program for one more week. You can keep extending the program until you hit 36-40 reps in your best set on the monday workout, bu I dont think anyone should need more than 5 weeks. A guy I knew tried this system for pushups and needed a full 6 weeks to get to 35. After a week of rest when he tested he managed 55 pushups in great form- he started out with 20.
As far as the threshold for athletic carryover goes, I train a lot of field and track athletes and as such in my experience it is 2 times bodyweight in the full (ass to calves) back squat, 2.8 times bodyweight in the conventional deadlift, bodyweight in the military press and 1.25 times bodyweight in the bench press. I cant really justify these figures, but this has been my experience, atleast up until now.
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