Squatter's Journal-The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

[Squatter]

Originally Posted by LtL

Looks to me on closer inspection that your stance has changed. Has it always been that narrow?

LtL

I don't think it has changed. When I set up, I always place my feet at the same spot, unless today I accidently did not. Do you think I should widen my stance?

[Szelago]

Made that 190 look easy, big guy!

[Squatter]

Originally Posted by Szelago

Made that 190 look easy, big guy!

Thanks Tom It's a great feeling when It looks easy

[Squatter]

5/3/1 RELOADED CYCLE 8 WEEK 3 SQUAT

So, mixed emotions about today's squats. I was not happy with my depth on my 531 sets, and the 2nd and 3rd singles were a no-go. I somehow got a kink in my lower back during my second 531 set. This, combined with last weeks squat disaster and last cycle' close call with a quad injury, has probably damaged my confidence to squat heavy, even though I had the greatest week of my life just a couple of weeks ago on week 1. The bottom line is that if my squats are not at least below parallel, I am not happy. I know for a fact my knees will probably start hurting if my squats are at parallel or above. So, it looks like I may have to drop the weight on my squats next cycle and progress by only 5 lbs per month. Hopefully, that will allow my hammies and my confidence to build up again.

The only thing that salvaged the session was a 20 repper I decided to do on a whim, since my body wasn't co-operating on the heavy stuff. 245 X20 is a new PB that i am of course very proud of as they were ATG The last 3 reps hurt big time.

Squat 5/3/1
(Goal) Actual
(290 X5) 290 X5 Depth good here
(327.5 X3) 330 X3 Depth OK I think, until I got kink on 3rd rep.
(367.5 X1) 370 x5 Probably shouldn't count these as depth was crappy and not up to my standards.

370 x5

YouTube - Squatter370X5Squat

YouTube - Squatter370X5Squat

Heavy Single
380 X1
Again, depth crappy

YouTube - Squatter380X1Squat

YouTube - Squatter380X1Squat

20 Repper
245 X20

YouTube - Squatter245X20Squat

YouTube - Squatter245X20Squat

Good Mornings

135 X10
135 X10
135 X10
I did these as they always make my lower back feel better

Kink is still there, but not as bad tonight. Hopefully it will go away soon.

[LtL]

If it were me I would abandon the calculator and structure for your squats for a while and work on form and getting your confidence back. Here's how I would do it:

- I think you need to widen your stance but you'll need to do it gradually so move it out slightly each session. If you need to put markers on the floor, use some tape.
- Use the 5/3/1 set guidelines for the number of rep's and just work up to what you feel comfortable doing. I can't remember how the reloaded is structured but if I use the regular 5/3/1 as an example in 5's week you would work up to a 5 rep' max', 3's week a max triple and week 3 up to a max single.
- Treat a set of 5 as 5 singles NOT a lump of 5 all mashed together if you get what I mean.
- Do your regular warm-ups and then 3 working sets.
- Choose your weights carefully but instinctively.
- Make the jumps small, but aggressive. No point in tripling a weight that you can comfortably rep' for 6 BUT DO NOT MISS.
- Always leave a rep' in the tank but just the one.

Others may have different suggestions but this is what I would do. It's how I reworked my deadlift last year whilst doing 5/3/1 for the rest of my lifts.

LtL

[Squatter]

Originally Posted by LtL

If it were me I would abandon the calculator and structure for your squats for a while and work on form and getting your confidence back. Here's how I would do it:

- I think you need to widen your stance but you'll need to do it gradually so move it out slightly each session. If you need to put markers on the floor, use some tape.
- Use the 5/3/1 set guidelines for the number of rep's and just work up to what you feel comfortable doing. I can't remember how the reloaded is structured but if I use the regular 5/3/1 as an example in 5's week you would work up to a 5 rep' max', 3's week a max triple and week 3 up to a max single.
- Treat a set of 5 as 5 singles NOT a lump of 5 all mashed together if you get what I mean.
- Do your regular warm-ups and then 3 working sets.
- Choose your weights carefully but instinctively.
- Make the jumps small, but aggressive. No point in tripling a weight that you can comfortably rep' for 6 BUT DO NOT MISS.
- Always leave a rep' in the tank but just the one.

Others may have different suggestions but this is what I would do. It's how I reworked my deadlift last year whilst doing 5/3/1 for the rest of my lifts.

LtL

Ok Al. So, just to clarify, on week 1 of reloaded I do 3 sets of 3 reps each. You are saying I should do 3 singles at X weight, 3 more singles at X weight, and then 3 more singles at X weight

Week 2 i would do 5 singles at X weight, 5 more singles at X weight, and then 5 more singles at X weight

Week 3 I would do 5 singles at X weight, 3 singles at X weight, and then 1 single at X weight.

Correct?

[BendtheBar]

I would try widening the stance just a hair. Like Al said, do it slowly. Even small adjustments can really mess with hips/hammies. Try putting tape on the floor or something as a visual cue.

When your squats are a little high, do you sense that when performing them or is it something you notice after the fact?

375x5 is still something to be proud of. They are a little high but depth can be fixed. Right now you're leaning too far forward upon descending which is making it hard to go deep. You need to drop more in between your legs and width might help this.

How are your knees when descending? Pushing out ever so slightly?

[LtL]

Jim I meant for you to do 3 sets of 3 on week 1 BUT you should think of that set of 3 as 3 singles. That's a coaching point to make sure your technique is always on point. Make sense?

LtL

[LtL]

Sick benching today BTW. Was that a PB?

LtL

[5kgLifter]

Great session Jim! You looked shaky even when you were walking out with the 20 repper weightload, is there a problem at the moment?