Started by Longshanks, March 16, 2011 · 17 Replies · 8,077 Views
I've just started squating with weight these lasr few weeks and since my progress has been pretty rubbish so far with NLC's so far I thought I's start Deadlifts as a substitute and alternate deadlift and squat each workout for lower body and continue with BW exercises for upper body.
My question is this, would it be a good idea to exclude bridging and rowing on deadlift days?
I don't see that bridging or rowing would be too taxing unless you find these taxing.
NLC/floor glute-ham hits the glutes and hams harder than DL do.
mate if you want to improve your squats drastically, do them 3 times a week.
Im on a full weights program at the moment (only discovering all this gymnastics stuff in the last month)
3 days a week, full body workout. Chest, back, legs. All compound lifts. imbetween days ive been doing some FSP stuff and Headstand/handstand/ GH work etc...
I only started "learning" how to squat and deadlift in December. Back then i found a 60 kg squat hard. Now im managing 140kg squat (4-6 reps a set).
Biggest focus should be on form. NOt on just chucking weights on. No point making "gains" if your only half-squatting.
Just persistance mate.
And dont wear runners when squatting or deadlifting. BIG tip.
nikosg said:And dont wear runners when squatting or deadlifting. BIG tip.
What? Why not?
rmandawg1 said:nikosg said:And dont wear runners when squatting or deadlifting. BIG tip.
What? Why not?
Or in high heels in other words. You may be off balance for one, and second, the exertion should be
thorough your heels, not your forefoot.
Most people can't recover completely from 3 full body workouts in a week (heavy ones at least) but more power to you if you can.
rmandawg1 said:nikosg said:And dont wear runners when squatting or deadlifting. BIG tip.
What? Why not?
This should be a good start: http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2010/10/a ... -the-feet/
I haven't read through the article yet, but I have done powerlifting for about 5 years on and off and I have ALWAYS used running shoes. Yes, don't use shoes with excessively large heels, but what type of athletic footwear has that anyway?
With proper stance and appropriately set center of gravity, the weight will be over your heels and that's where you will be driving from.
Most of the serious DLers use a DL shoe that is more like a slipper. Less distance to move the bar.
That's true, but this doesn't mean that the average joe cannot or should not use normal running shoes for deadlifting or squatting.
At the risk of completely invalidating niko's post, I also don't recommend doing heavy squats 3 times a week. That's just ludicrous. When I was doing heavy squats, I could barely walk for at least a couple days after my leg workout, which consisted of only squats and lunges, with a leg extension machine burn set at the very end.
niko, I have no idea how were able to add that much weight to your squat, while training it 3 times a week in only 4 months, unless you had some prior training or assistance from drugs lol.
"The metatarsal strap helps reinforce your foot as well as holding your foot in place while it is in the shoes so it doesn’t slide around. The wide sole provides more stability via the increased surface area. The non-compressible sole ensures that all of the force that you are attempting to apply to the ground goes all of the way to the bar. "
rmandawg1 said:At the risk of completely invalidating niko's post, I also don't recommend doing heavy squats 3 times a week. That's just ludicrous. When I was doing heavy squats, I could barely walk for at least a couple days after my leg workout, which consisted of only squats and lunges, with a leg extension machine burn set at the very end.
Thats probably because you were training so infrequently. The more you train, the less sore you get from a workout. I squat three times a week, do either the power snatch or power clean three times a week, and do a deadlift variant once a week and the only soreness I get is in my hamstrings, and then its very mild. The trick to me squatting three times a week is I'm on a program that manipulates volume and intensity. For example, monday is volume day (5x5), wednesday is front squats for 5 doubles and a hard single (which involve less weight so doesn't tax recovery for the back squat much), and friday is a low volume, high intensity day (work up to a 5RM). I've also squatted for just 3 heavy PR sets of 5 three times a week and put 70 pounds on my squat in 2 months. That kind of progress doesn't last long though.
Hmm, the logic behind the shoe seems legit. I was up to almost 3x bodyweight deadlift and a 2.5x bodyweight squat at 180lbs bodyweight using just running shoes, but maybe I would have seen better results with those fancy shoes. Bench lagged much further behind at only around 1.5x bodyweight.
I feel slightly retarded now - of course you must have meant varying intensity and volume of the workouts originally. I just assumed you were suggesting 3 high intensity squat and deadlift workouts a week, which IS crazy. I guess in a round-a-bout way, I was training squats 3 times a week too, using various other lifts at different intensities, but only training heavy squats and heavy deadlifts once every 5 days. My apologies 
If you're squatting 3 times a week with results, it's very low volume, low rep. If you squat with higher reps (10 - 20) near or to failure with sets, it taxes recovery substantially more. It's the same with deads. A single 20 rep set done to failure will probably take you almost 2 weeks to recover from. With a different approch in rep scheme and intensity, you could do it more frequently. The differences can be night and day and should be specified.
Amebix hit it on the head there..
Im not MAXING out my squats each of the three days.
Basically ill focus on one or two of the three body sections i train (chest.back.legs) and go hard on them. And i will alternate on this during the week. So maybe monday is chest and legs at full intensity and back at moderate intensity... wednesday i certainly wont be doing chest and legs at FULL intensity so back will be my main focus, and legs and chest not as intense. Friday i will do all three fairly full on because i feel i have recovered and need to cause some damage to my body before the weekend haha 
Basically, i would start off with one FULL ON day, taxing everything pretty heavy. Then maybe the Wed and Fri workouts are moderate to easy. Then when your body starts adjusting, maybe do HEAVY, moderate, HEAVY...
I mean, the first few weeks of changing to this workout, i felt like i was going to die by the time it came to my next training session. But now, im fully recovered by the next night.
I wont get started on the "no shoes" issue. It was just a hot tip i found has helped me I just wear my Vibram five fingers when im doing legs. If you feel fine in runners, then stay in runners. But i feel 10x more balanced "bare foot", and i feel like i can really push through my heels with POWER. Rather than compressing the heel of my runner before getting any power into the floor. Personal preference. I aint a preacher
rmandawg1 said:niko, I have no idea how were able to add that much weight to your squat, while training it 3 times a week in only 4 months, unless you had some prior training or assistance from drugs lol.
LOL
no mate, i just train hard and consistent. In those four months, there was probably only ONE week where i only went 2 times to train.
It took me a while to get my form perfect. So going to atleast parallel.
But legs was a big weak point of my body, so i decided it was time to start training properly and not neglecting them. I dont take any drugs, and i really havent found any pre workout supplements that i actually notice. So im as clean as they come 
ahh, Texas Method, eh?
Personally, I like lifting in bare feet but that's mainly because I spend about 90% of the time barefoot or wearing sandals. I coach barefoot, use sandals outside or when in public and wear shoes mainly to just train in globo gyms. That's about it unless I'm working outside and require shoes. So I feel funny in shoes.
This is gonna blow some freaking minds here: http://pendlayforum.com/showthread.php?t=2996
Check out the post by Glenn Pendlay: "...but does he do that much volume everyday?
Max squats daily, but only does the 5 by 5 workout (or attempts that workout, lol) one day a week. His other 10 or 12 workouts a week are just working up to a heavy single. Today before he did the workout on the video, he worked up to a 302kg single, and missed it."
Its a compelling training method, working up to a daily training max and then backing off with a few doubles or triples at 90%. Seems to work too.
Yep, as long as you are controlling the total damage you are doing you can do "insane" frequency. Higher training frequency is better for relative strength. If you're only doing a few heavy reps you can get away with quite a lot of frequency.
If you take this idea to its core you can get away with high volume AND high frequency.