I apologize for the length of this post in advance but thought I would share my experience with squatting 3 times/week with you all. After chatting with JasonDB(thank you for showing me the light) a while back I thought I would try it out for myself. I was dealing with a brutal shoulder injury that was not allowing me to properly train my upper body for a few months. Rather than skip days in the gym entirely I thought I would try something new (to me) and hit my legs three times/week. I structured my own routine and documented the numbers pertaining to my squats only. Even though I did accessory movements with each workout and also trained my hamstrings and calves on each of the workouts I didn't bother with those numbers as I was only concerned with bringing up my squat.
I trained Legs following three routines; a 5,3,1 day, a 3 x15 day and a 3 x6-8 day.I would hit my legs about every 48 hrs although on occasion if I felt I needed an extra day to recover I would take it before smashing them again. In between I trained Chest/Shoulders on one day and Back/arms on another (again very light as my shoulder was still on the mend).
1)5,3,1 = 315, 365, 405x 4(first one seemed a bit easy so I pushed for 4 reps that day)
2)3x15 = 225 for all 3 sets 15 reps
3)3x6-8 = 315x6, 315x8, 315 x 10
1)5,3,1 = 315x1, 365x3, 405x2 (was slightly off that night)
2)3x15= 225x15, 225x15, 235x15
3)3x6-8= 315x8, 315x8, 315x 10
1)5,3,1 = 315x8, 365x3, 365x8, 405x4 (had some kind of super powers that day lol)
2)3x15 = 225x15, 245x15, 265x 15
3)3x6-8 = 315x8, 335x8, 365x6
1)5,3,1 = 320x5, 370x3, 405x4, 425x1, 405x3
2)3x15 = 230x15, 250x15, 270x15
3)3x6-8 = 320x8, 340x8, 365x7
1)5,3,1 = 325x5, 370x3, 430x1, 405x2
2)3x15 = 230x15, 250x15, 275x15
3)3x6-8 = 320x8, 340x8, 365x8
1)5,3,1 = 325x5, 375x3, 440x1
2)3x15 = 230x15, 250x15, 280x15
3)3x6-8 = 320x8, 345x8, 370x8
1)5,3,1 = 325x5, 380x3, 450x1
2)3x15 = 230x15, 255x15, 290x15
3)3x6-8 = 320x8, 350x8, 375x8
Then my final day was another 5,3,1 before leaving on vacation..
325x5, 380x3, 455x1 Tried 460 first but lost my form and had to dump the bar....reloaded everything and got back under it and nailed 455lbs !! Moral of the story; don't be greedy...small increments over time will lead to setting your P.R.s
I did this all on a cut (approx 2400 cals/day) and as you can see got stronger just about every single week. I trained my whole life following a 7 day spilt (hitting the same body part only once a week) I never would have thought I could train like this but am sure glad I tried it...I am hooked. :-)
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03-05-2012, 01:06 PM #1
My story of squatting 3 times a week.
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03-05-2012, 01:10 PM #2
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03-05-2012, 01:11 PM #3
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03-05-2012, 01:13 PM #4
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03-05-2012, 01:17 PM #5
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03-05-2012, 01:19 PM #6
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03-05-2012, 01:22 PM #7
No wizardry involved just balls out training and desire to finally get my squat numbers up to some respectable levels .... the best piece of gym equipment I ever invested in was a piece of paper and a pen...keeping track of your numbers and looking back on them the next workout makes for an amazing motivational tool also.
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03-05-2012, 01:23 PM #8
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03-05-2012, 01:27 PM #9
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03-05-2012, 03:00 PM #10
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03-05-2012, 03:01 PM #11
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03-05-2012, 05:57 PM #12
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03-05-2012, 08:06 PM #13
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03-05-2012, 10:10 PM #14
- Join Date: Jun 2009
- Location: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom (Great Britain)
- Age: 47
- Posts: 19,532
- Rep Power: 0
Told you... no natty seeking gains should be squating less than 3x a week. Scaling back to once or twice is fine if you are happy with your size and strength levels, but it is not optimal for anyone not using protein-synthesis increasing drugs, regardless of training experience or level of development who is seeking to improve.
Given that you have always trained on a 7 day frequency I thought you might see a rapid improvement doing this. Watch what happens when you go on a caloric surplus doing it. ;-)
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03-05-2012, 10:46 PM #15
- Join Date: Oct 2009
- Location: New Jersey, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 5,637
- Rep Power: 14649
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03-06-2012, 03:30 AM #16
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03-06-2012, 03:38 AM #17
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03-06-2012, 04:11 AM #18
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03-06-2012, 05:22 AM #19
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03-06-2012, 05:49 AM #20
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03-06-2012, 06:32 AM #21
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03-06-2012, 06:39 AM #22
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04-07-2013, 03:19 AM #23
Not bashing
I don't want to discredit or bash anyone's achievements. I just want to let us naturals know that people on gear can recover much faster than us. I squat once a week, and try to squat twice a week in some weeks with the extra day overlap. That's plenty for me and I see gains. I think 3 times for me would be overtraining. Then again, I train to failure and get major DOMS after training legs.
What we all gotta understand is that people's bodies are all different. Some genetic freaks or people on gear could handle squatting 3 or 4 times a week. Most of us could not. Just saying. Well, I could if I didn't lift to failure, but what's the point in that?
Regardless, big ups! Respect!! Awesome gains.
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04-07-2013, 03:36 AM #24
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04-07-2013, 03:41 AM #25
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04-07-2013, 03:49 AM #26
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04-07-2013, 03:55 AM #27
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04-07-2013, 03:59 AM #28
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04-07-2013, 04:21 AM #29
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04-07-2013, 05:06 AM #30
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