Reverse Pyramid for Squats

[jesseisrael]

I have been doing Paul Bossi's bench routine and have begun to incorporate the same principles on my squat day.
Day One: Bench, Incline, Decline
Day Two: off
Day Three: Squats, Front Squats, Stiff Legged Deadlifts
Day Four: Shoulders, Triceps
Day Five: Off
Day Six: Back, Biceps
Day Seven: Off

Last squat routine was
Squat
400x3, belt only
325x10
325x10
315x9
Front Squat
155x9
165x9
165x9
Stiff Legged Deadlift
255x9
255x10
255x10

[deo01]

:oGod Bless you if you can pull that off. My body needs several sets of progressively heavier weights before I start loading up the bar.
What I will do sometimes is pyramid up to 90% max and then reverse the pyramid. It's pretty intense because I generally only give myself 30 to 40 seconds in between sets.

[papatom]

I like the reverse pyramid, but I warm up thoroughly using a padded box. You and I are about the same strength level on squat.
God be praised if you can handle that many sets (90+ reps!) on your quads. If I did that much volume on my legs they would be sore for 2 weeks.
I have made very good progress on the squat with the following routine:
135 x 10 warmup to padded 20 - 21" box or bench
185 x 5 warmup to padded 20 - 21" box or bench
225 x 5 warmup to padded 20 - 21" box or bench
275 x 5 pull the bench out and free squat to parallel
335 x 5 free squat to parallel
395 x 5 for 2 sets - free squat to parallel - these are worksets for strength - 3 minute rest
325 x 15 for 3 sets - free squats to parallel - these are worksets for size - 2 minute rest
55 total work reps.

I don't like using a belt unless I'm attempting a max single.
Doing the warmups to the box or bench creates muscle memory and makes it easy to hit parallel for the rest of the workout.
I "wave" the worksets of 5 reps on a heavy, medium, heavy, light (385, 345, 395, 315) program over 4 weeks.
I just did this today and hit my 5 rep weights easily. I like to stop 2-3 reps short of failure on the heavy sets. The 15 reps are for building size as my legs are naturally skinny. I started this routine 13-14 weeks ago and have added 15 - 20 lbs per month so far. When I started I did 335 for a max single and 2 weeks ago I did 425.

[RichHutchison]

A little clarification, please. Sorry if this seems rudimentary.

Does anyone squat to failure at max or near max weight
and then still do the lighter down side of the pyramid?
I mean real failure - squat at near max until
you need assistance or simply fail to get it up.

I consider this normal for benching, but for some reason
– like I’m a wuss – it seems daunting for squats.

I squat alone, and once that weight hits the safety bar
because I had to dump it, I’M DONE!. Time to unload.

[jesseisrael]

Rich,
I am only on week two of this starting tomorrow. I also workout alone in my garage. On my set of three, I try to go as heavy as I can with good form. Is it to failure? I don't think so. I am sure that if I had a spotter, I would be more inclined to go a bit heavier. Tomoorw, I am shooting for 415x3 followed by 335 for three sets of 10. I did this last week on Sunday and stopped being sore on Thursday, so we will see what the next workout brings. I have been doing basic powerlifting routines for a while now and miss the mass that I used to have. I am thinking of Paul's style of routine as a powerbuilding one similar tthe way that the old bodybuilders and Kaz trained. There is no reason that you can't look good and be strong too.
At least I hope so....

[papatom]

I'm not as advanced as a lot of guys on this board, but here's what I've found:
I only squat to failure when I'm attempting a max single, which is once every 10 - 12 weeks to gauge my progress. I used to train to failure on squat almost every week, but after plateauing so much and having 7-10 days of soreness, I emailed some questions to Fred Hatfield and Brad Gillingham at their websites and they both told me to stop training to failure, always leave 1-2 reps in the tank. "All out maxes are for meets - only". Gillingham suggested the waving loads with 1 light or deload workout every 4-5 weeks, and he favors heavy sets of 5 reps for legs. Since I have adopted this philosophy my progress has really been great and my legs are only sore for a couple days afterwards.

[uncleal]

Interesting Bossi hybrid, Jesse.

I've been pyramiding up with five rep sets, doing a 3x3 work set, then going back down with sets of five and finishing with one ten rep set. The 3x3's are done wave style, with four weeks progress, then a drop down to week two, working up four weeks again, etc. Hoping for some hypertrophy along with the improved numbers.