Squatting once a week?

[Ryan]

Hi guys.

I haven't updated my training log here in a while, but I am still training and in fact for a meet.

My question is this: I have been squatting twice a week for the past year and a half and I'm considering scaling back to squatting once a week for the immediate future (for a couple of different reasons that I won't get into unless it factors into anyone's potential answer to this topic).

Let me know what your thoughts are on this topic.

[osu122975]

I squat once a week. I usually work one heavy set, sometimes two. I have a baseline number that I work from. It has greatly increased my squat this past year. Intensity over volume works wonders.

My personal opinion is I see too many raw lifters who are beyond the intermediate stage in training years still lifting moderate volume and/or too much frequency. I believe this to be a waste of time if you compete and want a bigger max.

Finding a baseline number to work from is key to getting stronger. The older we get, cuz this includes you Ryan; the less lifts we have in us. We only have so many lifts before the body begins to fight back. IMO, finding a baseline weight to work from keeps balance in training allowing us to push when we can and maintain or just put in some base work in order to keep pushing forward without major injury.

Case in point, my bench has suffered for two months because I was doing heavy slingshot reps to work my lockout issues. Ended up straining my shoulder and took me over two months to get back to somewhat normal bench training. I find that training by feel or how the weight is moving that day based on my baseline, I'm able to train healthier, safer and lift more weight.

[Ryan]

Thanks Eric.

When you say one heavy set or two in a training session, give me an example of a session.

Go from warmup to your final set. I'd like to see how that lays out.

[osu122975]

Oct 3, 2017 17:48:49 GMT -5 Ryan said:

Thanks Eric.

When you say one heavy set or two in a training session, give me an example of a session.

Go from warmup to your final set. I'd like to see how that lays out.

This is typical........we use a 60lb Sabertooth Bar. I'll give you two examples because it depends on how fast the 100lb plates start going on.

Bar x 5-10 reps
150 x 5
240 x 3-5
310 x 3-5
350 x 3-5
400 x 3-5

400 is my baseline. My max is 530 but certainly have 550+ in me so for me I like the baseline to be around 75-80%. I might do 5 reps pausing the last one. I might do 3 reps and pause every one of them. I have run off 8 reps before as well. Just depends on how I feel. This is basic training. The reason for 3-5 reps in the warm up is mostly by feel or what I want to accomplish on that workout. I try to make these weeks hard by doing what I can to not run thru the motions.

Alternate workout looks like this:

Bar x 5-10
150 x 5
260 x 3-5 (this is if we want to start the 100lb plates instead of two plates - 240)
350 x 3
400 x 1-3 feeler set
420-500 for 1-3 reps or more if its in me - feel it out (this is on a heavy week)

So as you can see I only do about 6 sets including the bar. A heavy week comes once every 5 weeks for "offseason". Considering my deadlift routine looks pretty similar, two of these workouts a week and I don't really need much more. What I found was less volume and upping the intensity for one or two sets allows me to recover faster and get stronger as a result.

It's all about building a base. Right now I'm 8 weeks or so out and I still do the same thing only when it gets over my baseline I start focusing on singles.

There are about 5-6 of us who train this way and everyone is getting stronger.

[Ryan]

Thanks again Eric.

[3speed]

Ryan,
The only time I drop my squats to 1X/week is during a maintenance phase. I make progress when I go high intensity/low to moderate volume at least 4 times a week.

[Ryan]

Ok, thanks Woody.

My typical approach has been something of a middle ground between what you and Eric do.

I have been squatting twice a week with one day being an intensity day, the other being volume.

So day1 (intensity) might look like:

bar x10
135x8
225x6
315x3
405x1
455x1
485-500 (somewhere in there) x1

Work: 430x5x3

Day2 (volume)
same warmup as day1....
Work: 365x3x8

The problem I'm running into recently is that I'm having some patellar tendinitis flare in one knee (it's been a problem since 13yrs old, so not PL related) and I'm wondering if the volume days triggered it and whether scaling back to once-a-week squat will still yield strength gains or if I need to find a different way to manage the tendinitis while still squatting twice (or more??) a week.

The one thing you both share distinctly in common (and something I know and preach myself) is that volume is not your friend when you're over 40, so maybe I just need to turn my day2 squat into something more similar to day1 rather than 3 sets of 8's @60+%. Maybe that one volume session is what's stirring up the tendinitis?


Side note: I'm also wondering whether switching to a flat shoe (I normally squat in Olympic shoes) might reduce the sheer force over my tibia and allow the patellar tendon a bit of give? I guess that's worth considering along side the main issue of actual frequency.

[Cormac]

Nowhere near as strong as any of you guys but more and more i'm finding myself getting better results following Erics method. I squat once a week, and only do 1-2 top sets and then I do some lighter back off work for sets of 5-10 reps. Intensity over volume has been the biggest realization in my own training this year. 

I'm probably totally off base here Ryan, but do you think the pain in the knee could be cause by an imbalance from doing primarily bi-lateral exercises like squats which will make your dominant leg generally grow a little bigger and stronger but carry slightly more of the load? I hate unilateral exercises like split squats, lunges, single leg leg extensions etc but I force myself to do a few sets a week just to try balance out my leg musculature. I hate hate hate split squats but they do seem to help balance me out a little even though I hate every second of them. 

[osu122975]

Volume triggered any tendonitis I've ever had. Slight changes in technique also helped aleviate those pains. However, lol.....some are just unavoidable hahaha

Side note: I do use Chucks

[Ryan]

always been volume for me too Eric. I am practically convinced the second squat day of 24-30 total work reps is what caused this.

I'm kicking myself for being so stupid, but the real problem now is how to get it under control in time to actually peak for the meet.

[3speed]

Ryan,
Almost without fail, all of my tendonitis flare ups have resulted from overuse. That is most likely your culprit.

As far as recovering, patellar tendonitis usually responds well to nsaids and stretching if it isn't advanced. You might also consider getting a patellar (knee) strap. It's a strap that goes around the leg immediately below the patella. You can buy one at just about any drugstore or Walmart.

[Ryan]

So just to be clear here, and to get back to my original question I guess, is whether scaling back to 1 squat day is wise, or is this less of a frequency thing and more of a volume issue.

In other words, does it make more sense to stick with squatting twice a week and just temper the volume a bit on my "lighter" day, OR do I just cut the frequency in half by only squatting once a week.

I am leaning toward just relaxing the volume within each training session rather than cutting my squatting frequency but everyone makes compelling points both ways.

[3speed]

Multiple squat sessions per week keeping the total volume to barely more than I would have done in one session has always worked for me.

[osu122975]

I think it can work either way Ryan. As long as the total volume is kept under control. When I have done high frequency, I've done so with success but volume had to be lower. I was able to keep intensity a little higher as well.

I recently read an article Pavel wrote about Russian training and he likes a higher frequency with shorter sessions, lower volume per session and the work to be in the 1-5 range at 70-85%.

[George]

I definitely think the toggle between intensity-frequency-volume is the biggest issue once we pass into intermediate territory and beyond. I know that in my beginning training I was a huge volume advocate...things like Smolov or Sheiko, and I saw continual gains. Then, I started hitting a wall and getting my first doses of minor injuries (like a pec strain during Sheiko). Eventually I began using a less is more approach, trading volume for higher intensity...to the tune of very high pr's being a minimalist squatting to one heavy rep once a week. But, as Woody pointed out a while ago...I had done quite a few reps in the years prior that may have enabled that response to high intensity. The mass was there.

I think body type may play a role also. If you build mass easily, versus being the "hard-gainer" type. A muscularly dense person who isn't at risk at losing size may be able to benefit more from high intensity and less volume. A person with a quicker metabolism or harder time maintaining would likely need to continuous benefit of power building to avoid losing while trying to peak. This is all just bro perspective and opinions. But I know that I switched to once a week heavy for up to six weeks on end and after a two year layoff hit an 80lb pr. But...the past three meets with the same approach...and I'm kind of stagnate.

What I am doing now though, primarily because of the shoulder aggravation all the squatting ends up doing is using an alternative my second squat day, currently a safety squat bar for paused squats. I would be doing front squats if I didn't have one. I also began incorporating C.A.T training after reading on Sam Byrd, using 60% for 5x5 as fast as possible. This did not add pr level difference, but compared to the heavy grinding I did into singles the year before, I found it amazing that the 5x5 at 60% also had me at 700 relatively quickly.

All that said, I think scaling back to one day a week will only work if the intensity is high enough to continue a response...but eventually, you can only prime the engine so much before needing to build more horsepower potential in the engine itself.

[vegasjon]

I am strongly considering doing this to focus more on my bench. My squat/deadlift seem to rise steadily but my bench has stalled so maybe backing off to 1/day for squats i can just maintain there and focus on the bench