My goal is to ATG squat 315 for 30 reps.
Don’t ask me why I want that goal. I have my reasons…
With that said, what’s the best way to go about it?
Should I work up on having a 500+ pound 1RM?
Or should I start endurance-training with high reps and low weight as soon as I hit a 450 max?
As a side note, which will get my there FASTER?
Thank you.
Why do you want that goal? 
But to answer your question, going for the 500+ 1RM is without doubt the quickest way to get there, then you can focus on your endurance-specific work.
Have you abandoned your previous goal of a 505 squat, or are you chasing that as well?
Why do you want that goal?
It depends. If it’s necessary for me to squat that much to be able to squat 315 pounds for 30 reps, then I’ll resume chasing it.
If you’re wondering why I abandoned my initial goal of squatting 505 pounds, let me tell you this story real quick…
I deloaded, and my squat went from 405 to less than 365. No joke. I was too lazy to work my way up again.
I think that this time would be different. I’ll start at a lower bodyweight so that I won’t have to worry about packing on mass and getting morbidly obese. I plan to start training my squat to big numbers once I hit an all-time low bodyweight of 180 pounds. That way, I can gain 20 pounds freely with lots of food and no restriction of calories.
My goal right now is to lose weight. I fixed my diet and lost 15 pounds already (from 230 to 215) but plateaued, so I started doing some kettlebells in the hopes that it’ll help.
With that said… My goal is to squat 315 for 30 reps. I feel no need to state why that’s my goal. It just is…
So anyway, which is the best route to take? Take my squat up to 500+? Or stop at 450 and do some endurance work?
Stop trolling. It’s not funny.
Yeah big 1RM might even need to aim for 600, 30 reps is no joke
You think I can settle with 505 pounds as a max? Or do you think I need more than that?
lol. I speak as if hitting a 500 squat is that easy. Forgive me for that. lol
Its possible I suppose, will depend on your personal body mechanics and conditioning(will need to be sky high). Can always test at 505 I guess
I would focus less on maximal strength and more on rep strength and conditioning. You will of course need a great deal of maximal strength, but once you get to around the 20 rep mark it is less about strength and more about mental fortitude and conditioning.
A prowler is going to go a long way toward building your conditioning and improving recovery between squat wotkouts. I would also spend a lot of time with rest pausing and dropsets. Bring breathing squats into the mix as well, and use them to get to 30 reps. You need to learn how to get comfortable with 315 on your back for a long time.
Thank you.
You and foreveralphablog + RampantBadger seem to not fully agree on this. I may have to figure this out on my own…
Throughout my life, my conditioning have always been shit. I was that typical fat-kid-who-could-lift-decent-weights-but-can’t-run type of guy. I definitely need to work on conditioning.
And for what it’s worth, I could barely do 3 sets of 10 front squats with 40 pounds of kettlebells (two 20-pounders).
I did the “build a lot of maximal strength and the conditioning will follow” approach ala Rippetoe, and all it did was make me very strong maximally with little conditioning. Conditioning is its own animal. I personally got beat in a car deadlift event by 2 reps by a guy with a deadlift 100lbs less than mine. He was simply the better conditioned athlete.
You compete in strongman?
That’s lame. Just be an explosive Olympic lifter. It’s more badass.
Jokes aside, thanks for the advice. lol
Any strongman that could be a weightlifter IS a weightlifter. I can’t be one, so I am a strongman.
I know you are just kidding, but this kind of “ribbing” from non-competitiors is really stupid.
Sorry. lol
It you want to squat 315 30 times, you need to first squat it 29 times. Just build up to it. Increase both your 1RM and train for a 30 rep set.
And I apologize for the joke. I did not realize how serious you wanted things to be. My bad.
Thanks.
Reps over max. My max is around 500 lbs and I hit 308 lbs for 20 quite easily this week with another few in the tank. The last few months I’ve hit 250-300 lbs for 20-25 weekly and another two other sets of 10-20. I do conditioning work too, but not masses.
I’ll second breathing squats as suggested above. Especially done with three breaths between each rep Super Squats style.