Hey all, I am a bodybuilder who just turned 18 last month. During the offseason, now, I powerlift on the daily. So, recently I’ve been maxing on both my squat and deadlift about 4-6 times a week. I usually alternate both lifts, i.e. squat on Monday, deadlift on Tuesday, squat on Wednesday, deadlift on Thursday, and then upper body work Fri-Sat, with Sunday being a rest day. I hit a new PR of 560 @ 200 bw but the video was messed up so I want to add about 10 lbs to my squat tomorrow (570) and get a solid video. Should I try?
Do you have an actual question or are you just trying to get people to look at your Instagram page? You’re already maxing out 4 days in a row so the title of the thread doesn’t really mean much.
What you are doing can work for a short time for some people but once progress slows down you need to stop and do some more sustainable sort of training. I know a guy who did something similar but pushed it for too long and ended up with a bunch of overuse injuries, his bench never went anywhere as a result.
I see how that came off, removed the IG tag. The only difference is that this would be me doing the same lift two days in a row instead of alternating the type of lift as I usually do. Wanted to see what others’ experiences are with this training style, thanks m8!
You can link Instagram posts here, just click on the hyperlink thing when you post a reply and put the address in there.
Not too long ago there were a lot of people working up to a max squat every day (or almost every day), there were some people who did well with that but for the vast majority it just didn’t make sense and they went nowhere. So theoretically you could max out tomorrow but don’t expect to be stronger than you were today, the thing with maxing out all the time is that you wont get PRs every time, just here and there.
The next thing, I took a look at your IG page just to see what is really going on. You are strong and you have a lot of potential but unless your back is made of steel I could see you hurting yourself real bad very soon. Your back is rounding when you squat, round back deadlifts are high risk but round back squats are something nobody should be doing.
If you train in a more reasonable manner and work on improving your technique then I’m sure you could make a lot of progress and with much less risk of injury as well. Maxing out is something you should do at a meet or maybe at the end of a training cycle to see what sort of progress you have made. If you want some advice I can help you out, I really don’t recommend for you to keep going with what you are doing. There is a reason why nobody trains like this.
Very sound advice, and I couldn’t agree more with the back rounding during squats. This is my first time trying to formally get into powerlifting, as I’m making small tweaks here and there to my technique/gear, and as I’ve recently been doing a lot of research on things like this. My pelvic tilt/ butt wink in the hole of the squat causes my back rounding. I’ve read that Olympic squat shoes can help avoid this, but that just throws a blanket over my form problem instead of addressing it directly. I appreciate your help, always open to new tips/advice
If want to ‘push it’ all the time either of these would be preferable…
You might want to try working up to a hard single rather than a maximal one.
Just remember this is the most obvious of training styles for powerlifting yet not many people do it. That should tell you plenty.
One of you biggest issues is bracing, if you brace properly you won’t be getting butt wink. Your squat looks like the main concern but your deadlift can use some work too. Watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZjDb9dGX_I
Heeled squat shoes could work for you but I don’t think that the shoes have anything to do with your current issues. Mostly heeled shoes allow you to squat more upright and use more quads, plus it’s easier to hit depth for some people. If you have a chance to try squatting in heeled shoes then do it but I wouldn’t jump and buy a pair just yet. However, in one video you are wearing some grey Nikes that look like they have a soft sole - you don’t want that. You want shoes with the least softness possible in the sole, a soft sole is going to compress and reduce how much force you can put into the bar, plus it will probably make you feel off balance.
The other thing with your squat is that you need to fix your walkout. In the one video I saw you walking all over the place, with some practice you should be able to walk out in no more than three steps. You don’t need to go far either, just a few inches to get away from the rack. Some people say that the walkout is the hardest part of a heavy squat, work on it now before it becomes a bigger problem.
Basically, what you should be doing is working with weights that are challenging but still allow you to use good form and gradually increase the weight. You don’t need to be ready to hit a 1rm unless you are about to do a meet. You can use heavy singles, but mostly keep those at about 90-92% and follow that up with volume work. If you want, start a training log here (in the “training logs” forum) and I can give you some direction. Seriously, with the weights you are lifting at 18 and messed up technique, you could be winning world championships in a few years if you do things the right way.
You said you are a bodybuilder, do you actually compete or are you just into bodybuilding training? How long have you been maxing out all the time and what was your training like before that? Are you planning to do a powerlifting meet in the near future? What you should do right now will depend on what you were doing before.
It’s funny that you mention the shoe problem, I had actually analyzed the videos yesterday and saw how wobbly my push off was in my running shoes so that’s when I decided to do some research and go out and buy a pair of Chucks, as you saw in yesterday’s video. I can tell a world of a difference in stability and I’ll never be going back to squatting in running shoes.
On the walkout, I cringe pretty hard at how many steps it takes me to find “the spot”, so I’ll definitely practice shortening that to 2-3 steps.
I actually do compete in bodybuilding shows, my last one was in May (NPC). I’m currently in the offseason so I’m trying to put on some mass, keeping the volume low as I’m genetically a hardgainer, first got into the gym at 14 @135 lbs 5’11” lol. I haven’t always maxed-out per se, but it started out as me training legs (bodybuilding style) everyday around 15, then doing deadlifts (maxing out) everyday around 15-16, and just recently I was doing squats just about everyday (maxing out), and now I mix up the two. I plan on doing a meet in the Fall or Winter when I drop weight for my next bodybuilding show, as I weirdly get stronger during contest prep, I guess leverages.
Yeah, shoes can make a big difference if what you have isn’t working.
Every set, even warmups, pay attention during the walkout like it was a max attempt. It just takes practice, it’s not complicated.
I’m not sure how you figure you are a “hardgainer”, it sounds like you started out skinny and made some good progress with messed up training. No offence intended, it looks to me that you only got to where you are because of good genetics and determination, both of which are good things. Even if you are a hardgainer, low volume is not the way to put on mass. I watch and read a lot of stuff that Josh Bryant puts out, a few weeks ago he did a seminar here in Ottawa and he was saying that the concept of hardgainers needing less volume is totally wrong. If you have a hard time adding mass it usually has to do with having a lot of slow twitch muscle fibres, the thing is that slow twitch fibres actually need way more volume to grow that fast twitch fibres. This is coming from a guy who coaches some of the top powerlifters right now and several bodybuilders as well.
So basically what you need to do is more volume if you want to gain mass. Max singles are completely the wrong way to go. I tried that daily max squat and bench thing for a while a couple years ago, I didn’t make much progress but I didn’t get weaker either, however I definitely lost muscle. Anybody who isn’t taking a ton of drugs will have the same experience.
If you want me to set up a program for you I can do that. It looks like you want to train 6 days a week, correct? That’s fine if you can manage that. How is your bench? Do you always squat with wraps? Not that there’s anything wrong with knee wraps, I use them too, you just don’t want to do all your squatting in them and especially not if you are trying to add mass.
This thread is starting to get to my head. I don’t know if you even realize you strong you are, if you improve your technique and train better you will kill the competition. You deadlifted 660 the other day, I jut looked at the IPF subjunior records and that is about 2.5kg more than the 93kg class (205lbs) world record.
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Here’s what I would do if I was you and wanted to train six days a week. I actually used this same template a while back but these days I train 4x per week, I find that works better for me.
Monday- main squat day - work up to one heavy set in wraps, lighter volume work after, maybe some pause squats
Tuesday - Same thing for bench, finish up with flys and chin ups or lat pulldowns
Wednesday - Main deadlift day - again, heavy top set, volume work, maybe some deficit deadlifts and then heavy rows
Thursday - Close grip bench, overhead press, some tricep work, upper back work like face pulls or rear delt flys, all for higher reps
Friday - 2nd squat day, if you can use a safety squat bar that would be perfect. It looks like your upper back needs some work with the way it’s rounding, SSB squats are the best thing for that. If not then front squats can work, if you can’t do those (I fucking hate them) then high rep high bar squats. No wraps on this day. Do Romanian deadlift or stiff leg deadlifts after.
Saturday - High rep benching, some more upper body assistance work and such.
Have you ever tried squatting with the bar a bit lower on your back? It allows you to use more hips and lower back (which are usually stronger than quads) and also isn’t limited by upper back strength as much. I switched to high bar squats for a while because my low bar squat was messed up, I even squatted high bar in a meet but I switched back after because of the upper back thing. I almost lost my 3rd attempt because my back started to collapse. For bodybuilding it only makes sense to squat with the bar higher up but for PL in most cases low bar is better.
Huh, really?? I didn’t know the world records for that class would be so low haha.
I’ll definitely follow that training schedule, I’ll start the Monday after next, as next week I’m going to try to hit my short-term goal of a 600 squat and 700 deadlift before I switch programs. My poverty bench is a measly 305, although I’ve been doing sets of 2-3 reps @275 on incline, kind of weird.
I personally don’t like the feel of low-bar squats, as I like to keep my upper body super tight, with my hands close. I’ll try low-bar again today and see if I can make comfortable adjustments. Thank you for your the training program though! I’ll keep ya updated on it once I start 
Also, I do 5x5 ATG squats without wraps after my big squats
If I was you I would quit while I’m ahead, do a bench workout and take the rest of the week off then start this program next week. I can’t really tell you what to do, just don’t hurt yourself.
Few people are good at everything, don’t worry too much about that.
That is good. Doesn’t really sound like low volume either. You can keep doing the same thing for your volume work, or even cut it at 3-4 sets to make room for some pause squats. I would just get you to start with about 80% for a triple for your top set in wraps (so about 455-460) and add 10lbs. each week. If you are still training at 80%+ you won’t get weaker, you don’t need to be ready for a 1rm attempt year round either.
If you can’t get used to it then don’t worry too much, in theory you should be able to lift more low bar though.
Does your gym have a safety squat bar?
I can give you more specific directions for this later, I have things to do. Just don’t do anything crazy for now. For real, what you’re telling me about wanting to max out over and over for the next two weeks is like a guy telling me he won a million dollars and wants to sniff coke and go to the casino. Don’t fuck up and waste the opportunity you have. Seriously consider what I’m saying.
Hey, hookers and blow do have their place, but I’d reserve them to medicate your failures. J/k. Obviously.
As Chris states, @ 18 y/o, your bodyweight and those numbers you’re on a helluva trajectory.
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At the junior level, this ain’t a deal breaker. John Candito was taking podiums at world’s with a terrible bench.
@chris_ottawa Most of Josh Bryant’s volume work is 6-10 sets by 2-4 reps right?
OK, so this is the plan. For your main squat, bench, and deadlift workout you will work up to 80% for one set of 3 reps - pause your bench if you don’t already, lower the weight if you are not used to it. Don’t worry if that seems easy, you will increase the weight each week and right ow the main focus is the volume work. You will do 5x5 with 70% and 2 minutes between sets, if you have a squat 1rm without wraps then base the 70% off of that. You said you are already doing 5x5 squats, I have no idea what weight you are using or how long you rest between sets so if you don’t have a 1rm to work with then adjust that so you can do it with 2 minute breaks without straining too much. You can record the top set and first and last 5x5 sets so I can see how it is going and make appropriate adjustments for the next week.
On the squat day, take off 15% and do two sets of 6 reps paused - about 1-2 seconds, no need to get too specific but come to a full stop at the bottom. If that is too hard then stop short of 6 reps (always try to stay at least one rep away from failure, this is not bodybuilding) and we will change the weights up for the next week.
After benching, do 3 sets of dips. If you can do 10 reps with bodyweight then add weight, stay in the range of 8-12 reps. Then finish with 3 sets of chin ups, you can do them with a supinated/underhand grip to get some bicep work in. Again, add weight if you can do 10.
On your deadlift day, do 3 sets of barbell rows, about 8-10 reps, aim for 10 on the first set. Try to do them as strict as possible. I would get you to do some deficit deadlifts too but starting with too much volume is not a good idea, we will se how it goes.
For your Thursday upper body workout, work up to a heavy set of 10 on close grip bench. Not a 10rm, something you could do for a couple more reps. Do two sets. Same thing for overhead press. Do overhead press sitting on a high incline bench, almost vertical but inclined enough so you can bring the bar to your chest. Standing OHP is hard on your back (once you go heavy enough) and you will need it for squatting the next day. Next do 3 sets of skull crushers, 10-15 reps, don’t get sloppy. Then 3 sets of 15-25 face pulls.
For Friday, whether it’s SSB, front squat, or HB squat, work up to a heavy-ish set of 10 and do three sets with the same weight, ideally you shouldn’t be going lower than 8 reps. If you can do stiff leg deadlifts without rounding your back then that will be next, otherwise romanian deadlifts for 3 sets of 8-12.
Saturday, touch and go bench for 3 sets of 8-12. Then same thing for close grip incline. For close grip, don’t go too close, maybe about 3 fingers width on each side compared to your regular bench. After than 3 sets 8-12 rows, do either cable rows or chest supported rows.
You can add a few sets of ab work on lower body days if you want, it’s questionable whether ab work actually does any good though. The main thing is learning to brace.
A couple more questions: do you normally use deloads (as in a light week now and then)? If so, how often? Your IG page says you sell meal plans, can you give me a sample of what you eat in a week? Do you have specific dates for your next BB and PL meets or what?
It depends. For CAT work yes, but he was saying in the offseason to do mostly 5’s for hypertrophy. You can also do higher reps as well, there are lots of factors to consider. For someone who needs a lot of technique work then CAT is a good choice for volume work. It looks like Josh has a plan for every situation.