Trying to Improve a Specific Lift

This is prob a beginner Q but i dont the answer, due to some injuries im starting cross-over into powerlifting.
Say your bench & DL are good but your squat is lacking, when youre told to do a specific exercise to “bring it up” does it replace your squat for a designated period of time, say 4 weeks, and then you go back to your squat after that month & re-test your PR?

Example: Im having trouble getting out the hole & was advised to do 3-5 sets of 3 box jumps, pregressively getting higher - would they be accessory work to my squat or replace it for a month?

always start with your form. all the box jumps in the world aren’t going to improve your squat technique. post a vid of you squatting a near max squat. if your form is good then i could give you some advice on training.

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
always start with your form. all the box jumps in the world aren’t going to improve your squat technique. post a vid of you squatting a near max squat. if your form is good then i could give you some advice on training. [/quote]

Strongly agree with this.

Your first concern should be perfect squat mechanics. If you don’t have proper mechanics, that should be your primary concern. Posting a video would be the best way to let others dissect your form.

Are you training for a sport or to squat more? If you just want to squat more, ditch the box jumps and train the squat and accessory movements.

[quote]sjfou wrote:
This is prob a beginner Q but i dont the answer, due to some injuries im starting cross-over into powerlifting.
Say your bench & DL are good but your squat is lacking, when youre told to do a specific exercise to “bring it up” does it replace your squat for a designated period of time, say 4 weeks, and then you go back to your squat after that month & re-test your PR?

Example: Im having trouble getting out the hole & was advised to do 3-5 sets of 3 box jumps, pregressively getting higher - would they be accessory work to my squat or replace it for a month?[/quote]

Accesory work for your squat.

Think about the implications of using them as a substitute for squats. Why would you abandon the movement you are trying to improve?

Most people have trouble getting out of the hole. That’s why you see people in gyms quarter squatting. Could mean a couple things in your case, but I suspect you just need to tighten up, buckle down and put in the time in the gym.

In a year’s time, if you are squatting more but still feel slow coming out of the hole, are you really going to be that bothered by it? Assuming your technique is solid we coach lifters all the time to turn that part of their brain off that is feeding back how “quick” the weight is moving. Just stay tight and get it done.

We had a stiff leg DL contest a couple weeks back (just being idiots) and I did a single with the weight that was on the bar. The two guys before me missed the weight. I went to do a double to rub it in and basically got crushed. When I stood up they told me they couldn’t believe I tried another rep after how slow I ground the first one. Truth is, all I knew is the weight went up and I wanted to put an exclamation point on it. I had no concept of how slow the rep moved.

Bottom line, put together a solid plan, run it for 6-8 weeks, evaluate your progress and do it again.

Thanks for the advice… Got no way yet of posting vids, but ill get some up ASAP

How much is your squat, and are you training for a sport, or just to squat more?

Just aiming to get numbers up at the moment, got injured & burnt out doing MMA. started lifting post-injury, really enjoyed it, so i want to get my totals up & just train MMA for fun…

[quote]sjfou wrote:
Just aiming to get numbers up at the moment, got injured & burnt out doing MMA. started lifting post-injury, really enjoyed it, so i want to get my totals up & just train MMA for fun…[/quote]

Ya, then squat more often, and dont worry about jump squats. Do DE squats if anything.

For what it’s worth SUMO deads have helped my “out of the hole” strength. Zerchers come in second. But I squat wide.