Gary Gibson
05-10-2010, 11:49 PM
I've gotten a lot of mileage out of Smolov and the Russian Squat Routine which are both high frequency. But lately I've found that I simply cannot successfully complete three and four heavy squat routines per week. It's been really weird. I've had a good initial session and then completely failed the next heavy session a couple days later. BUT when I rested a couple days more, I was able to get that next heavy session.
I was a bit confused because I've been using these high intensity/volume/frequency protocols with lots of success and thinking of myself as an intermediate lifter. But I was clearly able to squat heavily several times per week and still make progress which is the hallmark of a novice. So even though I wasn't doing SS, I probably was still a novice or advanced novice, based on my ability to recover and improve.
Now it seems like I need about twice as long between sessions as before. Again, it's just the oddest thing to me to go in one day and completely fail to hit my scheduled squat numbers yet be able to manage it a few days later. I know a lot of you are saying "No shit, Sherlock" as you read this, but it's new to me. I feel like a big boy now that I can only squat heavily about once a week.
Took me a while to get it, however. Since I hit the low-400's earlier this year I've been having a hell of a hard time. Progress has stopped on the squat (even though my deadlift continues to improve) and I've had several failed sessions were various heads of my quads felt like they were going to catch fire and peel away from my femurs.
I was a bit confused because I've been using these high intensity/volume/frequency protocols with lots of success and thinking of myself as an intermediate lifter. But I was clearly able to squat heavily several times per week and still make progress which is the hallmark of a novice. So even though I wasn't doing SS, I probably was still a novice or advanced novice, based on my ability to recover and improve.
Now it seems like I need about twice as long between sessions as before. Again, it's just the oddest thing to me to go in one day and completely fail to hit my scheduled squat numbers yet be able to manage it a few days later. I know a lot of you are saying "No shit, Sherlock" as you read this, but it's new to me. I feel like a big boy now that I can only squat heavily about once a week.
Took me a while to get it, however. Since I hit the low-400's earlier this year I've been having a hell of a hard time. Progress has stopped on the squat (even though my deadlift continues to improve) and I've had several failed sessions were various heads of my quads felt like they were going to catch fire and peel away from my femurs.