posterior chain exercises?

[kjd2121]

Isn't 531 for intermediates? You should be on SS with a squat that low!!!

[jameson]

Sorry man I hate to call you out, but your log shows you've actually lost strength on your squat since last December. You mentioned that you ate a TON of food your last go round with SS but that you are 5' 10" and ~150lbs. Unless you started at ~95lbs I'm suspect you actually ate and trained like you should/could have. I think you know where I'm going with this one.

You're doing it wrong.

Forget the assistance exercises, drop 5/3/1 for now, pick up SS (again), and eat this time.

I know this came off a little abrasive, but sometimes you just need some tough love, brother. It's for the best.

[Charles Staley]

Heavy squats

Which exercises are best for strengthening the posterior chain with the goal of strengthening the back to keep it in complete extension during a heavy squat?

[gzt]

Assuming that you ignore the "heavy squats" cries and still do 5/3/1, I suppose heavy good mornings might help. But, really, heavy squats 3x/week looks like the prescription for you. Deadlifts, done occasionally, will also help you keep the lower back in proper extension.

[Smack]

Low bar squats the way Rip advocates and deadlifts are the two best.

And lo and behold ... they're in the Starting Strength novice programme!

[jameson]

I personally think he's underfed and overworking his body. He says he burned out after 2 months of SS. He needs to try it again under better circumstances (i.e. eating and resting enough). Rip's program isn't based on opinion; it's based on the mechanics of the human body and it's response to resistance training. This is why it works so well. Try it again.

[Smack]

He probably does need to eat more and drink more milk, but lets not forget that Starting Strength can be a very demanding programme, especially for those lifters that are unfortunate enough to be bottom-of-the-barrel genetics wise. Not everyone will excel on a cookie cutter programme.

[PVC]

He probably does need to eat more and drink more milk, but lets not forget that Starting Strength can be a very demanding programme, especially for those lifters that are unfortunate enough to be bottom-of-the-barrel genetics wise. Not everyone will excel on a cookie cutter programme.

It is demanding, but so what? You want good results, you've got to work hard for them. The alternative is called Pussying Out.

I really truly have bottom-of-the-barrel genetics. I've been skinny-fat since grade 5, and I've been terribly unathletic and weak my entire life. But I've been working my ass off on this program for three months, and I'm doing alright.

[Chris H Laing]

I appreciate all the people telling me to do SS again, and I could argue about why I'm not going to, but the simplest answer is I don't want to.

To all the people telling me to do heavy squats: I am still doing heavy squats. I'm just not doing them three times a week and I'm doing a lot of other fun stuff too.

I am having way more fun training the way I am now than I was doing SS, and that is what's most important to me. I'm getting stronger, looking leaner, feeling better, and adding muscular bodyweight.

[Alex Bond]

I appreciate all the people telling me to do SS again, and I could argue about why I'm not going to, but the simplest answer is I don't want to.

To all the people telling me to do heavy squats: I am still doing heavy squats. I'm just not doing them three times a week and I'm doing a lot of other fun stuff too.

I am having way more fun training the way I am now than I was doing SS, and that is what's most important to me. I'm getting stronger, looking leaner, feeling better, and adding muscular bodyweight.

I respect you want to do fun stuff. I like to do fun stuff too. I happen to think that increasing the weight on the bar is fun. I just want to illuminate an example of what you may have missed out on.

On November 25th, I posted on your P Menu log. You had mentioned some interest increasing your CFT, and I suggested you look into SS. You replied and said you didn't enjoy SS, as is your right, and that was that. Since then, you have gone from squatting 185#x5,5,5 to 195#x3, which is not an improvement. In that same time, I went from squatting 255#x5,5,5 to squatting 360#x5,5,5, which is an improvement.

It is your right to decide what you want to do. You don't want to do SS, that's okay - I don't either! Squatting 3 times a week, increasing every time is hard, even when the weight on the bar is small. So I did not do SS. I back squatted twice most weeks, sometimes once, and increased the weight on the bar 5# or 10# each time, usually 5#. You can do linear progression without doing SS, without back squatting a soul-crushing 3 times a week. And had you done such a linear progression, you wouldn't have stagnated in your lifts. All this isn't to say that there is only one way to get strong, and that's my way - as I noted above, my way was different from what the standard recommendation of the board is. There are other ways besides mine and SS, too. The point is that your way has objectively failed you for the past 4 months, and you should think about what you want to happen in the future.

Now, you probably won't listen to me, as is your right - it's your decision to make, not mine or anybody else's. It's your decision to make if you want to lift more weight. If you don't want to lift big weights, that's totally cool, people live very rich, fulfilling lives without ever squatting 315#. But maybe you do want to lift more weight. Maybe 4 months from now when you wonder why you can't get 225# for 5 reps, you'll remember this, and you'll try linear progression out. I hope so.