Originally Posted by
Nockian
When I'm trainng I watch the youngsters pushing to get maximum single reps with squats. I've never seen any of them get close to depth. They do partials. Then their mates push them to do a set of 3-5 with a weight slightly lower, which they still do at partial depth, to the point where they are grinding the last rep out but hardly doing much more than straightening their legs a bit.
Deloading makes you aware that you haven't actually been squatting and it becomes quickly obvious that the movement needs to be relearned completely before being able to advance. Most of the young 'uns don't like doing that too much as all their mates then laugh at their relatively puny squats. What's more, most of them are doing everything they can to get 'abs' and are like match sticks. Once the numbers of reps increases, with proper form, then guess what happens to energy needs and then what happens to progress-it stops.