Squats stalling for past 7 months

[Jihoon]

I'm in some dire straits at the moment. As the title states, for the past 7 months I've hardly made any progress in my back squat - in fact you could say that I have regressed. I've tried everything - eating more (I "bulked" up 5-10 lbs in 2-3 months), eating cleaner, resting more (8-9 hours of sleep from 7), cold showers/baths, stretching - both static and dynamic, More volume with same intensity, Less volume with higher intensity, tweaking my program, etc. and yet my progress has stalled and it's starting to grind on my nerves.

A little background about myself, I've been lifting for about a year now. I started out my first 4-5 months on SS until my squat began to stall - all my other lifts were progressing decently. I'm not by any means a strong individual, I started out weak and I still consider myself to be weak, if you are curious as to what my numbers are in regards to progress I will provide them now:


Initial:
200lbs
For sets of 5
Squat (low-bar) 135
Bench 125
OHP 60-65
Deadlift 165

for the first few months I cut down to about 180 lbs, and then for the rest of the time until now I either gained weight or maintained my weight (my body fat is relatively high, probably around 20-25%, have a bit of a gut that hangs out and everything)

Final:
190lbs
For sets of 5
Squat (High-bar) 220
Bench 195
OHP 125
Deadlift 325x5

Somewhat pathetic, I know.
As for the type of program I'm doing I've been experimenting to try and alter the way I squat. At first I tried just modifying SS as mentioned above, when that did not work I started experimenting and what seemed to work best was squatting heavy twice a week so recently for the past few months I've been implementing a Leg/upper push/pull type of program.
Leg: HBBS 5x5, Front squat 3x5
Push: Push-Press 5x5, BP 3x5
Pull A: Power cleans 12x1, bent over rows 3x5, chin-ups 2xF or 3x5 weighted
Pull B: Deadlifts 1x5 with two back off sets, bent over rows 3x5, chin-ups 2xF or 3x5 weighted

Leg-Push-PullA-Leg-Push-PullB-Rest
Is what my program looks currently after a lot of tweaking and tuning.

For those of you wondering about why I'm doing high bar it's personal preference, I have about 8 months of experience doing low-bar and high-bar just feels better to me so I've recently been experimenting with it. The highest #s I ever achieved in the low-bar squat was about 235x5.

As I stated in the beginning of my post my squats have regressed so to speak. Just a few months ago I was able to high bar back squat 230x5 but mysteriously somehow it has dropped down and I was able to salvage it to what it is at this point.

It's a frustrating cycle of regression and progression that usually doesn't put me anywhere at or above my average. It feels like I'm grasping at straws and I'm desperate to get my squat numbers up. I am anxious that even my bench press seems to be catching up to my squat even though I put the most time, effort and dedication into my squats. I'm willing to do whatever it takes, please help.
Any other advice in accordance to my other lifts is also welcome, however keep in mind that my progress for my lifts have been steadily progressing, save for my squat.

[hollismb]

How tall are you? What, specifically, do you mean when you say 'stalling'? Are you failing reps? The body weight change (downward) is another indicator. Did you get the body fat tested, or is that a guestimate?

[Jihoon]

I'm 5'10. By stalling I'm referring to my progress in the squat. Typically I'll be stuck at the same # of reps/sets, and half of the time I actually regress strength-wise.

I haven't gotten my body fat tested but I do keep monthly video tabs of my body to check how my physique changes on a month-to-month basis. The body weight change was done very gradually in the first few months and it did not negatively affect my strength gain (my numbers were going up steadily).

Typically what'll happen is one day I may make 5/5/5/5/5 but the next workout I'll hit something like 5/5/4/3/2 or 4/4/2/2/2, sometimes the slump is temporary but sometimes I'm forced to take weight off the bar.

[Kazzin]

It's pretty clear to me that you're doing too much work.

[Karl Schudt]

Gain 30 lbs.

[Jihoon]

It's pretty clear to me that you're doing too much work.

I've played around with tweaking the routine and the volume is just right for me. I've tried over-loading myself and adjusting the volume down until it was manageable and this much is comfortable. In fact if anything I can handle more volume at my current state. I hardly ever experience DOMS anymore and I feel as if I have too much energy during the day. Either my lifts aren't high enough such that the volume over-trains me or my body has adapted. Perhaps both.

Gain 30 lbs.

If only I could but I have my health to consider. I'm already overweight and my body-fat is relatively high. No I'm not one of those guys worrying about his six-pack abs - in fact I've never once in my life had them. As of right now I'm a recovering from being morbidly obese at 250 lbs 5'10 and I don't want to go back. Besides there are guys out there that can squat far more than I can at the same weight or less - Shouldn't I be able to do something similar? I understand that gaining weight will help me become stronger but as I've said I already tried that method and put on 10 lbs in a few months and I felt like shit and my squat still didn't improve at all, my other lifts didn't improve appreciably more than usual either. I tried this method when I read the article on the site some months back about eating through your sticking points, I was pretty desperate to increase my numbers so I tried to do so while still eating relatively clean and healthy and it didn't work out for me.

[Karl Schudt]

Look, if the volume was right for you, you'd be making progress. If you don't want to gain weight, that's your choice, but your lifts are going to stall.

190lbs at 5'10 is skinny. As for your not being able to squat as much as someone else does at 190, well, that's genetic. It's ok for you not to do the program, since it is your life, but other than eating and tweaking your program (probably to less volume), there aren't any other answers.

You could also go ask Jordan for nutrition advice.

[Kazzin]

If you're a high body fat at 190, then you have very little muscle mass. How exactly do you intend to put on muscle if you won't eat?

Your post lays out all the symptoms of under recovery, and your program suggests that too much volume is at least half the reason.

[Jihoon]

If you're a high body fat at 190, then you have very little muscle mass. How exactly do you intend to put on muscle if you won't eat?

Your post lays out all the symptoms of under recovery, and your program suggests that too much volume is at least half the reason.

I spent plenty of time putting on weight, with hardly any effect on my strength levels, that lead me to believe that the problem was not with my diet but with my training. When I started plateauing in my squat I tried the eating method and I ended up putting on a good 15-20 or so pounds in the first 5-6 months (from around 180 ish to nearly 200) With little to no effect doing SS. So yes I've heard the response "eat more" already - I've tried that and with little to no effect. I would eat until my stomach hurt and I slept like a log and the gains just didn't come. That's why I'm here now, I've tried tweaking the variables but my squat just doesn't seem to want to go up.

Or perhaps 20 lbs in 5 months just isn't enough when I'm already over 20% bodyfat?

I don't mind going the weight gain route again, but please don't just tell me to eat more, there has to be something more to it than that because obviously for me my body does not respond the same way as you'd expect.

As for the people pointing out problems with the volume of my workout my push press has gone up by 30 lbs, my bench has gone up by 10, my squat has went up by 15 and my deadlift has gone up by 40 lbs.

Perhaps my program isn't so good, but like I said before SS and other programs were just not working so I kept tweaking the basic template until I started seeing some progress. If you guys want to recommend some good changes let me hear them and I'll try implementing them, but honestly if you have to choose between doing a program that you've tried and tested with no luck and something where you actually start to see some progress it doesn't take a genius to decide between the two.

[wes]

You probably need to do something about your mental intensity. If you got 5x5 last week there is no reason you shouldn't be able to add a little weight and hit 5x5 this week.

Your diet could probably be better and your programming could probably be better but none of that really matters until you have the correct level of desperation to put the weight up.

This is what got me out of my slump.