increase squat weight?

[mek42]

Last time I squatted (before tonight's workout), I did the usual warm-up set at 135 (lbs), then a pre-work set of 185 (had a form issue* - went up to an intermediate weight to get more form practice) then two sets at 205, my current work set (only been squatting for a couple months). The sets are 5 reps, except my last set only was 4 reps. I know I'm not doing the program as written, in fact, I'm still in the middle of my first read of SS, but I'm trying to at least base my workouts on SS.

Today I did a warm up set at 135, then 4 working sets at 205. I racked the second set after the third rep due to bad form. Walked around the gym a bit, did some more air squats for form and then got the last two sets done at 5 reps each. What I have been doing is to add weight whenever I achieve 3 full sets of 5 at a given weight. Right now I'm wondering whether I should go up to 215 next time or stay at 205 until I can get a clean 3 by 5 workout.

What are the pros and cons of adding weight vs. going another session at the same weight?

Thanks.

*My form issue was that I was coming up on my toes. Rereading part of the squat chapter led me to believe that I was bringing my knees too far forward. I looked closely at the pictures in SS and talked to one of the reputable other guys at the gym and now I am rotating my hips back as a first, distinct step before lowering the weights. I don't know how else to describe this motion other than to imagine a male disengaging from a procreative activity using traditional form. I'd be happy to hear whether it is ok to be using the hip rotation as a pre-motion before lowering the weight as a beginner too.

[Kyle Schuant]

What are the pros and cons of adding weight vs. going another session at the same weight?

The pros are that you get stronger, provided you have been eating properly.

The cons are that it's fucking hard.

[spiderman]

Are you doing a couple empty bar sets before adding any plates? At least one empty bar set is required.

[mek42]

I am doing an air squat set at the beginning with my arms at my side just to focus on spine and leg propioception.

...

The cons are that it's fucking hard.

I hear that. I have to confess that squats are in my "don't wanna do 'em but do 'em anyway" category. They sure do get the breathing going.

[Zee-man]

Perhaps you should only increase your Squats by 5lbs per exercise? I have been doing that with success thus far. I started my SS workout at the end of September and today I'm at 250lbs Squat.

Figure, if you do 5lb increments you are increasing your Squat 15lbs a week. Also, stick to the program, swaying off the course will result in problems of either risking over-training or under-training... Rip has stated this.

Personally, I've been doing the program and have been very happy with my progress thus far. Remember, not everyone is a guru, but I tend to listen to the people/person whose been doing this for some time both as a lifter himself and as a coach/trainer.

Rip's program is a two-step process to victory.

1. Do the program.
2. Profit.

Also, when you fail, follow the steps for resetting your weight. He recommends dropping weight and re-climbing to your last weight for a reason.

[Bloodninja666]

10lb jumps do not last long. You are probably past them at this point. 5lb jumps and cheeseburgers will keep your squat moving for a long while.

[GT5050]

I was in a similar boat as you. I started doing "the programming formerly known as Crossfit Wichita Falls" late Sept, got the book a few weeks later. After getting the book I'm following its programming.

What I'm getting at is following the warm-up routine outlined in the book has helped me tons. Prior to reading it, I would warm up at 135, then go into my working sets. I would always do 5 x 3, as the program calls for, but was having a harder time nailing the form.

After reading, and doing a few sets with empty bar and climbing up to roughly 80% of my working sets, it has helped immensely. I am now at 255, having started at 195. When I reached 250 the first time a few weeks ago, my form started getting shaky, I was a bit high and pulled a nice good morning. Even though I got the weight up, my third set was a missed lift in my book for the last 3 reps. So I reset to 225, worked on form, and progressed back up to where 250 was pretty easy the other day.

Never underestimate the power of a good warm-up. Not just to get the muscles moving, for me it allows me to work out any form issues and build the muscle memory for my working sets.

And on another note, try to follow the program and do 3 working sets of 5 reps. Working sets until you nail 5 reps is great, but in your example it sounds like you would do this:

Set 1: 5 reps
Set 2: 3 reps. Shit, refocus.
Set 3: 3 reps again. OK, I know I've got it in me
Set 4: 5 reps
Set 5: 5 reps

OK, maybe exaggerating, but you see how working til you get 3 sets of 5 reps at a given weight may lead to inconsistency? Stick to 5X3, with enough rest between sets so that you're ready for the next set, and not so much rest that you're cold. Then increase the weight each time - you won't be wondering whether you should or shouldn't.

[mek42]

I was in a similar boat as you. I started doing "the programming formerly known as Crossfit Wichita Falls" late Sept, got the book a few weeks later. After getting the book I'm following its programming.

What I'm getting at is following the warm-up routine outlined in the book has helped me tons. Prior to reading it, I would warm up at 135, then go into my working sets. I would always do 5 x 3, as the program calls for, but was having a harder time nailing the form.

After reading, and doing a few sets with empty bar and climbing up to roughly 80% of my working sets, it has helped immensely. I am now at 255, having started at 195. When I reached 250 the first time a few weeks ago, my form started getting shaky, I was a bit high and pulled a nice good morning. Even though I got the weight up, my third set was a missed lift in my book for the last 3 reps. So I reset to 225, worked on form, and progressed back up to where 250 was pretty easy the other day.

Never underestimate the power of a good warm-up. Not just to get the muscles moving, for me it allows me to work out any form issues and build the muscle memory for my working sets.

And on another note, try to follow the program and do 3 working sets of 5 reps. Working sets until you nail 5 reps is great, but in your example it sounds like you would do this:

Set 1: 5 reps
Set 2: 3 reps. Shit, refocus.
Set 3: 3 reps again. OK, I know I've got it in me
Set 4: 5 reps
Set 5: 5 reps

OK, maybe exaggerating, but you see how working til you get 3 sets of 5 reps at a given weight may lead to inconsistency? Stick to 5X3, with enough rest between sets so that you're ready for the next set, and not so much rest that you're cold. Then increase the weight each time - you won't be wondering whether you should or shouldn't.

So I should do a warm-up set with just the bar, then a set at 80% my planned working weight?

Also, what I did was:

Set 1: 5 reps, good form
Set 2: 3 reps, third rep was bad form, racked the bar
Set 3: 5 reps, good form
Set 4: 5 reps, good form

I'm new enough to the movements (only been doing any non-bench press barbell work for 2 - 3 months) that I rack when I notice bad form. My muscle memory gets confused and I need to start from fresh. Kind of like starting a math problem from scratch after realizing you've screwed something up instead of trying to sort out where you started going wrong.

I'm going to increase the weight next time, since I did get 3 sets of 5 reps at the working weight. I will also add bar warm up sets. When I started to squat, my shoulders hurt a bit after disengaging from the bar due to inflexibility. This is improving with time and practice. I think my bench press is over-developed and might be part of the reason for my shoulder tightness. Will adding in barbell rows as an accessory exercise help balance out my over-developed bench press?

Also, I recently added in a seat leg curl to balance the squat on the advice of the weightlifting instructor at school. Are there any good non-machine exercises to accomplish this?

[GT5050]

Will adding in barbell rows as an accessory exercise help balance out my over-developed bench press?

Also, I recently added in a seat leg curl to balance the squat on the advice of the weightlifting instructor at school. Are there any good non-machine exercises to accomplish this?

Look I'm fairly new at this, but it sounds like you're trying to add too much to the program if you ask me. I'm not sure what others are doing for accessory exercises, but it seems to me that chins are what is called for in the program and that's it, at least in the beginning. The more you do the harder it is to recover from the main lifts in the program.

As far as warmup, it's on p. 292 in the book. So 2 sets with bar, then work up the weight. I use 80% as a rough estimate, but I'll take my 250 squat workout.

2 Sets of 5 with bar
1 set of 5 @ 135
1 set of 3 @ 185
1 set of 2 @ 205

I've played around with this, I used to go to a higher percentage. Say at a 250 working set, I'd work up to a 225 warmup set. It seems to work better for me at 80%, or 205. Part of it is a mental thing I guess. At 225, or roughly 90%, I was thinking "man this is heavy and it's a warmup set". It played games with my mind for sure. Same with deadlifts. After I worked up to only 80% of my working set, I was more ready to attack, instead of getting too heavy on warmup sets to demoralize me.

[mek42]

Look I'm fairly new at this, but it sounds like you're trying to add too much to the program if you ask me. I'm not sure what others are doing for accessory exercises, but it seems to me that chins are what is called for in the program and that's it, at least in the beginning. The more you do the harder it is to recover from the main lifts in the program.

As far as warmup, it's on p. 292 in the book. So 2 sets with bar, then work up the weight. I use 80% as a rough estimate, but I'll take my 250 squat workout.

Thanks for the page reference - I'm not that far yet, still reading about the press.