Next step in squat progression

[Michael Wolf]

You probably did do too much work on light day. As you really get to the end of LP, 2x5 @70ish percent of what you did two days before works well. Don't feel like you must hit 80% at all costs on light day, and dropping to two sets instead of three is pretty standard.

But it might've just been a single bad day. Try again Monday.

[tweakxc03]

Ok, I managed to hit 170 x5, x3, x3 the next workout. I hit 4x5 at 155 last Friday. Today I started HLM, hit 172x5, backed off to 162kg for 5. Then stalled HARD on the second backoff set and missed the 4th rep.

Should I be backing off more than 5% on heavy day?

[Michael Wolf]

Need more info about your HLM set-up. Sounds like you're trying to PR your fives, and then back off to do more volume, on heavy day? I'd say either:
1. Just hit your new 5 rep PR on heavy day and collect your weekly volume between L and M days, using a bigger back-off if needed to do so.
2. Move reps down to a PR triple on heavy day, and then do some back off work.

Example of #1.
Mon:174x5
Weds: 130-135x5x3
Fri: 150-155x5x3

Example of #2:
Mon: 174x3, 160x5x2
Weds: 140x5x2
Fri: 155x5x2

In #1, you'll just move Monday down to a triple when you need to anyway, so it'll look a lot like #2 anyway. There isn't a huge difference here, in both cases the volume of work is relatively spread out over the week, but they are slightly different in their spread with heavy day in #1 being a little more concentrated as a low dose of high stress, but light day a couple days later being light enough to still do if fatigued from heavy day, but heavy enough to still count towards your weekly workload driving progress and not just a "recovery" day. Try one and see if it works and how you respond to it. You can always try the other way if it's not working out well.

[tweakxc03]

I was basing my HLM setup based on Andy Baker's recommendations - I believe Brent has recommended something similar.

For Squats -
Heavy Day: Top set of 5 followed by 4x5 backoff sets at 90-95%
Light Day: 2-3x5 at 70-80%
Medium Day: 4x5 at 80-90%

Is this way off?

Thanks for the feedback also - I will give that a shot.

[Michael Wolf]

I was basing my HLM setup based on Andy Baker's recommendations - I believe Brent has recommended something similar.

For Squats -
Heavy Day: Top set of 5 followed by 4x5 backoff sets at 90-95%
Light Day: 2-3x5 at 70-80%
Medium Day: 4x5 at 80-90%

Is this way off?

Thanks for the feedback also - I will give that a shot.

Hmmmm I wouldn't say it's "way off" as much as thinking about the following Qs:
1. How much more work is it compared to the end of your NLP?
2. How long can you expect to run that for hitting a new PR set of five (or even three or two or one) every week?

The end of LP has six heavy work sets per week and two lighter sets. This has nine heavy work sets per week, and two-three lighter sets. Granted that some of those nine are at a slightly lower % than the end of LP, but that's still a lot more work sets in the same time period. That would be something I would work up to, rather than switch immediately to. I think the thing I laid out for you makes more sense as a transitional piece. You can add a set, probably to light day first, after a few weeks. Then add a set to medium day after a few more weeks. Then add a set to heavy day after a few more weeks. By then, you may be down to doubles or singles on your top set of heavy day, and this will be a good transition to the period when you no longer hit a PR every week, but need to do more weekly work over multiple weeks to hit a new PR.

[tweakxc03]

Yeah, this makes WAY more sense to me... thanks broseph.