[Beelzebub]

That's it. I've had it. These goddamn squats are ****ing ridiculous. I've been up and down with the same weight for the past year. No matter what the hell I take, no matter how much weight I gain, I can't seem to gain any strength or size in my legs. A year ago, I got up to 425lbs for 6 reps, the next week I came back and got the same weight for 2 reps. So, I figured I'd go down a little to 385 on the next week, got 2 of those, and ended up going back down to 355. Worked my way back up to 415lbs and the same thing happened. This has been going on religiously for the past year. Up and down, up and down. I've tried low reps, high reps, high/low together, supersets, dropsets, all to no avail. I always get to the same weight and go back down only to work back up to the exact same weight, and BAM, start over.

I'm definately eating enough. I get around 5000 cals per day, with around 500 grams of protein a day. I've cut back on cardio to see if that helps, but of course that would be too simple, doesn't work either. Meanwhile, my bench is about to pass my squat and my deadlift is 455 x 3 reps. Here's my current leg routine:
Squats: 2 warmups, 3 working sets of 6 reps.
Leg Press: 4 sets of 12 reps
Leg extensions: 3 sets of 10 reps
Leg curls: 3 sets of 10 reps
Seated calves: 3 max sets
Hack squat calves : 3 max sets

Like I said, I've tried every variation that I know of. I've thrown in hack squats before but it justs hurts my knees more than anything. If any of you have any suggestions, please throw them my way. It's pretty damn embarassing when my bench is almost the same as my squat. And my arms are 3" bigger than my calves.

[zeromagnus]

front squats maybe? jump squats (take a trap bar with your feet inside, explode up and jump at the top of the movement)? could be partially mental...do you use a spotter? if you do, the second you get to 425lbs, jump up to 450lbs and use a spotter...that's all I can think of that might help

[intv]

Just an idea, but have you tried lowering the volume? What if you dropped the presses for 4-6 weeks to focus on your squat?

[DieTrying]

Beezle, that seems like a hell of a lot of volume. Do you ever do 20-reppers? They might not be the answer for everybody, but they help me a lot as far as weight progression goes. I'm assuming you know how to perform them. I usually do them every other week, and add 5 lbs each session, so thats a 10 lb increase each month. Doesn't sound like much, but time goes by very quickly.

Aside from that, whenever there is a problem, you NEED to switch things up one way or another. Maybe take a week off to rest up and think about a solution.

[jweave23]

have you tried westside training?

http://www.anabolicminds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=822

[kelsey]

dude i think it is mental..
you probably are scared of the weight, like a little girly man with girly muskels.

just trying to pump you up. you have to think that you own it, maybe speed up your descent using a good spotter, do you squat off a rack or in amonolift. if you have catches to catch you when you fail. what about bar position on your back instead of traps.

try a sky rocket routine:

w/u for 3 sets of 8

take your time.

then do
225 for 5
275 for 1
315 for 1
365 for 1
405 for 1
then go 10 lbs increments until you pr.
that way all you have to concentrate on is one rep. at least 3-4 min rest between sets
but for leg size i suggest 20reppers. it will push your mental envelope.

[Beelzebub]

no, i haven't tried it. looks pretty damn confusing. never even heard of some **** like that. i've been going as heavy as possible for as long as i can remember. they don't have boxes for squating in the gyms around here but it looks like i could work around that.

dietrying,
yes, i did 20 rep squats for a few months and my strength stayed the same. my quads actually got smaller.

[Jergo]

This seems to happen to me with heavy curls. I go up in strength and then for whatever reason I lose strength and I have to build it back up again. It's like a yoyo effect.

Recently I also had this problem with my delts, so I actually upped the volume and did REALLY high ass reps; just one excercise with about say five sets of 25-30 reps. Still went to failure on the last set and growth seems to be occuring again. I think every so often it's good to Overtrain yourself in order to break through a plateau. It's just a part of the rule "change it up."

Anything that you can possibly think of to switch up the routine each week, even just the smallest things like adding a static on one set and then doin' negatives for something else. Just keep your body guessing and it will continue to shock itself into more growth.

Did you try that fascia stretching program I gave you?

[Beelzebub]

Tried it a few times. ****ing hurts but something must have worked for my biceps. I had been stuck at the same weight for a while with the same yo-yo effect you talked about. Now, I've passed my former weight by 20lbs on barbell curl and still climbing. Sizes are the same everywhere but strength is in a constant climb for all upper body. Never did thank you for that, so thanks.

[Beelzebub]

Originally Posted by kelsey

dude i think it is mental..
you probably are scared of the weight, like a little girly man with girly muskels.

just trying to pump you up. you have to think that you own it, maybe speed up your descent using a good spotter, do you squat off a rack or in amonolift. if you have catches to catch you when you fail. what about bar position on your back instead of traps.

try a sky rocket routine:

w/u for 3 sets of 8

take your time.


then do
225 for 5
275 for 1
315 for 1
365 for 1
405 for 1
then go 10 lbs increments until you pr.
that way all you have to concentrate on is one rep. at least 3-4 min rest between sets
but for leg size i suggest 20reppers. it will push your mental envelope.

hmmm, this sounds doable. haven't maxed out in a while, thought it was a waste of time if you're not getting in a good set. 20 reppers don't do **** except force me to make some rocky balboa faces. didn't notice any change during that time period.

[SJA]

If I were you, I would spend a good 4 weeks doing drop sets and circuits until you puke. Throw in walking lunges too. Then go back and work your way up on heavy squats. You will be sore as **** and shake that tree hard. IMO you have to mix it up just prior to plateauing to keep the gains going.

[Beelzebub]

Ok, that sounds good too. I've tried drop sets with squats but it didn't really do anything out of the ordinary. Haven't tried walking lunges though. I could try that with dumbbells, might put a good hurting on me. I just don't get why my upper body responds well with the same program I've been using since the start and lower body doesn't respond to anything. I'll give it a shot though. What's the worst that can happen? Stay the same weight? Been there, done that.

[DieTrying]

Its very possible that you aren't a squat-guy. You say you've been leg pressing as well, how has that been going?

My flat BB bench sucks no matter what I do, so rather than feel shitty about its lack of progress, I decided to see if I am a dip-guy, and what do ya know?! Dips are progressing!

[aic2020]

The squat workout that kelsey suggested works for building
great one rep power for sure. He and i did that routine for
about 3-4 weeks and made hella gains in 1 rep maxes setting
new PR's everytime in the gym.
We would usually find a weight that we felt confortable with
in the 6-8 rep range, nothing taxing, usually around 315-335
and do 3 sets to get the juices flowing. Then we would start
popping singles going in 10-20lbs jumps.
First workout i singled 415 for a PR. Previous was 405. After
we hit the squats we hit the leg presses. By this time you are
warmed up from the squats, so we started with around 400lbs
and we hit a set of 20 which made us want to puke. Then we
upped the weight to 600, and went to failure which was 10-12
reps. THen to completely destroy the legs with a max out
effort we loaded 800 and hit 4-6 reps balls to the walls. Mind
you we are not on gear.
4 days later we hit the same routine again this time upping our
weight from 335 to 365 for 6-8 reps, then starting the weight
progression up to 1 rep failure. I ended with 445 and missing
455 by a butt hair.
4 days later we cut the 6-8 reps sets and did progressions
starting with 345 singles,jumping to 385, 405, 425, 455 PR,
475PR,485,495,510, and missing 530 by inches.AND this is not
some HALF REP BULLSHIT, ASS to the ground contest form.
I also do the same routine for deadlifts. Kelsey and i picked
this up from an old Olympic lifter in the gym who used this
system for years. He's 56 and still benches 410 without a shirt
and pulls and squats 600.
The idea on this was to try and set a new personal record
everytime you hit the gym, even if its 1 freaking lb.
OH and Kelsey change the name of your routine, Skyrocket
sounds too gay

[supersoldier]

How about getting rid of leg curls and direct hamstring work. I think deadlifts and squats are hitting the hamstrings hard enough, and since they're performed on different days they're being worked twice a week.

[kelsey]

skyrocket schmyrocket, whatever ...

beez, check this out, i was thinking, you could have a stabilizer weakness. someting in the rear chain, abducter, adducter, one weaker leg.youd be suprised how much your weaker leg would hold you back in making gains. I had a bad bar position high on my traps, dropped it down by widening my grip, my old trap mounted max was 385, just by dropping the bar i doubled 405 ass to the grass.
i am not strong by ant stretch of the imagination,
i am alot stronger than i was then...due to assistance work.

try doing one leg hip sleds, i did and i found a major weak spot my whole left leg, punish it til it grows and balance is restored.

i am tellin you, not because i am running a special on sleds,
but because draggin a freakin sled works.

first time i dragged one for the first time in my life ,due to lifting , i lost my quiznos. my rear chain has been getting better ever since.

if you dont have access to one pm me.

[bigmark1972]

This has been going on religiously for the past year. Up and down, up and down. I've tried low reps, high reps, high/low together, supersets, dropsets, all to no avail. I always get to the same weight and go back down only to work back up to the exact same weight, and BAM