Originally Posted by MEH89

I squat twice a week. A heavy day, and a speed day. Mark

Yes. This is among one of the most followed powerlifting approaches to training.

I've done this myself for years.

I have two leg days per week, one involving squats the other deadlift. First week is heavy and low rep (3-5). Second week is high rep (10-12) or drop set from my 3rep max descending in 5 stages taking 20lbs off each time. The latter is extremely taxing on my body and I have to be prepared to be sore the next day, so I only do it once every 4 weeks or so.

Note to self: Don't dropset from a heavy weight with straight leg deadlifts with locked-out legs. Hamstrings and lower back feel like death.

Squats 1x weekly
Front Squats 1x weekly

Separate the two by about 3 or 4 days.

Originally Posted by nightshift

I was squatting 3x per week during my 20 rep squat routine. It is brutal, but very much worth the effort. All of my lifts went up. No issues with back or knee problems.

I am 34 yrs old....I do a fullbody routine ...3x a week. So in that, i front squat 3x per week (front squat 205lb @ 5 reps currently). Each week, i try and add 2.5 - 5.0 lbs to my front squat. I switched to front squat instead back squat for a few reasons....

1) try and get more development out of my VMO (teardrop)
2) isolate my inner quads more and just to work on core stability (with f.squats, you better have a strong core)

Seems to be working. At 34yrs of age, and squatting 3x a week....i have never been stronger in my life....i never have looked better in my life and basically...i dont see anyone else squatting in my gym (even these hopped up 20-25 yr olds on PH's, AAS dont have the nuts to get in the squat rack....just pissed me off when i see them come in and bench, curl, few abs and go home and my old butt is front squatting nearly 225lbs and would wear those younger guys out in a heartbeat in the squat rack....can u tell im a little bitter?)

thanks

Originally Posted by MEH89

I squat twice a week. A heavy day, and a speed day. Mark

I've done a couple routines very similar - a heavy, low volume day and then either a high volume jump squat day or 20rep breathing squats. Got great benefits from it.

I squat, front squat and deadlift 3 days a week

I'll usually squat Monday and Friday.

yeah. i love to squat. try for top and end of week.

Originally Posted by kabuki

Yes. This is among one of the most followed powerlifting approaches to training.

I've done this myself for years.

I'm doing this now and liking it, i got some bands off of elitefts.com and love them. Anyone ever do bands on a front squat?

I'm probably doing it the complete worst way as far as squats go, but I squat about 3x a week now.

I used to be the typical gym guy, work mainly upper body and pretty much neglect legs (especially squats, always hated them). I would work chest 2-3 times a week, always starting out with bench.

Then last fall I finally started working my legs. I do a moderate squat routine just about whenever I work out now, as my first exercise (warm-up set 10x with 135, add 50lbs do 8x, add 20lbs do 8x, add 20lbs, do 6-8x). I rarely go super heavy or much over 225. I just feel like i've neglected my legs so long that I need to make up for it... and I hear you get a small testosterone boost from squtting. My legs are a hell of a lot better than they were 6 months ago!

I've never tried front squats, though I see some guys doing them in the gym. What are the benefits of those, and what are some pointers for a newbie to them?

Originally Posted by buuzer0

I've never tried front squats, though I see some guys doing them in the gym. What are the benefits of those, and what are some pointers for a newbie to them?

Front Squats concentrate on your quads with less impact on your knees because your body stays in a more upright position.

The hardest part of the front squat is getting used to the bar across your shoulders. It takes a long time to get used especially when you start adding real weight.

There are 2 grips you can take. One grip is the clean grip where you grip it like a clean before you unrack. The other is an arms cross grip which I'm not sure why people do, you'll have to ask someone who does them that way.

Personally I get more depth on front squats than I do with back squats but I can only use a powerlifting stance with back squats.

Just remember that since front squats concentrate mainly on your quads you'll probably lift significantly less weight or at least I do.

I'm 177lbs

back squat = 345

front squat = 245

Thanks for the pointers. I'll definitely start out with light weight (or the railed/assisted bb) to get the form down. Yeah, most guys I see doing them use the arms cross grip...

I believe that so far the most I've done with back squat is 235...

I'm 6'2, ~195 (finally... couldn't break 190 till i started doing legs!)