Anyone squat twice a week??

MoTiV

Member
Just wondering if I'm weird. I seem to be the only person in my gym that does squats twice a week.
 
to me it becomes an issue of age. I am over 30 and will only squat once a week at most. If you are younger and your back feels strong then it is worth it
 
I squat once a week, but that works well for me. I guess it's whatever is best for you. If you can see better results from squatting twice a week, then go for it! I've had routines where I squatted twice a week, but I didn't like it, and I didn't really see any positive results from it.
 
Do you squat heavy twice a week? My entire training career has been once a week for all muscle groups. Beginning June 1 I will be switching to less volume and more frequency on all major muscle groups (chest, back, legs, and some dual supplementary work.) I doubt I will be going dual squats per week but will have two leg days for sure with emphasis on both quads and hams in each, but each workout will focus on one a little bit more than the other.
 
Reaper329 said:
to me it becomes an issue of age. I am over 30 and will only squat once a week at most. If you are younger and your back feels strong then it is worth it
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ditto.

My friend is/was a trainer.

He told me squats 1 time a week or deads every other week.

However, I had done that starting strength routine for 3 months last year..........I had calories and supps very high for that regime.(to keep from overtraining)......

To be honest, i dont feel squats in my back........ I go ATG and feel them in my hams, glutes and quads.

I love deads, I actually temporarily stopped doing them because i was/am so imbalanced between squats and deads. Weight wise, i can do double to triple. My friend told me, he would like to see me using closer to the same weight.
 
MEH89 said:
I squat twice a week. A heavy day, and a speed day. Mark
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Great idea. Many people will do two "lower body" days per week. I dont think i would do two "leg" days but two lower body, one "heavy" and one "speed" would be a great addition to anybody that wants to add power to their squat.

sorry for all the quotes! haha
 
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.
 
nightshift said:
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.
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IF you dont mind. I am interested in that routine. How long did you run it? What day split was it. PM if need be please.

I want to do a Muscle Fortress Mass Stack. Its a 12 weeker including PCT.

I am doing a M Tu Thur split right now.
 
that seems like WAY to much if you are doing enough work per workout...

i cant even walk until 3 days after my leg days...

just my $.02...
 
There is a thread in the Training Forum titled 20 rep squats that outlines the routine. It's a great routine and I highly recommend it.
 
pez6969

QUOTE=nightshift;1305294]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.[/QUOTE]
Is that the super squat routine?
 
yeah i could see how more than 6 weeks would be too much.

Would definately have to be ON to do it past 6.

I may just do that "starting strength" for 12 weeks. I really liked it. Rotating the A workout(squats twice) and the B workout(deads twice) every week.

Monday- A
Wednesday-B
Friday-A

then

Monday- B
Wednesday- A
Friday- B

and so on.....

3 months of that and even I put on 15 pounds. My caloric intake was 3-5 Kcals a day. I just knew not to go less than 3K. When i got to 3K i stopped counting, but kept eating.
 
I did the 20 rep routine for 6 weeks and put on over 20 pounds and gained a lot of strength. Definitely a great workout. You have to change your mindset though as far as volume goes but damn it really delivers.

I'm transitioning back into the 20 rep routine now. Hopefully everything goes good.
 
I love squating twice per week. I did a bulgarian (I think, have to look) squat routine that their oly lifters did back in the 70's (they went three times/week but I wasn't on any juice so spread it out) and it alternated heavy and light days. Started with lower volume 6x2 worked up to higher 6x6 and then worked down to a single. Took me 9 weeks and took my squat from 430 to 475. I have dropped 25 lbs since then and lost a little strength but I'm gonna have to start this routine again soon. And ATG squats all the way!
 
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here it is, its russian, sorry

The 6x6 and 4x4 were the hardest days IMO. Try this I dare anybody.

Edit: Right now I am squating 1x week and front squating another. Will probably do this during the fall again when I wanna eat like a horse.
 
MoTiV said:
Just wondering if I'm weird. I seem to be the only person in my gym that does squats twice a week.
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I technically am right now working the quads/hams three days a week through direct leg work, plyometrics, and yoga. it's great. the best part is, that each of these in succession cancel out the soreness of the one before.

don't know if that made sense, but basically, i do the plyometrics. the legs get sore. then, the yoga comes in and eases the soreness. by the time i am ready to hit the legs up directly, they are 100% again. the day after all that, i hit up some major stretching of them with some major protein consumed while i stretch for a while.

i prophecy that this'll be good! first week, so who knows. but it's been good this week. don't see why it'll change. especially as i get stronger at them.

but as far as hitting up squats/hams twice a week with conventional methods, i'd done that for a short while with success. the key is not to stack on too many reps either time, obviously.

i'd done something like this (excluding all other workouts, just showing legs):

THU: (10 reps each LIGHT LIGHT weight. first week i did 135 for squats and 185 for deads just to start, adding on weight later as i saw fit)
8 sets squats
8 sets deadlifts
4 sets ham curls

SAT: (6 reps each heavy)
4 sets squats
4 sets SL deads


hypertrophy/strength, mayn. i liked it, and will likely use something similar again someday. hope this helped.

E.
 
nightshift said:
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.
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after the other thread on this specific routine, I tried it for 3 weeks. it was rough, but nice in some ways. my squat 6RM has gone up from having done that
 
MoTiV said:
Just wondering if I'm weird. I seem to be the only person in my gym that does squats twice a week.
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I train DC style so every other week legs get hit twice and i'm squating in both, bulgarian split squats and back squats.
 
I do 2 "leg days" per 7 days. One day is quad intesive with lighter ham/low back. The other day is ham/low back intensive with lighter/speed squats and quad work
 
Reaper329 said:
to me it becomes an issue of age. I am over 30 and will only squat once a week at most. If you are younger and your back feels strong then it is worth it
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I am 36 and I squat 3x a week, 5x5 with progressive loading. Each workout the goal is to add 5lbs to the bar, if you fail to get all reps for 3 consecutive work outs you reduce the weight by 10% and work your way back up. So far I have been doing it for 8 weeks and I have seen my 5RM increase 45lbs. It is definitely brutal at first but you eventually acclimate to it.
I am fixing to progress to a different routine that is 4 weeks volume (5x5) with 3 squat sessions a week, 1 week active recovery (3x3) with 2 squat sessions, and then 4 weeks intensity (3x3) again with 3 squat sessions per week.
Once you get your form spot on you will no longer feel squats in your back. Most people place the bar too high or lean too far forward creating a shear force on the lower back. My soreness is generally in my hip flexors, quads, and glutes, and even my upper back/trap muscles (from squeezing the shoulder blades together tightly to rest the bar) but never back. Try reading over Starting Strength, it is a very good read. A lot of the problems I had with squats were do to my form and easier to correct than I knew. I had issues with my knees (prior surgery) and lower back but I was able to fix it in about 3 weeks by applying the principles in the book.
 
i tried doing the 20-rep squat method again but this time doing it 3x a week and couldn't do it. So now I'm back to twice a week Monday and Friday. I find out today whether or not I can add 10 lbs to my 20 rep squat.

Every other day was just not enough recovery time for me, but I do a lot of different types of training and weights are taking a back seat right now.
 
MoTiV said:
i tried doing the 20-rep squat method again but this time doing it 3x a week and couldn't do it. So now I'm back to twice a week Monday and Friday. I find out today whether or not I can add 10 lbs to my 20 rep squat.

Every other day was just not enough recovery time for me, but I do a lot of different types of training and weights are taking a back seat right now.
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With that routine you really have to follow it to a T and limit the exercises to what they have laid out. Most people dont feel they are getting enough for their upper body & arms so they add to it. This leads to overtraining and extended recovery times. If I remember right it is also only recommended for a 6 week cycle because anything longer will result in OT.
 
yea it worked great the first time i did it and i made great gains all over but I modified the program and did squats twice a week. I'm not really lifting weights for upper body right now, bad shoulder. All i do for upper body is weighted jump rope, heavy bag, speed, pushups and pullups.

I've upped my cardio too and I'm just trying to keep my strength in squat and deadlift. Hopefully it works!
 
MEH89 said:
I squat twice a week. A heavy day, and a speed day. Mark
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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.
 
nightshift said:
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.
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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
 
kabuki said:
Yes. This is among one of the most followed powerlifting approaches to training.

I've done this myself for years.
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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?
 
buuzer0 said:
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?
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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!)
 
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