Need help with squat routine

i just started my second cycle and really want to focus on my squat it's always lagged behind i'm 6'3 200 lbs mainly upper body, my squat max is around 260 or 270 the same as my bench (which really pisses me off) i've got really long legs and have always been thin i want mass i've been lifting for 4 years on and off but i haven't done squats in a year just toyed around with hack squat and leg press. also want to pound on my calves any help would be much appreciated. And if my age matters i'm 19

Hey bro,

I'm 20, and similar stats, 6' 190 lbs. (lean and natural). I never really used to squat, but I'm now on my second cycle of 5x5, and honestly, if you're looking to improve your squat, this is the program for you. In a few short months, I've gone from being basically untrained in the squat (could do 225 for 5 or so) to hitting 315 for 5 last week (ass to the floor of course). My squat basically goes up every week 5-10 lbs. If I'm lucky, I think I might be able to hit 365 for 3 by the end of this cycle. I know that's not a huge squat or anything, but going from untrained to 365x3 in about 3-4 months is pretty crazy.

I'm not sure how the program would interact with gear since I've never touched the stuff, but you can ask madcow about the effects. I imagine the two would work pretty well together.

Just a question, don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure you need to be doing cycles at 19? I bet you have a long way to go before you come close to hitting your genetic barier. If you're only squatting and benching in the 260-270 range, I'd ask you to reconsider your use. Plus you're on the young side, I imagine gear could wreak some havoc on your body. Why not give it another 3 years or so?

Silvertide said:

Hey bro,

I'm 20, and similar stats, 6' 190 lbs. (lean and natural). I never really used to squat, but I'm now on my second cycle of 5x5, and honestly, if you're looking to improve your squat, this is the program for you. In a few short months, I've gone from being basically untrained in the squat (could do 225 for 5 or so) to hitting 315 for 5 last week (ass to the floor of course). My squat basically goes up every week 5-10 lbs. If I'm lucky, I think I might be able to hit 365 for 3 by the end of this cycle. I know that's not a huge squat or anything, but going from untrained to 365x3 in about 3-4 months is pretty crazy.

I'm not sure how the program would interact with gear since I've never touched the stuff, but you can ask madcow about the effects. I imagine the two would work pretty well together.

Just a question, don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure you need to be doing cycles at 19? I bet you have a long way to go before you come close to hitting your genetic barier. If you're only squatting and benching in the 260-270 range, I'd ask you to reconsider your use. Plus you're on the young side, I imagine gear could wreak some havoc on your body. Why not give it another 3 years or so?

Click to expand...

I couldnt have said it better myself.

Try the 5x5 a couple of times before touching the juice. It will give you steroid like results. Many people have had great results while doing this program naturally, me included.
I came to this site to educate myself on AAS becuase i hit a platuea and thought I had reached my full potential. I was wrong. My strength is going through the roof now.

yeah i know the gear isn't good for me but this is my last cycle and only my second i just want to get 220 and maintain so after this i'm done bro before my first cycle i was 170 and 6'0 max on bench was 200 lbs once you gain 30 lbs in two months its hard not to take the easy way out i've always been a hard gainer very skinny no matter how hard i trained before but anyways i'll give this a try and thx for the help.

Don't take this as a flame. Take this as an outsider's perspective.

You don't know how to train but you are using drugs. Do you see this as a wise path? Jump on PCT (hopefully you know what that is) and learn how to train properly. You will probably make better progress than by bandaging a bad program with drugs, then losing all your gains. Then somehow your last cycle really isn't your last cycle. And so on....

i do know what post cycle therapy if i didn't i seriously doubt that i would still weigh 200 lbs after my last cycle and i do know how to work out i've always had trouble on legs and have not really worked my ass on them either but i have really done well on my upper body i hav e read more books on bodybuiding than most people my age but most of the books i read pertain to endomorphs or easy gainers not hardgainers like myself so i wanted to get someones opinion that was the same body type on a leg routine.

5x5 works great with squats, highly recommended! Also, when I first started hitting squats hard, I wasn't getting the bar low enough on my back, and my core would fatigue before my legs. I then read about getting the bar to rest below my rear delts, and after my forearms adapted to the change my squat improved tremendously! hope this helps!

concentrate on form, goin all the way down, and exploding up.

no half squat garbage. make you hips stronger, so you can handle alot of weight on the way down.

use heavy weights, but not too heavy where u cant go down and come back up

in a years time, youll have bigger legs

thx for the help guys i'll give it a try.

trying2grow101 said:

i do know what post cycle therapy if i didn't i seriously doubt that i would still weigh 200 lbs after my last cycle and i do know how to work out i've always had trouble on legs and have not really worked my ass on them either but i have really done well on my upper body i hav e read more books on bodybuiding than most people my age but most of the books i read pertain to endomorphs or easy gainers not hardgainers like myself so i wanted to get someones opinion that was the same body type on a leg routine.

Click to expand...

I'll venture a few things that will probably be a shock.

1) A lot of people retain gains without any PCT. There is a whole world of people who can't use those drugs due to testing. PCT wasn't always so common either. Back in the day, no one I knew took anything and still retained their gains (think 10-20 years ago). Granted, these guys knew how to train and were definitely not doing themselves right from an overall health perspective but don't think that gain retention is totally predicated upon PCT although obviously it can only help matters.

2) Working hard is not enough. You have to first work smart and then hard. Unfortunately, most/all BBing info, books, and materials are absolute garbage and this is not in any way an exageration. Most of the stuff they put in there basically is a one way ticket to roids if you aren't a novice and still want to see gains. It's a sad state of affairs. That sucks, but there's nothing I can do about it besides put good info out there and make it available i.e. my thread: http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=375215

Here's an example - read up on dual factor theory - basically the way the body works and responds to training stimuli. This piece is more geared to athletic and strength applications but many will affirm here that it's fairly essential for BBing too even though 99.99% of BBers have never heard of it and I highly doubt more than the tinest fraction of ProBBers (if any) could give a cohesive explanation despite the fact that this has been used for a long time now and is universally accepted as fact all around the world by coaches, researchers, and atheltes in every sport and endevour except BBing - how they have avoided and remained ignorant I'll never know but trust me when I say that I watched the 3 day split and training each bodypart 1x per week grow solely out of this misapplication when BBers thought they were overtrained and not spacing their workouts optimally because they took a few days or a week off and came back fuller and stronger (so so so fricking stupid - you have BBing, Mentzer, and the dumber people in the HIT school (basically BBers) to thank for that): http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/PlannedOvertraining.html

Take a look at this program which is the 5x5 that people are refing to - most hardgainers have found that they are not such hardgainers at all on this program:
Periodized (i.e. dual factor): http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4764723&postcount=381
Unperiodized (novice-intermediate): http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4497774&postcount=15
Some info on drugs and periodization in this post: http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4633338&postcount=153
(FYI - during PCT you want to lower volume and frequency but train with heavy weights in the core lifts - the lower load will not overtax your compromised system but will help retain your gains).

This is considered the holy grail of squat programs - you will notice the similarities to the 5x5. This is the squat template only and is for very advanced lifters with high work capacity (meaning don't try this but look at it as you'll likely break down your body in short order and wind up overtrained with all kinds of overuse injuries). It's known for putting massive weight on the squat in a short period and growing people into another weightclass. It's called the Smolov Squat Cycle and it is time tested and proven even among the most elite of lifters: http://www.ontariostrongman.ca/Resources/training/smolovsquatcycle.htm

Being a hardgainer - you need to read this, it's very very important and this is where BBers generally go wrong: http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4866519&postcount=465

Hopefully something there helps you. Regardless of what you do with your cycle, definitely try the 5x5 after your PCT. Take a look above and look at this forum, lots of people using it and making the best gains they've ever made and squatting better than they've ever squatted before.

Best of luck.