Can't get out of the hole at 225

[the People's Champ]

leg day. it had been two weeks since I had done legs, and although if I take a break, I see results throughout the rest of my body, except legs. anyway. I decided to see if I could raise up the weight on my squat by doing less reps. I started with 135x4, and added 20lbs, and so forth until I hit 195. then I dropped the reps to three. once I hit 225, I could only do two. the first set of that, the first rep went ok, but the second rep, I had to good mrning the weight up. I rested for a bit, then tried again with the same weight. first rep was perfect, then the second rep, I went up halfway, trying not to good morning the weight up, using only my hips and glutes, but I had to lay it down on the safety bars. this had totally bummed me out.

I had a wider than shoulder width stance with my toes facing out. for some reason, I can't stay consistent with squats anymore. all my other lifts are progresisng, except this one. are there any other exercises that I could do that may help out on the squat? or maybe a different method to up my squat?

I am at a standstill here. help me out!!!

 

[coolcolj]

well for me back extensions, and various oly style pulls helps a lot when done after the squats. Ab work as well.

Usually when your ass goes up first, its because your rear end is stronger than your quads I think and your not pushing through your heels.

maybe some front squatting wouldn't hurt for a while, your can't ass end up these

I dunno what other lower body and posterior chain exercises do you do?

I used to ass up my squats a lot, now I rarely ever do that if I push through my heels

 

[the People's Champ]

Hmm, you porbably hit it on the head when you said my quads are my weak point. I believe so. As for posterior chain exercises(I am assuming the back, no?), I have been doing rack deads, did heavy good mornings for while until I replaced those with rack deads, and sldl's. I have been working on my abs a lot harder than I used to, doing weighted ab pulldowns, and weighted situps. Mind you, today, I used a wider stance than normal, and I thought my hams would take most of the weight up. I will try working on front squats, and see where that gets me for the next couple of leg days

 

[DrBones]

Heres what I did to make my squat go up 100 lbs since July.. (first time I ever squatted I was doing around 150 i think)

First of all I always did 5 sets of 5 needsize style...
Anyways.. What I would do, is add 5 lbs every week, until I hit 225, I would then drop back down to 185 and work on my form... I then progressed back up to 225. Then I dropped back to 185 again and worked on my form, since then, I've been able to add 5 lbs a week without hitting a plateau while maintaining very good form, going slightly below parralel. I'm now squatting 250 for 5 sets of 5 and don't see a plateau coming any time soon... As soon as I hit a plateau I'm going to try doing the same thing... drop down around 25 lbs and go back up...

Ironically, I did this because my knee was bugging me, and its worked wonders...

 

[want2growbig]

Try mixing in some legpresses if your quads are your weak point. They seem to work great on quads and groin area (dunno why lol)

 

[the People's Champ]

I did leg press for the first time in a long time after my sets of squats, and my quads were owning me. I could barely get up four plates for 3 reps. I have got some serious quad work to do.

 

[coolcolj]

Hmm, you porbably hit it on the head when you said my quads are my weak point. I believe so. As for posterior chain exercises(I am assuming the back, no?), I have been doing rack deads, did heavy good mornings for while until I replaced those with rack deads, and sldl's. I have been working on my abs a lot harder than I used to, doing weighted ab pulldowns, and weighted situps. Mind you, today, I used a wider stance than normal, and I thought my hams would take most of the weight up. I will try working on front squats, and see where that gets me for the next couple of leg days

Well then it would seen your posterior chain is not the weakness, then it must be your quads. I notice in front squats, when my quads tire, I want to lean forward to make the lift easier.

It could be just a form issue, which always compounds when you fatigue. Just have to drive your heel down and forward. Also going above 80% of your 1RM too often will cause form breakdown due to CNS shutdown. One reason why I train around the 70% area mostly for sets of 3-4, with sets at 80% and singles at 90% every 2 to 3 weeks in a periodised fashion, wave like cycles.

Training around 70% will keep your form clean, without sticking point issues and mental shutdown. ANd bar speed will be high. Keep the reps on the low side to minimise fatigue and keep force output high per rep.

 

[b fold the truth]

Do you know how I increase my squat?

Accomodating Resistance
Pull Throughs
Reverse Hypers
Glute Ham Raises
Front Squats

I'm sure I can pull a few others out of my hat too Seriously...there are many other ways to increase the squat than just squatting...better ones too IMO.

B True

 

[BodybuildingUniverse]

band work did wonder for my squat out of the hole too. speed is the key, picture a gun being fired behind you while in the hole to signify the explosive start. BAM! got to get fired up on squat day

 

[the People's Champ]

CCJ, B Fold, Heavywear - Thanks for the quality replies. seems like I need to re evaulate my routine.