Full squats - am i weak?

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Hi, i have sort of a problem as it relates to doing full squats. First, im 29 yrs old, 6'1, 175 and I've been lifting weights for about 9 years. My problem is I just started doing full squats about 6 months ago and the highest amount of weight I can do is only a 45 plate on each side of the bar. This is about 145 pounds. I can do about 3 sets of 10 reps, but I am not able to increase the weight. Its kind of depressing watching all kinds of youtube videos of people who dont look any bigger then myself doing 315 for 10 reps. Anyone else have issues like this when doing squats?

 

[pvcpeterson]

I don't know how to answer your question specifically, but I can give an interesting experience I have had.

I weighed 148 during my senior year of high school, at 5'11" tall. I weight trained like crazy for 3 years, went up to 207 lbs.

During that time, I went from one 45lb plate per side on the leg press to 8 45's per side.

My legs looked almost exactly the same--I kid you not!!

All the huge dudes in Gold's Gym would give me weird looks because I could lift so heavy with these tiny little chicken legs.

So in my case, it's genetics. My upper body grow with hardly any training, but my lower body is near impossible to grow.

I DO think you should be able to increase your squat weight, though. I am reading an interesting book called "Ultimate Back Fitness", which has some info that may help in your case. The author says that many folks are using their quads/erectors/hamstrings when squatting, but neglecting to use the power of their glutes. He says in order to teach your self to recruit the use of your glute muscles properly, do one-legged squats with a barbell-- it apparently forces you to use your glutes for stability. I am going to try this myself next week-- I'm going to try this in order to HOPEFULLY add some mass to my tiny legs!

hope this info helps...

 

[pvcpeterson]

I just thought of something else.

Sometimes you feel so horribly exhausted working legs, you don't think you can possibly add any more weight. What I did to increase my weight was simply add more pounds, and decrease reps.

For example, even if you can do only 10 reps with a 45 on each side, add ten pounds more each side. If you can only do 7 reps with that weight, continue using that weight until you can do 10 reps with it. Little by little, you should be able to increase this way.

I had been out of the gym for a number of years due to a back inury. A couple months ago I just started lifting again. I felt completely wiped out doing 2 45's per side on the leg press...but I thought, what the heck, I'll see if I can do 2 or 3 reps with another 45 on each side. You know what, I did 8 more reps with another 90 pounds, then 7 more reps with ANOTHER 90 pounds...

Sometimes our mind fools us into thinking we're incapable of lifting heavier.

I am certainly not advocating going extra heavy and potentially injuring yourself, just sharing my experience.

 

[JDid23]

if you're doing 3x10 you should try decreasing reps and increasing the weight

what is your diet and rest of your workout like?

Stalling on squats are often a mental issue..

 

[future]

Search on the site. We have lots of information on increasing your lifts.

Be patient.

 

[joe d]

do this. training and diet.

How to gain muscle mass over the summer with 20 rep squats

you are not eating enough.

 

[ceo]

do this. training and diet.

How to gain muscle mass over the summer with 20 rep squats

you are not eating enough.

GOMAD (Gallon Of Milk A Day) and 20 rep squats. That's been around forever! It works too.

 

[RottenWillow]

Hi, i have sort of a problem as it relates to doing full squats. First, im 29 yrs old, 6'1, 175 and I've been lifting weights for about 9 years. My problem is I just started doing full squats about 6 months ago and the highest amount of weight I can do is only a 45 plate on each side of the bar. This is about 145 pounds. I can do about 3 sets of 10 reps, but I am not able to increase the weight. Its kind of depressing watching all kinds of youtube videos of people who dont look any bigger then myself doing 315 for 10 reps. Anyone else have issues like this when doing squats?

Hi. Are you happy with the size of your thighs and just want more poundage or do you want both increased size and lift poundages?

I'm thinking your body sounds like it tends towards ectomorphism. Assuming this, I suspect your thighs need substantially higher reps to grow and lower reps to get stronger. For size, try lightening up and doing a minimum of 15 reps, slow to medium bar speed, three sets. To build your lifts aim for a weight that permits NO MORE THAN 7 reps in perfect form. As soon as you can do ten reps, increase the weight. If your progress halts at nine reps, increase the weight; just means your legs arent adapting anymore and it's time to change the stress in some manner.

It's going to be more challenging for you to encourage adaptation because of your body type, but you can do it with particularly specialized training.

 

[the_alcatraz]

GOMAD (Gallon Of Milk A Day) and 20 rep squats. That's been around forever! It works too.

How often do you do squats? I read the article and it says 3 times a week.

Do you do those at the begining of EVERY workout regardless of the body part you're training, or only on leg days?

 

[ceo]

How often do you do squats? I read the article and it says 3 times a week.

Do you do those at the begining of EVERY workout regardless of the body part you're training, or only on leg days?

well, I think that program wants you to do them 3 times a week and add weight EVERY time if I'm not mistaken. The 5x5 has people squatting 3 times a week as well.

I think twice a week adding weight as often as you can (trying to add each week), is a good way to go.

You can also mix it up with squats, front squats, leg press, V-Squat, etc. That would allow you to increase each one a little less frequently, but still increasing all of them rapidly. Ya with me on that?

The thing is, you (traz) are a high volume guy. You'll burn out doing this 2-3 times a week with the volume you are used to doing. You would have to change your whole approach.

Whatever happened to you doing DC training? I know you were talking about doing it. ...?

 

[the_alcatraz]

well, I think that program wants you to do them 3 times a week and add weight EVERY time if I'm not mistaken. The 5x5 has people squatting 3 times a week as well.

I think twice a week adding weight as often as you can (trying to add each week), is a good way to go.

You can also mix it up with squats, front squats, leg press, V-Squat, etc. That would allow you to increase each one a little less frequently, but still increasing all of them rapidly. Ya with me on that?

The thing is, you (traz) are a high volume guy. You'll burn out doing this 2-3 times a week with the volume you are used to doing. You would have to change your whole approach.

Whatever happened to you doing DC training? I know you were talking about doing it. ...?

I actually tried the squats the way this article says you should do them last night. I'm dead. My legs are weak. I almost couldnt get out of bed this morning. I did 315 lbs x 15 reps and I almost died. I threw up after the workout.

I'm going to do this twice a week (just the squats part)

I also started drinking 1 gallon of milk a day yesterday after reading this article. I'm going to put this one to the test.

CEO, about DC, I'm kinda skeptic. Maybe if I had someone plan it out for me or do it with me...I don't know, something about it doesn't add up to me....I've almost always did one or two body parts a day in isolation and went super heavy while doing reps...

 

[C.K.]

Squats are for your ass anyway... and milk didnt do shit till i added peanut butter

 

[the_alcatraz]

Squats are for your ass anyway... and milk didnt do shit till i added peanut butter

milk is doing plenty to me...AND I already consume a shitload of peanut butter anyways

 

[joe d]

dc is bad ass traz. i think its right up your alley. no one can lay it out for you because the program is adjustable to your needs. you just have to study up until you understand it. theres a forum on it somewhere on the net i forget where. im sure someone will know what im talking about and post it up. if not i'll look around for it.

 

[gstacker]

Full sqauts with a plate gets way more respect than 3plates qrtr sqauts.... Jus sayin

I'm hoping by march I can do square with one plate I'd be happy (injury) I I don't care what anyone in the gym thinks

 

[the_alcatraz]

dc is bad ass traz. i think its right up your alley. no one can lay it out for you because the program is adjustable to your needs. you just have to study up until you understand it. theres a forum on it somewhere on the net i forget where. im sure someone will know what im talking about and post it up. if not i'll look around for it.

I find it a little too complicated in the sense that bodybuilding and lifting weights has always come naturally to me. Why complicate things?

I am doing the extreme stretching though....CEO showed me those

 

[ceo]

DC is not complicated. But it is NOT for beginners. Dante recommends that someone should have about 3-5 years of serious training before doing DC. DC should be something you do when virtually all else has failed. If what you're doing is still yeilding gains, keep doing it.

Intensemuscle.com is the place to find out all about DC. The DoggPound forum has all the stickies with all the info in them. I can't lay it out any better than it has been laid out already.

The only reason DC may seem confusing is because it is just so different than the usual BBing type splits and training that everyone is doing. Once you understand DC and "unlearn what you have learned" about BBing, you will see how amazingly simple DC training is.

 

[needtogetaas]

well, I think that program wants you to do them 3 times a week and add weight EVERY time if I'm not mistaken. The 5x5 has people squatting 3 times a week as well.

I think twice a week adding weight as often as you can (trying to add each week), is a good way to go.

You can also mix it up with squats, front squats, leg press, V-Squat, etc. That would allow you to increase each one a little less frequently, but still increasing all of them rapidly. Ya with me on that?

The thing is, you (traz) are a high volume guy. You'll burn out doing this 2-3 times a week with the volume you are used to doing. You would have to change your whole approach.

Whatever happened to you doing DC training? I know you were talking about doing it. ...?

I feel the same way. When I first started the 5x5 I was like fuck my legs cant do squats 3 times a week. It was hard to walk the first 2-3 weeks but after that I could not even tell I was working them 3 times a week. Loved it.

 

[the_alcatraz]

DC is not complicated. But it is NOT for beginners. Dante recommends that someone should have about 3-5 years of serious training before doing DC. DC should be something you do when virtually all else has failed. If what you're doing is still yeilding gains, keep doing it.

Intensemuscle.com is the place to find out all about DC. The DoggPound forum has all the stickies with all the info in them. I can't lay it out any better than it has been laid out already.

The only reason DC may seem confusing is because it is just so different than the usual BBing type splits and training that everyone is doing. Once you understand DC and "unlearn what you have learned" about BBing, you will see how amazingly simple DC training is.

I've done bodybuilding for more than 6-7 years. Seriously training.

What happens when you do DC for 4-6 months and are looking for a change? Do you just switch back to a regular training split?

 

[joe d]

I've done bodybuilding for more than 6-7 years. Seriously training.

What happens when you do DC for 4-6 months and are looking for a change? Do you just switch back to a regular training split?

you switch to whatever you want, but im guessing its going to change things a bit for you.

 

[slimjim1985]

Squats are for your ass anyway... and milk didnt do shit till i added peanut butter

Milk works wonders but you got to drink a full gallon everyday. not 5 gallons a week. gotta be 7 gallons a week. I just became a fan of nutella by recommendation from a bro here.

 

[ceo]

I've done bodybuilding for more than 6-7 years. Seriously training.

What happens when you do DC for 4-6 months and are looking for a change? Do you just switch back to a regular training split?

If you were making gains, why would you change?

If gains stopped, change to whatever you want.

The way DC is setup, you should be able to progress for a very long time. A lot of guys have been training this way for years.

 

[the_alcatraz]

If you were making gains, why would you change?

If gains stopped, change to whatever you want.

The way DC is setup, you should be able to progress for a very long time. A lot of guys have been training this way for years.

I'm going to try DC starting tmrw. Check out my DC thread for the routine I've picked.