Dbc, Liftbig, Bob...

[flapwrlftr]

S-
I agree with DB and he knows his stuff. I work up to my opener in the squat 6 weeks out from the meet and then do 3 weeks of a semi circa max followed by two weeks of de-load. I think you need to compete more often. You are very strong, but still new to the sport. Keep in mind that I did my first meet in 1991. Up until 2000 or so I competed every 8-10 weeks.

 

[spatts]

Thanks, B. I definitely agree about DB; I have abused his knowledge base a time or two.

When you work up to your opener 6 weeks out, do you then base your circa max phase on THAT number? This falls in line with what I emailed you about several weeks ago, when I felt my CMP should be based on the numbers I aspire to, not the ones I know I'm already capable of. As I mentioned above, I was doing 204 plus greens and not losing speed, which tells me, along with other factors, that the bottom of my squat is suddenly the weak link (which is new).

It was also brought to my attention that competing in a single poly squat suit, with NO briefs, which has gotten loose since the last comp, didn't help. I had planned on competing every 12 weeks, but if you think I should try for more than that, I will certainly consider it. I was just telling liftbig that I wanted to do a comp in April (for my 1 year mark in PLing) and wanted to do the June meet too. That's about 8 weeks from now, and then again 8 weeks later.

 

[DBCooper]

Just count it as another workout, unless you find your way stronger than what you thought, you can always add weight/or bands the last set or two to up the ante. Changing stuff that close to a meet can be bad, set a goal and hit that first. oh and abuse away

 

[spatts]

I would like more ideas for working the stregth at the bottom of the squat. Hassock squats, low box squats, dip squats....what else? Do you work with the weight releasers at all?

Thanks for all the help so far.

 

[b fold the truth]

Spatts:

I posted this on a Strongman board the other day when someone was asking my opinion about how I was using WSB to bring up my deadlift (via the box squat). Maybe a little out of context here...but it might help you a bit.

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Hey man...I have been varying my weights and band use on the box squats (speed, DE squat, WSB style).

My box is about 13.5-14" tall which is right at or slighly below parallel for me. My stance is also fairly wide (near or at 50" from widest point to widest point).

For a few contests I would run a Circa Max phase and I would use 275, 300, 310, 325 plus 250-400 pounds of band tension on the bar for 6 sets of 2 with 45 seconds of rest between sets. I do feel that it helped to make me VERY explosive but I found that it was just too rough on my joints while doing heavy and intense events.

For Boston I decided to do the following:
275/325 (3 sets of 2 each) with 45 sec rest between then 2 heavy singles
295/350 (3 sets of 2 each) with 45 sec rest between then 2 heavy singles
315/365 (3 sets of 2 each) with 45 sec rest between then 2 heavy singles

I would then rotate back down and start at week 1 again.

I used to use between 50-75% of my 1RM on Squats but I found that my body would recover more by using even less. Bob Youngs also suggested this to me a long time ago for Strongman (even though I didn't listen to him at the time). Right now I would like to think that I could do a raw squat with about 575-625 and do an 'equipped' squat with 650+. Right now I am using 258 and 315 on my box squats and taking some heavier weights after my 6 sets.

Week 1: 258/315 (3 sets of 2 each) with 45 sec rest between then 2 sets of 5 reps with 348
Week 2: 258/315 (3 sets of 2 each) with 45 sec rest between then 2 sets of 5 reps with 365

Week 3: 258/315 (3 sets of 2 each) with 45 sec rest between then 2 sets of 3 with 405
Week 4: 258/315 (3 sets of 2 each) with 45 sec rest between then 2 sets of 3 with 438

Week 5: 258/315 (3 sets of 2 each) with 45 sec rest between then 2 heavy singles (somewhere around 500-535)
Week 6: 258/315 (3 sets of 2 each) with 45 sec rest between then 2 heavy singles (somewhere around 525-565)

I do all of my squatting completely raw...but I have been pulling that way also.

Note that I also use the method of 'increase the deadlift by committee'. I use box squats, speed deads, pull throughs, glute ham raises, reverse hypers, good mornings, etc...to bring up my deads. I also hit my abs hard and heavy using full ROM exercises and most of them are straight legged (reps from 3-20).
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Right now I am wanting to increase my base strength some more...so I plan on taking more heavy weights after my DE sets (only doing 6 now).

I hope that this helps some...

B True

 

[spatts]

Thanks, B

 

[flapwrlftr]

S-
I have actually decided to completely scrap my circa max. I am just going to do a regular phase going into the meet. I did one week of my circa and it was just too much. My elbows hurt so bad it was going to screw up my bench. I base my percents off of what I did last meet.

 

[spatts]

How low are your low box squats?

 

[flapwrlftr]

I use a 12" box for low boxes and squat on a 14.5" box on DE day.