heavy (relative) barbell squatting twice a week grew my legs significantly more than any other programming i've tried. i can attest to squat depth/mobility improving with consistent work, too. i started at 90 degrees (in squat shoes) and got to ATG pretty fast. before i started squatting frequently, i thought my mobility was just bad.
Did you increase load and rom simultaneously or did one come first? I'm relatively comfortable going down halfway with a weight but my full rom squat is far weaker, and I'm wondering if i can slowly increase rom at the higher load rather than trying to increase load in the larger rom.
Will, what about hack squat? Or do you just very much prefer barbell squat? We went to college together and just found your channel in the algorithm, great content!
Double progressions are unga bunga easy to understand, safer and easier to implement and keeps you looking forward to your next session. God bless whoever came up with this term.
My legs and my back are my most developed muscles right now, was mainly using the 5-8 rep range with simple progression for 3-4 sets. Was thinking about next bulk gonna switch over to heavy 3’s and 5’s, just to see if it would make a difference in speed for leg development. Thoughts on this?
On the AMRAPs, how do you calculate the RIR when considering time in between reps especially towards the end? I could hold the bar for a few seconds and do another squat for way more reps than knocking out ten consecutive non stop reps, to the point where the limiting factor is the rest of my body rather than my legs.
Will do you think it’s possible to get big legs just doing zerchers squats and not back squats? I’ve had surgery on both shoulders and holding the bar for a back squat puts a lot of stress on them and is extremely uncomfortable.
They are probably 90% there. Potential limiting factor may the arms/back fatiguing before the legs when going heavy. An alternative to this would be single leg zerchers with less load and higher stress on the single leg that may be more conducive to hypertrophy by allowing you to push the reps higher vs heavy load zerchers. This is only anecdotal evidence in my experience. Happy squatting!
In my decade of barbell training, I’ve come to realize that the barbell programming is usually waaaay over-complicated and the answer is almost always “just do 5/3/1”
What's the best way to elevate your heels? idk if it's a combination of bad ankle mobility and long legs but I can never keep my balance when squatting and have never been able to add squats into my program (always substitute with split squats and lunges). Is it worth getting heel elevated shoes? Or should I start with a wedge first?
@MetaHominini I don't know about you but I subconsciously don't think I go my fastest on a treadmill compared to the ground. That might be just me tho.
@@raymondsmith2040 That is fair actually haven't used a treadmill sine last winter. Well, I will find out tomorrow anyway when I try to run on it. But maybe I can high incline so at least my legs are working a bit
ehh. Barbell squats never got me any decent quad growth, I used to squat till I was blue in the face but still mostpy grew my glites even with heel elevated squats. lately I have been doing only mschines (leg extension, leg press and hack squat) and the results are absolutely uncomparable to squats
5x5 - 5 days a week, went old school and just did 50-60-70-80-90 of relative 1RM. Went from endurance runner legs to tree trunks in about 8 months, somtime around month 3, added RDL, Curls, and Extensions in the 15-20 rep range, thats when things blew up. As Will said, squats teach you how to actually work, and build the intensity needed to actually see progress with other lifts as well, specifically machines. Only did the machine and RDL lifts on one of the squat days, managed fatigue and I'd say once per month found that I needed to skip 3 days in a row to recover enough.
“Limiting factor” training makes sense to some degree, but a 200lbs quad extension machine will not smoke your quads nearly as much as a deep 500x10 back squat
@alexpunch3ll0 leverages brother..i was repping 4 plates on squats but mostly my glutes/hips got most of the stimulus Switchingg to hacks squats, cyclist squats and sissy squats grew my quads best
This. I know it’s an unpopular opinion among squat purists but I squatted twice a week for about a year and made good gains. I switched to doing leg press as my main compound movement for my quads and I’ve seen way better quad gains. It’s just a lot easier to blast the quads without anything else’s being a limiting factor.
1 SSB Squat 3 SET 5-8 REP
2 RDL 3 SET 6-8 REP
3 SSB Calf raise 3 SET 10-12 REP
4 Hamstring Curl 3 SET 10-15 REP
5 Leg Extension 3 SET 10-15 REP
Simple and effective. Add 2.5-10lbs when reaching the max reps/sets at a given weight and you're gonna grow some wheels.
heavy (relative) barbell squatting twice a week grew my legs significantly more than any other programming i've tried.
i can attest to squat depth/mobility improving with consistent work, too. i started at 90 degrees (in squat shoes) and got to ATG pretty fast. before i started squatting frequently, i thought my mobility was just bad.
Did you increase load and rom simultaneously or did one come first? I'm relatively comfortable going down halfway with a weight but my full rom squat is far weaker, and I'm wondering if i can slowly increase rom at the higher load rather than trying to increase load in the larger rom.
@ i worked on both simultaneously. It probably made my weight increase slower than if I didn’t care about depth, but I think it was worth it.
Will, what about hack squat? Or do you just very much prefer barbell squat? We went to college together and just found your channel in the algorithm, great content!
Amen brother. Squat Deep or Die.
Simplicity
You'll just die either way though.
Love this kind of short pots with so much informations!
I love the idea of double progressions, sometimes it’s tricky to get a good gauge on when to up the weight.
Double progressions are unga bunga easy to understand, safer and easier to implement and keeps you looking forward to your next session. God bless whoever came up with this term.
My legs and my back are my most developed muscles right now, was mainly using the 5-8 rep range with simple progression for 3-4 sets. Was thinking about next bulk gonna switch over to heavy 3’s and 5’s, just to see if it would make a difference in speed for leg development. Thoughts on this?
brother another hammer video. salute!
On the AMRAPs, how do you calculate the RIR when considering time in between reps especially towards the end? I could hold the bar for a few seconds and do another squat for way more reps than knocking out ten consecutive non stop reps, to the point where the limiting factor is the rest of my body rather than my legs.
Will do you think it’s possible to get big legs just doing zerchers squats and not back squats? I’ve had surgery on both shoulders and holding the bar for a back squat puts a lot of stress on them and is extremely uncomfortable.
You can try using two straps for your squat simulating a safety bar!
Yeah probably man. You can load them up really heavy and it’s pretty easy to go ATG on zercher squats, some say easier than back squat. Go for it
I can tell you that zercher squats can be just as effective as low & bar squats. Just try and get good depth. Also, maybe consider using elbow sleeves
I exclusively do zercher or front. No back squats
They are probably 90% there. Potential limiting factor may the arms/back fatiguing before the legs when going heavy. An alternative to this would be single leg zerchers with less load and higher stress on the single leg that may be more conducive to hypertrophy by allowing you to push the reps higher vs heavy load zerchers. This is only anecdotal evidence in my experience. Happy squatting!
Squats !!!! The king
In my decade of barbell training, I’ve come to realize that the barbell programming is usually waaaay over-complicated and the answer is almost always “just do 5/3/1”
What's the best way to elevate your heels? idk if it's a combination of bad ankle mobility and long legs but I can never keep my balance when squatting and have never been able to add squats into my program (always substitute with split squats and lunges).
Is it worth getting heel elevated shoes? Or should I start with a wedge first?
drop that necc routine
Yep.
Hey Will, do SSB squats count as a good squat variation to prioritize?
whats your favorite weightlifting shoe?
Goated.
Is sprinting on a treadmill a good alternative during winter to sprinting on a track? My gym does not have indoor track
Depends on your goal, not ideal but probably better than nothing
@@SP3XTRO What is wrong with sprinting on a treadmill? Just curious
@MetaHominini I don't know about you but I subconsciously don't think I go my fastest on a treadmill compared to the ground. That might be just me tho.
@@raymondsmith2040 That is fair actually haven't used a treadmill sine last winter. Well, I will find out tomorrow anyway when I try to run on it. But maybe I can high incline so at least my legs are working a bit
Squat til you pass out
What are your general thoughts on sled pushing/pulling for leg growth?
pretty sure he would not recommend them for leg growth. not enough tension, range of motion or isolation to be ideal for leg growth.
you will certainly not get tree trunks
but its good for conditioning, knee health
No. They literally have no eccentric.
ehh.
Barbell squats never got me any decent quad growth, I used to squat till I was blue in the face but still mostpy grew my glites even with heel elevated squats. lately I have been doing only mschines (leg extension, leg press and hack squat) and the results are absolutely uncomparable to squats
Well, the hack squat is a type of squat.. and focuses more on quads.
🎯
Simple truth
💪💪
For the algorithm
5x5 - 5 days a week, went old school and just did 50-60-70-80-90 of relative 1RM.
Went from endurance runner legs to tree trunks in about 8 months, somtime around month 3, added RDL, Curls, and Extensions in the 15-20 rep range, thats when things blew up.
As Will said, squats teach you how to actually work, and build the intensity needed to actually see progress with other lifts as well, specifically machines.
Only did the machine and RDL lifts on one of the squat days, managed fatigue and I'd say once per month found that I needed to skip 3 days in a row to recover enough.
I prefer exercises where the quads are the limiting factor
“Limiting factor” training makes sense to some degree, but a 200lbs quad extension machine will not smoke your quads nearly as much as a deep 500x10 back squat
lmao
@alexpunch3ll0 leverages brother..i was repping 4 plates on squats but mostly my glutes/hips got most of the stimulus
Switchingg to hacks squats, cyclist squats and sissy squats grew my quads best
Use a smith machine or a hack squat
This. I know it’s an unpopular opinion among squat purists but I squatted twice a week for about a year and made good gains. I switched to doing leg press as my main compound movement for my quads and I’ve seen way better quad gains. It’s just a lot easier to blast the quads without anything else’s being a limiting factor.
🎯