You love to squat. Okay, maybe you hate it just a little. But it’s your job, it’s what you have to do in order to get bigger, thicker, and stronger. So as much as you may dislike the pain, you do enjoy the results, so you continue to make the slow and arduous trek to the squat rack every week.
As much as you enjoy the results, and as rewarding as it has been to see your thighs grow larger while your squatting poundage increase, things are starting to slow down. Maybe you’re ‘hitting the wall’ or just finding your ceiling, but the progress is slowing and you aren’t quite ready to accept that. Let’s look at a few ways you can increase your squat numbers and keep your progress continuing!
Rest up
You might be overtraining. Take 3 or 4 days off of your standard training, but keep your food intake high. Take a cruise or just spend a weekend in the pool relaxing. You may quickly discover your body just needed a break to get growing again.
Bump up the calories by 500
Look at your diet. You may be eating 3000 calories per day, and that might be exactly the number you need to maintain your 200 pounds of size. However, if you want to grow your squatting numbers, you’ll need to add 5 more pounds to the scale if you want to add 20 more pounds to the squat rack. So it may be time to add a steak and baked potato to your daily meal plan to spurn some new weight gain, and subsequent strength increases.
Changes
Examine your life over the last month or two. Are you working a second job or going through a rough personal time? Have you added more cardio, or reduced your meals? Are you more stressed? What has changed? Determine any differences, and eliminate them if possible so you can get back to your winning & lifting ways!
Juice?
If you are at your natural ceiling, then it might just be time to accept where you are, or talk to your physician about the use of artificial testosterone. You’ll break any plateau immediately should you go that route. Pro-hormones, being less effective and more toxic, are also an option.
Change up training methods
This will be your most effective means of seeing new gains. Move up leg press in your workout. Try hack squats. More reps and sets always work too!
Supplements!
Add a new supplement to your nutritional plan! A slight bump in how much water your hold or change to your training intensity can make a huge difference. Try something new!
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I used the squat for years. My favorite exercise. I am 59 now. I started lifting seriously when I was around 24. It took a while to get the form correct. 90% of people do this exercise wrong (don’t go down far enough). I always did a full squat. I gained most of my size from doing squats. I don’t do these all the time. You need a break every once in a while. I never did these more than twice a week. Once a week works best. No matter what you do, you will get to a point where you can’t get any stronger. I tried all of the routines. It is best not to do overtrain. You can use steriods. That will get you past your sticking point. I used them a few times in the 80s. When you really think about it, it makes no sense.
jeff
what set do you use for better mass my legs were always my week point every were else always out grow them please reply at motley-74@rock.com