Squat assistance lifts

[Donkeykong]

What are some of your favorite and most productive lifts to getting a bigger squat? Besides REGULAR squats lol. Example my favorite right now is the SSB as it crushes your core and keeps your back super straight. If you have never used one before start light as it take a min to get the hang of it lol... I know it is technically a squat but it IS a squat variation so I will count it.
So basically if you had to credit ONE lift besides the reg back squat with squat strength or even leg development which would you pick?? looking for new ideas or possibly doing more lifts that I know of already but just don't do enough of... I need to get my squat up ALOT this year.

 

[powerlifterkj]

What’s your current squat and what are you trying to get to this year? What’s your current squat training like?


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[Donkeykong]

Sorry bro this been sitting here so long I didnt think itd ever move LOL...I just started doing 5x5 inc weight every set followed by 3x6 wave with the Transformer bar by KABUKI set on CAMBERED bar and every 3 week ill switch to say front squat setting or something different.
I follow this with sl deads for 2x6-8 and lef press 3x10 ... Then I do leg ext for 4x8-10 and GHR for 3x failure bodyweight though msy add weight when reps get to high... After deads later in week I do some dead assist but also add speed squats BANDED so top end adds about 200plius lbs i think but squat tolow box with barley 50% for 10x2 and also do leg curls on dead day as well.. My squat was 550 and just missed 555 months back but had shin injury and couldnt dead or squat then when it healed I tried jumping back into my norm weights since the break had me heavier and feeling strong but I hurt my back and JUST this week started back with deads hitting 620 for double (no pain and fairly easy) but my squat oddly felt awful and stopped at 405...More so form than pain or weakness... I was doing alot of BOX squats and I think Im done with those...Ive read alot about how raw squatters shouldnt box squat...

What’s your current squat and what are you trying to get to this year? What’s your current squat training like?


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[Donkeykong]

Oh yes I am jumping in a meet in about 5 weeks just to hit 700 dead official and bench 380 comp which will be an easy 5lb meet pr... My squat may be token 500 just to get a number in there thats not to pathetic...Once meets done Ill be deadlifting eow and squatting 2x week and the goal is to get 600 raw no wraps by December so ill have most of the year and my back wont be so taxed from heavy pulls every week,,,, Im thinking One day for high reps and conditioning and another day going heavy with variations but more volume than say westside for exp instead of doing front squats 3rm Ill do 5x3 inc weight do one more week thn switch to back squats or pause squats etc ... Then on other squat day speed work and hypertrophy with high rep/volume ...Im not to clear on iot yet even as I type this Im kinda just throwing out various ideas I've been thinking about

 

[powerlifterkj]

This may sound crazy but once you get to a certain level of strength less =more. My theory for squat and deadlift is pretty much hit a top set then do accessories and then go home. This got me 545 squat/624 deadlift at 179. I feel like too much barbell work on a squat is too much load on the cns. Especially volume on squats and deadlift.through this type of training I have managed to maintain atleast a 500 squat at 181ish body weight even if I get injured and stop squatting for a month or 2. So this is kinda how it could look.

Week 1
Squat
325x5
375x3
425x5
Then accessories(no barbell work. Just quad and hamstring isolation work)
Week 2
Squat
350x3
400x3
450x4-5
Accessories
Week 3
Squat
375x5
425x3
475x3

Week 4
335x5
385x3
440x5

Week 4
365x3
415x3
465x3-5

Week 6
385x5
440x3
490x1-5

It’s using 531 calculator but not going over 5 for week 1. Week 2 should be 4-5 on your 3+
Week 3 is usually 2-4

Then plug the next 3 weeks a little higher maybe 10-15 lbs.
if you ever get to where you only hit the 5,3,1 minimum reps then back the numbers back down. Pretty much every workout is gonna be a rep pr. After that top set I wouldn’t do any more spine loaded work for that day. For deadlift I run it similar but I plug the deadlift a little lighter and it’s almost like a head start so this is how it could look

Week 1
Top set 495x5+ goal is 8-10
Week 2
Top set 525x3+ top set goal 6-8
Week 3
Top set 555x1+ goal 3-5
Week 4
510x5+ top set goal 6-10
Week 2
540x3+ top set goal 4-8
Week 6
Top set 570x1+ goal 2-6

One all out top set that is 1-2 reps from failure is the goal. I just started programming for a natural guy who was used to doing volume and he switched to this style and he’s hitting a pr every workout.most of my progress was made with this type of training. The only reason my squat hasn’t passed 545 is because of small injuries and things that I run into along the way and I end up not squatted for a month or 2 at a time but I’m always back above 500 within the first 3 weeks of this kind of programming



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[Donkeykong]

yeah i had hit 550 so long ago then had issues with substances not related to lifting.I came back and my dead and bench have had no issues but my squats just never came back... I had it last triples with something decent like 525 but every time id get there Id plateau and I'd try something to get past it then Id end up having to start way lighter and go again.. Plus several Injusries from everywhere lol but my back helaed literally 3 weeks back or so and I just pulled 655 fairly easy and benching 345 for triples with pauses... Squat right now after back inj is prob 405 for 5 lol.. My legs dont shrink much either just feel like my squat and dead are same muscles using so I may need to alteranate heavy squat/sped deads week A wwek B speed squats heavy deads etc...

 

[Donkeykong]

Quads are sore AF today though I did start a new routine Im sure thats most of it I also did Zercher squats which Ive also considered doing on dead day or as an alternative lift every so often. But for now since there new and I havent got the technique down yet to go super heavy Im doing after squats. Set in power rack low enough that I can get down and grab bar in a safe position and for whatever reason using an AXLE bar.I am not sure why if the squats drained me or the Axle made it rougher but 3 plates was pretty tough for set of 5. I had done them with this set up with a regular barbell months back just testing them out, but remember also doing 3 plates and thinking I could of easily went up a plate atleast.. Anyway my lower back also got a huge pump though in a good way.Also did speed deads though next week will be altering as was to much on lower back lol;;; prob just drop the speed deads as my deads are very explosive and fast anyways and 1xweek is def enough for those right now...plan is to get raw(belt only)600 squat by december in comp with a dead in the low 700's and considering im tripling 350 im hoping for a 400lb bench as well...Had a meet in couple weeks but skipping it as Im not ready so going to be a LONG offseason lol

 

[49ER]

Same here love the ss bar.

 

[Donkeykong]

Same here love the ss bar.

If you ever get the t=chance try the 'Transformer" by Chris Duffin and Kabuki Strength ...He designed it so it works as SSB, front squat, back , cambered, kettle bell etc all hy switching bar and rotating in 4 points. shifting the weight distribution... its quick easy and the most versatile bar for squatters on Earth thankfull I go to a PL gym now and the guys all take advice on what we should order next as we slowly build our gym... First thing was a monolift now we got shit you have to drive 3 hrs to find

 

[49ER]

If you ever get the t=chance try the 'Transformer" by Chris Duffin and Kabuki Strength ...He designed it so it works as SSB, front squat, back , cambered, kettle bell etc all hy switching bar and rotating in 4 points. shifting the weight distribution... its quick easy and the most versatile bar for squatters on Earth thankfull I go to a PL gym now and the guys all take advice on what we should order next as we slowly build our gym... First thing was a monolift now we got shit you have to drive 3 hrs to find

I just saw a video of my buddy at kabuki labs squatting with it! Yea man hopefully my gym will get one, they are pretty up to date with new equipment. We have all kabuki bars for the comps.

 

[49ER]

Haha what a coincidence our gym just got one today!

 

[Donkeykong]

they are amazing...just doing cambered bar with 4 plates with it for 3 for week 1 of 2 as im doing these cambered 2 weks then pause squats or front squat another 2 weeks then i go back to a 3rm in reg squat. I do one weak lighter to break in form and the following week, heavy. every rotation I add 15 or 20lbs since its only a near max triple every 6 weeks and weights are mapped out all the way till my meet at end of year. The cambered bar had me shaking like crazy stabilizing it!!! It also felt amazing and hit muscles way differently(ive never done cambered squats as ive never trained anywhere that had one...
one thing I want is the belt squat machine..You can smoke your legs without pressure on spine as well as do diff lifts for core/deadlift assist, etc... Were supposed to get one soon supposedly