How did I add 25 lbs to my squat?

tomcornhole

I started SS on Mar 25 this year. Only did machine lifts once a week before that. I ignored form, added too much weight too fast and injured myself. I did a reset about 6 weeks ago to focus on form. Slowly added weight while focusing on form. As a result, my squat has slowly been increasing (started at 135 lbs, got that up to 190 lbs). But today was a very weird day. My last lift was this past Monday, so it was a 5 day rest (because of business travel). Not the first time I have had a 5 day rest. I hit 190x5x3 last time but my notes say form broke down on the last set. So today I was targeting 190x5x3 with perfect form. Here's what happened today (I planned on a long warmup because of the 5 day rest):

0x10 - warmup
45x5 - warmup
95x5 - warmup
115x5 - warmup
135x5 - warmup
155x5 - warmup
185x5 (felt great and form was perfect)
200x5
205x5
210x5
215x5 (form started to break down here, just a bit)

I know that's a lot of sets, but my plan was to do 190x5x3 with perfect form so I could add weight next time. But every set felt great and form was still good. I know I could have done 225x5, but not with perfect form, so I stopped.

Up until today, I was lifting squat, bench and deadlift 3x a week if possible, but that averaged out to more like 2x a week. I have had 5 days rests before and never been able to add weight coming off the rest. Lucky to maintain.

Diet has not changed. No new supplements.

So, how did I do that? I want to keep doing that.

I did decide that because I am in a caloric deficit, I am going to split my routine to just one compound exercise a day. Do the big 3 three days in a row (day 1: squat, day 2: bench, day 3: deadlift, 1 day rest, repeat, then 2 days rest). Might add some accessory work in as well.

katy_trail

it sounds like a similar situation to deloading. rest does a body good. how did you do it? neural adaptation would be my guess.
re-read your deload info. read up on neural adaptation. limits of cns.

katy_trail

I did decide that because I am in a caloric deficit, I am going to split my routine to just one compound exercise a day. Do the big 3 three days in a row (day 1: squat, day 2: bench, day 3: deadlift, 1 day rest, repeat, then 2 days rest). Might add some accessory work in as well.

most heavy routines suggest each of those big lifts you mentioned once a week, unless you're doing a routine like mine (you're not)
and it includes lighter weights. keep scheduling your deload weeks, alternating your rep ranges. strength builds with both higher and lower reps, read your research from lyle again on that.

ChrisLindsay9

Awesome!!! You are clearly doing something right for that kind of gain. It's not one specific thing, the rest may have helped. However, you are relatively new to lifting and there is such a thing as "newbie gains" (the colloquial term), in which people who are new to strength training make very good progress in a short amount of time. It can vary from 3-6 months (even longer in some instances). I suspect that you may still be in that phase of strength training. But this is a good sign. It means you're doing things right (really right, in this particular case).

By the way, katy_trail gave some great advice above (she always does) about accessory work, deloads, etc.. So great job on your work so far and hope that those gains continue to happen for ya!

katy_trail

awwww