Why am I stuck on squats?

LolBroScience

You said you deloaded last week. What did you do this week, go right back up to maximum weight? Or did you do a gradual increase from your deload amount back up to the 120? Usually it helps me break through if I gradually work back up.

How long have you been doing 5 x 5? Maybe switch to a program where you aren't doing a back squat every workout.

FWIW... 5/3/1 isn't meant for beginners. You can progress more rapidly on linear progression through the 5x5.

http://www.jimwendler.com/2011/09/531-for-a-beginner/

I'm aware theres a beginner template. I have both 5/3/1 books.

The progression is not week to week though. It is after completing the cycle, add 5-10 lbs. Not adding in 5 lbs every single workout or week. You can progress faster on a 5x5.

5lbs a month to lifts or 5 lbs a week as a beginner.

kelly_e_montana

So if you don't have a spotter and you don't have a rack for safety, how do you you know you're stuck? If you haven't failed, you're not stuck. If you have failed, what the heck did you do?

Without safety pins, I'm more curious about what happens when she fails at bench press.

I have failed at a bench press. I bailed out like you're supposed to - rolling it down your body. If it was too heavy of a weight for me to do that safely, I'd just not put clips on and tilt the bar to one side. There's no such technique for bailing out of a squat.

There are several. Like putting one hand down on your knee and assisting the lift.

I guess you could do that but when I fail on a BS, it is m*f'ing scary to me and having the weight wildly careening t one side while i put my hand on my knee as i am falling forward (not that I want to, but it happens) with more than my bw on my back is not appealing. It's not a huge issue for her right now, perhaps, but hopefully she will be making awesome progressions.

kjm3579

When I tried StrongLifts 5x5 I had problems progressing properly. I did some reading on the Starting Strength program which uses a 3x5 system and that seems to work better for me. The idea is that 5x5 is too much work on each lift and that by only doing 3x5 your body is better able to handle the workload.

skullshank

a) 5 lbs isn't a real deload. If you need a true deload, then you need to take weight off the bar. a lot of weight. do a week at 50-75% of what you're doing now and then come back. I am also doing 5x5 squats right now, and I just did that last week based on what I learned doing Wendler's program. Guess what-- I crushed my planned weight this week.

b) If you are not going to read about lifting, then at least make a concerted effort to learn about it. squatting correctly is incredibly technical, and small form corrections can make a big difference in the amount of weight you're able to squat. I don't know if you're doing high bar or low bar squats, but youtube Mark Rippetoe's anatomy of a squat if you haven't seen it yet. It's necessary to be educated about what you're doing. I experienced improvement in my squat when I corrected my form as well. I video myself and watch the videos between every set to make minor adjustments daily.

c) it is extremely easy to build safety rails. there are all kinds of plans online to build a power cage or squat rack for very cheap (under $100). Because you want to increase the weight you are squatting, you are going to need it, and yes--part of the problem now is likely mental. With the rails, you'll be able to relax more.

just wanted to quote this sound advice.

Achrya

a) 5 lbs isn't a real deload. If you need a true deload, then you need to take weight off the bar. a lot of weight. do a week at 50-75% of what you're doing now and then come back. I am also doing 5x5 squats right now, and I just did that last week based on what I learned doing Wendler's program. Guess what-- I crushed my planned weight this week.

b) If you are not going to read about lifting, then at least make a concerted effort to learn about it. squatting correctly is incredibly technical, and small form corrections can make a big difference in the amount of weight you're able to squat. I don't know if you're doing high bar or low bar squats, but youtube Mark Rippetoe's anatomy of a squat if you haven't seen it yet. It's necessary to be educated about what you're doing. I experienced improvement in my squat when I corrected my form as well. I video myself and watch the videos between every set to make minor adjustments daily.

c) it is extremely easy to build safety rails. there are all kinds of plans online to build a power cage or squat rack for very cheap (under $100). Because you want to increase the weight you are squatting, you are going to need it, and yes--part of the problem now is likely mental. With the rails, you'll be able to relax more.

I appreciate that you're trying to help, but she doesn't need to do more research. She said that she's already done her research and still doesn't know what she's doing wrong. Suggesting that she go continue researching is NOT HELPFUL.

guess it's a WASH.

SASH

LolBroScience

Escloflowne

a) 5 lbs isn't a real deload. If you need a true deload, then you need to take weight off the bar. a lot of weight. do a week at 50-75% of what you're doing now and then come back. I am also doing 5x5 squats right now, and I just did that last week based on what I learned doing Wendler's program. Guess what-- I crushed my planned weight this week.

b) If you are not going to read about lifting, then at least make a concerted effort to learn about it. squatting correctly is incredibly technical, and small form corrections can make a big difference in the amount of weight you're able to squat. I don't know if you're doing high bar or low bar squats, but youtube Mark Rippetoe's anatomy of a squat if you haven't seen it yet. It's necessary to be educated about what you're doing. I experienced improvement in my squat when I corrected my form as well. I video myself and watch the videos between every set to make minor adjustments daily.

c) it is extremely easy to build safety rails. there are all kinds of plans online to build a power cage or squat rack for very cheap (under $100). Because you want to increase the weight you are squatting, you are going to need it, and yes--part of the problem now is likely mental. With the rails, you'll be able to relax more.

juliewatkin

http://www.joeskopec.com/smolov.html

Noooooo.

_HeartsOnFire_

a) 5 lbs isn't a real deload. If you need a true deload, then you need to take weight off the bar. a lot of weight. do a week at 50-75% of what you're doing now and then come back. I am also doing 5x5 squats right now, and I just did that last week based on what I learned doing Wendler's program. Guess what-- I crushed my planned weight this week.

b) If you are not going to read about lifting, then at least make a concerted effort to learn about it. squatting correctly is incredibly technical, and small form corrections can make a big difference in the amount of weight you're able to squat. I don't know if you're doing high bar or low bar squats, but youtube Mark Rippetoe's anatomy of a squat if you haven't seen it yet. It's necessary to be educated about what you're doing. I experienced improvement in my squat when I corrected my form as well. I video myself and watch the videos between every set to make minor adjustments daily.

c) it is extremely easy to build safety rails. there are all kinds of plans online to build a power cage or squat rack for very cheap (under $100). Because you want to increase the weight you are squatting, you are going to need it, and yes--part of the problem now is likely mental. With the rails, you'll be able to relax more.

I just wanted to say I started SL 8 weeks ago. I did a deload week at 4 weeks in and doing one this week my 8th...4th week ended up being just 1 lifting session since I got sick. I deload to about 30-40% or what I was lifting. It may seem a bit silly so new, but I've found that this and warmup reps have actually greatly helped my progression - well with everything but OHP, but that's a whole other story...I know the SL program wasn't built that way, I kinda look at it like a guideline and make it my own in a way.

juliewatkin

Try backing up like a couple of people have mentioned but instead of adding back 5lbs/week, use your fractional plates. Add 2.5lbs per week or even 1lb per week.

fivethreeone

a) 5 lbs isn't a real deload. If you need a true deload, then you need to take weight off the bar. a lot of weight. do a week at 50-75% of what you're doing now and then come back. I am also doing 5x5 squats right now, and I just did that last week based on what I learned doing Wendler's program. Guess what-- I crushed my planned weight this week.

b) If you are not going to read about lifting, then at least make a concerted effort to learn about it. squatting correctly is incredibly technical, and small form corrections can make a big difference in the amount of weight you're able to squat. I don't know if you're doing high bar or low bar squats, but youtube Mark Rippetoe's anatomy of a squat if you haven't seen it yet. It's necessary to be educated about what you're doing. I experienced improvement in my squat when I corrected my form as well. I video myself and watch the videos between every set to make minor adjustments daily.

c) it is extremely easy to build safety rails. there are all kinds of plans online to build a power cage or squat rack for very cheap (under $100). Because you want to increase the weight you are squatting, you are going to need it, and yes--part of the problem now is likely mental. With the rails, you'll be able to relax more.

I just wanted to say I started SL 8 weeks ago. I did a deload week at 4 weeks in and doing one this week my 8th...4th week ended up being just 1 lifting session since I got sick. I deload to about 30-40% or what I was lifting. It may seem a bit silly so new, but I've found that this and warmup reps have actually greatly helped my progression - well with everything but OHP, but that's a whole other story...I know the SL program wasn't built that way, I kinda look at it like a guideline and make it my own in a way.

Same here. That's why it's working so well for me. Sounds like you've figured out how to get what you want out of it.

da_bears1008

a) 5 lbs isn't a real deload. If you need a true deload, then you need to take weight off the bar. a lot of weight. do a week at 50-75% of what you're doing now and then come back. I am also doing 5x5 squats right now, and I just did that last week based on what I learned doing Wendler's program. Guess what-- I crushed my planned weight this week.

b) If you are not going to read about lifting, then at least make a concerted effort to learn about it. squatting correctly is incredibly technical, and small form corrections can make a big difference in the amount of weight you're able to squat. I don't know if you're doing high bar or low bar squats, but youtube Mark Rippetoe's anatomy of a squat if you haven't seen it yet. It's necessary to be educated about what you're doing. I experienced improvement in my squat when I corrected my form as well. I video myself and watch the videos between every set to make minor adjustments daily.

c) it is extremely easy to build safety rails. there are all kinds of plans online to build a power cage or squat rack for very cheap (under $100). Because you want to increase the weight you are squatting, you are going to need it, and yes--part of the problem now is likely mental. With the rails, you'll be able to relax more.

This

_Pseudonymous_

a) 5 lbs isn't a real deload. If you need a true deload, then you need to take weight off the bar. a lot of weight. do a week at 50-75% of what you're doing now and then come back. I am also doing 5x5 squats right now, and I just did that last week based on what I learned doing Wendler's program. Guess what-- I crushed my planned weight this week.

b) If you are not going to read about lifting, then at least make a concerted effort to learn about it. squatting correctly is incredibly technical, and small form corrections can make a big difference in the amount of weight you're able to squat. I don't know if you're doing high bar or low bar squats, but youtube Mark Rippetoe's anatomy of a squat if you haven't seen it yet. It's necessary to be educated about what you're doing. I experienced improvement in my squat when I corrected my form as well. I video myself and watch the videos between every set to make minor adjustments daily.

c) it is extremely easy to build safety rails. there are all kinds of plans online to build a power cage or squat rack for very cheap (under $100). Because you want to increase the weight you are squatting, you are going to need it, and yes--part of the problem now is likely mental. With the rails, you'll be able to relax more.

I appreciate that you're trying to help, but she doesn't need to do more research. She said that she's already done her research and still doesn't know what she's doing wrong. Suggesting that she go continue researching is NOT HELPFUL.

guess it's a WASH.

Shiney...


*runs away with Wash and lives happily ever*

wheird

So if you don't have a spotter and you don't have a rack for safety, how do you you know you're stuck? If you haven't failed, you're not stuck. If you have failed, what the heck did you do?

Without safety pins, I'm more curious about what happens when she fails at bench press.

I have failed at a bench press. I bailed out like you're supposed to - rolling it down your body. If it was too heavy of a weight for me to do that safely, I'd just not put clips on and tilt the bar to one side. There's no such technique for bailing out of a squat.

There are several. Like putting one hand down on your knee and assisting the lift.

I guess you could do that but when I fail on a BS, it is m*f'ing scary to me and having the weight wildly careening t one side while i put my hand on my knee as i am falling forward (not that I want to, but it happens) with more than my bw on my back is not appealing. It's not a huge issue for her right now, perhaps, but hopefully she will be making awesome progressions.

I am not sure why the weight would be going to the side.

wheird

Try backing up like a couple of people have mentioned but instead of adding back 5lbs/week, use your fractional plates. Add 2.5lbs per week or even 1lb per week.

Yup. Nothing wrong with working back up slowly. It takes a bit of extra time, but oftentimes is worth it.

juliewatkin

Try backing up like a couple of people have mentioned but instead of adding back 5lbs/week, use your fractional plates. Add 2.5lbs per week or even 1lb per week.

Yup. Nothing wrong with working back up slowly. It takes a bit of extra time, but oftentimes is worth it.

Yup. Bigger jumps usually equal faster stall particularly when the individual isn't all that big.

JoRocka

yeah- smolov- for someone squatting 125... that sounds very much like a "here hold my beer" kind of thing.

Just

no.

shor0814

I second the sawhorse/extra bench as temporary safety rails. At 125 you are not going to hurt a decent set of saw horses.

You might also try the fractional plates right now, aim for 122.5 or so and that might give you some confidence to push over the 125. This sounds like a mental block because you haven't actually tried the 125 if I read it right, so you haven't failed yet. I know where you are at and it gets frustrating. Get some sort of safety system and just crank out the 125, you will be able to laugh at yourself later Maybe eat a bit more breakfast, you know, a huge meal like toast and peanut butter with your quest bar or maybe a protein drink.

If all else fails, you can always dump the weights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvpEURMRZI4

suremeansyes

I do squats three days per week with SL 5x5. I'd rather be stalled out on squats than deviate from the program right now.

The program specifies that you attempt a weight on three consecutive workouts, if 3 fails in a row then you reduce your working weight by 10% and continue from that point with the standard progression. You said you don't want to deviate from the program, so don't.

Deloading from 120 would mean going to 105.

Anything else would be deviating from the program.

This is what I was going to say. A five pound deload is not a deload.

toneitup19

i'm finally squatting 245. It takes time to build up and trust me taking your time is well worth it! It prevents injuries, don't walk in trying to act like a big shot just because the person next to you can lift heavier. I squat everyday and move up 5lbs every week or even every two weeks. take your time with it :bigsmile: