Increase Your Squat

Not everyone trains their legs, and for those that do not a huge percentage carries out the best leg exercise of them all....the Squat.

For those that do use the squat exercise in their workout it can be demoralising to hit a plateau and not see any improvement in the weight and repetitions you lift in the squat week in and week out, well today this is going to change.

Today I am posting about the different ways you can kick start your squat training to get past that plateau you have been stuck at for a while and really start improving your squat lifts.

5x5 Squats

The first way to try and work past that squat lift plateau is to carry out a 5x5 workout technique on your squats. For this you need to lift as heavy as possible for 5 sets of 5 reps.

At first you will probably achieve 5 reps for three sets, 4 reps for one set and two to three reps for the last set. If this is the case stay on this weight until you can complete the full 5 sets of 5 repetitions then once you have achieved this add 2.5 kg to the bar and start again. Only add weight when you achieve the full 5x5 on the current weight you are lifting.

Explosive Squats

Use explosive squats to build power from the bottom of your squat. To do this go down slowly to the bottom of the lift then lift as fast as you can to the top like a jack in the box. This will build explosive power in your muscles.

Front Squats

Try building 3 sets of front squats into your workout to really work your quads and build more strength on the front of your legs. This will also improve your stability as front squats are harder on the stabilising muscles.

Hip Flexibility

Many people cannot squat properly and this impedes them improving their squat. Why not try out hip flexibility exercises to loosen the hips so you can squat deeper and with more comfort thus improving form and strength.

Squat More Often

Why not try the Texas technique and train your squat three times a week!

Using this method you have a heavy day, intermediate day and light day. These are broken up as follows

• Heavy Day - 1 heavy single, double or triple (1×1, 1×2 or 1×3).
• Intermediate day - 5 sets of 5 reps with the same weight.
• Light day - 3 sets of 3 reps with the same weight.

Moving from once a week to three times a week will really kick start your squats and build more muscle from the feet upwards.