Is this true? Do you think I can do it?

[Magik]

Hi, I have a goal I wish to accomplish which seems very hard to do. I want to beat my highschools record in squats, the record was recently broken and the new record is 450 pounds (i know its not a lot but whatever) my current max is about 300 and I have 14 months to beat it, I dont like the workouts my coach makes us do and at my current gain rate i wont beat it (5-7 pounds a month sometimes 10) however one of my teachers found out about my goal and gave me some words of wisdom, he said about 2 or 3 years ago when he was at BYU he wanted to lift and when he played football in highschool he could never gain as much as he wanted to so his lifting coach put him on a program where he lifted only 2 days a week with 2 days rest in between his first day and his second day of lifting and 3 days of resting after that (each week he would repeat this process) the other days he let his muscles "rest and grow" and did some light plyometrics (lunges and stuff) and cardio work outs. He says if he was doing reps of 10 on his last set he would put enough weight to where he could get 10 but not 11 reps so that he had to struggle a lot but still finish his sets. He says his eating was healthy but not to an extreme point because he would still eat out every now and again. Doing this he says he went from doing 135 pounds for 4 sets of 10 (idk his max) to repping 335 for 3 sets of 10 and a max of 400 pounds in 2 months so he gained about 185-190 in 2 months lifting the way he did. Its hard to believe to me but idk what do you guys think? I mean im sure he has no reason to lie especially if he was trying to help me out. He did that at a weight of 190 too. My goal is to get anywhere from 475-500 in the 14 months I have and maintain my weight of 220 or less is it possible to do so by doing the type of workout he said or should i continue my current lifting program of 4 days a week (mon.-thurs. with fri-sun. days of rest). Tell me which of the two to use or post one of your own and thnx for the help.
OH and FYI please dont post telling me that my goals are impossible or highly unlikely and if thats what u think then just tell me which of my workouts is better but not reaching my goal is NOT AN OPTION!

[rbar89]

I really think that is too hard of a goal. If you currently squat 300 and you want to do more than 450 that means you will have to raise your current max by over 50%. I guess its possible but i think its really hard, maybe over like three years or sumthin but not in 14 months. But work hard and stay dedicated and see what happens you may just do it.

[hoser813]

thats a LOT of weight to make up in 14 months...

[Magik]

I WILL DO IT THERE IS NO QUESTION, im just asking for help on how to do it maybe some elderly advice.

[rbar89]

I really dont think you will get it because my max is about the same as yours right now and i just starting lifing hard so if you could get up to 450 then that means i could get there to or atleast close but i know thats not gonna happen so i dont think you will get to 450, you should be happy getting to 400 if even that.

[Magik]

my max was 200 when i first EVER lifted then i worked for about 12 months on and off and it got to 250 and i stopped for a long time and i maxed about 10 days ago after a week of lifting again and i maxed at 300 i didnt really earn 300 so imagine how much gains ill get once i start lifting seriously and consistently squatting is the ONLY thing im good at and I will not fail. in 2 months ill have exactly one year to reach my goal at that point i will max and take a picture of w.e weight im doing then and we'll see how much ive gained and how much I have left to go

[WildCard]

3 x 5 baby

[nhlfan]

if you eat, train properly, and have good genetics, yeah you can pull it off.

[Bam]

Man anything is possible if you want to be fast and the 100 in 11.2 you can do it. Man i would recommend eat plenty of protein on your squatting days and squat 2 times a week do low sets such as 5.

[Magik]

just an update, on april 4th i was repping 250 4X5 on squats as my last set and I maxed at 300 i kept working out so i posted this thread for advice how i had 14 months to squat about 500 pounds well today for my 4x5 I did 230 X 5, 250 X 5, 265 X 5, and 275 X 5. That is roughly a 330 pound max translated into a 4x5 workout. Although it most likely doesnt mean I can max at exactly 330 (especially considering the fact that we do an ENDURANCE MAX) it is a significant gain for 2 weeks of working out. So I now have no doubt in my mind that i will reach my goal. My next max is at the first week of June and so I will post what I am doing then with pics possibly video. And for informational purposes I we do an endurance squat of 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, MAX and it must be a good amount below parallel. Which brings up another point. Is it healthy to go down past parallel because one of the assistant coaches told me that a lot of the other schools have higher recorded maxes because they must only squat down to parallel if not a little higher.

[LouPac]

just an update, on april 4th i was repping 250 4X5 on squats as my last set and I maxed at 300 i kept working out so i posted this thread for advice how i had 14 months to squat about 500 pounds well today for my 4x5 I did 230 X 5, 250 X 5, 265 X 5, and 275 X 5. That is roughly a 330 pound max translated into a 4x5 workout. Although it most likely doesnt mean I can max at exactly 330 (especially considering the fact that we do an ENDURANCE MAX) it is a significant gain for 2 weeks of working out. So I now have no doubt in my mind that i will reach my goal. My next max is at the first week of June and so I will post what I am doing then with pics possibly video. And for informational purposes I we do an endurance squat of 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, MAX and it must be a good amount below parallel. Which brings up another point. Is it healthy to go down past parallel because one of the assistant coaches told me that a lot of the other schools have higher recorded maxes because they must only squat down to parallel if not a little higher.

It's perfectly health to go passed parallel.
BTW, I would skip the endurance squats for now.

[RedSpikeyThing]

Congrats on the progress....thats quit some gains!

I have heard the squatting below parallel (ie ass to floor) is in fact *better* for your knees than squatting to parallel. Also, powerlifting records are set AT parallel because it is easier to judge, so must records tend to be at that standard.

Squatting higher than parallel, on the other hand, is not good for much and it is very difficult to judge!

[dblockspky]

You can do it. For some reason older people on the forums always think it takes a lot of time to get your weight up but I disagree. Any friends that I've helped with lifting and myself have never had a problem reaching a goal if we really want it. You just gotta make sure you eat right and consistently lift. Don't start working hard on it now and then go on vacation for the whole summer and not lift and then expect to reach your goal. My philosophy is that when you're somewhat in "THE range" of weight which would be from 0 to about 275ish for bench and 0 to low 400s for squat goals can be easily accomplished if you're training right and eating right. If you need 150 pounds in 14 months I'd say that your first 60-90 pounds shouldn't be too hard to accomplish. After that gains might not come as easy but keep workin hard and you'll get it

[Magik]

It's perfectly health to go passed parallel.
BTW, I would skip the endurance squats for now.

Right Now I like the gains im making by doing heavier weight on 3 sets of 5, if i hita plateau or start making slower gains then ill switch it up but either way there will come a time when i wont make gains that quick I understand that. When i said endurance I mean thats how we max. We dont just throw on our max and lift it.
We do:
50% of Max X 10
60% X 8
70% X 6
80% X 4
85% X 3
90% X 2
100%(MAX) X 1

[LouPac]

I think your max might be higher if you did the following:

50% x 8
70% x 6
80% x 4
100% x 1

If you're truly going for a PR, you're going to be exhausted by the time you get to your max with all those reps.

[BG5150]

The most difficult thing in this thread is reading the first post! Hitting an 'enter' key every now and again doesn't hurt.

[Magik]

I think your max might be higher if you did the following:

50% x 8
70% x 6
80% x 4
100% x 1

If you're truly going for a PR, you're going to be exhausted by the time you get to your max with all those reps.

lol your preaching to the choir but i dont have an option I max my coach's way or I dont max at all. BG5150 Ya ill do that next time my bad.