How to Increase Your Squat By 100 Pounds in 10 Weeks
Update: Here is an old post I found about increasing your squat strength. I’m not sure that anyone ever really gave me much positive feedback on it, so I’m posting it again in case anyone wants to take a stab at putting 100 pounds on their squat in 10 weeks.
 Arnold Squats |
The squat is arguably the best exercise that any athlete can perform. Overhead press, bench press, and deadlifts rank right up there too, but I digress… No one wants to have a weak squat. To be considered ‘really strong’ you should be able to squat 2x your bodyweight.
Back in college I was regularly squatting 450 or so at a fluctuating bodyweight of 190-210 lbs. I have no genetic gifts when it comes to muscle size and strength. If I can lift 450 anyone can, so man up and put in some effort.
The goals of this workout plan are:
- Increase overall leg, lower back, and core strength
- Condition your cardiovascular system with high rep squats
- Add some girth to those thighs through higher rep hypertrophy of the quads and hams
- Spend some time really practicing and perfecting your squat form
- Develop power and speed with dynamic effort box squats
We will use the principles of progressive linear overload, high intensity training, breathing squat principles, and dynamic effort training to facilitate progress.
The Basics
Complete just one squat workout per week.
Your form must be impeccable on all reps. It will not benefit anyone for you to train your squat with improper form.
Elements of proper barbell back squat form:
- Keep your head up at all times; it helps to focus on a point above your head when you are driving out of the hole.
- Keep your back straight at all times; if your back is rounding you should address this as a weak point in your training.
- Drive with your hips rather than just relying on your lower back or your quads. Your hips should essentially ‘thrust’ your body up into a standing position.
- Your legs should maintain a straight line, with toes pointed ever so slightly to the outside. If your knees buckle in or drift out, you should address this as a weak point in your training.
- If you are attempting to use the program by squatting in a smith machine, or anything other than barbell front squats or barbell back squats, don’t leave a comment and don’t try to contact me. I don’t even think you should be using this program until you are ready to start barbell squatting.
For more information on barbell back squats, read my article How to Squat.
When increasing your loads by a certain percentage, it’s alright to round up or down to the nearest number that’s easy to load with the weight plates you have. If you calculate that you need 232 pounds for a set, it is OK to use 230, and so on.
Nutrition
Don’t forget to eat properly. You should be consuming a healthy diet of lean protein, fruits, vegetables, and low glycemic carbs to keep your body healthy, energized, and recovered. Use proper post-workout nutrition and sip Gatorade, Biotest Surge, or some other drink with high GI carbs during your workout.
Breathing Squats
Breathing squats – a set of squats where you perform as many reps as you can comfortably, and then pause at the top of each subsequent rep by taking a couple deep breaths in order to re-energize your system. In this manner you should be able to double the number of reps you are capable of in each set, but the sets will also take 2-3 times as long too, so be prepared.
For all sets on all weeks, perform breathing squats as outlined above. With breathing squats, you do not rack the bar until the set is complete!
How to Increase Your Squat – The Training Plan
For all sets on all weeks, rest up to 90 seconds between sets.
Before you start this program you should record your current PR stats. You might want to record a 1, 3, 5, 10, or 20 rep max. You might also want to measure the circumference of your legs to see if they grow an inch or so. Whatever interests you.
Follow the following 10 week program exactly and you could increase your by squat 100 pounds:
- Perform 3 warm-up sets of no more than 3 reps, steadily increasing the weight with each set. Then choose a weight that you would normally be able to squat for no more than 10 reps and perform three sets of 12 breathing squats.
- Perform 3 warm-up sets of no more than 3 reps, and then add 5% to 10% to the load you used in Week 1. Perform 3 sets of 15 reps.
Example… if you used 200 pounds in Week 1 for 12 reps, you could use up to 220 pounds in Week 2, stopping briefly to take deep breaths after the 12th, 13th, and 14th rep in order to complete the set.
- Perform 3 warm-up sets of no more than 3 reps, and then add 5% to 10% to the load you used in Week 2. Perform 2 sets of 20 reps.
- Perform 3 warm-up sets of no more than 3 reps, and then add 10% to the load you used in Week 3. Perform 3 sets of 12 reps.
- Warm up with 4 sets of three reps per set, and then add 5% to the load you used in Week 4. Perform 3 sets of 15 reps.
- Warm up with 4 sets of two reps per set, and then add 5% to the load you used in Week 5. Perform 2 sets of 20 reps.
- Warm up with 4 sets of two reps per set, and then add 5% to the load you used in Week 6. Perform 3 sets of 12 reps.
- Warm up with 4 warm-up sets of three reps, and then add 5% to the load you used in Week 7. Complete 3 sets of 15 reps.
- Warm up with 4 warm-up sets of two reps, and then add 5% to the load you used in Week 8. Complete 2 sets of 20 reps.
- This should be an active recovery week. You can’t hope to continue to make linear progress forever, so take is easy this week and consider changing your workout plan to focus on a different goal after this week.
After the active recovery week, you should go ahead and test all those PR numbers that you recorded before you started the program.
If you follow these guidelines carefully, you could add 90-100 pounds to your 20-rep max squat in just over two months. Trust me when I say you will be improving all aspects of your conditioning by trying this working for just 2 months. Be prepared for a bit of initial Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) as this will shred your muscle fibers.
Dynamic Effort Box Squats
Do you use dynamic effort box squats? If you don’t, you should. Dynamic effort squatting utilizes a lighter load so that you can generate maximal speed and power when driving out of the hole.
Use dynamic effort box squats once a week, 2-3 days before your the max effort squat program described above.
Do 9 sets of 3 reps as fast as possible with 50-55% of your max squat. There should be no pause at the bottom or top. Every rep moves as fast as possible under control.
You want to squat down onto a box that allows your hips to drop as low as, if not lower than, your knees. You are not sitting on the box for any length of time. Squat down, touch, and go! The concentric motion should be an explosive hip drive off the box back to the standing position.
For those using a full body workout routine, you should do the max effort program on Monday, deadlifts and some lunges on Wednesday, and the dynamic effort routine on Friday.
It is always a great idea to incorporate bands and chains into your dynamic effort training.
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Project Swole is managed and mostly written by Steve, a formerly IFPA and ISSA certified personal trainer and sport nutritionist, who has been studying, practicing, and experimenting with fitness and nutrition since 1992. Please use the content at Project Swole to supplement the advice of your doctor or physician. All medical questions should be directed towards a qualified medical professional, and the advice provided at Project Swole should be used at your own discretion.
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Related posts:
- How to Increase Your Bench Press
- How to Overhead Squat
- How to Jump Squat
- How to Squat
- How to Increase Your Vertical Jump
Tags: how to, intensity, powerlifting, squats, squatting, training, weightlifting, Workout Routines
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Squat is the best exercise program for the sports person. This post provides best guidelines about this program.
i do about 50 squats a day and i have to admit I’m already feeling much more energetic
Thinking about squats takes me back to high school when I was doing hundreds worth on a weekly basis. Yes, there are effective, however, I don’t see myself getting up to restart my workout regimen from back then.
Im 15 and am i power lifter and i do some wicked stuff on my squats but i have never hurt so bad i did week 1 with 190 and it was murder my legs wer weak my heart felt like it was gonna come out of my chest my legs wer sore for days and i was doing 265 max and now im squatting 275 after 1 week! thanx man!
Hey Cole I’m really glad it’s working for you. Let us know how you feel after week 10.
I plan on starting this program in the beginning of May. My squat is around 400 pounds legit parallel without wraps or a squat suit. My question is what aux. do you recommend with this? also should squatting only be done once a week or should some sort of touch or front squat be incorporated in? Now will this increase the 1RM substantially as well?
Tristan
I hvae been doing this program for 6 weeks now and it is not sucessful. I started on 195 3×12 and it was pretty easy. It got increasingly tough over the weeks, as expected. But, these past few weeks, I have not been able to complete the sets as listed. Each week, I have only gone up by 5%, which is 5-10 pounds. Is there a problem?
This program might not increase your squat by 100 lbs in 10 weeks. It all depends on if you are eating right, sleeping right, and lifting right. If you are a genetic freak this program might put 120+ lbs on your squat, or if you are a hardgainer it might just put 50 lbs on your squat. But isn’t that still good? Obviously you want to add 10-20 lbs a week to your squat, but if you add 5 lbs a week consistently, isn’t that still good?
You might have to try a 2 week deload and then pick up where you left off. Or maybe you are having a bad couple weeks and soon your body will adapt and get really strong really fast. See the program through and then make your analysis, or quit now but then don’t complain that the program didn’t work if you don’t see it through.
Hey,
Im a football player and im 15 i just started this program. I maxed out for squats at 255lbs and my goal is to squat 315lbs to 330lbs. Im hoping that this program is successful. And Ill be happy squatting 300 or more by the end of the summer. Do you have any extra tips for me to be able to reach my goals.
I have never tried squatting.Maybe i will start right away.Does it cause pain anywhere?
It only causes pain if your ass is filled with hemorrhoids.
I am a few weeks into your generic full body workout (which I love). Would you recommend throwing this in right now? Squats are a part of my regular routine so I am thinking I could work on this. I am currently not working on any other body part just the generic full body.
Travis, that sounds like a great idea. Use your full body workout routine to make grain overall gains while also prioritizing leg strength. I like it.
Hey Steve, I love what you have going on here… I am 15 and athletic. I lift weights about 4 times a week and im primarily an arms, legs, and abs type of lifter. I have lower back pains that come and go and i cannot squat high weights to save my life. I really want to start squatting at least double my body weight, so i would love some tips/feedback/etc
THANK YOU
Matt: for crying out loud, please don’t injure yourself. I don’t know what you’re doing now, but you need to start squatting and deadlifting if you want to make progress, no ifs, ands, or buts. Start with light weight and perfect your form. If you come to me and say things like “im primarily an arms, legs, and abs type of lifter” and then say “I really want to start squatting at least double my body weight” I will smack you with a giant size rice krispy treat. When you can come to me and say, “I train my full body every week with an emphasis on the big lifts like bench, military press, deadlifts, and squats. I feel very comfortable with my form on squats and deadlifts as I’ve been doing those exercises for several months now according to your technique recommendations. Now I want to focus on developing my leg strength. Ultimately I would like to squat twice my body weight, but what can I do now to strengthen my legs and core so that I can progress?”, then I will give you more advise. Until then, keep reading the articles on Project Swole.
I will start this plan next week but i am curious to know how many times per week i should do this? I am 5’10 175 and I can bench alot, repping 225 8x and my max was 260 last i tried but then i was repping 205 8x so now it suould be about 280. My legs i think are weak though. I didnt start squatting untill about a week ago and i could do 225 20x twice but the soreness i felt the day after was crazy! it went away after a day though. I did 275 15x twice yesterday, but i dont know what weight to start at since i am new to these squats. Id appreciate any feedback.
Spencer: Those sound like decent numbers. Congrats. Each squat workout should be done once per week on leg day. That’s it. Give it a try and let me know what you find.
Ok Steve, that sounds good; I’ll figure myself out and keep reading Project Swole. In the meantime, would you give me some advise on supplements. I’ve been taking protein shakes after workouts and 5 grams of creatine before. What is the best supplement plan for someone looking for tone, as well as mass?
Matt: Not sure how you are going to “tone” and prioritize mass at the same time. When you can’t choose a specific goal, I call that a “maintenance phase”. For a maintenance phase, I suggest protein shakes, creatine pre-workout would be fine, Biotest Surge post workout, and Xtend pre and post-workout for added amino acids.
any idea on what weight I should start at? Maybe 315, because i can do 275 15x? Honestly I have no clue, I’m just trying to get my legs strong like my upper body is. I will start this sometime this week.
Spencer: You can probably try 315, but that might be too heavy. Try 300 if you can’t hit 12 reps on your first set.
Thanks man, I’ll keep you informed on my progress.
I am a 31 year old guy who is 6ft2 and 175 pounds. I am a basketball player. I have been doing pistol squats (took me months to get great form and high reps) core work etc etc. I recently started doing squats. I keep hearing the numbers 1.5 and 2 times body weight for excellant fitness. Currently my one rep max is 290.
If I was 5ft10 and 175 pounds, I’m sure I would be at the 350 right now, however, being that I am 6ft2 and 175, that threshold seems unlikely.
What effect does height have on these bodyweight thresholds?
Any opinions would be appreciated,
Joey
Joey: Your height will make it harder for you to squat heavy weights, but not impossible. You can definitely reach 350, 400, or even more with enough dedication and intensity. Congrats on the pistol squats. Those are tough. Keep squatting and changing up your routine to shock those legs into growth. You can squat 2 x bodyweight in due time.
Thanks steve. I just wanted to know if its possible at the weight I am now. When I put the 290 on… it feels very heavy for my frame. At the moment I couldn’t imagine getting parallel or lower with 350. I would prefer to not have to put on weight to reach those numbers. I can do quarter squats with 2 times my body weight but theres no way I can do parallel. I guess I’ll just keep at it and give it a few months, see where things end up.
I routinely weigh just under 170 3 times a week after basketball (even with tons of water). It takes me about 24-36 hours to make myself feel right again. Those squats are killing me though. I’ve done them 3 times and I’m sore for atleast 5 days (I can still do the pistols though). I wait 3 days to play ball again, but my legs are still heavy. I heard it was beneficial for recover to play on them during that time to help get rid of the latent lactic acid buildup. It doesn’t feel right while im doing it though.
Thanks again steve. Knowing that its possible is enough motivation to give it a go.
You can do it. Just don’t sacrifice form for weight. I’d rather see you do deep squats with 95 lbs than quarter squats with 500 lbs.
Im starting this program tomorrow and I wanted to know about what I should start with for week 1? I maxed 405 parallel about 2 weeks ago at school. Thank you
I’m thinking you could try to get 285 for 12, but that might be too light and you might need to go with 315.
Alright sounds good thanks Steve
Hello-
I weight 144, and I’m 16 and my max squat is approximately 400 pounds bench 225 and dl 350, I was wondering if you think it is possible to increase my max squat up to 500+ pounds in a year or so. I tried your program but it doesn’t seem to work for me, I gain more strength doing my old routine (twice a week squats, 3 reps each day) Switching between endurance reps and strength reps every month.
Any advice is appreciated -
Andrew
Sorry, 3 sets of 5 reps each*
Sorry that this program didn’t work for you. I don’t think I’ve received a whole lot of positive feedback on this routine, so maybe it’s not that great. Here is some advice I can give for increasing your squat: use max effort and dynamic effort protocols once each week, on different days, usually do the dynamic workout 2 days before the max workout.
Max – Squat heavy, working up to a 1-3 rep max once a week, attempt to add weight each week. Don’t always just use regular barbell back squats. Figure out where you weak point is and concentrate on that. If you are weak at the bottom, maybe you need to try some max effort box squats for a month. If your weak point is at the top, maybe you need to try using mini-bands or chains to work on acceleration and lock-out. If your weak point is at parallel, maybe you need to try squatting from a dead pause off of pins set at exactly parallel. Maybe you need hip or glute work instead, or maybe your weakness is either in your hamstrings or quads, which you can sometime tell if your knees buckle in or bow out (respectively) when squatting.
Dynamic – Use from 50-60% of your one rep max. Do 7-9 sets of 3 reps as fast as humanly possible to work on speed and power. You can also use bands and chains here too. You can also use other dynamic work like jump squats and speed squats to help develop power.
Again, don’t think you have to use barbell back squats all the time. Some elite powerlifters do not use regular barbell back squats for months at a time, instead they focus on building power and acceleration, and working on their sticking points, but incorporating bands and chains, and by using non-traditional exercises. You should check out Louis Simmon’s Westside Barbell and Dave Tate’s Elite Fitness for starters.
5×5 is also a good program and I have a 3×5 routine on this site somewhere that should be moderately effective for strength gains.
im 16 years old football player i deadlift 585 bench 285 and i squat 465 parelle, 315xs26 or 555 about 75%. i wanna get my squat of 555 parelle for reps. how would i complete this before july 10th
— matt sohmer
You probably won’t add 100 lbs to your squat in 7 weeks. That being said, give it a try. Use this squat routine but also throw in a max effort session 3 days later. So say on Monday you do the squat workout from this routine, then on Thursday or Friday you’ll do a max effort session. I suggest using a 5, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1 protocol. Expect to prioritize legs this way until July 10th, and do not try to focus on any other muscle groups. Of course you will use your regular training session to train the rest of your muscles, but you’re only looking to make significant progress on your squat strength.
I have 2 more Questions… does squating 315 for 26 reps better than squating something really heavy like 585 about 75% the way down for like 1-3 reps and which one would build more power and strengh?
You should not be squatting with 3/4 reps. If you are using 585, you should still be doing full reps. Heavy weight is for building strength. 26 rep sets border on endurance and hypertrophy. I can’t tell you the number of bodybuilders who use 20 rep sets to build massive wheels. However, no amount of 20 rep sets is going to build serious strength. At some point you need to use heavier weight and lower reps.
This program is a little different in that it makes you use heavier weights to complete high rep sets, which increases your total work capacity. You couldn’t use this program forever to make strength gains, eventually you will have to do some 5 or even 3 rep sets. I don’t usually advocate too many singles with squats, but 1 rep sets are useful now and then to test your 1 RM.
so i should only do 1 rep of heavy weight? and what would be best for football to be very strong?- im 5’9″ 240 and i play Defenive takle and punter
In my opinion, you can use the Werewolf Training programs to make excellent gains. You can also use the generic full body workout and substitute this squatting program into that routine. To make really great strength gains, I honestly think you need to change it up constantly like I prescribe in Werewolf Training. A solid 5×5 or my 3×5 routine will work well for a while too. The only think I don’t recommend is using the fat loss for men routine on Project Swole, as that is not geared towards strength gains.
thanks
matt
If this is only done once a week, can you still continue other leg routines with it, and during the week when your not squating?
This should be your leg workout for the week. I did advise one guy to include an extra leg workout for the week, with the purpose of prioritizing his leg training to the exclusion of expecting progress on all other muscle groups. I’m thinking about including this routine in a Werewolf Leg Training program.
Im 16 5ft10 148lbs and i powerlift. Im looking for a squat program that will increase my 1 rep max. Would this workout help that alot too? I currently can squat 315 once raw and wondering what i should do for the first week
Can you handle 225 x 10? What about 250 x 10?
Hey Steve:
Thank you for providing the information. I am 48 years old and have been lifting for most of my life. I am in great shape. 5’10″ 180 lbs. at around 12% B.F. I struggle with squats. For most of my exercises I do 4 sets at 8-10 reps. One or two body parts per day. I do change things around every once in a while, change reps, exercises and weight. I max out at around 340lbs for deadlift, 110lb dumbbell bench presses, but struggle with 200lb squats. I can usually only do a few reps. At my age can I expect to get great gains? In spite of the fact that I don’t squat all that heavy, my wife thinks my legs are bulky enough… in fact she thinks they are too big. I do feel a need to squat heavier. At least match my deadlift. What do you think?
Thank you, Glenn
I think you should squat heavier too.
I am very interested in starting this program. There is one question I have regarding the warm up sets of 3 reps and then 4 reps. What weight should this start at, is it a percentage of a certain weight. Do you start each week at the same weight for the warm and then move into the other sets. Thanks, this program sounds very interesting.
You can start at the same weight. I always did a warm up with 135 x 10, 225 x 5, sometimes 275 x 5, 315 x 5, then I moved into my work sets. The only reason I would do the extra 275 x 5 would be if my body was feeling off that day or if I were extra sore from a previous workout. 315 x 5 was usually a warm up, but on a bad days I remember struggling with it, so it would give me an indication as to how the rest of the workout was going to feel. That’s why I call the heavier warm up sets “feeler sets”.