Some lifters use high frequency training to try to accelerate their squatting strength as quickly as possible. If this is your goal, push your sets to the point where you stop about two reps short of failure. Do 1 to 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps, five to six days per week. If you have the type of physiology that responds well to high frequency training, this program will help you to quickly gain some strength. Not everyone responds well to heavy squatting five to six days per week. This being the case, if you notice that your strength is taking a plunge after a month of high frequency squatting, stop using this approach to high frequency training.
A Different Approach To High Frequency Squatting
There is more than one approach to high frequency training, and the one that I am about to discuss is less common. Even though it is not a common approach, I believe it will work well for many lifters, but it takes a lot of patience to stick with it until it starts to pay off. The high frequency squat program I am about to outline will not produce immediate strength gains, but if you use it consistently over the long term, you will gradually get stronger. The benefit of a slow but steady approach to progress is that you can keep gaining for a long time before you get stuck.
Not Complicated
This high frequency squat program is not complicated, but it does require that you are accurate in regard to calculations based on your single rep max. If you are little off in regard to your single rep max, it is better to underestimate your max than to overestimate your max. Overestimating your max will cause you to struggle with the weights that are too heavy and will cause you to burn you out when using high frequency training. To use this program, simply calculate 60% of your single rep max squat and do it for 5 sets of 5 reps four to five days per week. In addition to this, you will squat with 75% of your max for 5 sets of 5 reps one to two days per week. That’s it. Simple.
Consistency and Perfect Form Instead of Kill Yourself Workouts
Neither the lighter workout, nor the heavier workout are exceptionally hard. In fact, the 5 sets of 5 reps workouts with 60% should feel pretty easy, yet it will challenge your body to get stronger when done at least four days per week between your harder, heavier workouts. The 5 sets of 5 reps workout with 75% will feel more challenging, but should not be a killer workout. You don’t need to kill yourself with high intensity when you squat almost every day. What makes this work is consistency and the use of perfect form for every rep of every set in every workout, plus slow but steady progression.
Allow the Weekly Program To Get Easier
Keep following this weekly schedule until the weights start to feel easier to lift. That’s the key, just keep repeating it until it gets easier. The increase of ease that will occur over time should be most noticeable when using 75% of your max for 5 sets of 5 reps. When your workouts with 5 sets of 5 reps with 75% begin to feel pretty easy, you can increase the poundages of all of your workouts by 5 pounds, however, don’t get in a rush; give yourself at least a month before increasing the weight. You can also take a longer time and increase every six to eight weeks if you wish. This will add up to 30 to 40 pounds of added strength in a year and 150 to 200 pounds in five years. Advanced lifters who have been training a long time should feel content with increasing weights every ten to twelve weeks as gains come slower if you have been lifting for a long time.
This high frequency squat program will sound stupid to many lifters because it actually is a poorly designed program for those who are trying to hit the jackpot of huge strength gains in a short amount of time. But I must ask, “Do you think you will still be lifting on a consistent basis three, four, or five years from now?” If so, then know that consistent gradual gains over the long term will add up to a bigger overall gain than a miraculous burst of strength that lasts a short time and comes to a screeching halt before you reach your strength gaining potential.
In the next article, I will provide some variations of this high frequency squat program including a frontloading option, and a set by set progression option. Best of training to you.
Additional Content
The book, High Frequency Squatting, goes into greater detail concerning the content in this article. Click on the title below for free access to the book.