Today is the third and final part of my squat series. I will be informing you about the affect squatting has on your nervous system.
In the first post I mentioned the weight %, sets and reps. These will serve as your guide for your goals. Lets start with Total Hypertrophy first.
Total Hypertrophy: Using the %’s, sets and reps describe you will find that your nervous system will have recovered within around 1 day, so as a result you will be able to get in a second session of a similar volume and intensity to stimulate muscle growth. This is ideal for beginners and I would advise using it for 12-18 months, the reason being is that your body will build a decent amount of solid muscle and a strong base of neural connections, and further more it will also help your nervous systems tolerance.
Functional Hypertrophy: This is where training gets interesting, because the weight % is heavier, the reps have dropped, but the sets have gone up. Your nervous system will be more fatigued and as a result I would advice 48hour between sessions, which means that if you squat Monday then Thursday will be your best bet, and then again on Saturday (Potentially). I would start Monday using 75% 1RM, Thur 80% 1RM and Sat 85% 1RM. I would suggest sticking with this style for at least 18month or so and cycling your %, this will allow better neuromuscular adaptation and lead to the most fun part of training.
Total Strength: Ok this is where things begin to contradict themselves, because to even contemplate training at this level you’re training experience will be at least 5 years. To achieve this style of strength you will be squatting on the same three days (Mon, Thur, Sat), but you will be likely to be doing double sessions, the first would be based around high % of 1RM and the second would be technique and speed. Once you reach this level of training I high doubt you will be reading what I write because you will be old enough and wise enough to know your body and how it works.
If your thinking achieving 5 years of training experience is excessive then I apologise, but that’s the way it needs to be. Specific techniques can be very taxing and lead to injury if you’re not ready for them.
Try and use some common sense guys.
Enjoy
Ross
RossFit P.T 