IMO just slow down your descent way down and see if you still cave. You should be able to groove the lift better that way. You'll also get a better training effect since the load is so light, so it's less of a waste of time while you ramp the weight back up.

Thanks for the advice, was not planning to reset my squats though just used low weight to try and assess my form and see if I had any knee pain.


Felt good today and pretty happy with my rep tests. Squats felt much better today. Going to test press and dl on Tuesday before taking 5-6 days off for a family road trip. Took it easy on assistance today with that in mind.

Bench 1x11 @ 210

Squats 1x12 @ 265

Hammer strength bench 5x10

Chins 2x6

Cable rows 4x10

Not bad today, looking forward to having a few days off. Basically just ran out of energy at the end of the workout. Did 45 minutes on the elliptical yesterday.

OH press 1x10 @ 110

DL 1x11 @ 275

Incline DB press 5x10 @ 60's

Leg Press 5x10 @ 450

Chest supported rows 5x10

chins 2x5

5's wave first workout. No issues other then I suck at chins, think I'm getting worse, need to drop them or adjust strategy.

Bench 5x5, 1x13 @ 190

DB incline bench 5x10 @ 60's

Chins 5,4,4,4,4,3,3,2

DB rows 1x10, 2x15 @ 70

Rope pull downs 5x10 @ 90

OK work out today. Squats felt good until the final set where form started to breakdown and I cut the set short.

Squats 5x5, 1x8 @ 245

Back extensions 5x10 +12

Leg Press 5x10 @ 360

Ab machine 4x10

Pretty good work out today, surprised press went as well as it did.

OH press 5x5, 1x10 @ 100

Hammer strength bench 5x10

DB rows 5x10 @ 80

Rope pull downs 5x10 @ 90

DL felt good a bit lazy on assistance.

DL 5x5, 1x9 @ 250

Leg press 5x10 @ 450

Leg raises 4x10

Had to rush the work out today due to limited time but over all felt pretty good.

Bench 3x5, 1x8 @ 210

DB incline bench 3x10,8,6 @ 65's

Chins 4x5

Another quick work out. Felt good but last set of squats started getting tough pretty quick.

Squats 3x5, 1x7 @ 275

Leg press 2x12, 3x10 @ 450

Back extensions (45 degree) 5x10 +25

Felt OK today but my press felt pretty tough, complete reversal of last pressing workout.

OH press 4x5 @ 110

DB incline bench 3x10, 2x6 @ 65's

Hammer Strength machine rows 5x10

Rope pulldowns 3x12 @ 100

Pretty good work out today.

DL 3x5, 1x8 @ 280

Leg press 5x12 @ 450

Mildly inclined sit ups 4x10 + 10 (pretty hard)



Form comments welcome.

5 waves rep tests started today and it was bit of a disappointment. Was hoping for something in the 7-10 rep range on bench but just fell short.

Bench 1x6 @ 230

DB incline bench 5x10 @ 65's

DB rows 5x10 @ 85

Rope pull downs 2x12

Felt worn out today and almost skipped the work out but I went for it. Not the best squat result but not terrible.

Squats 1x6 @ 300

Back extensions 5x10

Sit ups 5x10

Felt good today, pretty happy with this press result.

OH press 1x7 @ 120

DB Incline bench 3x12, 2x10 @ 60's

DB Rows 4x15 @ 70

Rope pull downs 3x12

Cable curls 2x12

Haven't been super happy with my assistance work so I think I am going to change it up to what's below. Primary focus on strengthening quads and pressing. If I get through this and I still have energy then I'll add the silly stuff like rope pull downs but if I skip things like that no big deal. Just need to think about the best way to progress weights on these.

Bench Day

DB shoulder press 5x10-20

BB Rows 5x10-20

Squats Day

Back Extensions 5x10-20

DB lunges 5x10

Press Day

DB Incline Bench 5x10-20

DB Rows 5x10-20

Deadlift Day

Front squats 5x10

Incline Sit ups 5x10-20

You're probably enough of an intermediate lifter by now that you'd benefit from more highly specific training and more frequency on all of the main lifts, especially flat bench and squat. Instead of the 5x10 (yuck) front squats I'd go with something closer to the main squat, like a beltless back squat or pause squat. Also, I personally find that it's hard to increase both the bench and the press at the same time, so I'd just do one of them 3x a week and the other 1x based on your desired focus.

Everything is beltless at this point, something I probably need to fix. As far front squats vs pause squats I messed around with both today to see how each felt, both felt good. Pretty sure quads are the weak point in my squats since I tend to good morning up near max attempts. That was why I thought front squats might be a good option. 5x10-20 rep schemes seem like a staple of the juggernaut method for assistance exercises, achieving more work capacity and hypertrophy seem like reasonable goals with the assistance.


DL 1x9 @ 305

Front squats 3x10 @ 135

Pause squats 3x10 @ 135

Decline sit ups 3x10 +10, 2x10

Leg press is also good to bring up the quads. It's a lot less fatiguing than a squat and a lot of volume can be accomplished in a short time. It's more conducive to the 10-20 rep range for sure. But I'd still do a real squat twice a week and just tack leg press on as supplemental work. You can handle it.

I think you are right that I'll benefit from squatting twice a week and just throw in some quad assistance afterward.

Started 3's wave today. Bench felt quite good.

Bench 6x3, 1x10 @ 210

DB OH press 4x10, 1x12 @ 30's

BB Rows 5x10 @ 155

Rope pull downs 3x12

Cable curls 2x10

Good workout today, squat felt pretty good, lunges were straight cardio.

Squats 6x3, 1x9 @ 270

DB Lunges 4x10, 1x8 @ 40's

Back Extensions 5x10 +10

Leg Raises 2x10

No real issues today, the gym I go to when I am home only has dumbbells up to 70lbs so I think I will have to cut DB rows.

OH press 6x3, 1x7 @ 110

Incline DB press 5x12 @ 60's

DB Rows 5x15 @ 70

Rope pull downs 3x12

Cable curls 2x12

Did 40 mins on the elliptical two days ago but forgot to log it. Wasn't really sure how to load the pause squats so just messed around a bit in the 70% of training max range. Felt quite hard after dead lifts.

DL 6x3, 1x8 @ 280

Pause Squats 3x5 @ 245

Ab machine 4x10

Missed a couple days of training, but back at it now. Bench felt good, already ignoring my own assistance programming.

Bench 4x3, 1x7 @ 230

DB incline bench 2x10, 2x8, 1x6 @ 70's

Chest supported rows 5x10

Rope pull downs 3x10

Going poorly right now, missed another work out day and then squats felt awful today. My form actually felt good but my quads were struggling. Pretty worried for the rep test next week.

Squats 5x3 @ 295

Back extensions 5x10 +25

DB Lunges 5x10 @ 40's

Felt better today, no real issues.

OH press 4x3, 1x8 @ 120

DB incline bench 2x10, 8, 8, 6 @ 70's

DB Rows 5x10 @ 90

Good day, DL felt good.

DL 4x3, 1x8 @ 310

Pause Squats 3x8 @ 225

Leg Raises 3x10