Recently I had a client compete at the XPC Arnold where he squatted 700lbs in the 165lbs weight class in wraps. I wanted to outline the build up to that squat and the thought process behind the decisions that were made.
I have worked with this client for over a year that so I had a good idea of what needed to be done to build up his squat. In the offseason we put a lot of emphasis on tempo work and paused work to help build up the strength that wraps will take away when we put them on and to really engrain a very sharp squat pattern. We also went into comp specific work a lot sooner than previously, we were able to do this because we put a lot of work in to keep his shoulders mobile and made sure we kept work in so we didn't have any issues with the shoulders and elbows going to low bar so soon.
Once the meet prep started we rotated wraps and sleeved squats week to week. To make sure his raw strength stayed high, if you are in wraps for a very long time your overall strength in the hole will start to go down thus decreasing your overall ability to squat heavy weight so we always keep in pause squats after wrapped squats and made sure to rotate weeks to keep things progressing.
Week 1
| MONDAY |
SET 1 |
SET 2 |
SET 3 |
SET 4 |
| SQUATS W/ SLEEVES | 2X RPE 8-9 | FOR 2 SETS | ||
| HBCS PAUSE SQUATS | 3X RPE 8-8.5 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| BP | 5X RPE 8-8.5 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| SEATED LEG CURLS | 15X RPE 8-9 | 12X RPE 8-9 | 10X RPE 8-9 | |
| WEIGHTED GHR SIT UPS | 12-15X | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| DB INCLINE ROWS | 6-8X RPE 9-10 | 12-15X RPE 9-10 | ||
| LAT PULLDOWNS | 12-15X RPE 8-9 | FOR 2 SETS | ||
Week 2
| MONDAY |
SET 1 |
SET 2 |
SET 3 |
SET 4 |
| SQUATS W/ WRAPS | 3-4X RPE 8 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| HBCS PAUSE SQUATS | 5X RPE 7-8 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| BP | 3X RPE 7-8 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| LYING LEG CURLS | 10-12X RPE 8 | 10-12X RPE 9 | 10-12X RPE 10 | |
| WEIGHTED GHR SIT UPS | 12-15X | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| DB ROWS | 10-12X RPE 8-9 | EA ARM | FOR 3 SETS | |
| LAT PULLDOWNS | 12X RPE 8-9 | 10X RPE 8-9 | ||
We took a deload at 8 weeks out and pushed the rest of the prep with no more deloads, this meant paying a lot of attention to undulating intensities and volumes to keep him fresh.
Week 6
| MONDAY |
SET 1 |
SET 2 |
SET 3 |
SET 4 |
| SQUATS W/ WRAPS | 2X RPE 7-8 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| PAUSE SQUATS | 4-5X RPE 8 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| DEADLIFTS | 3X RPE 7 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| GHR W/ BANDS | 20 TOTAL REPS | |||
| BAND ABS | 15-20X | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| CHEST SUPPORTED ROWS | 10-12X RPE 8-9 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
Week 7
| MONDAY |
SET 1 |
SET 2 |
SET 3 |
SET 4 |
| SQUATS W/ WRAPS | 3X RPE 8-9 | FOR 2 SETS | ||
| PAUSE SQUATS | 3X RPE 8 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| DEADLIFTS | 2X RPE 7 | FOR 4 SETS | ||
| GHR W/ BANDS | 25 TOTAL REPS | |||
| BAND ABS | 15-20X | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| CHEST SUPPORTED ROWS | 12X RPE 8-9 | 10X RPE 8-9 | 8X RPE 8-9 | |
Week 8
| MONDAY |
SET 1 |
SET 2 |
SET 3 |
SET 4 |
| SQUATS W/ WRAPS | 1X RPE 8 | FOR 4 SETS | ||
| PAUSE SQUATS | 2X RPE 7-8 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| DEADLIFTS | 3X RPE 7-8 | FOR 4 SETS | ||
| GHR W/ BANDS | 30 TOTAL REPS | |||
| BAND ABS | 15-20X | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| CHEST SUPPORTED ROWS | 8-10X RPE 8-9 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
We just followed this trend until we started tapering back the training and allowing his body to fully recover.
3 Weeks Out
| MONDAY |
SET 1 |
SET 2 |
SET 3 |
SET 4 |
| SQUATS W/ WRAPS | 1X RPE 7-8 | FOR 2 SETS | ||
| PAUSE SQUATS | 2X RPE 7-8 | FOR 2 SETS | ||
| DEADLIFTS | 1X RPE 7 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| GHR W/ BANDS | 40 TOTAL REPS | |||
| BAND ABS | 15-20X | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| CHEST SUPPORTED ROWS | 6-8X RPE 8-9 | FOR 2 SETS | ||
2 Weeks Out, Last Heavy Squat
| MONDAY |
SET 1 |
SET 2 |
SET 3 |
SET 4 |
| SQUATS W/ WRAPS | 680-685lbs x1 | |||
| PAUSE SQUATS | 1X RPE 8-9 | FOR 2 SETS | ||
| DEADLIFTS | 1X RPE 6 | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| GHR W/ BANDS | 45 TOTAL REPS | |||
| BAND ABS | 15-20X | FOR 3 SETS | ||
| CHEST SUPPORTED ROWS | 6-8X RPE 9-10 | FOR 2 SETS | ||
700lbs Squat
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9e9MNAgo4l/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
I hope this helps give you some ideas of how to program someone with a long term development approach. This program started after his last meet with the intention to squat 700lbs at his next meet. Everything was planned out to a T in order to accomplish that task.
