Topic: Russian Squat program

[Arturo Gómez]

This system,
http://weightliftingexchange.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=182&Itemid=111
i knew in the 80s., as Russian program for squat
I think tha it is not the unique russian system, but is the most popular.
I don´t see significative better than others, its strong point is the low risk

[Mike Frost]

Thanx for posting.

I disagree with weightlifters doing Russian Squat program. Ive tried thinking it would carry over but my lifts suffered. Its 1 of the greatest programs for leg strength but I'm positive it took away from my lifts. Im sure others here disagree, I believe Heang Koing had success with it, as have others but I believe Bulgarian is the way to go...stick with the lifts, squats are merely assistence.

[Matt Erdman]

...but I believe Bulgarian is the way to go...stick with the lifts, squats are merely assistence.

If that is your take on it then you don't know Bulgarian. They put equal if not more priority on squat strength.

[Andy Dick]

I will put my take on this because I have done it about 4 or 5 times.  The program has its positives and negatives. 

First the negatives, the problem with this program is you need to make sure you are on a complete roll with lifting (getting stronger each workout and hitting every weight) and getting plenty of rest.  That being said, the most success I have had with it is by making 1 slight adjustment to it.  The adjustment is do not follow it strictly.  If you do and you get a week where you do not hit all the reps and try to keep moving on you will get buried.  I found the most benefit is that if you cannot do a certain day (for example 5x5) to do the following 6x2 day and then redo the missed day (5x5) until you get all the reps.  Keep alternating the missed day with the 6x2 day if you miss it more than once (but this should be rare for most people).  Once you get all the reps for the day move on as usual, it will take you longer to get thorough but will pay off in the end.  I tried just moving on before and I got stuck at 4x4 and couldn't get past it.

The other negative is it is very taxing on the legs so you will have to cut back the olympic lifts a bit to properly recover.

Also, it can be time consuming adding all the extra sets in of squats.

Now the positives, this is great for getting work capacity and squat strength.  I have used it after taking time off for injury to get my squats back and it has helped a lot.  I mentioned how I used it to help me come back some with my knee problem. 

The first time ever doing the routine I did it with front squats, my front squat weight exploded I think I put like 30lbs on my max.  Although that is the only time I have ever seen that much gain, usually its about 10-15lbs.

My best advice to do this in conjunction to olympic lifting is to use it during a work capacity/building phase where the focus is on increasing squat strength with work capacity volume before moving to maximal low rep work.  I would not say remove olympic lifts totally but I would recommend decreasing the volume on the lifts by half, or keeping the intensity the same as the program (so 80% for the first few weeks then increase intensity as volume decreases).  The weight will suffer during the program a bit because at the beginning you are doing a lot of volume and recovery will be harder.  But once you switch back to low volume your lifts should be the same at the very least but in most cases better.

When I first did the squat program front squats I was doing it in conjunction with olympic lifts at the time and I didn't feel it have a negative effect on the lifts at all.

I would agree with Arturo that I would not say it is the end all best program because I have seen very good gains from other programs as well.