Today I squatted and I stayed in the 5 rep range today. I completed the following session:
- Squat-bar x 10, 70kg x 5, 100kg x 5, 120kg x 5, 135kg x 5 & 155kg x 7 reps
- Bottom position dead squats - 120kg x 3 for 3 sets
- Barbell goodmornings - 70kg x 8 x 3 sets
- Kettlebell swings paired with depth jumps - 40kg KB x 4 swings & 2 depth jumps every minute on the minute for 10 minutes. Jump is from a 40cm bench to a 60cm platform.
The finisher of KB swings and depth jumps is really what I want to share with you. Another monster squatter, Chad Wesley Smith of JTS is a big proponent of jumps to increase power and there is heap of research to support this.
By pairing the KB swings with the depth jumps I activate my posterior chain with the swings and then work on the stretch reflex of the whole squat musculature through the depth jumps. Doing the every minute on the minute builds in a nice conditioning component to finish.
I would recommend that you implement the jumps into your squat program gradually and build up the volume. Once you have become accustomed to the jumping you can begin to implement variations. Start with a simple straight jump onto a low box then you can progress after a few weeks to depth jumps (from one box step off land with two feet then jump onto another box the moment your feet hit the ground), weight jumps, standing long jumps and then multiple jumps on and off boxes are just some of the variations you can employ.
Get jumping and jump into some new found power.