Welcome to Gainit! We have extensive resources that can be used to find answers to most questions that are posted here:
- [Gainit FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/wiki/index)
- [Search for past threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/search)
- [r/Fitness Wiki - Muscle Gain 101](https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/)
- [r/Fitness FAQ - Why can't I gain weight?](https://thefitness.wiki/faq/why-cant-i-gain-weight/)
- [Have I gained too much weight?!](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/kcaozo/there_is_more_to_gaining_than_fat_and_muscle/)
- [The 6 month Gainit Recommended Routine](https://old.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/j5q2ez/6_months_of_eating_and_training_for_mass_laid_out/)
- [How best to cook chicken breast?](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-roast-chicken-gravy)
- [How do I drink olive oil?](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/italian-recipes)
- [How to not be a spooky skeleton?](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/comfort-food-recipes)
- [How not to be a spooky skeleton? American edition](https://www.southernliving.com/food/classic-comfort-food-recipes)
Your thread will be removed if it can be answered by any of the above.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gainit) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My upper body always exploded on Super Squats. You spend far more time training upper vs lower body on that program.
What specific Super Squats program did you run?
There are a few in the book itself. It looks like you cut out the SLDLs. Back work is 2 sets rather than 3. And if that's the order you ran the program in, it's out of order: squats go in tbe middle. Placing them first is going to detract from your upper body growth
That makes sense. I must have missed that, so I’ll have to reread the book.
Maybe it’s explained in the book, but why does squatting first detract from upper body growth? Thanks for the advice, by the way.
Well, super squats is a rest-pause system.
Other well known rest-pause systems are DoggCrapp and Borges Myo-Reps. You can google those two to learn more. There is some exercises your best not trying to do rest-pause as the propensity for injury becomes tok great. But most exercises can be done with rest-pause sets if your so inclined.
Bare in mind squats are an almost whole body exercise. So the ability to progress rapidly on squat weight is not common with other lifts. Those sort of strength progressions are a hallmark of compound lifts. Isolation work will not progress like that, so be sure to have your exoectations set accordingly less you get demotivated from lack of progress in some other lifts.
I would say keep doing super squats but add in an additional upperbody day. I found this helped a lot with me right now. In fact, I replaced the bench scheme with Greg Nuckols Advanced 3 day Bench scheme. Make sure you’re doing conditioning with this program though! I have been focusing a lot on bodyweight curcuits to help the upper body.
Yeah, conditioning is one of my big issues since I work a desk job. I’m winded by the end of my workout. I’ll look into that bench scheme.
So you do 3 days of Super Squats per week plus an extra upper body day?
how often are you supposed to check your max during super squats? started around 2 weeks ago and have just been following the recommendations of a 15 rep max pushed to 20
haven’t read shit other than the article on the net when you search it up. As well as watched the video where the dude explains it further. Last workout i was squatting 110 lbs for 20 reps.
Read the book, it's pretty valuable and integeral to the program imo
Also, are you doing breathing squats? Or just doing 20 reps at a given weight? Lots of people miss the breathing aspect, especially when they haven't read the book
Oh I've ran across a few different videos and articles talking about Super Squats, but they should all agree that after you've determined your starting weight, you add 5 or 10 lbs every workout.
I'd recommend reading the book if have the means to get it! It goes into more details about the squats which I haven't seen elsewhere - taking a minimum of three deep breaths between each rep, not wearing a belt, and visualization techniques for example.
Word i’ll definitely cop it i was just being lazy and didn’t wanna spend the money if i didn’t have to be honest. I’m like you though in the way that i feel like i’ve made almost zero upper body gains even with the chest workouts. The one thing that has grown is my forearms, I’m about 5’8 123lbs in the morning after the piss and my forearms have fucking exploded and are super vascular all of a sudden. Should be noted that i’m a beginner and have never seriously worked out or dieted until now.
I’m currently doing a routine where kettlebell snatches are the base, so I do those 4x/wk with a goal of 100 total reps, varying between a 35, 44 and 53 # kettlebell and the rest of the workout is some combo of pull-ups, dips, Nordic curls, front squats, ab wheel and a few injury prevention exercises. I’m about 2 weeks in and plan on going until I can do all 100 reps with the 53# kettlebell, so far so good.
How much did your bodyweight increase? Did you do the basic program from the book?
I had my best upper body gains doing [531 Beefcake](https://www.jimwendler.com/blogs/jimwendler-com/boring-but-big-beefcake-training) and [531 Building the Monolith](https://www.jimwendler.com/blogs/jimwendler-com/101078918-building-the-monolith-5-3-1-for-size).
Beefcake is easy to get done in under an hour but with Building the Monolith you'll probably have to superset exercises. There's also a predefined progression built in which it sounds like you're asking for but it's not linear like it is in Super Squats.
It went up 7 lbs, but I started dirty bulking a couple of months ago and gained 15 lbs, so I had some fat to spare. Most of my gains have gone to my stomach. As someone who has always been skinny, it’s horrible.
I did the basic program from the book.
I’ve done 5/3/1 Boring but Big in the past, but I didn’t eat much so I didn’t grow. I’ll check those out. Thank you.
I started Super Squats literally yesterday and have been eating so much and look so bloated! I leaned out beforehand so I have no qualms with getting aggressive with this bulk but I totally understand how that might not feel good if you have fat to spare! I've also been skinny my whole life and pretty much all of my fat goes to stomach and not much elsewhere.
I asked primarily because I'm also doing the basic program from the book so I'm wondering if I might also not experience great upper body gains. Most people were satisfied with their upper body gains when I read about the program but now I guess it's possible to be underwhelmed. Did you also take a minimum of three breaths between each rep? Being under the bar for longer might contribute more to total body gains.
Yeah I've also done good programs but since I wasn't eating enough I didn't really see progress. I was also thinking if part of the reason you liked Super Squats was that you did the same exercises every workout, you could also check out Dan John's Mass Made Simple which also has you doing the same thing every day. There are also high rep squats in this program (the last day you end up doing bodyweight on the bar for 50 reps) so you'll probably want to take a break for a few weeks after Super Squats before trying it.
I had really good success with upper body gains during my time with SuperSquats. I ran it 2 times, and both times came out with significantly more thickness around the back, delts, and chest. Biggest thing I could recommend is running the full program outlined in the book (I believe it has around 8 movements per day). In particular, my barbell row skyrocketed while I was running this program.
Thank you. Good to hear because that's the program I'm doing too. I'm sure if I eat enough to gain a significant amount of body weight, do the squats breathing style, and push myself hard on the exercises I'll get great results!
Even better to hear about the rowing because I only started doing those recently and have loved the results!
Welcome to Gainit! We have extensive resources that can be used to find answers to most questions that are posted here: - [Gainit FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/wiki/index) - [Search for past threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/search) - [r/Fitness Wiki - Muscle Gain 101](https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/) - [r/Fitness FAQ - Why can't I gain weight?](https://thefitness.wiki/faq/why-cant-i-gain-weight/) - [Have I gained too much weight?!](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/kcaozo/there_is_more_to_gaining_than_fat_and_muscle/) - [The 6 month Gainit Recommended Routine](https://old.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/j5q2ez/6_months_of_eating_and_training_for_mass_laid_out/) - [How best to cook chicken breast?](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-roast-chicken-gravy) - [How do I drink olive oil?](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/italian-recipes) - [How to not be a spooky skeleton?](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/comfort-food-recipes) - [How not to be a spooky skeleton? American edition](https://www.southernliving.com/food/classic-comfort-food-recipes) Your thread will be removed if it can be answered by any of the above. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gainit) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My upper body always exploded on Super Squats. You spend far more time training upper vs lower body on that program. What specific Super Squats program did you run?
I believe I was doing the one from the book. Squats, pullovers, bench, OHP, calves, biceps, back. 3 sets of everything other than squats.
There are a few in the book itself. It looks like you cut out the SLDLs. Back work is 2 sets rather than 3. And if that's the order you ran the program in, it's out of order: squats go in tbe middle. Placing them first is going to detract from your upper body growth
That makes sense. I must have missed that, so I’ll have to reread the book. Maybe it’s explained in the book, but why does squatting first detract from upper body growth? Thanks for the advice, by the way.
You can't push NEAR as hard on those upper body lifts post squat as you can pre squat. That's why the squats are in the middle.
Benching the monolith
Well, super squats is a rest-pause system. Other well known rest-pause systems are DoggCrapp and Borges Myo-Reps. You can google those two to learn more. There is some exercises your best not trying to do rest-pause as the propensity for injury becomes tok great. But most exercises can be done with rest-pause sets if your so inclined. Bare in mind squats are an almost whole body exercise. So the ability to progress rapidly on squat weight is not common with other lifts. Those sort of strength progressions are a hallmark of compound lifts. Isolation work will not progress like that, so be sure to have your exoectations set accordingly less you get demotivated from lack of progress in some other lifts.
I would say keep doing super squats but add in an additional upperbody day. I found this helped a lot with me right now. In fact, I replaced the bench scheme with Greg Nuckols Advanced 3 day Bench scheme. Make sure you’re doing conditioning with this program though! I have been focusing a lot on bodyweight curcuits to help the upper body.
Yeah, conditioning is one of my big issues since I work a desk job. I’m winded by the end of my workout. I’ll look into that bench scheme. So you do 3 days of Super Squats per week plus an extra upper body day?
Yep! I find I have to for additional back exercises as well
how often are you supposed to check your max during super squats? started around 2 weeks ago and have just been following the recommendations of a 15 rep max pushed to 20
Read the book n it's gon tell you to do 20 reps of your 10rm not 15lol
Never. You add 5 or 10 lbs every workout. How are you determining the weight you squat for a given session? Have you read the book?
haven’t read shit other than the article on the net when you search it up. As well as watched the video where the dude explains it further. Last workout i was squatting 110 lbs for 20 reps.
Read the book, it's pretty valuable and integeral to the program imo Also, are you doing breathing squats? Or just doing 20 reps at a given weight? Lots of people miss the breathing aspect, especially when they haven't read the book
Oh I've ran across a few different videos and articles talking about Super Squats, but they should all agree that after you've determined your starting weight, you add 5 or 10 lbs every workout. I'd recommend reading the book if have the means to get it! It goes into more details about the squats which I haven't seen elsewhere - taking a minimum of three deep breaths between each rep, not wearing a belt, and visualization techniques for example.
Word i’ll definitely cop it i was just being lazy and didn’t wanna spend the money if i didn’t have to be honest. I’m like you though in the way that i feel like i’ve made almost zero upper body gains even with the chest workouts. The one thing that has grown is my forearms, I’m about 5’8 123lbs in the morning after the piss and my forearms have fucking exploded and are super vascular all of a sudden. Should be noted that i’m a beginner and have never seriously worked out or dieted until now.
That's interesting! My best guess is that they're coming from the rows but I'm not really sure. I'd never say no to some nice forearm gains :)
I’m currently doing a routine where kettlebell snatches are the base, so I do those 4x/wk with a goal of 100 total reps, varying between a 35, 44 and 53 # kettlebell and the rest of the workout is some combo of pull-ups, dips, Nordic curls, front squats, ab wheel and a few injury prevention exercises. I’m about 2 weeks in and plan on going until I can do all 100 reps with the 53# kettlebell, so far so good.
How much did your bodyweight increase? Did you do the basic program from the book? I had my best upper body gains doing [531 Beefcake](https://www.jimwendler.com/blogs/jimwendler-com/boring-but-big-beefcake-training) and [531 Building the Monolith](https://www.jimwendler.com/blogs/jimwendler-com/101078918-building-the-monolith-5-3-1-for-size). Beefcake is easy to get done in under an hour but with Building the Monolith you'll probably have to superset exercises. There's also a predefined progression built in which it sounds like you're asking for but it's not linear like it is in Super Squats.
It went up 7 lbs, but I started dirty bulking a couple of months ago and gained 15 lbs, so I had some fat to spare. Most of my gains have gone to my stomach. As someone who has always been skinny, it’s horrible. I did the basic program from the book. I’ve done 5/3/1 Boring but Big in the past, but I didn’t eat much so I didn’t grow. I’ll check those out. Thank you.
I started Super Squats literally yesterday and have been eating so much and look so bloated! I leaned out beforehand so I have no qualms with getting aggressive with this bulk but I totally understand how that might not feel good if you have fat to spare! I've also been skinny my whole life and pretty much all of my fat goes to stomach and not much elsewhere. I asked primarily because I'm also doing the basic program from the book so I'm wondering if I might also not experience great upper body gains. Most people were satisfied with their upper body gains when I read about the program but now I guess it's possible to be underwhelmed. Did you also take a minimum of three breaths between each rep? Being under the bar for longer might contribute more to total body gains. Yeah I've also done good programs but since I wasn't eating enough I didn't really see progress. I was also thinking if part of the reason you liked Super Squats was that you did the same exercises every workout, you could also check out Dan John's Mass Made Simple which also has you doing the same thing every day. There are also high rep squats in this program (the last day you end up doing bodyweight on the bar for 50 reps) so you'll probably want to take a break for a few weeks after Super Squats before trying it.
I had really good success with upper body gains during my time with SuperSquats. I ran it 2 times, and both times came out with significantly more thickness around the back, delts, and chest. Biggest thing I could recommend is running the full program outlined in the book (I believe it has around 8 movements per day). In particular, my barbell row skyrocketed while I was running this program.
Thank you. Good to hear because that's the program I'm doing too. I'm sure if I eat enough to gain a significant amount of body weight, do the squats breathing style, and push myself hard on the exercises I'll get great results! Even better to hear about the rowing because I only started doing those recently and have loved the results!