Do you ever stop Squats or Bench when changing up routine?

[Kosmo]

I'm thinking it's time for me to change up my routine for my legs and chest. I do split body parts and always to squats with legs and bench with chest.

My legs are the toughest part for me and it's taken a awhile to get the strength up with my squats (by no means am I a powerlifter!). Now I'd like to mix it up on my leg day but I'm so afraid of going backwards if I stop squatting. The same with chest day. Always done bench press and don't want to go backwards.

Changing exercises for back day has been easy for me as it's seems there so many different back exercises that one can do.

So do I continue to do squats while changing other leg exercises? And continue bench while changing other chest exercises?

Thanks for any advice!

[Ronn]

When you say "going backwards" are you referring to strength or size (they are not always related)?

Biomechanically, strength is--to a large part--movement specific. Which is why the best training for sprinters is running...really, really fast;-)

If you rotate off squats into something like a sled-press, more than likely your max squat will decrees while at the same time you max sled-press will increase.

Will your legs become weaker overall by this switch? Not likely. Indeed, the very popular DC training protocol is based on the concept of working one exercise/movement until improvement is not longer possible, then changing movements.

If you want your squat to keep improving (i.e. as in PL), I'm not sure I'd rotate it out--but rather cycle you're training. However, I'm no PLer.

If size is your goal, I think changing things up is the received wisdom. And as I noted, one of the tenants of DC training.

Personally, I don't rotate squats or DL's out of my routine--but then I'm aiming for a 500lbs squat and DL by the time I'm 50. (And I'm fairly old school in my belief in the big three--even though I know my thinking is antiquated).

Hope that helps,

Ronn

[Kosmo]

Hey Ronn...

Thanks for the assist. I guess it's not about the strength so much as the size for me although it's a bit both. For instance, right now I do 4x8 @335 on my squats and it's taken a while to get there. I remember how good it felt for me personally to break that 300lb mark for my sets.

I guess I look at it as when you go on vacation, how much you lose if you've been off for even two weeks. I hate that!

More I think about it, it's probably a ego thing I need to get past and just d other exercises. I like your idea about the sled press. I was also thinking about throwing in some hack squats.

Good luck on your 500lb squat. Sheeze that'd be impressive.

And to the mods of the forum...whoops, I think I should've started this in the training section under general bodybuilding, not under the RSS section. Apologies.

[Elite Power]

Every now and then it is good to switch things up. I am not saying take squatting and benching out of your routine, but maybe take a week off from the exercises and do something else. For ex: Leave bench out this week, and do dumbell presses or something of the sort. For Squats, swap another leg exercise in there. Then go back to bench the following week if you want. I rotate all of my exercises, and it has helped me tremendously with growth.

[Kosmo]

Ok...Elite...thanks. That sounds so simple. I guess I was of the mindset that you had to change things for 4-6 weeks. But that sounds very workable. I certainly would not have any issues with "tremendous growth".

[Elite Power]

no problem bro, glad to help out. keep the body guessing

[biga26]

I agree with Elite Power, don't change out squats for more than a couple of leg training sessions....squats are king!

[MakinItBIG]

no way! both are vital in developing the muscle to its limit IMO...

only thing i may do is change type of exercise...front, hack, back squat...etc or db or barbell

[Flex4777]

I will just change between dumbells or barbells for bench, but squats are always there!

[cdizzle786]

Squats are always in my leg routine as well, I move them around in the routine every few weeks and change amount of sets. But thats about it with squats. Bench I'll swap between BB bench press and incline bench press as well as do one with barbell and other with dumbells.