My Squat Is Down 30 Pounds. What Should I Change?

Derek Thistlethwaite Squatting 881 Raw (Josh Bryant’s Longtime Client)

Years ago, I had a column on Bodybuilding.com called Ask the Strong Guy. Every week I’d answer readers’ training questions.

When the site went behind a paywall, I decided to walk away. Nothing against them, but my goal has always been to get good information into the hands of as many people as possible. I wasn’t about to let a paywall decide who got stronger.

The questions never stopped. I still get plenty of emails. If you’ve got one, hit reply. Your question might end up in a future edition of Ask the Strong Guy, which I’m resurrecting right here.

One I got recently was short and to the point.

“Josh, my squat is down 30 pounds. What should I change?”

I was happy to answer the email. A couple of emails later, it was obvious this wasn’t a one-line answer. There were too many variables, so he booked a consultation.

Sometimes people get frustrated because they’re hoping I’ll say, “Do pause squats,” and send them on their way. In reality, that’s like the cooks at the local Asian fusion buffet coming out with knives before you’ve even gone over the two-hour limit. You’d better figure out what actually happened first.

The first thing I asked wasn’t about training.

“Has your bodyweight changed?”

If you’ve dropped 40 pounds, a 30-pound drop in your squat isn’t the same conversation as a guy whose bodyweight hasn’t budged.

Then we talked about recovery. Has work changed? Are you sleeping? Got a newborn? Been out two steppin’ and long neckin’? Did you go from riding around in an air-conditioned pickup checking job sites to swinging a hammer in the Texas heat? The barbell doesn’t care where the fatigue comes from. It all counts.

Then we talked about stress. Marriage? Money? Kids? Work? Even good stress has a bill to pay.

Then we talked intent. Are you trying to move every rep like you’re trying to launch it through the ceiling? Or have you gotten so wrapped up in perfect technique that you look like you’re carrying a full cup of coffee your mother-in-law just handed you? I’ve seen lifters clean up their technique so much they coached the fight right out of the lift.

Only after that did we look at technique, programming, and actual solutions. In his case, the program wasn’t the problem.

After asking enough questions, we figured out he’d been spending every weekend remodeling his house, hauling lumber, carrying sheetrock, and doing hours of hard manual labor. Then he’d come in on Monday expecting to hit a big squat session.

His squat wasn’t going backwards because he needed a different squat program. It was going backwards because he was showing up already beat up.

Once he adjusted his schedule and started coming into squat day recovered, his numbers started climbing again.

Everybody wants the magic exercise. Most of the time, the problem isn’t the exercise.

Before you change your program, figure out what actually changed. Otherwise you’re just throwing darts in the dark and hoping one sticks.

Ready to get stronger? Pick a program and get to work.