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One peculiar aspect of the iron game is that special importance is often placed upon workouts from other countries. In the ’70s American lifters were fascinated with the training programs of the Russians, followed by those of the Bulgarians and more recently the Chinese. But one workout that seems to endure in popularity, unfortunately, is what has been called the “Russian Squat Program.”
 
Fred “Dr. Squat” Hatfield is credited for popularizing this workout, but its origins can be traced to an article translated as “Methods of Developing Leg Strength” published in a Russian publication, Tyazhelaya Atletika, in 1976. Note that this is just one workout by one group of Russian sport scientists; to my knowledge it is not considered a national program.
 
The authors of this article believed that leg strength was a key factor in performance of the Olympic lifts, and said that “the results in the back squat should be 134% of the results in the clean and jerk.” They also noted that if a weightlifter’s back squat was “substantially below this figure, the volume of squats should be increased to 30% of the general volume of loading.” However, they did not believe it was necessary to lift heavy weights frequently, relatively speaking, to develop leg strength. Before going any further, let’s agree on a working definition of intensity.
 
In weightlifting terminology, intensity is defined according to how much an individual can lift in relation to how much weight they can lift for 1 repetition. This is defined as 1-repetition maximum, or 1RM. As such, if you can lift 100 pounds for 1 repetition and do so in a workout, that workout has a higher intensity level than a workout in which you lift 95 pounds. What’s also seemingly odd about this classification system is that the intensity is not related to reps. Lifting 90 pounds for 10 reps may feel much harder than lifting 91 pounds for 1 rep, but under this definition 91 pounds still has a much higher intensity level.
 
Using the 1RM percentage system, the Russians would organize their training into intensity zones, such as the following: 60-65 percent of 1RM, 70-75, 80-85, 90-95 and 95-100. The designers of the Russian Squat Program put most of their workouts in the 80-85 percent zone and said that “large and limit weights” should comprise only 16 percent of the total volume in squats. As such, here is how the major working sets were organized in this workout in which squats were performed three times per week, with weeks 1-3 being considered the “first stage” and weeks 4-6 being the “second stage” of the program:
 
                   Day 1   Day 2   Day 3
 
Week 1:        80        80        80
Week 2:        80        80        80
Week 3:        80        80        80
Week 4:        85        80        90
Week 5:        80        95        80
Week 6:      100        80       105
 
Note that the very last workout has a percentage of 105. This is because the workout is based upon a current 1RM, so progress would have to be represented as percentages over 100 percent. Staying in math mode, you’ll see that the authors believe that a reasonable expectation would be a five percent increase in back squat strength in six weeks.
 
Another feature of the workout is that the volume of workouts and the average intensity of the working sets increased throughout the cycle, such that the highest volume is in week 2 and the lowest in week 6. Here is how the authors described it: “The volume rises in the first stage, with a relatively constant average weight of the barbell. In the second stage, the volume decreases while the intensity increases.” Using other terminology, you could say that the volume of training follows an ascending/descending pattern.
 
The following are the reps per day and reps per week (volume) of the working sets of the Russian Squat Program.
 
Workout          Vol/      Vol/
                         Day      Week
 
Stage 1
1                       12        
2                       18
3                       12          42
4                        24
5                        12
6                        30          66
7                        12
8                         36
9                         12          60
 
Stage 2
10                        25
11                        12
12                        16          53
13                        12
14                          9
15                        12          33
16                          4
17                        12
18                          1          17
 
Although this plan seems well thought out, there are many problems with it that qualify it as a dumb training recommendation. These problems fall under three categories: Program Design, Variety and Specificity.

 

Russia’s David Rigert is considered one of the most popular weightlifters of all time, breaking 68 world records in his career.
 
Program Design. Although the authors of this workout suggest that it should be used in the preparatory stage of training, which in most Russian workouts contain the highest training volume, you have to wonder what the rest of the exercise protocols in each training session consist of. If you are having workouts in which you are performing 6 x 6, you will have to significantly compromise the amount of weight you lift in the classical movements because such a workout would require considerable energy. Do you simply put the Olympic lifting movements and their related exercises, such as power snatches and power cleans, on maintenance programs with relatively light weights? And it’s interesting to note that in their paper the authors said that this program could also be used for front squats, but I believe it would be difficult to maintain good form focusing on front squat workouts in which sets of six reps are emphasized.
 
Variety. A basic principle of training is that there should be an inverse relationship between volume and intensity. I like to divide my workouts into accumulation phases (focusing on volume) and intensification phases (focusing on intensity). A general guideline is to change the workout every two weeks. Although there is variation in volume in this Russian program, the relative intensity stays almost constant throughout the entire program! According to the authors, who included the warm-up sets in their calculations, here is the average intensity of each workout (rounded up to the nearest whole number): 78, 79, 78, 79, 78, 79, 78, 79, 78, 83, 78, 87, 78, 88, 78, 86, 78, 79. In a word, this workout is monotonous.
 
Specificity. Consider that this workout is designed for a weightlifter trying to improve leg strength, not a bodybuilder trying to improve muscle mass. For the development of maximal strength, the focus needs to be on higher intensities – in this workout 13 of the 18 training sessions use sets of 80 percent as the primary training weight. If anything, it is the type of program for a beginner, who likely needs to focus on increasing work capacity and possesses less neurological efficiency.
 
I always believe that if you take something away, you have to give something back. For example, if you tell someone not to eat wheat, then you need to give them a suitable substitute, such as quinoa. For more information on how to improve performance in the back squat and front squat, check you these two articles. 

-Increasing The Front Squat
-Best Tips For Maximal Squat

Yes, the Europeans have many great workouts – and in fact this is the primary reason I learned German. When I was working on my graduate studies, the German sport scientists were the leaders in the field of strength and conditioning. But just because a workout comes from a sport scientist or a group of sport scientists in a different country doesn’t necessary mean it’s better. Such is the case with the so-called Russian Squat program.