Advanced Version of Rebecca Gerdon’s Squat Routine

Rebecca’s Wrist Injury Squat Workout
We have added some touches to Rebecca’s squat workout that I think are going to be awesome. First, we are having her squat in the morning as well as evening, when the 5RMs start in week 5. We are doing that to prime the CNS for that evening session, and basically just wake her up on Monday.
We are also using some Post Activation Potentiation techniques. In weeks 5-8 we are having her walk out about 10% more than she is actually going to squat and hold it for about 15 seconds. We are doing that to fire the fast twitch fibers, recruit more fibers, and in laymen’s terms to make the work set feel light. In weeks 9-11, we are using bands to warm up for the same reason. At the top, the weight will be more than she is going to actually squat, but will deload to around 80% at the bottom. There is a lot of research that supports this technique, but more importantly, I have watched it work over and over.
Rebecca Gerdon is an original Mash Mafia Weightlifting athlete, and now she is my athlete again at Muscle Driver USA. A few weeks ago, she suffered a wrist break from a jerk gone badly. It was declared that she had been lifting with a broken wrist for over two years, so she is one tough chick no doubt.
A lot of people would sit around feeling sorry for themselves, but no Rebecca. She came to me requesting a squat routine that would get her stronger than ever. Our goal is a 400lb back squat. Right now her max is 330 pounds. Yes it’s a big goal, but at MDUSA we have “big goal” athletes.
Here is the way it looks:
Weeks 1-2 Hypertrophy Time
Day 1
Back Squat 10RM, then -5&-10% for 10
Goodmornings 3×10
Planks weighted 3 sets of 1-2 minutes
Day 2
Rear Leg Elevated BB Squats 3x10ea leg
Blackburns 20 sec ea position x 3
Day 3
Front Squats 5RM with 5 sec pause, then -5&-10% for 5
Zercher Deadlifts with weight elevated 4 inches off ground 5RM, then -5&-10% for 5
GHDs 3 x 10 reps
Day 4
Zercher Squats 5 RM, then -5&-10% for 5
BB Step Ups 10 reps ea leg x 3 sets
Day 5
Back Squat pause 3 seconds in bottom 3RM, then -5&-10% for 3
Squats weight starts on Pins from bottom position 5RM, then -10% for 5
Zercher RDLs 3x8reps
Weeks 3-4 More Hypertrophy but a little Heavier
Day 1
Back Squat 8RM, then -5&-10% for 8
Goodmornings 3×8
Planks weighted 3 sets of 1-2 minutes
Day 2
Rear Leg Elevated BB Squats 8 reps x 3 sets
Blackburns 20 sec ea position x 3
Elbow Dips 10 reps x 3
Day 3
Front Squats 4RM with 3 sec pause, then -5&-10% for 4
Zercher Deadlifts with weight elevated 4 inches off ground 4RM, then -5&-10% for 4
GHDs 3 x 10 reps
Day 4
Zercher Squats 4 RM, then -5&-10% for 4
BB Step Ups 8 reps ea leg x 3 sets
Day 5
Back Squat pause 3 seconds in bottom 3RM, then -5&-10% for 3
Squats weight starts on Pins from bottom position 4RM, then -10% for 4
Zercher RDLs 3x8reps
Weeks 5-8 Time to Get Strong
Day 1
a.m.Back Squat up to 80%/2reps x 3 sets
p.m.
Back Squat (first after warming up, work up to 10% more than max set for walkout holds for 15 sec) wait 90 sec then 5RM, then -5&-10% for 5
Goodmornings 3×5
Planks weighted 3 sets of 1-2 minutes
Day 2
Rear Leg Elevated BB Squats 5 reps x 3 sets
Blackburns 20 sec ea position x 3
Elbow Dips 10 reps x 3
Day 3
a.m.
Front Squats work up to 80%/1 rep x 2 sets
p.m.
Front Squats 3RM with 3 sec pause, then -5&-10% for 3 (Drop 1 sec each week)
Zercher Deadlifts with weight elevated 4 inches off ground 3RM, then -5&-10% for 3
GHDs 3 x 10 reps (continue to increase difficulty either with weight or tempo)
Day 4
Zercher Squats 3 RM, then -5&-10% for 3
BB Lunges 8 reps x 3 sets
Day 5
a.m.
Back Squats 75%/1rep paused 3 seconds x 3 sets
p.m.
Back Squat pause 5 seconds in bottom 1RM, then -15% for 3×3 all paused (Drop a second each week) ss Box Jumps/ 3reps each set
***use a box that is about 80% of your max height, but focus on getting maximal height on jumps, so over jump!

Squats weight starts on Pins from bottom position 3RM, then -10% for 3
Zercher RDLs 3x5reps
Weeks 9-11 Absolute Strength
Day 1
a.m.
Back Squats work up to 85%/1 rep x 3 sets
p.m.
Use Strong Bands if Squat is over 600lbs, Average Bands if Squat is between 400-600lbs, Light Bands if squat is between 200-400lbs

Back Squat (Warm Up using bands)3RM, then -5&-10% for 3
Goodmorning/Squat Combo 3×8
Planks weighted 3 sets of 1-2 minutes
***Warm up using the bands should consist of working up to a heavy double with the bands, but stopping at one set away from maximal. Then take bands off and continue.
Day 2
Elevated Split Squats 8 reps ea leg x 3 sets
Blackburns 20 sec ea position x 3
Elbow Dips 10 reps x 3
Day 3
a.m.
Front Squats 75%/1 rep paused 3 sec x 2 reps
p.m.
Front Squats 1RM with 3 sec pause, then -15% for 3×3 (Drop 1 sec each week)
Zercher DLs Elevated 4 Inches off Floor 8RM, then -10% for 8
GHDs 3 x 10 reps (continue to increase difficulty either with weight or tempo)
Day 4
Zercher BB Lunges from Rack 8 reps ea leg x 3 sets
BB Step Ups 8 reps ea leg x 3 sets
Day 5
a.m.
Back Squats 80%/1 rep paused 1 sec x 3 reps
p.m.
Back Squat pause 3 seconds in bottom 5RM, then -5 and -10% for 5 all paused (Drop a second each week) ss each set with Maximal Prisoner Squat Jumps/3 reps
***Wait 90 seconds after the squats to perform the jumps! Focus on height!

Zercher RDLs with 25 lbs of chains 3x5reps
Weeks 12 Taper Week
Day 1
Back Squat -10% of best 3RM for 3×3
Goodmorning/Squat Combo off
Planks weighted 3 sets of 1-2 minutes
Day 2
Elevated Split Squats 5 reps ea leg x 3 sets
Day 3
Front Squats 1RM
GHDs 3 x 5 reps Bodyweight
Day 4
off
Day 5 Squat Max Out

Use Strong Bands if Squat is over 600lbs, Average Bands if Squat is between 400-600lbs, Light Bands if squat is between 200-400lbs
Squats work up to 1RM with Bands but no misses, then take bands off and work up to 1RM without bands.

This is it! The goal is to not lose any starting strength for her pulls, and to increase her squat as much as possible. If you have any questions, ask them here, and I will try to answer. I’ll probably make a few videos explaining a few of these exercises.

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