303 tempo squats

Other Discussions Training Discussion
1

First time doing these dang things so many numbers 1,2,3 up 123 . Could not keep a good count on reps 1st week on the bridge 63 female 135# . Tips? Tricks?

2

I count 1,2,3 on descent for first rep and 1,2,3 for ascent of first rep.
Big breath, tight, 2,2,3+2,2,3, big breath, tight, 3,2,3+3,2,3, big breath, tight, 4,2,3+4,2,3, etc. up to 8,2,3+8,2,3, rack barbell, huff and puff and breathe…

3

I had the same issue. First time I did it, I asked for someone to cue me on the last rep. Eventually, you’ll learn how long the descent and ascent should take and will need to worry less about counting time. But sometimes I do like Teddy mentioned.

You can also use a metronome app on your phone, to bip every one second during your set.

4

Ha! I thought I was the only one!

I counted out the reps out loud (well, under my breath) at the top. That worked well enough.

5

I would get a good feel for how long 3 seconds is, and get used to that. Then, just count the reps while maintaining the tempo you are used to.

6

These things are the devil

7

I was going to say the same thing

8

Yeah, just cause they didn’t suck enough today, I threw in one rep of paused breathing squats (see here) at the end. 40% of e1RM, got a whopping 4 breaths before I had to set it on the pins.

9

Another option to the 223+223… would be 123+456…223+456… 323+456…423+456… OR …123+123 …223+123…323+123…423+123 happy lifting:)

10

Could try using letters eg C.A.T/D.O.G. Just don’t bark at the top.

2 Likes
11

I count 1,2,3 on the way down, then on the way up it’s “1,2,# of reps”. So, starting with first rep: 1,2,3 1,2,1… 1,2,3 1,2,2… 1,2,3 1,2,3… 1,2,3 1,2,4… and so on.

12

To everybody,

  1. Get your smartphone
  2. Go to google.com
  3. Search “metronome”
  4. Set it to 60 BPM
  5. Play
  6. Put the phone on the floor on the rack metal frame / Play the sound in your headphones if you have wireless
  7. Count the rep , let the metronome take care of the tempo
  8. ???
  9. Profit
2 Likes
13

I know they suck balls. 1,2,3 on the way down 1,2,3 on the way up. (1). 1,2,3 on the way down. 1,2,3 on the way up (2). I’ve found the paused squats for me to be even worse. Maybe because this seems like the average tempo of most of my squats.

14

eventually i figure the problem is not really counting, but that counting without a metronome somehow gives a completely wrong idea of “time”.
counting yourself will always end up being very different than using a proper metronome. Same thing with other exercises involving exact pauses.

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15

Better to be roughly right than exactly wrong.

Get a rough tempo going. Stick with it. Job done. No need to overcomplicate it with metronomes, apps, et all.

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16

Of course you’re free to do what you want , I wanted to give just an advise that really worked.
Also you dont need "apps’, just your phone internet browser.

17

I know this is an old post, but wanted to get advice here. Week 1 I goofed and did 303 squats x 5 instead of 8 reps. I just finished week 2 and even though I backed off slightly I still overshot my RPE by 20 pounds at least. These are brutal. What is a typical backoff on these vs a belted squatx5? I’m an older guy, 50+ but have some experience with 20 rep breathing squats in my 30’s so I know the pain and hard breathing is to be expected.