How to track and improve your squat progress

Practical Playbook

1. 1

   How Much Weight Should You Add Each Week?

   I’ve tried adding 5 lbs every session. It works until it doesn’t. Most lifters stall around the 4-6 week mark, and I’ve been there myself—stuck, frustrated, wondering what I’m doing wrong. So here’s what I actually do now: aim for a 2.5-5 kg increase every 1-2 weeks. Your nervous system and joints need that time to adapt to heavier loads. Push too fast and you’ll grind to a halt, trust me. Be patient. Let the slow creep do its thing.

2. 2

   Fix Your Bracing to Unlock Strength

   I’ve seen too many strong lifters crumble under a heavy squat because their core gave out first. Your squat is only as strong as your core. Period. Take a deep belly breath into your belt, push your abs out like you’re bracing for a punch, and hold that tightness through the whole descent and ascent. Without that intra-abdominal pressure, your spine folds forward under load. I’ve felt that scary forward lean myself. It’s why I swear by planks and dead bugs to drill the bracing pattern before I ever touch a barbell.

3. 3

   Use a Wave Loading Pattern

   I’ve tried just piling on weight every session. It never lasts. You hit a wall fast because your body can’t keep taking that abuse. So I use wave loading: heavy, moderate, light days rotating across the week. My Monday looks like 5x5 at 85%. Wednesday I back off to 3x5 at 80%. Friday is a breather, 3x5 at 75%. That structure packs in more volume without torching my central nervous system. I’m building strength, not just grinding myself into the ground.

4. 4

   When Should You Deload?

   I’ve been there. When my squat starts feeling like a grindy mess, my sleep goes to hell, or even my warm-up sets feel heavier than they should, I know it’s deload time. Drop your working weight to 60-70% for one full week. That’s it. Your body uses that week to repair connective tissue and reset your nervous system, two things you can’t shortcut. Skipping deloads? That’s the fastest route to a plateau. Don’t be a hero. I learned that the hard way after grinding through three weeks of stalled progress, wondering why nothing moved.

Common Mistakes

• Mistake

  Adding weight every session because that's how linear progression works.

  Why

  I've been there. Your nervous system and joints simply can't keep up. Without planned deloads or block periodization, you'll stall. Or worse, you'll get hurt. I learned that the hard way after ignoring the signs for three weeks.

  Fix

  I use a 4-week wave cycle myself. Weeks 1 through 3, I add weight. Then week 4 hits and I drop intensity by 10 to 15 percent. This lets me pile on volume without burning out my central nervous system. Try it.

• Mistake

  Skipping mobility work and squatting with a rounded lower back.

  Why

  I’ve watched guys round their lower backs under a heavy deadlift, and I cringe every time. That curve under load? It’s practically begging for a herniated disc. You lose tension, power transfer from hips to bar drops off a cliff, and your spine pays the price. Keep it neutral.

  Fix

  I've been burned skipping this warmup. Spend 5 minutes on hip flexor and ankle mobility before you squat. That's it. My spine goes neutral, I drop the weight until it does. If you can't keep a neutral spine at parallel, you're lifting too heavy. Period.

• Mistake

  Only doing back squats, never front squats or pause squats.

  Why

  I see this mistake all the time. You run the same movement pattern, week after week. And your body adapts. That's when you hit a strength ceiling. Without variation, you also miss weak points like your quads or erectors. I've been there myself.

  Fix

  I love rotating in front squats or 3-second pause squats for one mesocycle. They hammer your quads and core like nothing else, and that carries over directly to my back squat. Try it. You will feel the difference.

• Mistake

  Treating sleep as optional and squatting on 5 hours of sleep.

  Why

  I’ve seen this firsthand: your CNS recovers during deep sleep. Cramming a heavy squat session on poor sleep? That drops your rate of force development fast. And my injury risk climbs right alongside it.

  Fix

  I’ve been there: four hours of sleep, groggy at the barbell. My rule? If I got less than six hours, I swap heavy squats for tempo squats or just take an extra rest day. That’s it. Your eight-hour sleep self will thank you next week, trust me.

• Mistake

  Using a lifting belt or knee sleeves for every warm-up set.

  Why

  I’ve seen this play out a thousand times. You strap on a belt, crank it tight, and suddenly your core feels invincible. But here’s the thing: your stabilizers never learn to brace without that external crutch. They just check out. So when I finally take the belt off in a meet, my max drops hard. Why? Because my muscles flat-out forgot how to generate intra-abdominal pressure on their own.

  Fix

  I keep the belt locked away until I'm pulling or squatting over 80% of my max. For warm-ups and lighter volume work, I go beltless. It feels weird at first. Your core catches up fast.

From the Dorsi blog

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