No judgement, I was just wondering because of the 2.5kg plate that you apparently use :) I'm sure the more experienced posters here can give you more pointers, I'm not familiar with AMRAP. I would doubt you gain much strength this way though. Seems more like a hypertrophy routine?
It's a 20kg bar with 15kg added. AMRAP = as many reps as possible on the last set.
Let me understand. You've got a 20 kg bar and you added 35 kg? Or is it 35 kg WITH the bar?
In any case, a 1RM squat of 180 KG is meaningless at that weight (122# max?), because the physical adaptation tthat comes from max repping a 55 kg squat does not translate well into a 1RM.
I learnt to squat, deadlift, bench press and press alone. You can too. All that cautiousness is doing is making you waste time as perfect form is increasingly important as the load goes up, not the other way around. The load is so submaximal, as in I think most people can squat 125 pounds safely, that whatever technique you might be building now, will have to change as you get to 135 and 155 lb squats.
So I say don't be afraid and increase those loads.
You say you are doing 5/3/1, but that calls for 3x5, 3x3 and 1RM loads during the week, not 30 rep squats. Is that the program you are following?
Why the sumo stance?
It varies by week on a three week cycle. First week is 5/5/5, second is 3/3/3 and the third is 5/3/1. The weights on each set are an increasing percentage of your training max, which itself is 90% of your 1RM, then you raise the training max and the cycle starts again. On last set each week, you do the prescribed reps (5 or 3 or 1), then push out as many good reps as you can manage on the heaviest weight (AMRAP).
I like it because it's self paced due to the AMRAP sets, but it's clear I started way too low. My max was based on what I managed in a session with a personal trainer when I was learning the movement around a month ago, but he tired me out with cardio and other lifts beforehand, so it's probably not indicative of what I can actually do.
The sumo stance is because I literally cannot get down to parallel in a conventional stance. I have hip flexor issues and very tight hamstrings but can do a full lotus yoga pose with no trouble. For me, it's sumo or nothing, I'm afraid. Same with deadlifts, which again, I'm lifting way too light on.
I'm only a week into the new cycle, but I was surprised at how many reps I was able to push out on a set I should have only managed 7-12 reps on.
