Squatting 3x/Week Easier Than 2?

[Blackmetalbunny]

One of the differing features of fighters is the inclusion of 1 more exercise. I also noticed I have a tendency to do more volume on Fighter than Operator. Combine those 2 together, and you might actually be doing more total volume per day in Fighter than Operator.

Doing more total volume means a greater level of imposed demand on your body. However; your body's recovery capabilities has an upper per day limit. If your body's recovery might not necessarily scale linearly.

That means that if your total imposed demand / exertion from 1 day of Operator might be 60%, vs 70% in Fighter. You might be able to recover in 1 - 1.5 days in Operator; but you might take 2 - 3 days because your body has that much more recovery to do. Also, remember that your prime movers might recover faster than your deep stabilizers. Having more work might impose more demand on your stabilizers, requiring longer to recover from.

Beyond the grease the groove effect, I find it significantly harder to recover from too much volume in 1 session, than if I were to split that session into 2. Hence; the RPE from the squats in Fighter and Operator might be identical, but if you're more fatigued after each Fighter session, your body might not be fully recovered before the next session.

[Vagabond]

If I stick to only 3 sets of squats maximum each session I prefer to do them 3 days a week to get that volume up a bit more.

If I was doing fighter I would probably aim for 4-5 sets per session since I am squatting less.

I don't recover that well with too much volume with squats, but I do like the sub maximal frequency.

Worth mentioning is I do sit around that double bodyweight sort of squat territory as my training max. I think it comes down to what you squat and how your body responds. I struggle when I am in that 5 rep+ territory and I feel pretty beat down.When I hit that 2-3 rep
(90% +) range I feel absolutely amazing and have to try my best not to do more sets than my earlier weeks.

Yup, same here. 90%-95% are my easiest sessions....maybe because low rep? On the flipside my buddy finds anything over 85% tough but he can go forever rep-wise with lighter loads.