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Does anyone have a good basic, novice lifter, squat program for 2-3 times a week that is geared more toward Olympic lifters and strength development?
 

In a nutshell I would start with two back squat days and one front squat day.
On the back squat days make one of them a maximum day, try to lift record weights that day.
On the second back squat day I would do something along the lines of 5x5 or an equivalent amount of work (4x6, 6x4) etc.
 
On your front squat day do 3x3
 
For the weights you use start with weights you can manage on all the workouts  and increase them for three weeks then take a deload week on the fourth and repeat again witha slightly higher weights. like so
If your best back squat is say 170kg
week one 130 5x5
week two 135 5x5
week three 140 5x5
week four 125 5x5
week five 135 5x5
week six 140 5x5
week seven 145 5x5
and so on and so forth
The same follows with the other two squat days just pick weights that you can consistenly improve each week.  This really basic and applies to novice lifters at some point they will need to change the training but it should work for some time.

What are some good basic squat programs for body builders/fitness enthusiast???

Also, what squat routine would you recommend for fat loss and toning (not bulking)?? I have my own routine that I follow; however, I like to see other people’s views!!
 
 
 

 Hmmm this is a little out of my realm but I’ll give it a stab.

OK if your looking to get “toned” as in having a high muscle tonus you are most certainly going to need to do some kind of Maximum lifting >90% weights and it will most likely be done at least once a week.

Ok on day one do a maximum back squat followed by 2x2@20-35lbs less

On day two your going to do somewhere in the range of 80%+ of your maximum and do a series of 10-12 singles with as little rest as you need. If your missing the weights then its either too much weight or not enough rest between sets.

An example would look like this with deload weeks
best squat 100
Week one
Day one: Maximum squat for one; 95 then 2x2@80
Day two: 80 for 15 singles

week two
Day one: Maximum squat for one; 95 then 2x2@82 or 85
Day two: 82-85 for
15 singles
week three
Day one: Maximum squat for one; 100-105 then 2x2@85 or 87
Day two: 85-87 for
10 singles
week four
Day one:  NO Maximum squat; 85 or less for 3 singles

Day two: 80 for 5 singles
week Five

Day one: Maximum squat for one; 105-110 then 2x2@90+

Day two: 90+ for
10 singles From hear on out do 10 singles and try to increase the weight each time until the deload week.

For fat loss I would probably have someone do a program more like the one in my first post. Of all the bodybuilder types i’ve trained I have had them do more of a DC style training to add some size.

To each his (or her) own. : )

 
Thx, Madmax! That sounds awesome.  I’ll start some of my lifters on this program and keep you posted.
 
question:  on the max days, do u suggest max single?  Any dbls or trips or down sets?

You could do one of a few things

-maximum single with no downset
-maximum single with a heavy double or triple
-maximum set of 3-5 reps and no downset

which ever you pick stick with it for at least 3 weeks preferably 6

 
What do you mean “maximum single” do you mean each set or single leg…? 

Essentially a one rep maximum the most weight you can lift for one repetition.

I usually use the terms single, double, triple to mean 1 rep, 2 reps, three reps etc. just the way I was taught I guess.

 
Perfectly clear.  Thanks.  I’ll keep you updated on how it goes with my lifters.

Hey madmax, what does your squat workout look like?