It's a good point Garry brought up about the warm-ups. I guess Garry and I being a bit older (I'm 35, I think I recall Garry mentioning he was 37) we realize how important warm-ups are to training longevity.
Another important part of training longevity is selecting weights that you can handle in good form and through a full range of motion. When I talk about squats I mean real squats. The majority of guys I know who claim to be able to squat 315 lbs. (or say 150 kg) do no more that a curtsy! Better to lower the weight and do things properly. If you have ever closely watched Olympic weighlifters then you'll know what I mean when I say "ass-to-the-grass". When these guys complete the first part of the snatch or clean & jerk they are "butt to the platform" low. It takes tremendous courage to really drop into the hole deep during your squats.
Although this doesn't really relate to your question per se, I thought that since I have been promoting full-range high-rep squats I would post a link I have to a guy squatting his bodyweight 98 times. This guy doesn't go super low but he does squat to what I would consider a minimal efffective depth. What blows me away is that he continues to go just as low despite his obvious fatigue. A lot of guys start to shorten their range of motion as they increase weight or as they fatigue during a high rep set. I was so inspired by this video footage that I tried it myself. I put my bodyweight on the bar with a goal of 50 reps. At 20 reps I felt great (because I am used to the demand of 20 rep squats), at 30 I was really sucking wind but I still felt strong, at 40 reps my legs were getting shaky but I was determined to get 50 no matter what. I got 50 and my legs were sore for 5 days.
Check this out. * Note - this video is like 10 minutes long, you may want to fast forward through reps 22 to say 75. The guy couldn't get 100, but damn did he want it. What guts!
http://www.marunde-muscle.com/forum...hread.php?t=153