i have a couple hair splitting questions for you guys regarding squatting (or any lift in general i suppose)
First of all, I understand weights are “general”
My first question regards breathing. When you’re squatting and performing sets of 2 or more reps, how much pause at the top is too much? Taking 1 deep breath in at the top seems fair to me, but taking any more than that seems like it turns too much into an aerobic exercise. I say aerobic because I compare it to the amount of breaths it takes to accelerate up to 30-40m. (Usually just 2 or 3 I think) It’s also aerobic because I would not be able to complete the lift without the extra breath in between reps allowing O2 to get to the muscles. Again, I know Im splitting hairs here, but perhaps one should decrease the weight on the bar in order to complete 5 or so reps without taking 10 second breaks at the top of each rep.
Second question. Is it possible to progress weight too quickly-- even if technique does not falter? I have gone up in weight rather quickly in the squat and deadlift lately, but I question whether im actually gaining strength linearly with my progress. Of course, squats are a means to develop hip power for sprinting. The idea is to squat to develop those muscles to improve your sprinting– not just to improve your squat. Im thinking that the idea of squatting a bunch of weight is the common athletes misconception of a measurement of power. The true measurement of power is the sprint itself, thus the squat strength is expressed due to the body’s amount of strength and power from the hips. (If Im making any sense 
)
In other words, ALL of my lower body lifts will improve if my power is increasing. They will increase fairly linearly with my speed because I will be developing power in the hips not just a big squat.