It's Time to 20 Rep Squat!

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
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[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:

And if you look at your previous posts, your contention is that newer methods are intrinsically better, which anyone who has lifted for an appreciable amount of time and kept an open mind would tell you is not a definitively true statement or assumption.
[/quote]

This true, I did say the current prevalent method of BB splits is a better way to train. But I didn’t say the old school ways didn’t work. I base this on the fact that most of the bigger guys I see at the gym, most of the interviews with pros about their workout, and the bigger guys on this site Prof X, Modok, CC, (not sure how you train but you are a huge dude) are using the current methods of splits. This is where I’m coming from.

I just think the one 20 rep squat program sounded like a waste of time for the OP. Especially when he wrote in his 1st post that his upper body was lagging when compared to his legs. He asked publicly for an opinion, I gave him mine. I didn’t even argue with him when he replied to me and basic said “Thanks, but no thanks.”. No problem.

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Yes, 20 rep squats 3x per week is what the old timers used to do. It’s supposed to be hard as hell, in fact, it’s supposed to kick your ass. The goal is to eventually be able to squat 1.5xbw for 20 reps. You’re supposed to add 5 pounds 3x per week or 2x per week if you’re having trouble recovering.

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I say go for it, ignore the nay sayers because even acknowledging them might make you not succeed because it will be mentally taxing. What is the worst case scenario? you don’t move up as fast as you planed. The work still will be going somewhere.

I was wondering in a program like this, are your suppose to squat when you still feel somewhat sore.

What would the warm ups look like?

just as an idea, maybe you should add in Weighted Dips since they put a lot of muscle on the upper body and you said your is lacking. People have called them the squat for the upper body. The good thing about weighted dips is you are in a good position to fight for reps or stop and breath, just like the squat.

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I’m actually kind of surprised by your disdain for the 20-rep squat program, Sam Sneed.

It’s a little gimmicky, sure, but I’ve only heard good things from big people I know who have done it. It truly is a tried and true philosophy that’s put gobs of muscle and strength on legs for years.

And for whatever it’s worth, one person I knew went from squatting 315 x 20 to (I think) 365 x 20 in just over a month on the program. Granted, he had a little bit of ‘extra help,’ but he went balls to the wall every workout and ate a SERIOUS caloric surplus.

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[quote]MeBigUsmall wrote:

just as an idea, maybe you should add in Weighted Dips since they put a lot of muscle on the upper body and you said your is lacking. People have called them the squat for the upper body. The good thing about weighted dips is you are in a good position to fight for reps or stop and breath, just like the squat.

[/quote]

i definitely agree with adding weighted dips to your routine. as long as it does not put too much stress on your shoulders it is an excellent upper body exercise.

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MBUS, its funny you say that as i was thinking of doing dips as my upper body push this friday so i think i’ll do them.

still feeling a bit stiff after yesterday although i have been at work and walking around. Will make sure i warm up alot tommorow and plenty of good food throughout the day as i will be working out in the evening.

had a banging migraine yesterday after i wrote the post.After speaking to my nurse friend she reckons it could’ve been the squatting and that i probably wasnt breathing right. I think she was right as i did go quite quickly for the first 10 reps, plus my hayfever has started so im gonna concentrate more tommorow and let you all know.

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didnt workout Friday due to family commitments but i think it was for the best so i left it another day and have just come back, here’s what i did

Squat 1x20 @ 102.5kg
dips 2x5 unweighted, 3x5 weighted (7.5kg DB) - easy
rack pulls 5x5 (working up to 130kg)
DB curls 3x10
hammer curls 3x10
tricep pulldowns 3x10
20 mins on bike

actually felt alot better than when i did 100kg. Yeah it was hard but i recovered alot quicker which i think was due to my breathing.
Will give it until Tuesday to do my next squat workout due to my shifts at work.

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Just to throw in some of my experiences of attempting 20 rep squats…
I now use belt squats, I’m 6.2 foot with long legs and a short back, so not built to squat, I found 20 rep squats where difficult, and required a LOT of recovery time, I adjusted things slightly, so if I was trying to squat 100kg for 20 reps, which was very difficult, if not impossible for me, I would do 4 sets of 5, or even 10 sets of 2 with like 10-20 seconds rest,like this I progressed better, and my form was better too.

I think the risk of injury from 20 rep squats is high. Most of the people who I hear use it and are happy with their progress from it are newbies looking to bulk up, as it stimulates the appetite substantially, and as it takes a good few days to recover it leaves you lots of time to grow. Its also a good program if you only have time to train twice a week, or even once. These experiences are all when I was training naturally, I use AAS now and haven’t tried 20 rep squats since I’ve been using them, obviously I would imagine the recovery to be quicker and the progress faster.

One other thing I always wondered, was if you are training hard, which many of us are, and all should be if we want to progress, the program says “choose a weight you can do 10 reps with and do 20” if you training hard/sensibly then your 10 rep max is your 10 rep max, if you could do 20 it would be your 20 rep max! I don’t believe you can squat your 10 rep max for 20 reps in good form, sorry. At least I’m admitting to this, if you can, more power to you…

Also make sure you do plenty of stretching and loosening for you back after your 20 rep set and whatever you do don’t let your form deteriorate or you won’t be squatting for a while due to injury, one of the people responsible for promoting the 20 rep squat is Dr Ken Leistner, and after reading his life in the loft series in Milo he’s admitted to having more injuries than anyone I’ve heard of, surgery on groin, knees etc.
Good luck…

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[quote]adrenalinx wrote:
im changing my current routine from a push,pull,legs method to a modified 20 rep squat routine and just wandering what you all think. I posted not long ago about legs dominating my upper body but after some advice i thought i would embrace my legs as i love squatting and after researching a bit i come up with this simple,basic routine

3x’s per week (mon,wed,fri - tue,thurs,sat)

Squat 1x20 (after a few warm up sets)
Push movement 5x5
pull movement 5x5

my current squat 3 rep max is 165kg, so im starting at 100kg and each workout im gonna add 2.5kg.
the other movements are gonna be compound movements, like a combo of
DB military press
pullups

flat bench
bent over barbell row

dips
rack pulls

gonna mix it up so i enjoy it and try to to eat plenty of clean calories.

what do you all think?[/quote]

I think Colucci covered this best.

What you are doing is really a VERY old-tyme routine.

It’ll work but it’s going go mostly to whatever muscles grow when YOU squat.

This is not the an optimal BB’er programme, but sure you can gain size with that.

Like Colucci said, something like this kind of thing you are planning on doing was common for decades. They gained muscle just as you will.

Half the battle is food surplus, this will ‘work’ provided you go balls-out, and eat a shit-ton…Like almost anything really…