20 rep squats and milk program works PERIOD!!

I did a modified version:

M/F: 20 reps (or failure) + one non-stop set to absolute failure usually 8-9 reps

W: upperbody workout

I ate 1.5-2lbs a steak after every workout and 3 gallons of milk a week and I gained 25 lbs in 5 weeks.

I increased the weight every workout no matter what and went to failure. Towards the end I was getting 16-18 reps becuz the back pain was too overwhelming.

I've never grown so fast in my life. Had to cut some weight afterwards though obviously as thats too much weight in 5 weeks but I think I ended the workout doing 235x16-18 at 188lbs.

Be true to yourself (make sure your going full depth and true failure) and have your diet and sleep in check and you'll grow like a weed guarenteed.

I'm going to try a combo of 20's one week and 4-6 the next. I did something similar in my younger days and it worked really well. I am supposed to get back into mountain biking with the wife as well...see how that goes after leg day lol.

i like to do squats 4-6 reps
at the end of an 8 week training split i will do two weeks of 4/3/2/2 powerlifting style and push the barrier big time
Squats for me are always below parallel ATG the only way

when i started out after a year i got stuck on 315, i could do it 8 times but could not do 335 for 2 haha. so i decided to stick to 315 until i hit it for 20, and i did i got up to 21. Then when i got stuck on 365 i did this again. then when i got stuck on 405 i did this again, unfortunately at 405 the most i ever got was 14 one week then i said screw it and went on going up until 600x2. but i am going to go back and get that 405 x 20 now that i see this video and all you guys talking twenties!!!


Maybe i will log it

So i definitely think the high reps has its place for me it is to smash mental and physical barriers more than it is for size. But if you can do any weight 20 times good form i think that is damn good practice before increasing the weight, and safer than jumping up in weight with lower reps

ive done a leg workout ive found on the animal site...

8x20 leg x
4x20 squats
4x20 hack squats


it kicked my ass, i do it about once a month

hmm i wanna try these now. but oday i did somthing a guy i work with calls rum runners....
im not gona lie its brutal. i felt so drained afterward. give it a go if u wanna try soemthing diff

stack 2-3 plates each side of the leg press, depends how strong ur feeling
get a buddy and go 1 at a time right after eachother

now first do 10 reps each, then 20 then 30 then 40 then 50 then 50 ,40, 30, 20, 10. on the set where ur doing 40 ur gona wonder wut the hell u got urself into

ur legs will be on fire i wanted to pass out, that is of course cuz i decided to do 10 sets of 10 on leg extensions after that...

You want to build muscular power and endurance.. unfortunately those are complete opposite components on the resistance training continuum.

Power training would include 75-85% of 1RM with repetitions around 3. Moving a submaximal weight at high velocity.

Endurance training would include resistance at about 50% of 1 RM for repetitions around 15

Kind of a large gap. Doing 20 reps will increase endurance but will actually hurt your power.

www.vastmuscle.com

Originally Posted by shortstop1616

You want to build muscular power and endurance.. unfortunately those are complete opposite components on the resistance training continuum.

Power training would include 75-85% of 1RM with repetitions around 3. Moving a submaximal weight at high velocity.

Endurance training would include resistance at about 50% of 1 RM for repetitions around 15

Kind of a large gap. Doing 20 reps will increase endurance but will actually hurt your power.

www.vastmuscle.com

20 Reps increases my endurance drastically, leg size, and yes actually my power has gone up too. I believe Tom Platz swore by 20 rep squats, and would routinely do it with 500+ lbs, he had hella power and endurance.

I can say now that Ive switched back over to lower reps for now,.. my strength gains off 20 rep sets are amazing. I think 20 rep sets really teach you more determination and rev up your intensity, which transfers over if you go back to heavier, lower rep sets.

Originally Posted by BigKrabbe

20 Reps increases my endurance drastically, leg size, and yes actually my power has gone up too. I believe Tom Platz swore by 20 rep squats, and would routinely do it with 500+ lbs, he had hella power and endurance.

Endurance and power are are complete opposites. For example... look at a long distance runner and the size of his legs compared to a sprinter. The long distance runner's legs are much smaller and are less powerful due to smaller muscle size and smaller cross sectional area. Larger muscle or cross sectional area of muscle fiber = more strength and power.

Who would squat a higher 1 RM... the endurance runner or the sprinter.
Clear cut... the sprinter because he is more powerful, therefore power does not correlate with endurance and in fact endurance training will diminish gains in strength in power. This is why you don't see shot putters running 8 k's.

Tom Platz swore by it because he injected chemical substances that modified hormone levels in the body... if you know what I mean

BUT... legs are some massive muscle groups, quads, hams, glutes... etc
and a LOT of joints and body parts involved. that being said you can go from squatting 315 to 405 within a couple of months doing 3-6 reps. you have to consider the safety of all those body parts! that is where 20 rep squats come in. you do 315, 335, 365 for 6 reps then go into 315 x 20 until you get it to bring up the rest of your body to be able to handle that weight.

so YES 20 reps do increase power over the long run. because when you hit 405 x 6, 500 x 6 etc and your knees and hips are sore you are no longer going to have power. going 315 x 12, then 315 x 15 then 315 x 18 then 315 x 21... more reps each weeks is where you are waiting to let your tendons and everything catch up a little since those things take longer than muscle to respond properly so i always incorporate a 20 rep scheme to get ready to push the weights up further.

i dont recommend it all the time but once or twice a year it is a very good thing for your body to run 5-6 weeks increasing the reps as you get stronger with a weight

So your saying that high volume sets help with tendon and everything to catch up with your quickly growing muscles in the legs?

I'm not saying you should train for power 365 days a year either.

If this is for a change a pace...go ahead... but if you want the best gains in power 20 reps is not appropriate.

Whats the difference between doing sets of 12 or 15 as a high volume set instead of 20?

i totally agree low reps for power and size. but i ran into the problem where i went up in strength too fast and my joints were not ready for it. your muscle always responds faster than any bones, ligaments, tendons etc.

so if you have freaky genetics and you can take it i suppose you could push yourself. but if anything happens its too late. i think 12-15 is the same as 20. there is no magic number. even training a bit smarter .for example waiting until you do 315 eight times before going to 320...

ofcourse i cant do this. if for example i hit 405 x 5, i am like sweeet time to go up. so i set aside a month or something to go 405 x 6, 405 x 7, 405 x 8, 405 x 10, 405 x 12, 405 x 13, 405 x 14 for example then start going up again

Good talk fritzer.... educating these linkettes

Originally Posted by MoTiV

20 rep squats and milk program works PERIOD!!

I did a modified version:

M/F: 20 reps (or failure) + one non-stop set to absolute failure usually 8-9 reps

W: upperbody workout

I ate 1.5-2lbs a steak after every workout and 3 gallons of milk a week and I gained 25 lbs in 5 weeks.

I increased the weight every workout no matter what and went to failure. Towards the end I was getting 16-18 reps becuz the back pain was too overwhelming.

I've never grown so fast in my life. Had to cut some weight afterwards though obviously as thats too much weight in 5 weeks but I think I ended the workout doing 235x16-18 at 188lbs.

Be true to yourself (make sure your going full depth and true failure) and have your diet and sleep in check and you'll grow like a weed guarenteed.

sounds solid bro espcially the steak!!!! dam u must be rich, but 8 to 10 oz is much cheaper and a smaller meal so u could split the intake up... just mop

Originally Posted by alwaysgaining

sounds solid bro espcially the steak!!!! dam u must be rich, but 8 to 10 oz is much cheaper and a smaller meal so u could split the intake up... just mop

I justify my excessive spending on food and supplements by my lack of alcohol and drug consumption. I figured if I'm going to be addicted to something it should be something that isn't totally detrimental to my health.

I've just started DC training which also advocates 20 rep squats called widowmakers which you do 5 minutes after a heavy set, 6-10 reps to failure. It's kind of scary and it's totally kicking my ass but I'm hoping it starts to show after about 5-6 weeks.

Well I can honestly say that for size high reps works WAY better for my legs at least. After doing 5x5's and lots of 8x3 all winter and spring I am hitting a higher gym max right now doing sets of 20 than my meet pr when I was training low reps all winter....my thighs are also fckuing enormous and I can't fit into a lot of jeans comfortably right now.

Originally Posted by nycste

i finish squat days with 20 rep widowmakers many times

makes a perfect challenge to both the mind and the body

cant say much for how well it works or anything but then again i cannot pin point any exercise that works wonders.. my advice do widowmakers 20rep final set for a month on leg days then take a month off, and see the comparison etc

what are widowmakers and how do you do them?

Originally Posted by BShifter479

what are widowmakers and how do you do them?

It's a set of 20 reps of deep squats. You either do 20 or go to failure (that means stopping at the bottom).

It's a form of breathing squats meaning you can stop at the top and breath in-between reps.

For DC training you do a heavy set of 6-10 reps to failure wait 5 minutes and then do a set of widowmakers with about 65% of the heavy set weight.

anyone try the 20 rep routine with other lifts? such as bench?

Originally Posted by mrlargecalves

anyone try the 20 rep routine with other lifts? such as bench?

Yup,.. i did til about a month ago doing DC. Same principle as squats and did rest pauses on other exercises, along with forced stretches. Only exercise I didn't do it with was deads, as I react very good to low-moderate reps, so no need to change. Overall the strength gains AND mass gains were good ; i will be switching back end of this month.

Originally Posted by fritzer

i like to do squats 4-6 reps
at the end of an 8 week training split i will do two weeks of 4/3/2/2 powerlifting style and push the barrier big time
Squats for me are always below parallel ATG the only way

when i started out after a year i got stuck on 315, i could do it 8 times but could not do 335 for 2 haha. so i decided to stick to 315 until i hit it for 20, and i did i got up to 21. Then when i got stuck on 365 i did this again. then when i got stuck on 405 i did this again, unfortunately at 405 the most i ever got was 14 one week then i said screw it and went on going up until 600x2. but i am going to go back and get that 405 x 20 now that i see this video and all you guys talking twenties!!!


Maybe i will log it

So i definitely think the high reps has its place for me it is to smash mental and physical barriers more than it is for size. But if you can do any weight 20 times good form i think that is damn good practice before increasing the weight, and safer than jumping up in weight with lower reps

Log it with vids and Im there.

Do any of you guys complete your squat reps with a calf raises? I've been told not to, but it comes so natural to me, I can't stop doing it.

Talk about feeling jello-legged. My legs are all over the place trying to get those last few reps in. I have to concentrate hard to use only my legs and not my lower back.

Anybody ever passed out from doing these? Barfing doesn't count. If you lose consciousness, does that count as failure? I need to know if when the dizziness comes on, is it ok to go on or am I risking a heart attack?