20 rep or breathing squats

[manwithav8]

Has anyone tried this and had good results from it?

have been following a programe now for a couple of months and it's time for a change.

I need to pack on a little size and have read a fair bit on ths programe.

So, anyone, all comments welcome as long as they are constructive lol

Cheers

[Bobsta]

I did the 20 rep breathing squats almost exclusively for legs for quite a long time and got good results from.

To do them properly though you have to do full squats (Ass to ground) every rep, and you should choose a weight that you normaly do 10 reps with, but you carry on till you've done 20 reps, taking deep breaths after each rep. Its a killer!!

you probably know this but there is an old school mass routine that uses the 20rep breathing squat as the 1st exercise of the routine followed imediately by 20reps of dumbell pullovers, one set each. And then you do bench press, chin ups, bent over rows, overhead press and barbell curls.

The key is to always come back every week and increase the poundages you use for every exercise. That way you have no choice but grow. Provided you eating big too.

Although its not a typical bodybuilding routine and does'nt directly hit everything, its definitly a good routine to pack on some size and gain weight fast.

[nate225]

20 rep squats rock!

Did them years ago with good results over a short period. They do burn you out pretty quick though and are taxing as hell on the lower back. With this in mind I'd suggest planning some low volume / no 'bar on back' weeks within your programme.

I haven't done these as a programme for a long time now, but I do utilise high rep / high volume / high intensity sessions (including 50+ rep hack squats, or 10x10 Leg Presses, 15 rep squats) as a way to shock the system every couple of months; going from 3-5 rep max work to 70 rep hacks is a hell of a shock! :grin:

[HumanPerformance]

Yes 20 rep breathing squats are one of the absolute fastest ways to put on muscle. The problem is very few people have the mental strength to do them properly and stick with them. Perform them exactly the way Bobsta said and you will get amazing results from the program.

[matt.be]

The problem is very few people have the mental strength to do them properly and stick with them.

Soo true, the last 5 reps can be agony and the tempation to cheat/stop seems soo appealing. Its like having that little devil on your shoulder " you dont need to go deep, do a partial, you've worked hard enough"

[rose]

Maintaining concentration and focus is key, not letting your mind wander. Especially at the higher reps. A good technique is to mentally break it into 4 x 5 reps (while still doing the 20 reps as one set etc), to trick your brain into thinking it's not as hard. And as it gets heavier you can use that technique to break down what you need to focus on for each 5 etc.

Do it :nod:

[nate225]

Maintaining concentration and focus is key, not letting your mind wander. Especially at the higher reps. A good technique is to mentally break it into 4 x 5 reps (while still doing the 20 reps as one set etc), to trick your brain into thinking it's not as hard. And as it gets heavier you can use that technique to break down what you need to focus on for each 5 etc.

Do it :nod:

LOL if its heavy enough, (i.e. you're gonna make 20 reps and faint/spew/hit the foetal position etc), you'll need to go for gold on the first 8-12, then counts three, then two, then it'll be singles all the way!!

If nothing else it's great for mental toughness.

An aside on mental toughness - we did strip sets on Hacks, my training partner did 30reps and turned white, dry reached (sp) a bit and had to lay down. I trumped him with 60 reps (and I'd upped the weights). Then Sam did 70 reps to take the 'tough mofo' award; this is made more impressive when you know Sam weighs 195kg!! How his lungs supplied his brain enough Oxygen I'll never know!

High reps are great fun on legs.

PS anyone heard about the gal doing 400x10 deep reps on the leg press.....hmmm. Can't wait to see those legs on stage in the next few weeks!

[rose]

If nothing else it's great for mental toughness... then it'll be singles all the way

:nod:

An aside on mental toughness - we did strip sets on Hacks, my training partner did 30reps and turned white, dry reached (sp) a bit and had to lay down. I trumped him with 60 reps (and I'd upped the weights). Then Sam did 70 reps to take the 'tough mofo' award; this is made more impressive when you know Sam weighs 195kg!! How his lungs supplied his brain enough Oxygen I'll never know!

Awesome. What weight were you squatting at 60/70 reps? 8)

[Team JLA]

I used to them regularly when i hit a brick wall (plateaued out) in squat strength ..was stuck on a 140kg for 1... an couldn't break it ...so i decided to do the BReathing Squats .First time i tried it i did it with 100kg.. totally kicked my ass ..almost passed out ..ears were ringing and everything , no puke though.

I got good results noticed significant increase in lean body mass, but like others have said it requires allot of mental strength.

[manwithav8]

Hey all, thanks heaps for the info...

Bobsta, the programme you mentioned is the one I am going to follow. INcreasing weight each workout with the pullovers, bench, chins etc etc..

Im am really starting to like milk lol.. They mention taking in a glass at every meal, I am currently getting more like two glasses of skim milk every meal..

Hopefully I will start to see some change. I hate smashing away at the gym for months with no noticeable results.

I am currently 73kg which is the same weight when I started 3 months ago. No weight increase but have leaned out alot. But size never comes to me so I am hoping this might be it. I know it is going to hurt.

My legs just after mondays session are telling me not to bother but stuff them lol. The hill run today didn't help them though .

[nate225]

If nothing else it's great for mental toughness... then it'll be singles all the way

:nod:

An aside on mental toughness - we did strip sets on Hacks, my training partner did 30reps and turned white, dry reached (sp) a bit and had to lay down. I trumped him with 60 reps (and I'd upped the weights). Then Sam did 70 reps to take the 'tough mofo' award; this is made more impressive when you know Sam weighs 195kg!! How his lungs supplied his brain enough Oxygen I'll never know!

Awesome. What weight were you squatting at 60/70 reps? 8)

We were on Hacks, started at 210 from memory, worked to failure & stripped 20kg (loaded with 10kg plates) each time with no pauses between strips.

On squats I'd probably do 160x20 for one set???? Have done 180x15 years ago when I was only good for a 250 1RM. Unsure really - mainly do our high rep stuff on hacks / leg press for variety (not much carry over between a 20 rep squat and a PLing comp squat!).

[Old Bull]

We give budding Powerlifters the 20 Rep Introduction. 20 reps at a 100kgs then come and see us and we will start teaching them PL stuff. If they ain't go the mental toughness for that they ain't gonna be no Powerlifter.

Puts some decent size on and gets the technique right.

Like nate225 said you need some no bar on the back weeks kinda like a deload just to keep fresh.

Lets us know how it goes

Something to read before Starting from The House Walls

God of Squat

As I approached the throne of the great God of Squat My legs began to tremble and my face grew hot I knew he was a difficult God to please And that before him all must bend their knees

I quivered and I shook as I stood before the throne For by his mighty power many weak legs had grown His penetrating gaze was almost more than I could bear So I bowed my head in a brief and silent prayer

The bar in his hands held many a blackened plate Poised as if to crush me with their awesome weight Slowly I approached as if this act would be my last In my head I saw visions of memories from the past

As scenes from my life flashed within my mind I realized that this God was neither benevolent nor kind His purpose was to torture and inflict terrible pain His excuse was that without these, there would be no gain

As the great God of Squat placed the bar upon my back My muscles began to twitch and my joints began to crack "Bow down before me!" he screamed inside my head As he laid his hand upon me I wished that I was dead

I screamed and cursed and pushed with all my might Until my heart was pounding and my face turned white My head was throbbing as stars burst inside my skull My vision grew dimmer and my senses began to dull

No longer could I stand to bear this evil abuse As slippery with sweat my grip began to loose The bar refused to budge no matter how I tried As I plunged to the depths and in agony I cried

As I staggered away from within his clutching grasp My head was reeling and my breath came in a gasp The heaving of my stomach could no longer be restrained As I spewed upon the ground the contents that remained

Little did I realize that he hadn't finished with me yet As I gazed into his eyes he beckoned me for another set It was there upon the floor that I knew at once within

That never again would I be able to live a life of sin

[manwithav8]

We give budding Powerlifters the 20 Rep Introduction. 20 reps at a 100kgs then come and see us and we will start teaching them PL stuff. If they ain't go the mental toughness for that they ain't gonna be no Powerlifter.

Puts some decent size on and gets the technique right.

Like nate225 said you need some no bar on the back weeks kinda like a deload just to keep fresh.

Lets us know how it goes

Something to read before Starting from The House Walls

God of Squat

As I approached the throne of the great God of Squat My legs began to tremble and my face grew hot I knew he was a difficult God to please And that before him all must bend their knees

I quivered and I shook as I stood before the throne For by his mighty power many weak legs had grown His penetrating gaze was almost more than I could bear So I bowed my head in a brief and silent prayer

The bar in his hands held many a blackened plate Poised as if to crush me with their awesome weight Slowly I approached as if this act would be my last In my head I saw visions of memories from the past

As scenes from my life flashed within my mind I realized that this God was neither benevolent nor kind His purpose was to torture and inflict terrible pain His excuse was that without these, there would be no gain

As the great God of Squat placed the bar upon my back My muscles began to twitch and my joints began to crack "Bow down before me!" he screamed inside my head As he laid his hand upon me I wished that I was dead

I screamed and cursed and pushed with all my might Until my heart was pounding and my face turned white My head was throbbing as stars burst inside my skull My vision grew dimmer and my senses began to dull

No longer could I stand to bear this evil abuse As slippery with sweat my grip began to loose The bar refused to budge no matter how I tried As I plunged to the depths and in agony I cried

As I staggered away from within his clutching grasp My head was reeling and my breath came in a gasp The heaving of my stomach could no longer be restrained As I spewed upon the ground the contents that remained

Little did I realize that he hadn't finished with me yet As I gazed into his eyes he beckoned me for another set It was there upon the floor that I knew at once within

That never again would I be able to live a life of sin

Thats a cool red oldbull.

Well I am into the second night, just finished. Although i am starting light and increasing the weight every workout, 62.5kg still kicks my ass.

To go low I have to adopt a really wide stance due to flexibility issues, bubt hopefully as i go along I will be able to bring it in as no doubt my tightness will inprove.

One thing I have noticed is my hands and forarms start going numb after about the 6th rep and get very light headed from the heavy breathing.

Will this improve with time????

I left with an almost full body pump tonight, it felt great.

Im starting to think I should start a new journal. I can see this getting very hard later on though.

I have calculated it out so that by week 6, last workout on this programe I should hopefully be repping 105kg for 20. I will be stoked as I only weight 73kg soaking wet and my quads are only the size of a rake handle lol.

[manwithav8]

So for these deload weeks, when would you recommend I take them? One week of no squats every 2 weeks?

I am following a 6 week programe based around the 20 Rep brething squats.

Or should I just go at it for the 6 weeks then take a full week off before getting in to my new routine?

I have read that one should only do the 20 rep squats for 6 weeks then have a 6 week break before doing them again.

SO to deload once every couple of weeks and crack on straight thorugh.

Also, in my last post I asked about hands and forarms going numb, has anyone else had this problem and will it get better??

Cheers

[Gasp]

Try alternating them week on, week off.

I use 140 for my 20`s but thats a big ask and some days its better to use 100s to get the metabolism up.

If your looking for size/growth with different forms of intensity then do 20s on a weight that will pop your eyeballs on to the mirror like fried eggs then follow it up next week with an 8-10 on your heaviest.

The two exercises are totally different but compliment each other beautifully for gains.

[manwithav8]

Try alternating them week on, week off.

I use 140 for my 20`s but thats a big ask and some days its better to use 100s to get the metabolism up.

If your looking for size/growth with different forms of intensity then do 20s on a weight that will pop your eyeballs on to the mirror like fried eggs then follow it up next week with an 8-10 on your heaviest.

The two exercises are totally different but compliment each other beautifully for gains.

HOw could I work that in with the 6 week routine I am following?

I am putting more weight on the bar every workout so the weight increase is steady.

Should I forget about the whole 6 weeks and alternate for 12? This way I still get to the max weight for 20 reps but also the in between weeks are loading up for max?

Not to sure on how to make this work now??

[Bobsta]

Mate, finish your 6 week routine and dont change anything. Get what you can from it and once you've completed the 6 week then you can take the other suggestions on board.

[manwithav8]

Mate, finish your 6 week routine and dont change anything. Get what you can from it and once you've completed the 6 week then you can take the other suggestions on board.

Yeah mate thats what I decided in the end....

Will see how this works for me..

Cheers

[IronHyde]

This sounds awsome. I will deffinatley have to look into doing this! This thread has just made me realise how much i still have to learn.

manwithav8: Update us on progress in the future, interested to hear what you think.

[manwithav8]

This sounds awsome. I will deffinatley have to look into doing this! This thread has just made me realise how much i still have to learn.

manwithav8: Update us on progress in the future, interested to hear what you think.

Hey mate. I am really enjoying this routine at the moment...

Mon/wed/fri

squat 1x20 ( increase weight every workout )

Dumbell pull overs 1x20 ( light weight, used to stretch out ribcage)

Bench ( alternating, mon flat, wed incline, fri flat )

Chin ups ( weighted when strong enough, underhand close grip )

Dips ( weighted)

Military press

Barbell Bi curls

Abs

I do this on the above nights with all lifts increasing in weight every workout.

I leave the gym with an all over pump, makes you feel massive.

The key though is drinking lots of milk ( I'm dropping 3L of skim a day at the moment ) and lots of food. You will need to energy if you take this on.

I'm still fairly light in the sqauts at the moment but by the end my toothpick legs should be repping 20 at 105kg. I'm hoping to get my flat bench close to 100 for 3 sets of 10 aswell.

I started this at 73kg last monday, on the scales last night I was 75.7 so hoping tonight might be showing me at 76.

It has been said that the squats and milk will pack weight on quick and I am pretty uch the heaviest I have ever been now. Fat gain isn't as bad as I thought either but I guess that is cos I am on skim milk not whole milk.

When I finish this 6 weeks I am going to have a week or 2 off then back into it but reset my weight from my 10RPM and go from there. Just using this routine to condition myself for the ball busters lol..

Any questions let me know