Re: 20 Rep Squats

[Guest guest]

Dear group members,

excuse my ignorance and nescience, but what are 20 reps of squats

doing for na olympic weightlifter and why is a volleyballer

interested in gaining size and weight?

Thanks,

Christian Bosse

London, UK

> >

> > Everyone has seen the claims for the " squats and milk " routine:

> " Pack On 30

> > Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks!!! Yaddayaddayadda!!! " But, despite

the

> hype, I

> > suppose it's possible that the 20 rep squat could be effective in

> developing

> > hypertrophy as well as strength. I was wondering if anyone has

any

> > experience with it.

> >

> > Zatsiorsky and Kraemer seem to suggest that hypertrophy is

largely a

> > function of load (amount of weight x total number of

repetitions).

> That's

> > why very high intensity, low volume workouts are effective in

> training the

> > CNS and in building strength without necessarily increasing

muscle

> mass to a

> > substantial degree. If, for example, a person has to almost kill

> himself to

> > get 20 reps squatting with 300 lbs, that person's total squatting

> load for

> > that workout is 6000 lbs. Call that the HiIntensity-LowVolume

> routine. If

> > that person, with the same weight, did 4 sets of 10 instead of 1

set

> of 20,

> > his squatting load would be 12000 lbs. Call that the

> > MediumIntensity-HighVolume routine. From the perspective of

generating

> > hypertrophy, would that be more effective? Possibly. But let's

go

> to the

> > opposite extreme. Our lifter does 12 leisurely sets of 10 reps

with 100

> > lbs. He still has his 12000 lbs. Call that the LowIntensity-

High

> Volume

> > routine. Do we expect that to produce hypertrophy? Probably

not.

> >

> > From what I've read, the routine most effective in generating

> hypertrophy is

> > the one that recruits both the greatest number of muscle fibers

and the

> > greatest range--on up to the largest Type IIb fibers. Once that

has

> been

> > done, more is a waste. From that perspective, a single set of

20 reps

> > could be the most effective. If anyone has any thoughts on the

> matter or

> > any experience with the 20 rep squat program, I'd like to hear

what

> you have

> > to say.

> >

> > Pitruzzello

> > Chicago, IL

> >

>