20 Rep Squats

[Guest guest]

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