Anyone else do 20 rep squats

[Jitterbug]

Yeah that's not very nice for the knees. When you squat really heavy, the weights will naturally "pull" your knees inwards. Having good form means you have your feet open out 30 degrees & push your knees out when you go down towards the directions of the feet. That way you counter that "pull" effect and save your knees. It's OK for it to happen a bit when you do 1-2 reps at your max weights, but very bad if you're doing high reps at what should be much lower than your max.

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I'm back doing 20 rep breathing squat again with you guys. My last set was 105kg x20 (took over 3 mins) 5 weeks ago. My back squat 1RM then was 120kg, and it is now 150kg.

Did 107.5kg x20 today. That was fairly easy and took only a bit over 1 min. I'll be doing this for 6 weeks which hopefully will end with 120kg x20 i.e 1.5xBW x20 (I'm 80kg). That's my 2010 goal.

 

[B. Fierce]

When you squat really heavy, the weights will naturally "pull" your knees inwards. Having good form means you have your feet open out 30 degrees & push your knees out when you go down towards the directions of the feet. That way you counter that "pull" effect and save your knees. It's OK for it to happen a bit when you do 1-2 reps at your max weights, but very bad if you're doing high reps at what should be much lower than your max.

Hmmm...I will give that a try. Hopefully a change in form will alleviate some of the knee pain that I have experienced from doing squats.

Anyway, I am starting my first few workouts with the 20 rep squats. The first day I squatted 125 lbs x 20 for warmup. And finished with 135lbs x 20. I was disappointed that I couldn't squat my body weight (180 lbs.) during the first session.

That disappointment sets the table for my first goal:

Working my way up to squatting my body weight.

The quest for 180 lbs x 20 begins.................. :rockon:

 

[Jitterbug]

B Fierce, for a demonstration of what I said, watch how these two guys squat (190kg then 210kg):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_jxTc2ITA8

They're Olympic lifters so they squat high bar, narrow stance.

Look at their feet and how they're pushing their knees out.

The guy in white shirt is the stronger fella with slightly better form.

You could see that the guy in black was getting his knees "pulled" inwards because of the heavy weights and he was pushing his knees out like I said to counter that effect.

Good work trying this 20 rep out. Few people could squat bodyweight x20 in the first session, so don't beat yourself up. You'll get there soon.

 

[Drum&Bass]

Hmmm...I will give that a try. Hopefully a change in form will alleviate some of the knee pain that I have experienced from doing squats.

Knee pain is almost always linked to tight hamstrings and the inability to protrude the hips back in an exaggerated manner..Also I dont know what kind of squat your going for but if your going deep your stance needs to be close !!! as in 1, 1.5 inch gap between your heels with your feet point outwards.

Am I right in thinking that this guy is going to **** up his knees if he keeps squatting heavy like that?:

not sure...lots of people do lots of things that aren't right...just make sure you dont do what he's doing.

p.s. his foot placement is wrong, feet are to forward for the depth he's going for, plus he has no neural control over his abductors because of his foot positioning.

he first day I squatted 125 lbs x 20 for warmup.

You squat 125 for a warm up when your max load was 135 ????!!?!?!?!? that doesnt seem like a logical decision. I would have done a warm with body weight then the bar moving up really slow for 3 - 5 reps till you were ready for 135 x 20

 

[B. Fierce]

After almost a week off from squatting, I continue my quest to squat 180lbs x 20.

Today was a great day for me in the gym. I made those weights my B!tch!! I felt like I could tackle anything.......

And then came the time to do squats. For some reason I get nervous when it is "squat time".

In a rare humble moment today I had to put my ego aside and start slow. First I had to warm up with the bar for 5 reps. That helped to calm my nerves a bit.

Then I said "What the hell, I'm ready for some weight on this bar!"

My squats went as follows:

3x5 @ 95 lbs
4x5 @ 115 lbs
4x5 @ 135 lbs
1X10 @ 145 lbs

I was glad that I could squat 145 lbs today(an increase of 10 lbs over my last workout squat max). Next workout session my goal will be to do it for 20 reps!

180 lbs x 20 doesn't look like it's that far away! Can't wait to reach it and set new goals. But I won't get ahead of myself :nono: .

 

[Amazing]

Knee pain is almost always linked to tight hamstrings and the inability to protrude the hips back in an exaggerated manner..Also I dont know what kind of squat your going for but if your going deep your stance needs to be close !!! as in 1, 1.5 inch gap between your heels with your feet point outwards.

not sure...lots of people do lots of things that aren't right...just make sure you dont do what he's doing.

p.s. his foot placement is wrong, feet are to forward for the depth he's going for, plus he has no neural control over his abductors because of his foot positioning.


You squat 125 for a warm up when your max load was 135 ????!!?!?!?!? that doesnt seem like a logical decision. I would have done a warm with body weight then the bar moving up really slow for 3 - 5 reps till you were ready for 135 x 20

1.5 inch between heels?!! what?

I might need to do a vid so you can check my form. I did 235 x 3 today, almost stayed down.

experience some knee pain time to time, but usually not from squats. Sometimes there is a slight click noise in the knees though. Toes in front of knees. Back straight, looking up a bit.

I do feel my back soreness but I think bad sitting posture affects that more than squats and deads.

my stance is slightly wider than shoulder, I go a bit below parallel. My toes are slightly out.

How is that?

 

[Jitterbug]

I don't know any deep squatter who has their heels that close. It's usually shoulder width or slightly wider than shoulder width (depending on the body).

 

[Drum&Bass]

I might need to do a vid so you can check my form. I did 235 x 3 today, almost stayed down.

experience some knee pain time to time, but usually not from squats. Sometimes there is a slight click noise in the knees though. Toes in front of knees. Back straight, looking up a bit.

Amazing do you have tight calve muscles ? poor ankle movement ? You'll know if things are tight if you notice at the bottom of your body weight ATG squat your heels rise making you drift toward the front of the foot. BTW just how low do you go on your squats ???

I do feel my back soreness but I think bad sitting posture affects that more than squats and deads.

my stance is slightly wider than shoulder, I go a bit below parallel. My toes are slightly out.

How is that?

Sounds to me like you dont have enough flexibilty yet to start doing barbell deep squats...start doing goblet squats for awhile and practice squatting facing a wall.

One last note !!! When your coming up from the squat you need use your hips to swing backwards and up. You'll know your coming out of the hole correctly if your knees move backwards as you stand up. Alot of people think squatting is moving up and down buts its not !! push your hips back at the start, use momentum and swing your hips UP on your ascent.

 

[ATP]

1.5 inch between heels?!! what?

I might need to do a vid so you can check my form. I did 235 x 3 today, almost stayed down.

experience some knee pain time to time, but usually not from squats. Sometimes there is a slight click noise in the knees though. Toes in front of knees. Back straight, looking up a bit.

I do feel my back soreness but I think bad sitting posture affects that more than squats and deads.

my stance is slightly wider than shoulder, I go a bit below parallel. My toes are slightly out.

How is that?

Don't look slightly upwards, look slightly down instead. The spine is positioned pretty wierd if you are looking upward while the torso is leaning forward. I also find it harder to balance while looking upward.

 

[Jitterbug]

110kg x20 today, done! Took a bit over 2 mins. Challenging enough but wasn't too taxing, form was solid through out. A few more weeks I should get 120kg x20 which is 1.5BW x20, my 2010 goal.

This set is extra special to me as 110kg was my best 1RM of 2009.

 

[ATP]

110kg x20 today, done! Took a bit over 2 mins. Challenging enough but wasn't too taxing, form was solid through out. A few more weeks I should get 120kg x20 which is 1.5BW x20, my 2010 goal.

This set is extra special to me as 110kg was my best 1RM of 2009.

Grats m8

 

[Jitterbug]

Cheers mate

Rewarded myself with some awesome roast pork ribs!

Can't wait till my weightlifting shoes get here, and see what they do for my squats!

 

[Jitterbug]

112.5kg x20 - solid form throughout, even during the last 5. It's getting pretty challenging though. Three more sessions for this cycle, at the end of which, I hope to get 120kg x20, my 2010 goal.

The mental aspect of this torture squat is amazing. It's like a rebirth process: you go in weak, nervous and scared; you come out strong, calm and confident. It's only 2-3 mins but feels like a very long time.

 

[synergy1]

112.5kg x20 - solid form throughout, even during the last 5. It's getting pretty challenging though. Three more sessions for this cycle, at the end of which, I hope to get 120kg x20, my 2010 goal.

The mental aspect of this torture squat is amazing. It's like a rebirth process: you go in weak, nervous and scared; you come out strong, calm and confident. It's only 2-3 mins but feels like a very long time.

I hear ya man, by the end of mine I was literally trying not to puke by rep 13. Unfortunately this go round I won't be able to join - been working on a farm ( yes a ****ing farm) and am gassed doing just regular crap in addition to the gym. Man though, If I did this **** for a living , I would cancel my gym membership and probably be in the best shape of my life.

Another go round I shall join, if nothing else but to provide motivation or trash talk...which ever gets better results!

 

[Jitterbug]

Yeah farm work is tough.

I was half-joking around with my mate that instead of going to the gym, we should become lumberjacks. It pays pretty well, you get to be farking strong & ripped, AND you're a friggin' lumberjack - only pirates can be as manly.

 

[Fuglydude]

Great 20 rep numbers jitter!

In the past I've actually gone out to daily labor job placement agencies prior to shows taken 15 mg of dexedrine and worked like a machine for a good 8-10 hours. It gets you ripped faster than any cardio work out AND you get paid $10-$12/hour to basically get in shape! I don't know why anyone would wanna do an actual gym workout after doing heavy manual labour like that!
Its a great change up from the usual gym work outs that I do.

 

[Jitterbug]

Cheers mate

If those manual labour places had hot chicks bending over on swiss balls in front of you while you're working, I'd quit my gym and possibly my job and go work there instead.

Just received my weightlifting shoes from Risto sports. Can't wait till I try them out in the squat session tomorrow! I tried with just bodyweight squat & stick and felt comfortable and strong at depth.

 

[synergy1]

Just received my weightlifting shoes from Risto sports. Can't wait till I try them out in the squat session tomorrow! I tried with just bodyweight squat & stick and felt comfortable and strong at depth.

Am anxious to hear your thoughts on them. I need some myself.

So yeah farm work and forgot to mention I am working all summer on construction building our home. So as fugly said, all manual labor. Yes, we even have to fell our own trees for the timber work. Its going to be nuts ( hopefully in the happy go lucky way)

 

[Cure]

I did my first 20 repper today.

I thought Id start light with 60kg on the bar and it was TOUGH.

Plan is to do a 20 repper twice per week, adding 2.5kg each time. Slow and steady.

My goal is to hit 100kg for 20 reps.

Currently I can do 100kg for 3x5.

happy to be part of the club guys!

Cure.

 

[Jitterbug]

Am anxious to hear your thoughts on them. I need some myself.

I wasn't going for 1RM so I don't know if I can back-squat more with these shoes, but they're amazing! I am so much more stable at depth, can go deeper and still keep the tension. Makes coming out of the bottom so much easier.

FYI my back squat session was:

Bar x20, 60kg x8, 90kg x3
120kg x1, 127.5kg x1, 145kg x1, 147.5kg x1, 147.5kg x1, 127.5kg x3

(rep set up a little strange because it's a part of a progressive program)

And my 1RM is 150kg.

I did some front-squat after my back squat session, although I just did front squat on Sunday. My previous best FSquat was 107.5kg. I got 120kg relatively easily. That's a 12.5kg increase just because of the shoes, as I could stay upright comfortably and be strong in that position.

Also did some overhead squat. I used to have stability issues with the bottom portion related to my lower body, but the shoes fixed it. Now I only have to deal with scapula stability.

Best $130 (AUD) I've ever spent on shoes!

So yeah farm work and forgot to mention I am working all summer on construction building our home. So as fugly said, all manual labor. Yes, we even have to fell our own trees for the timber work. Its going to be nuts ( hopefully in the happy go lucky way)

Sounds like a fun, real man's summer!