Muscle Building Techniques

It was May of 1997. I walked into a bar in New York City with my brother and our friend Todd. Standing right in front of us was none other than "Stone Cold" Steve Austin who had just begun what would turn out to be the biggest and most successful run in the history of professional wrestling. Since I was at Wrestlemania I and had been a huge fan since 1982 I was star struck and excited by the sight of "Stone Cold."

Inexplicably, he was standing alone so we went right up to him and started talking. Before we knew it an hour had passed and we hadn't had a drink. Steve suggested that we head down the street to another bar and we were on our way.

"Am I really talking to Stone Cold Steve Austin like he's an old friend I've known for years?" I wondered. As a lifelong wrestling fan it seemed like a dream. Before I could ponder the situation any further, I felt a huge hand slap me on the back. "Ready, Jay?" Stone Cold asked.

Indeed, I was.

When we got to the next bar we grabbed a few bottles of Guiness and went over to a corner of the room where we continued our discussion which soon turned to training. While you are usually disappointed when you talk training with professional athletes or other famous big dudes after you learn that they built all their size on 50 sets of leg extensions and flyes, the conversation with Steve was actually quite surprising.

His favorite exercise was squats. "If you do a lot of heavy squatting, you're gonna get big; I don't give a sh*t what anyone says. I used to squat all the time. Loved to squat. It's the best exercise there is. My favorite squat workouts and the ones that really got my legs to grow were real high reps. I used to do 20-40 rep sets and my legs blew up."

"Yeah, high rep squatting is definitely one of the best things you can do to build huge legs." I said. "I first learned about that from reading Super Squats and some stuff about how Tom Platz used to train. You can't argue with the greatest legs in the history or bodybuilding."

***As a side note, my good friend recently moved next to former Olympic gold medal wrestler and former WWF world champion, Kurt Angle. While they were taking the kids out trick or treating the other night they started to talk training. Kurt said that he, too, loved high rep squats and had done something like 405 for 20 and 315 for 50 reps. More proof of the value of high rep squatting. (High rep leg presses or hack squats also work quite well).***

Steve told me that some of his other favorite mass building exercises were the big, old school basic compound movements. What a relief this was to hear. Although his training had evolved because of how beat up he was from years of wrestling he swore by the basics for getting big and strong.

No training talk with Stone Cold Steve Austin would be complete without asking him how he got such an enormous neck.

"Oh man, I had a neck harness and just did this sh*t all damn day," he said as he mimicked the motion of doing an extension with a harness around his head. "Everyday, that's all I did. Ya gotta have a big neck."

"I couldn't agree more," I replied.

Later that night, Steve hopped in my truck for the ride back to his hotel in Jersey where he was staying. We exchanged handshakes, hugs and phone numbers and planned to meet up again soon.

We did so a month later when he invited me back to the locker room after a show in Boston where I met Bret Hart, Vader, Mick Foley and quite a few others. We discussed many things that night including conditioning and nutrition, but that's another story for another day.

Until then, remember what Stone Cold said and make sure you're squatting heavy and, at least some of the time, for high reps (12-25). Keep making consistent progress and upping your weights and you will be buying new jeans before you know it.

Article written by Jason Ferruggia

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Labels: high rep training, huge legs, leg training, legs growth, muscle growth, squat, squatting, tighs, weight training

The 20 rep squat - does it work?

If you're bored of your normal run of the mill training programme, here's a new one to shake up your training and kick start your muscle growth into a new phase. Some of you may have heard of the 20-rep squat program at some point along your training life, if not, it's an old-school approach to putting on size that was common a few decades ago when men were men and drugs were unavailable. You do one set of 20 reps of the squat, plus a few other exercises.

Every successive training session you add 5-10 lbs to your squat weight. It has been touted as one of the most effective programs ever designed for adding muscular size and strength in a short period of time, and with good reason; it works!

High rep squats work wonders for building muscular bulk and strength, not just for the legs, but for the entire body. The program is ridiculously simple to follow, brutally hard to do, and extremely productive. It's so productive, in fact, that I have never ever heard of anyone who did a version of this program correctly and didn't gain muscle size and strength.

Whenever I have a client who wants to get big in as little time as possible, this is where we begin. I am going to outline a 6 week program that has put slabs of muscle on everyone who has ever followed it. It is time to stop living in Tiny Town. This is your ticket to Hugeville.

Get into the right Mental focus

Before discussing the actual program, you must understand the psychology of 20-rep squatting. You can't just go to the gym, put some plates on the bar, start squatting and hope for the best. This program is as much about focus and mental toughness as it is physical exercise, probably more.

You have to be mentally prepared or you will not make it. Pain and fear will be there with you, tempting you to stop, telling you to give up. Your body will be screaming for you to listen to them, and the little voice in your head will be begging you to do cease and desist. Tell them to shut up. You've got some growing to do!

Squatting a heavy weight for 20 reps will not feel natural for your body. It will hurt. You will feel dizzy and light-headed. You will probably want to vomit. Go ahead. Your body may decide to completely shut down and leave you in the bottom of a squat, unable to rise. Obviously, safety is of primary concern.

DO NOT attempt a 20 rep squat program without a power rack, safety pins or a spotter. Being stuck under a heavy barbell in the bottom of a squat with no place to go while you are gasping for air is not a good scenario.

The Training Program

Let's jump right into it. The heart and soul of this program is the barbell squat, done for 20 reps. Please notice I didn't say the “Smith machine squat,” or any other machine squat, for that matter. There are tons of gimmicky machines that promise to deliver a “safer” squat.

You'll be plenty safe as long as you are in a power cage or have sturdy safety pins for your squat rack or a trusty strong spotter. Moreover, your technique will always be your greatest safety. Before I proof this section, it's important that you note whether this is an Olympic squat or a powerlifting squat; the techniques will be entirely different.

I tend to favor a more powerlifting-based approach in squat technique because it suits my body type. If you are unsure of your technique, find an experienced powerlifter (preferably one who has competed) and ask him to teach you the proper form.

Proper form is vital:

A straight (not to be confused with upright) back is core to a good squat. Keep a fairly close grip on the bar and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Push up on the bar slightly as if you were going to do a behind-the-neck press. Do this before you ever lift the bar clear of the pins. The purpose of this is two-fold: it will create a “shelf” just below the traps for the bar to rest on and the tension in the shoulders and upper back will stimulate the upper body while keeping it rigid and safe.

The feet should turn out slightly for most people and the knees should track over the toes. Do not allow the knees to buckle in at any time. If they do, you will die.

Your gaze should be forward or slightly upward. Looking down will round your back and compromise your structure. This increases the chance of injury. Your body tends to follow your head. Rolling a bar over the back of your head in the middle of a squat set does not make for productive training. Keep the abdomen tight and keep the anus contracted, especially in the bottom position. It sounds strange, I know, but there are horror stories throughout the iron community about people who neglected this important point. Load the bar, get under it, tense up, and lift it clear of the pins. Step back, take a deep breath and begin. Squat all the way down, at least to parallel. Come back up, take a few deep breaths, and squat again. The further you get into the set, the more of an issue breath becomes.

In fact, old-timers sometimes called them “breathing squats”. By the time you get to the last few agonizing reps, you will be doing more breathing than squatting. One of the reasons so much growth is stimulated on this program is that the muscles of the upper body are constantly working to support the weight and to fill the lungs with air. Take as many deep breaths as necessary between reps. You must keep complete focus throughout the entire set. Convince yourself before you even get under the bar that you WILL NOT quit. The only reason to stop short of 20 reps is going into the hole and being physically unable to stand back up. It is going to happen at some point; you will get into the bottom position and your legs will simply stop working. That's okay; next time you simply load the bar to the same weight and attack it again.

The length of the cycle is six weeks. This is a good amount of time for building size and strength without going into overtraining and burnout. Longer than six weeks usually amounts to diminishing returns. The standard protocol in the beginning is to train three times per week on non-consecutive days.

For example, the classic Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule works perfectly. If you are not recovering well, you may train twice per week. The first time I tried this routine, I did well with MWF. A few months later, after I had done a couple of 20-rep cycles, I had great results training only on Tuesday and Friday. By this time, I had learned to focus better and was using fairly heavy weights, so the extra recovery was more warranted and well appreciated for me.

I have heard many different ideas concerning weight selection, and I believe that it is good to begin with the end in mind, especially for a first-timer on this program. Most people can reasonably expect to be squatting their 5-rep max (5RM) for 20 by the 6-week mark. To determine your starting weight, take your current 5RM and subtract 5 lbs for each scheduled workout. So, if your current 5RM is 315 lbs and you are planning to train three times per week for 6 weeks (18 workouts), you should begin with 225 lbs, as 18 workouts x 5lbs per workout = 90lbs. Subtract 90 from 315 and you get 225. Simple enough.

After your squats, do a light set of pullovers for about 20-25 reps. I recommend using a 25lb plate and doing them across a bench, but you can use a dumbbell if you like. Think of this as a recovery aid more than an exercise. Stick with the same light weight for the duration of the cycle. Other exercises are added based on your recovery ability. You should include at least one pressing movement and a pulling movement but you can add more if you feel like you can adequately recovery from the additional volume. Listen to your body; if it gets to be too much, you can always drop a set or two later.

A sample program for someone with good recovery ability might look like this:

Squat: 1×20
Pullovers : 1×20
Deadlift: 1×15
Bench Press: 2-3 x 10
Seated row: 2-3×15
Shoulder press : 2-3 x 12

I personally am not a fan of single-joint movements such as curls and calf raises in spite of the fact that they show up in most of the “classic” 20-rep squatting programs. I believe that you get enough stimulation through the compound exercises listed. If your ego simple can't get by without doing a set or two of curls, add them at the end. For those who tend to recovery poorly, here is a more abbreviated program that has worked for everyone with whom I have ever used it:

An abreviated program, for those that need more recovery:

Squat: 1×20
Pullovers: 1×20
Deadlift: 1×15
Parallel Dip: 2×10
Seated row: 2×10

Notice the squats are first here. This is to get the most painful part out of the way early. Rest as long as you need to between sets. You may substitute chins for the rows and bench presses for the dips. Stay away from the pulldown machine and the pec dec; just imagine that you are in a time when such things didn't exist! If you choose to do dips or chins, add weight as soon as you are strong enough to do so.

After six weeks of this, switch to something else. The classic 5×5 routine is a good choice, as is a more conventional bodybuilding routine. Wait at least six weeks before giving the 20-rep squats another go-round.

Recommended nutritional requirements

To get big, you must eat big. Meat, cheese, fruits, and vegetables are in order. Even though you are purposely consuming lots of calories, don't fill up on bad calories, such as; pizza, donuts, cookies, crisps, etc… You need quality in your calories as well as quantity. The nutritional “secret weapon” of the original program was milk, but now that has been replaced by whey protein. Milk was a huge component of the original 20-rep programs years ago - so big a component, in fact, that it was sometimes called the “Squats and Milk Program.” It worked then, but today you can expect even better results with whey protien, which has even better research than the casein found in milk. For maximum results on this type of protein expect to consumer at least 2lbs per kilo, ie: an 80kg male would need 160gm of protein per day on a bulking cycle from food and protein powders combined. Stick to quality whey proteins with low lactose levels to ensure you keep good digestion and wind free.

Typical menu:

Here is an example of a typical day's eating for this program back in the day:

Breakfast
3-4 eggs with cheese
2 slices of toast
1 glass of milk or whey protein shake

AM Snack
whey protein powder or weight gainer (depends on calorie requirements)

Lunch
Sandwich (i.e. meat, cheese, tuna, etc.)
Fruit
Salad
1 glass of milk or whey protein shake

Afternoon Snack
Piece of fruit
1 glass of milk or whey protein shake.

Dinner
Steak, chicken, or fish
Pasta, rice, or potatoes
Steamed veggies
Salad

PM Snack
whey protein shake mixed with milk (to slow digestion)

This is just a suggestion. Customize your food intake to suit your personal tastes, but make sure you eat plenty of food, keep protein intake high and eat often, at least every 2-3 hours to prevent hunger and your body from losing its positive nitrogen balance and slipping into a catabolic state. Drink plenty of water throughout the day as well. To make the old-school approach a little more modern, add a good EFA supplements to insure that you are getting enough healthy fat.

This is a good program for loading up on Creatine too. Take care not to eat for at least an 1.5 hours before your workout to minimize being sick in the gym; most gym owner's frown on such things.

I strongly recommend taking a good Creatine suppplement.

What to do when you're not in the Gym

On days when you are not in the gym, doing some active recovery such as walking or swimming, as doing so will help reduce soreness and flush the lactic acid out of the body. Daily stretching and if you can afford it or get a free one at home, a sports massage every week or two will also help in recovery. Strenuous activity such as intense cardio or hard sports should be avoided since you want all available energy and recovery to go into building muscle. Get lots of sleep: 8-9 hours per night and sneak a nap in whenever you can, this will keep natural testosterone and growth hormone levels high, which will increase muscle growth.

If you follow the guidelines I have set forth for you, you can realistically expect to gain 10 to 15lbs in the next six weeks, although lots of people will gain even more than that. Either way start saving up for new clothes, because by the end of the program, you will need them.

Labels: 20 rep squat, muscular mass, squat, weight training

Going back a generation famous bodybuilding guys like Reg Park, Bill Pearl, Arnold and Franco all built their huge physiques with hard work on basic compound movements. Of those compound movements the squat (click for video) was considered the keystone, the focal point of the routine. Powerlifters too recognised that the squat was the barometer of their power, a gauge by which they could accurately calculate their peaking cycle. Yes, it was no secret that the squat, when worked sensibly but hard, produced phenomenal gains - it was considered the King of Lifts

A generation later and in many gyms, not all, but in many, the full squat is a forgotten movement. Many who do squat do not squat at all, they curtsy with the weight doing quarter squats for the pose. The squat rack is shunned in favour of the 45 degree angle leg press - why - because it's easier to look good with all those 45 pound plates on each side.

Is the King of Lifts - the Squat - losing it's crown?
To answer that for oneself, simply look at the top bodybuilders and powerlifters. One will note that the top men in either drug-free associations or others exhibit a thickness that can only be achieved from years of work on the heavy compound movements, the key of those movements being the squat. Yes, the top men in either bodybuilding or powerlifting recognised the squat for the truly great growth builder it is. Why, then, is the squat not a popular movement in many gyms?

Two main reasons are the answers:

1. Laziness.
2. Incorrect technique.
   

Let's address the first reason - laziness. Squatting is hard work - it can be uncomfortable, it requires full concentration on the job in hand. Squatting works nearly the whole body - calves, quads, hamstrings, lower back, glutes, abdominals, heart and lungs etc. Because you, the lifter have to balance the weight, the body's stabilising muscles are also brought into play

Compare that with the leg press machine. No stabilising muscles are brought into play because the lifter is pushing the weight stack in a groove dictated by the machine. The lower bark muscles are not worked as the back is fully braced by the leg press seat. A lifter/bodybuilder who exclusively works the leg press and shuns the squat will not have built the power to squat with serious weight. Conversely, the lifter who squats regularly can cross over to the leg press effectively and use plenty of weight.

Judge yourself by the weight you are shifting in the compound movements. It is true that the top bodybuilders use exercises such as the leg press, leg extensions, lunges, etc but they have built their size and these exercises are movements for finishing and striating. A beginner or intermediate would do far better to shun these finishing exercises in favour of the squat. By the way, don't judge yourself as an advanced bodybuilder/powerlifter by the number of years you've been in the game, judge yourself honestly by the weight you are shifting in the compound movements.

Regardless of how many years you have been in the game if you have never squatted 500lbs you are still an intermediate. Yes that statement will anger some and hurt their pride but if it gets them in the squat rack it's worth it.

Lets move on to the 2nd point; Incorrect technique. If you've been in the game a while I'm sure you will have seen the lifter I am now going to describe. He will pack 45 pound plates on the squat rack, make lots of noise so that he has everyone's attention and then proceed to do quarter squats and thinks he's doing well.

Funny though, because he'll keep his legs covered up all the time with tracksuit bottoms. Why? because from his quarter squats, he still has little or no development of the legs. Get the picture? When you squat, squat at least to parallel. Full range movements are the movements that will give you the best results. Remember though, that when you do squat, concentrate fully on the DESCENT. In-depth research has proved that the beginner / intermediate often has a descent speed 3 times that of a world class lifter. In short, the world class lifter has learned to control the descent speed and thus can lift more. When you squat, focus fully on the descent and the ascent will be a lot easier.

There is so much that can be said about this great movement, but, in summary if you don't squat then make a decision to incorporate this exercise into your daily routine. Train the squat sensibly and supplement your diet wisely. Plan your squat routine over a 4 to 6 month period setting achievable short term goals along the way. After working hard for 4 to 6 months, assess your gains and then you will agree, that yes, the squat, is still the King of the Lifts.

When you've got the squat mastered, the next best thing is to add in a powerfull high calorie weight gainer, like CytoSport Cyto Gainer. This contains high quality whey protein, complex carbs and special fats such as MCT's and EFA's, that promote health and provide calorie dense energy. With the added calories or extra protein you'll find your legs grow like never before and your body takes on a thicker more mature kind of muscle. For some extra edge I recommend Novex Biotech Endothil-CR. During a double-blind, six-week body-building study, the active compound in Endothil-CR increased upper body strength by 100% and lower body strength by 249% after concentrated exercise (as measured by the amount of weight participants could bench press and leg press). And biceps circumference increased dramatically over placebo... more than a four-fold increase in circumference versus almost no increase with the placebo group (who were on the same body-building program).

Labels: leg training, muscle gain, muscle growth, muscle mass, squat