Make Your Workouts More Productive With 20 Rep Squats

[nirvairg]

Hey lee, how many calories and how many grams of protein should i be consuming each day if i want to make the gains you have outlined in this program ?

[physicalzone]

so we are to do this everyday before our regular workout or just once a week 1 set of 20?

[leemhayward]

@physicalzone

You could do it for each workout as part of your warm up routine, it doesn't have to be an all out set of 20 rep squats, but enough to get the blood pumping in your legs.

[MordorTheModmaker]

I prefer to do squats/deadlifts at the end of workout. Because if I put these first my workout gets crippled just because these 2 exercises suck the very life from me.

Is that ok to do them at the end, or is there a specific reason fro doing them first?

[leemhayward]

@MordorTheModmaker

I like to do them first to get them over with, but if you want to do them at the end and find that works for you, go for it!

[longvehical]

i really do believe in this technique but why did you film this in your car? hahha

[bull1504]

@longvehical because he felt like it

[EnvelopedInDarkness]

what the hell, i'll try it.

[kumasuke1]

This is smart advice.. its to do with overall stimulation. Years ago someone said to me if I wanted to get big arms I should train my legs on the same day. I never liked that idea as training my legs floored me and I had no energy left.. BUT, all you need to do is one good set to get your metabolism going that will have a massive effect on the other body parts. A set of deadlifts is another great one to do. I usually do them at the end and it works well for me. Great advice in this video!

[ThaWunNOnly]

great tip lee. i'm definitely gonna give this a try, keep up the good work man.

[sjjdiienno1]

ASS TO THE GRASS!!!

[hondaman1010]

Could you sub squat for say 20 leg press reps, I have a bad knee and squats just aggravate it?

[westonreid1]

@hondaman1010 have you tried doing front squats? theyre hard to get used to but theyre supposed to put around 30% less compressive force on your knees

[leemhayward]

@westonreid1

I do front squats from time to time, but I prefer back squats myself.

[rdeffleymoviesnew]

My only recommendation would be doing the 20 rep squat at the end of the workout. A true 20 rep squat is taking your 10 rep max and forcing ten extra reps with multiple breaths between each of the last ten. With that being said, if you use the right weight and go below parallel on each rep, you will be absolutely gassed afterward. There is no way in hell you will have the energy to get a proper workout in. By doing it at the end, you can get the most out of your other lifts.

[Under7891]

This is confusing, so if I do 20 rep squat before every workout I understand the hormone affect that causes, but what would I do on leg day, my leg day is pretty much all squats, and usually after leg day I can barely stand up the next day. I heard about doing 20 rep squat twice a week also, but aren't the legs going to be overtrained?

[leemhayward]

@Under7891

This is just an easy set of 20 rep squats that you can do as part of your overall warm up routine.

[murphy0847]

I'm currently doing your 12 week routine outline in the blast your bench i'll add this in to that on the non leg days

[trylakos]

Haha I KNEW you had to be a newfie, and I checked your site, and yup you are!

I plan on doing the program from Super Squats. It should be intense.

Do you still live in Newfoundland/

[leemhayward]

@trylakos

Yes, I still live in Newfoundland.

[heat4yoass]

what about cardio? Can you mix in cardio with this or would it interfere with the muscle growth in the leg?

[sebastian30000]

@heat4yoass

Cardio prevents/reduces muscle gains

[whosnexttt]

@sebastian30000 lol no it doesnt

[samugrose]

your voice sounds like johnnie jackson's!

[selfdefense2]

do you do a warm up set of squats before doing 20 rep squats to failure?

[ChuffChowder]

I totally agree with this, i use push/pull principle in my workouts 3-4 times a week and use the 20 squat idea at the start unless its deadlift day. It yields amazing results

[BJJHomos]

Smart idea.

This would work. Even 2-3 days per week.

Great for hormones, stamina, matobolism, endurance, staying young, cardio, etc..etc...I have never heard of Lee, but he knows his stuff here!

Thanks for your effort and your posting!

[Chaaarge]

can I do this for longer than 6 weeks or will I plateau in my gains? I'm also wondering if the gallon of milk is really important? or can I just eat a regular bodybuilding diet

[bobcat4945]

add 5 pounds everyday? i workout 5 days a week, does that mean i should go up 25 pounds every week?

[leemhayward]

@bobcat4945

You "strive" to go up 5 pounds per workout. Now obviously you won't be able to do that forever. You will plateau, but you'd be surprised at how fast you can progress with small frequent jumps like this.

[grantyb11282]

dont do this 5 x a week,3 x a week and put it up 5 pounds evry week not evry workout

[spinytailed]

I recommend you workout twice a week. How can you recover working out five days a week if you are not taking steroids? Just do squats, dips and crunches on Wed and Benches, Rows and presses on Saturday. Do three month cycles and eat a ton. Easy.

[glen432003]

It really works !

[knewok]

i like to throw in squats between sets every other day just for fun then really hit them hard at the end of the week. they say working your legs a bit before your workout is really beneficial, cause it makes your body secrete the bodys natural HGH

[bionicvenom]

this dude rocks and is extremely helpful, I have taken a lot of the stuff from the leemhayward videos and I mean I'm not big but feel much healthier and see many ways to improve my workout, and I will definitely use this in my workout

[mattyoung92]

20 rep squats every day ! ...jeez lee thats pushin it lol

[leemhayward]

This isn't balls to the wall 20 rep squats. I'll probably make another video and explain it more.

[yangl123]

How would I do this in conjunction with my quad day? Just don't do 20 reps of squats on the day after my quad day?

[submelon8]

makes total sense man.

thanks again

[MeesterChum]

i don't know who this guy is, but he is preaching gospel, folks. i'm 39 and "discovered" the 20 rep squat program this past winter and it is a real winner. now i mix it into whatever training routine i do. i suggest you get the book "supersquats" to really get the gyst of it(plus the way the guy writes will really get you psyched).

[Stickydogg]

Please clarify i dont get this. Lets say i'm doing chest today 4set workout.

Do i do the 20rep squats just before EACH set...or just 20rep squats in the beginning and then thats it....after which i do all 4sets of chest???

[leemhayward]

Yeah, it's just a way to get some extra training volume in. This isn't the "20 rep squat" (aka squats and milk program) it's just a way to get some extra squats in your workouts and help jack up your metabolism.

[jfleet11]

can you squat with dumbbells on your shoulders? is this as effective?

[ah4fecksake]

@jfleet11 Yes you can.little more difficult to balance but still targets the exact same muscles.just keep your abs and butt tight when powering up.

[mohammad112388]

Basically what he means is do 20 repetitions of squats before your workout. Thats it. Not 20 reps before every set...you would have to be a masochist to do that. Its a simple process of actiivating something in your body to help increase your metabolism. Like how some people exercise for 10-20 minutes before break fast. Its basically the same thing, but before a workout it supposedly increases hgh within your body.

[knewok]

haha i shoulda read your comment before i posted mine lol

[Seoinage650]

He left out some critical parts. Yes this has been around for 40+ years, but I wouldn't do it the way it is shown here. These are called a number of things, breather squats being one of them. The way this was designed was to pick a weight you can do 10 reps max, then do 20 reps. You accomplish this by taking 3 big breaths at the top then at 10 reps start taking as many as 6 breaths. This will do a lot more for you than just a quick light 20 rep set as shown. you might puke.

[iLikeItJazzy]

seoinage650 is totally right. this guy isnt telling you the right way. You are supposed to take your 10 rep max and do 20 reps with it by breathing. its not like you just put the 45 pound bare barbell on and do 20 reps, and in 6 weeks you're lee priest. thi

[hasnaen]

what if free weights squats is impossible for me to do?

my feet got a balance problem, since birth. so if i use a machine is that alright?

[rctriplefresh5]

no if you can use the machine you can use the freeweights dont be a pussy i dont like that.

[TH1SGUUUY]

do you have to keep adding 5 pounds like you can stop when its to heavy right then when your body gets used to it you add on another 5 pounds and so on

[bkbrawla666]

HOLY SHIT guys I tried this and it actually DOES work! I was skeptical and was like, wow, this is a load of SHIT..but I desperately wanted a PR, and I got TWO after trying this...I just used about 25% of my max squat, 3 sets of 15 reps and I added 2 extra reps to my max DB curl, and I added 10 lbs to my bench from last work out (4 days ago). TRY THIS!

[EbopAllDay]

Can Someone Help Me?

wat if i did legs one day then the next day do the 20 rep thing or don't do legs individully and just do the 20 squat thing with the workouts??

Also, could i do a leg press instead of squat because the squat is harer on my back??

[foottothroat21]

i would never recommend doing legpresses instead of squats unless you really cant do them because of injuries and shit. talk to someone who can figure out what this lower back problem is, whether its a legitimate injury or just common feeling from squats. if need be isolate your back with extensions or some light deadlifts/straight leg deadlifts and warm it up good before doing squats. not everyone is built for squats, legpress could be better on how your built. but find out and experiment.

[EbopAllDay]

should i only do legs 20 rep thing on workouts and dont seperatly focus on legs?

[foottothroat21]

id still do your standard leg workouts but a few times a week or whatever lee recommends id bang out one of these 20 rep things before your workout. but still focus your legs mainly in their own actual workout once or twice a week however many times you train them.

[jackethead1394]

more than likely if your back is hurting while your squatting, its because you either A. Dont keep your back straight or B. just have to build up strength in ur back. make sure your back is locked while ur doing squats. and you would also very well need a weight lifting belt.but if ur back is hurting because its weak, then theres a workout that u can do where, u get about 95 pounds on the bar, and bend over, (while keeping ur legs locked) and come up using ur back. i hope this helped.

[Junglemonkey1457]

You dont need to be squatting heavy on leg day then follow up the next day with a 20 rep squat.You need to give the muscle group 48 hours to recover..at least a day , at least.

any other day yes.

[wccrispy]

Lee, what do you think about substituting the 20-rep Squats routine for a 20-rep Deadlift routine?

[zkb24]

20 rep deadlifts are killer!!

[leemhayward]

You could, high rep deadlifts are a very effective exercise.

[chitownp1noy]

i did 3X20 of the squats it fucking killed with just a plate! my legs feel like jelly right now cant even walk up the stairs and what makes it worse is that i gotta do hang cleans and deadlifts today.

[wccrispy]

Hey man, how'd the lifts go?

[chitownp1noy]

Pretty good hang cleans were alot worse cuz my quads were killing when i caught the clean in a front squat, and the dead lifts were pretty good i just started the 3X8 workout. im on my first week and im doing about 65% of my max for the deadlifts. and im gonna increase the percentage every week. its a 8 week program hopefully it busts my plateau.

[mickyficky71]

I've been looking for something to boost my progress, maybe this will work for me.

[murphy0847]

Lee ur awesome blast your bench is the sh*t

[howabunga]

heard plenty of peeps going on about this, will try implementing it. Does this mean u still do a Leg workout? Can imagine cardio might be slightly more difficult.

[priceethewarrior]

say I work out 5 days in a row, would I do the 20 squats 5 days in a row before every workout?

[yoluigi]

yeah 1 set of 20 squat put an really easy weight and you gona progress

[GrindBoxSkater]

im going to start doing this before each of my workouts

[EbopAllDay]

wat if i did legs one day then the next day do the 20 rep thing or don't do legs individully and just do the 20 squat thing with the workouts??

[hipoxantha]

matrix sunglasses! great lee u r the man!

[ShaolinHero1]

Hey Lee, how do you decide what weight to use to warm up with before the working weight, do we use percentages?

[studywar]

I would say 50-75% of your workout weight.