20-rep squats for massive muscle

Q: I have some questions about 20-rep breathing squats:

 

1. How many sets should I do? I used a weight that I can perform a 15 RM ,but I quickly start breathing hard around 8 reps at the second set. And I couldn't do total 20-rep at the third set.
2. How often do we train squats using 20-rep breathing squats?
3. Does the 15-rep breathing squats work as well?

Thank you so much for your time

 

All the best,

Mike

 

 

My Answer: Breathing squats are extremely traumatizing to the nervous system, so it is not a shock technique that I would use any more than once a week. Just do 1-2 sets of breathing squats, and you will find yourself gaining quite a bit of weight throughout your entire musculature, not just your thighs.  So forget about doing a third set.

 

Now 15-rep breathing squats should work just as well, so if you find that works better for you, then go for that.  The whole point of breathing squats is to extend the time under tension of a highly anabolic exercise.

 

But like I said, breathing squats are brutal, so you may want to alternate them with other anabolic set extenders for the quads, which I list in High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth.

Q: I have your book High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth and was wondering if the abdominal workout is appropriate for me even though I do not want to lose weight? I just want to get more lean and definitely not lose any weight. Should I still go with that workout or do you have some suggestions on alternating some workouts in?

As always thanks for all your help.

Thanks, 
Daniel P.


My Answer: The ab specialization program in High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth will build muscle and get you ripped at the same time.  If you're endomorphic (meaning you need to lose a few pounds), then the ab specialization program is an ideal workout to follow.

You, however, don't want to lose any weight, AND you're on bike patrol.  You're doing high volume endurance exercise every day.  So you should remove the high volume endurance component of your workouts and focus on maximal strength.  You want to avoid training redundancy to avoid overtraining. 

I would suggest you follow a powerlifting type program: progressively heavy weight, multiple sets in the 3-8 rep range, high rest (over 2-3 minutes).  So you can perform all of the exercises in the ab specialization program, but rest 2 minutes between sets and don't go over 6-8 reps.