20-Rep Squat

What is 20-Rep Squat?

The 20 rep squat program is older than most of the gyms that run it. Mark Berry and Joseph Curtis Hise pushed high-rep breathing squats in the 1930s, Peary Rader built early issues of Iron Man around them, and Randall Strossen collected the method in his 1989 book Super Squats. His own summary of the squat part is two rules: "load the bar to what you normally use for ten reps. Now, do twenty reps - no kidding. Second, every single workout, add at least five pounds to the bar." One set, not several. Strossen calls the other exercises incidental.

Durata's build follows the routine as a book owner lists it (Empire Barbell's review), and the same core lifts appear in Liftosaur's and Lift Vault's versions. Each session, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, opens with 3 sets of 12 on the barbell press behind the neck (a regular overhead press is fine). Then comes the squat, 1 set of 20, and straight into 1 set of 20 light dumbbell pullovers. After that: bench press 3 sets of 12, bent-over rows 3 sets of 15, an optional barbell curl for 2 sets of 15, one set of 15 stiff-legged deadlifts, and a second light pullover set of 20. Optional calf raises (3 sets of 20) and one set of 25 crunches close the session; Liftosaur and Lift Vault list these extras, and readers say the book calls the curl a concession and the calves and abs something most people skip on a bulk. The book itself is not freely available, so the accessory sets here come from those readers, not from a page we have read.

Is 20-Rep Squat right for you?

Strossen's subtitle promises 30 pounds of muscle in six weeks, and his excerpt says to drink at least two quarts of milk a day and rest well between workouts. Take the hint: this is a program for someone who wants to gain weight and will eat for it. You need to squat safely while out of breath, because from about rep 10 you stand with the bar on your back and take several deep breaths before each rep, and racking it early ends the set. Don't run it while dieting, or next to other hard leg work.

How progression works

The squat follows Strossen's rule: make all 20 and the bar goes up 2.5 kg (5 lb) next workout, three times a week. Five pounds is his minimum; Durata uses that step and doesn't take bigger jumps. The excerpt gives no rule for a missed set, so Durata simply repeats the weight until you get all 20. There is no deload. The press, bench, row, curl and stiff-legged deadlift go up 2.5 kg once you make every rep of every set, and repeat on a miss; the calf raises go up 5 kg (Liftosaur's 10 lb). That rule is Durata's reading, taken from Liftosaur; Strossen asks only that these lifts be done without going to failure. The pullovers stay light and don't progress, and the crunches are bodyweight. The plan ends after six weeks, 18 sessions.

Durata runs this progression for you — there are no percentages to work out, so each session's target carries over from what you logged last time and the weight moves when you hit or miss the prescribed reps.

20-Rep Squat — every set, every session

20-Rep Squat — common questions

20-Rep Squat side by side