20 Reps Squat Challenge

Training Powerlifting
201

[quote]stallion wrote:
graphicsMan, good effort from both you and your friend. I am not sure that all the reps was deep enough (top of tigh-muscle lower than knee-cap seen from a sideview.

Refer to image 4 here:

http://www.marylandaau.com/images/squat.gif

Still, you show great sportmanship taking on this challenge! Well done! You still had some more in you, but you probably did more work than most of the people in the gym that day…[/quote]

:slight_smile: Yeah, I’m not sure either. I definitely feel like there were a couple of reps that didn’t go deep enough. Well, I’ll just have to try harder next time (though I can barely walk now :wink: )

202

[quote]Brosekiah wrote:
You can count me in for this challenge as well. I gotta find someone to tape it for me though. I’m doing starting strength right now so maybe I’ll do these instead of my 3x5 squats tomorrow.

Im pretty weak for my size and my 1RM is 315 so Im not sure what weight I could do 20 reps at. Any advice on what weight to try?[/quote]

65% or 70% of 315, 220 is 70% if you want to challenge yourself. Good luck!

203

[quote]shawnhavoc wrote:
Here is the link to my video.

The angle on the camera is not great on this set, my first set with the better angle was interrupted by a guy coming over to use the squat rack that my camera was set on to do curls. I kid you not. Nobody ever uses the racks in my gym and due to the limited space to setup the camera down there, I thought this would be the best place for it.

I should post the video of the guy coming over to interrupt my set to use the rack (he is damn lucky I was only on my 4th rep). I know that there are a few people on this site that can appreciate the humor of squat rack curls.

In fact, if you look in the mirror while I am doing my set on this video, you can see the little guys jamming away on their arm curls (the barbell even comes into the frame on a few of my reps). I love commercial gyms.[/quote]

Great job on that monster set! That was all will power after about 8, well done.

204

[quote]TornadoTommy wrote:

Damn good set, man. Squats were all below parallel. According to the timer at the bottom of the screen, you were under the weight a total of 3 min., 4 sec. from liftoff to return. 315 x 20 is my goal and I can see it’s gonna suck.

I’m still trying to rehab my back and yesterday I did 25 reps with 225# in the trap bar deadlift without much problem so maybe I can squat before too long. Thanks for the inspiration![/quote]

Thanks, I appreciate it. Make sure that your back is good to go before you try, I’m felling it today. Good luck on your rehab.

205

[quote]malonetd wrote:
shawnhavoc wrote:
Here is the link to my video.

OK, now I gotta try 315. Probably next week. Nice job.[/quote]

Do it. You’ve got the strength, it is just a mental battle. Good luck on your lift!

206

[quote]Naturallifter wrote:
shawnhavoc wrote:
Here is the link to my video.

The angle on the camera is not great on this set, my first set with the better angle was interrupted by a guy coming over to use the squat rack that my camera was set on to do curls. I kid you not. Nobody ever uses the racks in my gym and due to the limited space to setup the camera down there, I thought this would be the best place for it.

I should post the video of the guy coming over to interrupt my set to use the rack (he is damn lucky I was only on my 4th rep). I know that there are a few people on this site that can appreciate the humor of squat rack curls.

In fact, if you look in the mirror while I am doing my set on this video, you can see the little guys jamming away on their arm curls (the barbell even comes into the frame on a few of my reps). I love commercial gyms.

Great job on that monster set! That was all will power after about 8, well done.[/quote]

Thanks man, I appreciate the compliment. It’s true, you get to around rep 8 and your asking yourself “what in the world do you think you are doing”.

207

Here is the video of my first attempt that was interrupted by the squat rack curlers. It is a better angle to show the depth of my squats.

208

shawnhavoc : Do you know youre 1RM ?

And my god, I would have killed the bastards if they had interrupted me in my attempt! hehe…

209

Where did all the hardcore lifters go ? Is there really noone that can do 200kg/440lbs for 20 reps ?

Ok… to bring some life to this thread, what is the biggest 20 rep squat you’ve ever seen?

I think I have seen Jesse Marunde with 180kg x 20 reps, and I’ve seen Tom Platz with 229kg x 23 reps I think… Apart from that, there’s not much high rep squat videos out there…?

210

[quote]stallion wrote:
Where did all the hardcore lifters go ? Is there really noone that can do 200kg/440lbs for 20 reps ?

Ok… to bring some life to this thread, what is the biggest 20 rep squat you’ve ever seen?

I think I have seen Jesse Marunde with 180kg x 20 reps, and I’ve seen Tom Platz with 229kg x 23 reps I think… Apart from that, there’s not much high rep squat videos out there…?[/quote]

I haven’t seen it personally, but I know one of the guys in my gym did 180 x20 as a junior. Drug free. He also squatted 305kg at 100kg as a 21 year old in '98, so there was minimal equipment used then too.

He just straight up had the best genetics I’ve ever seen.

211

This is a great thread, if I wasn’t coming back from a hip injury I would be in the challenge. However it is inspiring me jealous to get back as soon as I can.

I have seen 220kgx12 from my ex-training partner.

212

The Tom Platz video was mad.
One of the guys who looks strong as fcuk, and is as strong as he looks. Quite rare in bodybuilders. He went DEEP too in those squats.

I will be giving this challenge a try, in 6 weeks when my training cycle ends and I know my 10 rep max, minimum 225lbs for 20 reps is what I will accept from my self, then Im getting my smolov on, will try again after that.

20 REP SQUATS FTW

213

Interesting to read all your replies folks… I’ve on my way to 172.5kg x 20. But haven’t done more than 10 reps of that weight yet.

214

[quote]Baliba wrote:
shawnhavoc : Do you know youre 1RM ?

And my god, I would have killed the bastards if they had interrupted me in my attempt! hehe…[/quote]

Somewhere over 455, but I don’t think I am up to 495. I haven’t tried 495 since switching to more of an olympic style squat. I had to back off the weight significantly when I first switched but have been building back up.

215

[quote]stallion wrote:
Where did all the hardcore lifters go ? Is there really noone that can do 200kg/440lbs for 20 reps ?

Ok… to bring some life to this thread, what is the biggest 20 rep squat you’ve ever seen?

I think I have seen Jesse Marunde with 180kg x 20 reps, and I’ve seen Tom Platz with 229kg x 23 reps I think… Apart from that, there’s not much high rep squat videos out there…?[/quote]

There was another thread talking about legit 405x20 squat

http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=2272024&pageNo=0

here is a vid that someone posted of a 160 lb guy doing a 405 x 23. I have I hard time believing this, primarily because I can’t wrap my brian around someone 45 lbs lighter than me being able to do that. Also because my bars bend and bounce more with 315 than his is with 405.

http://www.gridironincny.com/videos/flash/ken/ken.html

I’d like to know what you think.

216

[quote]shawnhavoc wrote:
http://www.gridironincny.com/videos/flash/ken/ken.html
[/quote]

You can do a google search on Ken Leistner, he has a big name obviously.

Apparently he was also used to squatting high reps in the squat.

I would say it would not be impossible for somebody a lot lighter than myself to squat heavier weights for 20-reps. To be fair, I haven’t been doing 20-reppers for long. I have mostly trained with lesser reps. There are some freaks around, and I believe it would be possible for somebody his weight to do what is claimed in this video.

There are hvowever some things I find strange:

  1. The bar does not seem to bend much at all, and the weight just seemes too light…

Possible explanation:

It could be a powerlifting bar that needs a lot more weight before it starts to bend. He could be stronger than what he shows in this video.

  1. Even rep 23 seems incredibly fast, yet he can’t do another rep.

Possible explanation:

I realize not everyone has the same slow pace of squatting as me, so it could be that he does all the reps quickly until he cannot do anymore, and then he just shuts down. To my judgement it seemed like he could do even more than 23 reps in this sets.

  1. The weight plates close to the man and most far from the man looks different than those in between.

Possible explanation:

They just look different?

So in summary I think this sets looks fishy, but when researching his person with google, he seems like the real deal, but there are alos some talks about fake plates and exagerated claims made by him.

I believe it is possible for a man of his weight to do such a feat, but this video seemed to me to be a bit on the odd side. To be honest, it seemed pretty light for him actually.

There is a discussion about this feat here:

http://www.marunde-muscle.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12231&page=1&pp=10

Read it, and make up your own mind.

217

I counted 19 reps on this set. Still it seemed to me like this person has a lot more in him, and also the depth was not very good.

Also heavy weight have a certain look to it. Look at this video for instance, this I am convinced is the real deal.

When Ken squatted, there just seemed to be nothing on the bar… The fact that it looked like this could only mean that the weight was very light for him, and that he really is a lot stronger, and that seems even more unbelievable.

218

[quote]stallion wrote:

I counted 19 reps on this set. Still it seemed to me like this person has a lot more in him, and also the depth was not very good.

Also heavy weight have a certain look to it. Look at this video for instance, this I am convinced is the real deal.

When Ken squatted, there just seemed to be nothing on the bar… The fact that it looked like this could only mean that the weight was very light for him, and that he really is a lot stronger, and that seems even more unbelievable.

[/quote]

I agree with you on both of those, and they look like they could actually move that much weight. I have a hard time believing the Ken video, just doesn’t look right. Looks too fast and too easy despite his yelling. When he drops the weight on the rack, just doesn’t feel like 405 dropping.

Unless the guy is bionic, I just don’t see someone squatting over 2.5 x his body weight for 23 reps since 2.5 x is a great max for a single lift. I would have to squat 520 lbs for 23 reps to duplicate his feat and I can not squat 520 for a single yet.

Then again, I could be wrong and he could have the best genetics ever.

219

Yes, I also noticed how little noise the bar made at rep 24. Yet many others from the marunde forum seems to credit his lifting, but I suspect those crediting him haven’t done any 20-rep squatting themselves?

If you read through the entire thread on marunde forum, there is some people telling about fake plates and exaggerated claims.

220

[quote]shawnhavoc wrote:
stallion wrote:
Where did all the hardcore lifters go ? Is there really noone that can do 200kg/440lbs for 20 reps ?

Ok… to bring some life to this thread, what is the biggest 20 rep squat you’ve ever seen?

I think I have seen Jesse Marunde with 180kg x 20 reps, and I’ve seen Tom Platz with 229kg x 23 reps I think… Apart from that, there’s not much high rep squat videos out there…?

There was another thread talking about legit 405x20 squat

http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=2272024&pageNo=0

here is a vid that someone posted of a 160 lb guy doing a 405 x 23. I have I hard time believing this, primarily because I can’t wrap my brian around someone 45 lbs lighter than me being able to do that. Also because my bars bend and bounce more with 315 than his is with 405.

http://www.gridironincny.com/videos/flash/ken/ken.html

I’d like to know what you think.[/quote]

The man in the video is Dr. Ken Leistner and if I hadn’t heard of him before, I wouldn’t believe it either. He and lifters from his gym are known for performing 20 rep squats with ungodly weights. It does seem odd to me though, that anyone capable of 405 x 23 would weigh a lot more than 160 lbs.