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« on: December 29, 2010, 05:21:00 pm »
Ok I'm going to try and keep this very short.
I'm tired of looking like a human and performing like one. For some reason, 20+ rep squatting makes me feel like an alien. My legs grow very fast, my legs feel amazing the day after (as if i'm floating), and I just get strong as hell/powerful very quickly. Some people might be saying to themselves "But 20 reps is endurance and that is slow twitch". What? No. Performing 20 reps on squat completely taps out the fast twitch motor pool. The time under tension is great enough to cause considerable hypertrophy in the quads, glutes, hamstrings and core. With hypertrophy comes strength, and with that time under tension with a heavy bar on your back comes the ability to man handle heavier barbells much easier. There's nothing "slow twitch" about it, sure there's an element of endurance, but when you perform 20 reps with say, your 12RM, due to recovery breathes after 12 reps, it becomes more like a cluster of max effort (due to fatigue) singles while retaining the bar on your back. That is so far from slow twitch i'm laughing while typing this.
NOTE: Getting *VERY* strong and being able to move *HEAVY* weight *VERY FAST* is one of our main missions as athletes. For example, the faster you can move 2x your bodyweight in squat, the better. So it's not only about 2x, it's how fast you can move it. MEBM is a tool for rapidly accrued strength/mass gains.
Anyway, what is MEBM? It's a mindset i've gotten into lately which has helped me to achieve some serious strength gains. It's also a play on words using MSEM (Maximal Strength Effort Method) by Verkhoshansky. Has it hurt my vert? No. Has it made me feel slow? No. MEBM is to be used *in addition or in it's own session* to ratio (msem, & various strength training protocols).
How does it work? Very simple. To use it in addition to whatever training ideology/method you are on, just add heavy 20 rep squats as a finisher after squatting. Sessions may then look like:
example session: ... squat 5 x 5, MEBM squat 1 x 20 ...
example session: ... MSEM squat 2 x 4, MEBM squat 1 x 20 ...
example session: ... ramped up squat 1 x 5, squat 3 x 10, MEBM squat 1 x 20 ...
example session: ... squat 4 x 3, MEBM squat 1 x 20 ...
It can also be used in sessions by itself, in a few different ways:
example session: ... MEBM squat 3 x 20 ...
example session: ... MEBM squat 1 x 20 (max effort 20 very heavy with 10RM or less) ...
Ok so that's it really. The idea is to get in a MEBM finisher after pretty much whatever you're doing, really pushing yourself until (or close to) your legs feel like they are going to collapse. We want to exhaust nearly every fiber and send a message to the body: GROW NOW OR DIE A SAD AND PATHETIC DEATH
How do I choose the load to use for MEBM squats? Just start off really light initially unless you have alot of experience with long heavy time under tension, because the soreness can get pretty extreme if you rush it. So, for noobs & the like, start off with 50% of 1RM for example. Humble yourself a bit, that'll probably cause some significant soreness for most anyone not used to squatting 20 reps. After the initial break-in phase of 1-2 weeks, you can then keep track of your PR 20 rep and try to beat that when you feel very good. True 20 rep PR's should happen with somewhere around 70+% of your 1RM. Other than that, depending on how you feel after the prior work (MSEM, 5x5, 3x10, etc), just go based off feel and push yourself to the limit.
Do I have to stop at 20 reps? Nope, if you thought 20 reps at X weight would be completely exhausting, and it isn't, hit a few more (5 or so, to total 25). I wouldn't exceed 30 reps total as that will bring you more into that strength-endurance realm with much lighter weights.
What kind of squat style can I use with MEBM? Deep or half, doesn't matter. Either one is going to murder your legs. I personally squat using a half stance (slightly above parallel) and my quads, glutes, and hamstrings grow fine. My glutes probably have packed on the most mass given my high rep half squatting, believe it or not, but overall leg size has improved also. Regardless, glutes, quads, and hamstrings will grow with DEEP *OR* HALF squat MEBM. If you squat deep always, and want to give yourself an excuse to try half squatting, well here it is.
Won't I get slow doing MEBM squats? No.
Why won't I get slow doing MEBM squats? Do sprinters get slow running 100's, 200's or 400? An MEBM squat is like an all out sprint of 100, 200, or 400m, depending on the load on the bar. Each one of those races has a speed endurance component and considerable lactic acid buildup, more-so for the 200 & especially 400. Fatiguing the fast twitch motor pool and then trying to continue on for a short duration is what you get in those sprints, and it's also what you get with an MEBM squat.
What should I focus on while doing MEBM squats?
Well, if you feel crappy, just focus on achieving the 20 reps. If you feel good however, focus on bar speed. The more you focus on bar speed, the better. Even after you are starting to get tired around 10-12 reps, each rep after that might require a breathe (or 2-3 breathes), after you're done breathing, focus on bar speed.
What strategy do you use while doing MEBM squats?
Well, if i'm trying to hit 20 with my TRUE 10RM, I'm going to want to hit around 8 reps straight, 3 or so deep breathes, then hit 3-4 reps, then keep repeating that breathing + rep process until I have 20. Astonishingly, once you get to 15 reps, you know you have 20, it's just a matter of grit & guts. If you can hit 15, you can hit 20, bottom line.
If I'm hitting 20 with less than my true 10RM, i'll usually hit 10-12 reps in a row fast, 3 or so deep breathes, then max out my next batch of reps (3-4), etc, continuing until I get 20.
If i'm capable of hitting 20 straight with high bar speed, then I'll go for it right off the bat. Those are actually very tough since lactic acid removal is diminished by lack of recovery breathing, so once you get to 20 reps you're pretty much tapped out.
How do you feel after MEBM squatting? I personally feel great directly after. My legs feel warm from increased blood flow, and I feel spent. The next day, when I wake up, my legs feel extremely light and warm, with no soreness since i'm adapted to high volume. So I just feel great overall, better than with any other set/rep scheme for sure, I can promise you that. You however, may feel pretty crappy the first 2 weeks until you get accustomed, but so do people who run 100's, 200's, or 400's max effort for the first time. Same thing. Once you're adapted, you'll feel amazing.
WHAT IS THE JELLO SET????????? The jello set is repping out half squat to failure (20 or so reps) then immediately changing stance to much closer (less than shoulder width, feet straight ahead) and transitioning directly into CONTROLLED quarter squats repped out until failure. Glutes and hamstrings die on the half squat, then quads die on the quarters.
Why would I do that? It's pretty fun & every muscle gets toasted completely.
Can I let my form go to sh*t to complete the reps? No. Form must be kept good for safety reasons, if you can't perform a rep with good form after recovery breaths, it's time to stop the set.
Can MEBM be applied to other lifts? It's pretty hard to apply MEBM to upper body lifts unless you use pins, the lower body just has much larger muscle groups all contributing to one movement, it also recovers faster while breathing in between reps. If anything, It could be applied to heavy barbell lunges/BSS. If you were to try and apply some of this high rep heavy lifting to upper, you would need a rack and to lift off pins, for example, max effort pin bench trying to hit 20 reps, pausing on pins very briefly to recover past 10 reps until you hit 20. The same could be done for pin rows, single arm db rows resting on ground, etc.
I didn't read all of the above, so what's the take home message? I don't feel like reading all of that.
KEEP IMPROVING YOUR 20 REP SQUAT BY USING IT AS A FINISHER, THE GROWTH & POTENTIAL IS LIMITLESS
For anyone who gets into high rep squatting, if you take video, post it whenver you take one ;d
peace
GO. GET. IT.
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Very strong squats and quads though!