"Super Squats" espouses the revolutionary theory that if you lift huge weights for huge reps, you're going to get huge muscles. No exercise except possibly the deadlift works the body as hard as the squat does. The heart and soul of Strossen's system is the twenty rep breathing squat. Load the bar to a weight you would normally do ten reps with. Do twenty, taking at least three deep breaths between each rep. Next workout increase the weight and do twenty more. Keep the auxiliary exercises to a minimum. Using Strossen as a guide, I devised a three exercise workout: twenty rep squats, bench presses, and bent rows, and it proved a very satisfactory workout indeed. Do those three exercises and do them heavy, and you cannot help but get strong. A word of caution: Squats can be dangerous. If you want to lift heavy on squats, get Stuart McRobert's "The Insider's Tell-All Guide to Weight-Training Technique." The book is a gold mine of information on how to perform weight training exercises properly and without injury.
Most exercise books are a joke. Bodybuilding books are often written by or for steroid users. Aerobics books are afraid to ask the reader to work hard. Fitness books are written by celebrities no real knowledge except how to get an open line of credit with their plastic surgeon. Ab books tout the perfect exercises to reduce the size of your waist. (Sorry, only diet books can help there.) This book is the real deal. Time and again, people in the know, from Olympic weightlifters to elite track athletes, refer to the 20 rep squat program as the best strength and mass building program ever. Strossen's "Super Squat" book is the benchmark book on the subject of 20 rep squats.
That said, there are some weak points in the book. While consuming milk may be one of the most simple, effective, and obvious protein supplements around, many trainees and nutrition experts question the wisdom of consuming as much milk as Strossen recommends. Some question the effect on cholesterol levels and many claim the 30 lbs. of weight gain will be a lot of fat gain. Another issue is Strossen's claim that the pullover exercise will increase the size of the rib cage. While the exercise itself is good, this claim is unsubstantiated.
The worst flaw is that the book recommends squats a lot of squats without delving into the technique of what is essentially a fairly technical lift. Many novice or uncoached lifters perform the squat in a technically unsound and unsafe manner. In weightlifting, poor technique is usually the cause of injury; rarely is injury the direct result of the actual amount of weight lifted. A few diagrams and photos would have been very helpful. The average reader should supplement this book with another reference source on how to actually perform the squat safely.
Buy Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks Now
There's a lot of good stuff in this book, and the fundamental premise -that single sets of 20 rep squats will pack on a lot of muscle -is too well documented to seriously dispute. (There is some dispute as to whether it's a good idea anyway, see, e.g., Pavel Tsatsouline's Power to the People.) But remember, this book is 12 years old, and weight lifting theories change all the time.
This is not the book to buy to start you off in weight lifting. It's message is pretty darn simple, and can be conveyed in a review. Do single sets of 20 rep squats 2-3 times a week. Take in a boat load of chow and get plenty of rest, add 5 lbs. to the bar every week, and you'll get a lot stronger. Some of the information conflicts with other sources, which seem to me to be more up to date and better reasoned. The best iron game writer around is Stuart McRobert, whose Beyond Brawn and Insider's Tell All Handbook to Weight Training Technique should be the core of your training library. (Strossen won't mind this recommendation, he and McRobert seem to be pretty well acquainted and mutually admiring.)
So, bottom line, if you're already well on your way down the training path, Strossen's book is an interesting read, but it's not going to serve as the basis for a comprehensive training program.
Read Best Reviews of Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks Here
I am pretty surprised at the reviews on this book. I was at a stuck point in training. I'm no one big when I started. I weighed 140 when I started lifting, and gained five pounds by myself training in a year or so. At 145, I couldn't gain no more. I was getting more definition, but size wasn't coming to me at all. Guess my body doesn't have the muscle fibers to get big, WRONG. I decided to read books and finally purchased super squats. I find this book fantastic. Let me explain. When you do your first set of 20 reps, make sure it is very easy that you breeze through it with ease, then increase by five pound each work out. Proper rest and nutrition you will be able to keep going up higher and higher, IF I repeat IF you have the heart and desire. You have to discipline yourself on this program. Also you must be very hungry to get big!!!! If not yes, this program is useless, but if you want to gain that weight, you can. I gained 27 pounds in 8 weeks on this program. I now weigh an amazing 172. Like I said to do this program you must devote yourself a 100%. Proper warm up is a must, otherwise yes you will get hurt. If you are getting hurt, your body is telling you things. One you haven't warm up enough, wear more warm clothes and drink tons of water, cause you will get hurt if you don't. Don't blame the book. One thing I had to do to do this program was to make a tape of songs that make me go nuts. You can't listen to some song that will put you a sleep. You must act like your going to war and get psyched up, otherwise don't train, you want it or you don't, SIMPLE. I gained great mass from this book... Good luck to anyone who buys this, and remember if you don't want to gain size don't buy this book!
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This book gives simple, but useful information on how to gain weight and strength. The program is very straightforward and definitely works you perform a simple weight lifting workout (one to two sets/bodypart with only basic moves) and follow this with squatting 20 reps with weight that you would normally only be able to do 10 times. The last 10 reps are done with as much rest and gasping/deep breathing as needed. On the next workout you add five pounds to the squat and do it again. Obviously it's not an easy program and done correctly the 20 reps will be the hardest lifting you've ever done.
This program does add weight and strength effectively. However, the advice I this book is often taken to literally. Here are a few points:
1. The advice to drink one gallon of milk a day is acceptable, unless you're lactose intolerant. If you cannot handle dairy products, drinking so much milk will make you very sick. This may seem obvious, but many seem think the milk is central to this program and drink it despite being unable to handle dairy products......maybe explosive diarrhea and intestinal cramps makes one stronger? The point is that to make gains on this system, you need to ingest plenty of quality calories. This is not surprising since the book is about gaining weight and strength.
2. It's stated that most people can do this program three times a week; i.e., Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Actually relatively few people can lift such heavy weight and recover that quickly. Most people on this program will need two to three days off between workouts to make gains on this program. Older individuals will need even more time. This is especially true for the "hard gainers" who are likely to be interested in this program. Rapidly gaining weight and strength requires hard workouts, food, and sufficient rest.
3. To do this workout you have to know how to squat with good form and technique. This routine requires very heavy weight for 20 reps. Thus, unless you know how to squat with good form, your chances of being injured are very high. There is a strong tendency to round your back or bend your knees inward on the last few reps. Doing so could result in severe injury. To do this workout, you need very good form. Also there are some 20 different ways to perform the squat. The author does not discuss this. Also not wearing not a belt while squatting is just terrible advice.
4. The program is not for serious bodybuilders with years of experience, nor for beginners. The program was invented prior to there being a great difference between bodybuilding and weight lifitng. It's ideally suited for people who want to put on a lot of muscle in a short time (for example football players). Also, DO NOT try this routine without some lifting experience, the chances of serious injury are too great.
5. As the author states, the program works for 6 to 8 weeks. Staying on it longer is both very difficult and counter productive. It's a good program for someone who wants to add weight over a month of two, but no useful as a long-term program. I've found it useful as a routine to be done once or twice a year. the squatting is so difficult that doing this routine often is too difficult.
My advice with this program is to read the book and be willing to apply common sense and adapt it to your needs. The program does work, but it's simplistic, can be dangerous if ones squatting form is poor, and must to be approached with care and an enormous amount of motivation.
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"Yoga: the Iyengar Way" suceeds where other yoga books fail because of its superior pictures, which give extreme detail to all of the asanas (poses). It's always better to get guidance from a good teacher, but for home practice, this is one of the best books out there and is a great supplement to group practice. As its title implies, Iyengar yoga is taught in the book, and thus the use of props and alternative poses allows for those of different levels of experience to do as much of the asana as they can.
