High Rep Squats & Growth Hormone Levels- Is There A Connection???

[Texas Ranger]

I just finished going through my old collection of bodybuilding magazines(Muscle Mag, Flex, "Old" Muscle Media, Muscular Development). I read an article that directly linked High Rep Squats(15-20 reps) to increased Natural Growth Hormone levels. This in turn significantly increased muscle mass and made you MUCH leaner. Has this been the case in your personal experiences?? I was thinking of adding a 3-4 sets of High Rep Squats twice(1 Light & 1 Semi-Heavy)a week in my quest to lose bodyfat. What do you think??

 

[Atomic Punk]

Nah. I also remember reading that squats will expand your rib cage if you did then in supersets with cross-bench pullovers. Never believed that one either.

 

[Texas Ranger]

AP, I remember seeing that one, too! As a matter of fact, I did the Breathing Squat superset with the Pullovers when I was 17-18 years old. I felt them working. Ok, I was a kid and believed anything printed in Muscle Mag & Ironman was the gospel.

 

[Texas Ranger]

Up again...

 

[MrTrap]

When we tried them back in the 70s, my partners and I did gain weight faster than with the low rep stuff. I don't think it made any of us leaner though. I think they'd be pretty hard to do if you were dieting.

Traps

 

[RottenWillow]

Well I wasnt even born in the '70s but have also read plenty of BB mags from that era and am pretty well aquainted with that old theory. Never heard the leaner part however.
Was this belief ever based on sound research or was it just someone's pet theory who wrote about in a mag way when?

Only way we could really answer this is experimentation. Train a 100 men and a 100 women, try to control for age, health, diet, supplements, etc, and then split into an experimental group (high rep squats) and control. Otherwise its all purely personal guesses.

I remember the breathing squats and hangs too. Both designed to stretch cartilage and ultimately widen shoulders and increase rib cage girth. I tried the hangs last year. Lord those things were painful!!

 

[Texas Ranger]

Mr.Trap, with High Rep Squats, you'll gain weight if you eat more. You'll lose bodyfat if you eat less. The High Rep Squats amp up your metabolism.

 

[Texas Ranger]

Anyone else? Your opinions are ALWAYS appreciated, fellas!!

 

[MrTrap]

TR, you're probably right, we probably did end up eating more when we did them. I just don't think I could have done them very well on restricted calories. On those rare ocassions that I ate less, I got worse at higher reps in anything.

But you are talking about doing multiple sets of them and not trying to go as heavy as possible. That might work. I've got no experience with it, we always tried to do the max weight possible for 20. If it works I want to hear about your experience, it would be more fun than a damn cardio machine for me.

Traps

 

[Texas Ranger]

You got it, Mr.T! I'll let you know how it goes. The only other thing I plan on doing is Jumping Rope first thing in the AM on my off days. No more than 20-25 minutes, though.