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One of the oldest and most famous of all old school minimalist bulking routines by far is Randall J. Strossen’s “Super Squats” program from the late 1960s It is common to gain 20-30 pounds of bulk in as little as 6-8 weeks. The core of this training routine is one 20 rep set of squats, just one set,supersetted with pullovers. Add to this two to three sets of some bench presses, rows and some overhead presses and the routine is complete. Using these full body compound movements will force your body to use all of its stabilizer muscles and burn calories as well as no other.
Quoting Strossen on diet: “In addition to the 20-rep squats, trainees are advised to eat a lot of wholesome food, drink at least two quarts of milk a day, and to get plenty of rest in between the twice- or thrice-weekly workouts. That’s it: one set of 20-rep squats, a couple of other basic exercises, plenty of good food, milk and rest. But, oh, those squats!”
Now, lets just stop there for a minute. Since this book was published in the late 60s, this is obviously very outdated diet advice. Not to mention, milk, in itself might not be good for you, or most people, especially with the alternatives we have today, like brown rice and hemp protein, and at least better quality whey proteins and supplements like creatine etc. “Gallon-of-milk-a-day” nonsense aside, the routine itself is a pretty good minimalist approach to putting some muscle on with relatively few exercises or even one you can use to get back in shape as the high-rep squats offer an incredible metabolic boost.
The routine is performed monday, wednesday and fridays and should take no longer than 30-40 minutes. Start off with full ATG squats and hit a few warm up sets of 10 reps or so. On the one 20 rep squat set, you want to choose a weight that you could do comfortably for about 15 reps. The following five are to be done rest-pause style, doing the first 15 reps, then taking three or so breaths and then another rep, then three or so more breaths and another rep and so forth until all 20 reps are complete.
After this, you grab a moderately heavy dumbbell and do one set of cross bench pullovers for 20 reps as well, using a weight that will allow you to complete all 20 reps in good form. Strive to add 5 – 10 pounds a week to the squats, and you will gain some seriousbodyweight. Again quoting Strossen about doing “only” one set of squats, ” Make no mistake about it, however, this one set of 20-rep squats is not your ordinary cup of iron tea: Whatever our recipe might lack in complexity of volume will be more than recouped in intensity. ” What follows is the original is a reworking of the classic routine.
The Super Squat Routine – The Original:
The above routine is the ultimate ‘hard gainers’ routine and was done 2-3 times a week.
The Super Squat Routine – Reloaded:
The Diet:
Quoting Strossen on diet: “In addition to the 20-rep squats, trainees are advised to eat a lot of wholesome food, drink at least two quarts of milk a day, and to get plenty of rest in between the twice- or thrice-weekly workouts. That’s it: one set of 20-rep squats, a couple of other basic exercises, plenty of good food, milk and rest. But, oh, those squats!”
Now, lets just stop there for a minute. Since this book was published in the late 60s, this is obviously very outdated diet advice. Not to mention, milk, in itself might not be good for you, or most people, especially with the alternatives we have today, like brown rice and hemp protein, and at least better quality whey proteins and supplements like creatine etc. “Gallon-of-milk-a-day” nonsense aside, the routine itself is a pretty good minimalist approach to putting some muscle on with relatively few exercises or even one you can use to get back in shape as the high-rep squats offer an incredible metabolic boost.
The routine is performed monday, wednesday and fridays and should take no longer than 30-40 minutes. Start off with full ATG squats and hit a few warm up sets of 10 reps or so. On the one 20 rep squat set, you want to choose a weight that you could do comfortably for about 15 reps. The following five are to be done rest-pause style, doing the first 15 reps, then taking three or so breaths and then another rep, then three or so more breaths and another rep and so forth until all 20 reps are complete.
After this, you grab a moderately heavy dumbbell and do one set of cross bench pullovers for 20 reps as well, using a weight that will allow you to complete all 20 reps in good form. Strive to add 5 – 10 pounds a week to the squats, and you will gain some seriousbodyweight. Again quoting Strossen about doing “only” one set of squats, ” Make no mistake about it, however, this one set of 20-rep squats is not your ordinary cup of iron tea: Whatever our recipe might lack in complexity of volume will be more than recouped in intensity. ” What follows is the original is a reworking of the classic routine.
The Super Squat Routine – The Original:
Press behind neck – 3 x 12
Squat – 1 x 20 supersetted with Pullover – 1 x 20
Bench press – 3 x 12
Rowing – 3 x 15
Stiff legged deadlift – 1 x 15
Pullover – 1 x 20
Squat – 1 x 20 supersetted with Pullover – 1 x 20
Bench press – 3 x 12
Rowing – 3 x 15
Stiff legged deadlift – 1 x 15
Pullover – 1 x 20
The above routine is the ultimate ‘hard gainers’ routine and was done 2-3 times a week.
The Super Squat Routine – Reloaded:
Workout A
Squat – 1×20 supersetted with
Cross bench dumbbell pullover – 1×20
Bench press – 2×6-8 supersetted with
Bent barbell – rows 2×6-8
Military press – 2×6-8 supersetted with
Barbell curls – 2×6-8
Cooldown: crunches 2x fail
Workout B
Squat – 1×20 supersetted with
Cross bench dumbbell pullover – 1×20
Dips – 2x fail supersetted with
Chins – 2x fail
Hang cleans – 2×6-8 supersetted with
Barbell tricep extensions – 2×6-8
Cooldown: reverse crunches 2x fail
Squat – 1×20 supersetted with
Cross bench dumbbell pullover – 1×20
Bench press – 2×6-8 supersetted with
Bent barbell – rows 2×6-8
Military press – 2×6-8 supersetted with
Barbell curls – 2×6-8
Cooldown: crunches 2x fail
Workout B
Squat – 1×20 supersetted with
Cross bench dumbbell pullover – 1×20
Dips – 2x fail supersetted with
Chins – 2x fail
Hang cleans – 2×6-8 supersetted with
Barbell tricep extensions – 2×6-8
Cooldown: reverse crunches 2x fail
The Diet:
Breakfast
4 eggs
2 slices of whole wheat toast
1 glass of milk with whey powder
Snack
one cup oatmeal
1 glass of milk with whey powder
Lunch
sandwich (with meat or chicken or tuna, and cheese)
one or two pieces fruit
1 glass of milk with whey powder
Snack
one or two pieces fruit
cottage cheese or other cheese
1 glass of milk with whey powder
Supper
meat (i.e. chicken, beef, pork, etc.)
whole wheat pasta, rice, potatoes or sweet potatoes
green vegetables
1 glass of milk with whey powder
Snack
one cup whole grain cereal, cream of wheat/rice or grits
1 glass of milk with whey powder
4 eggs
2 slices of whole wheat toast
1 glass of milk with whey powder
Snack
one cup oatmeal
1 glass of milk with whey powder
Lunch
sandwich (with meat or chicken or tuna, and cheese)
one or two pieces fruit
1 glass of milk with whey powder
Snack
one or two pieces fruit
cottage cheese or other cheese
1 glass of milk with whey powder
Supper
meat (i.e. chicken, beef, pork, etc.)
whole wheat pasta, rice, potatoes or sweet potatoes
green vegetables
1 glass of milk with whey powder
Snack
one cup whole grain cereal, cream of wheat/rice or grits
1 glass of milk with whey powder
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