Too much Squats and Deadlifts?

[newbee13]

I am a 35 year old man. I am 5'10" and weigh 170 lbs. I wear 33" pants (so got some fat on my mid section). I want to increase my body mass and also burn those extra fat. Genetically I am seriously disadvantaged since both my parents and grand parents have been obese with giant wait lines and I am the first one in family trying to look good.

I met a trainer at gym who recommended that I do 10 sets of 10 squats with increasing weights in addition to other stuff in my routine. He also recommended doing 10 sets of 10 dead-lifts on another day along with other exercises. I really enjoy doing this as doing 100 reps of squats and dead-lifts with increasing weights is not easy but very gratifying. I workout 2 days with 1 day rest.

I have been doing this for over a period of 1 month and I do not see any increase in my body mass. How long would it be before I start seeing changes in my body?

[-Lucifer]

I have been doing this for over a period of 1 month and I do not see any increase in my body mass. How long would it be before I start seeing changes in my body?

You need to be patient. Wait for two more months and check your results. Also, you need to be doing more than just squats and deadlifts to gain overall size. Bentover rows, chinups, weighted dips, overhead presses and bench presses are very important exercises as well. Read the sticky threads (top of the page) this forum has.

[Rasputin4]

It sounds like the trainer is gearing you toward a high rep/high volume routine for hypertrophy. My only problem is if you are doing ascending pyramid sets and keeping the same rep number across sets, then unless your jumps of weight are really minor, you're not putting in anywhere near maximal effort on all sets. For hypertrophy, your sets should be anywhere from 75%-85% of your 1RM, which should place your rep range around 10-12. Anything less is more for endurance and with a routine doing 10 sets of squats and 10 sets of deadlifts that is not a beginner routine, I don't see any reason not to bump the weight up to your 12RM and do 3x10. This said, you have to be patient, it will take time to see changes in body composition, the change will be very gradual and you might not notice anything significant for awhile. The low intensity/high volume might be meant to double as cardio, but if your goal is mass, I'd say just add one session of cardio per week and keep your diet in check. BTW, 33" is not fat. Before I started lifting, I had a 32" waist and was skinny as f*ck.

[jwagz]

i'd cut it down to 5 sets of 5 for each of those. see how that does you for a month. 100 deads would leave me hating the gym...

[AlanApe]

10 sets of 10 reps does sound a bit high to me. 5 x 5 would be good, especially for Deadlift, but form has to be good.

Obesity comes from environmental factors, not genetics so you are not at a disadvantage with regards to that.

Give the 10 x 10 a go for a while and see how it goes but it is a lot of volume.

[newbee13]

10 sets of 10 reps does sound a bit high to me. 5 x 5 would be good, especially for Deadlift, but form has to be good.

Obesity comes from environmental factors, not genetics so you are not at a disadvantage with regards to that.

Give the 10 x 10 a go for a while and see how it goes but it is a lot of volume.

What is the harm in doing these 10x10 deadlifts and squats? I am trying to understand the disadvantages if any.

Thanks

[-Lucifer]

What is the harm in doing these 10x10 deadlifts and squats? I am trying to understand the disadvantages if any.

None. Some people may not be able to recover, though (this also depends on the percentage you use). Just make sure you're eating and sleeping well. Like I said in my previous post, you need to be doing more than just squats and deadlifts to gain mass everywhere.

[Rasputin4]

None. Some people may not be able to recover, though (this also depends on the percentage you use). Just make sure you're eating and sleeping well. Like I said in my previous post, you need to be doing more than just squats and deadlifts to gain mass everywhere.

Don't you think 10x10 is too lacking in intensity for the sake of volume?

[-Lucifer]

Don't you think 10x10 is too lacking in intensity for the sake of volume?

Depends on what percentage of his 1RM he's using. I could make 3x3 squats intense as hell by using 95%. I have never been fond of high volume routines, by the way.

[bmontgomery87]

you don't need that kind of volume.

5 sets of 5 works pretty well for both.

I honestly prefer to pull singles and triples with deads and that's all I did from 185 up to around a 365 pound d/l. Now I'm doing sets of 5 and sitting around 450.

[Rasputin4]

Depends on what percentage of his 1RM he's using. I could make 3x3 squats intense as hell by using 95%. I have never been fond of high volume routines, by the way.

I don't see how you could to a 10x10 with anything close to 75% of a 1RM unless your resting for like 15 minutes between sets.

I'm not much for high volume, either. I work legs once per week and hit 14 sets, which includes 3 for calves.

[ironwill2008]

I met a trainer at gym who recommended that I do 10 sets of 10 squats with increasing weights in addition to other stuff in my routine. He also recommended doing 10 sets of 10 dead-lifts on another day along with other exercises. I really enjoy doing this as doing 100 reps of squats and dead-lifts with increasing weights is not easy but very gratifying. I workout 2 days with 1 day rest.

I have been doing this for over a period of 1 month and I do not see any increase in my body mass. How long would it be before I start seeing changes in my body?

Ask the "trainer" who gave you the routine, OP.

[Retoaded]

my lower back just clenched up thinking about 10x10 deads.

[danamerican]

ive done 10x10 squats before (never heard of done more than once a month though)

dont do them on the same day please though, i really hope you havent been. youd need a 4 hours workout to get 20 quality sets of 10 reps with those 2 lifts. if you want to incorporate 10x10, start with a 5x10, then work your way up to 10x10 increasing 1 set per week. restart on the 5x10 after, and boost the weight. but srsly dont do them on the same day.

while its very hard to overtrain legs, you need to make sure you are hitting each set with equal or increasing intensity. if you cannot do that, you are doing too many sets.

[JohnSmeton]

I might do 10 sets for squats for my only quad exercise for a couple months

then go back to 3-4 exercises -2-3 sets a bodypart

it all depends if your doingmore high intensity training or more volume

[PeterGibbons316]

my lower back just clenched up thinking about 10x10 deads.

^This

That trainer is a dumb.

[GoodToGo2]

My form would suffer if I did so many reps. But that's probably just me.

[CarlJLondon]

I am a 35 year old man. I am 5'10" and weigh 170 lbs. I wear 33" pants (so got some fat on my mid section). I want to increase my body mass and also burn those extra fat. Genetically I am seriously disadvantaged since both my parents and grand parents have been obese with giant wait lines and I am the first one in family trying to look good.

I met a trainer at gym who recommended that I do 10 sets of 10 squats with increasing weights in addition to other stuff in my routine. He also recommended doing 10 sets of 10 dead-lifts on another day along with other exercises. I really enjoy doing this as doing 100 reps of squats and dead-lifts with increasing weights is not easy but very gratifying. I workout 2 days with 1 day rest.

I have been doing this for over a period of 1 month and I do not see any increase in my body mass. How long would it be before I start seeing changes in my body?

Sounds like you are either eating too little or lifting too little (light)

I've been doing around 10X10 70-80kg ass-to-floor squats and 10X10 100kg deadlifts (5 sets normal, 5 sets straight legged) for 2 months and the results were very very fast. Look like a hottentot. I'm just starting out and aiming to increase my core strength before beginning all the technical stuff with individual body areas. Projectile vomit notwithstanding , you should perhaps load (100g whey/creatine mix) + (100g sugars) during your workout for moral support.

However, if you are walking out the gym without crutches afterwards you are not pushing enough. Actually, 10X10 is too much volume even at the relatively low weights I am pushing. I will be decreasing this, increasing the weight and strapping my joints up.

Heheehe.