Enormous and Strong Legs: The Mountain Dog Way by John Meadows CSCS, CISSN Question: How many people at your gym have big, thick, nasty legs? What about on-stage at the last bodybuilding contest you attended? While I can't speak for everyone, I can say that in the last several shows I've been to, there hasn't been many. Why is this? Is the ability to build impressive wheels something you either have or don't have, genetically? Or, do people not know how to squat? I'm going to tell you what I think the reason is later on, but first let me begin by introducing myself to the Testosterone audience and give you a little background on who I am. My name is John Meadows, and I've been fascinated by looking massive and ripped from a very early age (I think I must have eaten paint chips as a kid). I started competing in bodybuilding contests when I was 13 years old, and went on to win local, state, and regional bodybuilding titles, and recently have placed high in national level contests. I'm a big believer in not only having "street" knowledge, but also being formally educated. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Health and Fitness management, and my CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist), and CISSN (Certified by the International Society of Sports Nutrition) accreditations. I've studied under Louie Simmons, the best powerlifting coach in the country, and have been in partnership with Dr. Eric Serrano for over 10 years, learning from him. I now run a nutrition and training website and do my best to balance that with having 21-month-old twins and a day job working at a bank. Mountain Dog Training But enough about me; what is this Mountain Dog training stuff? Mountain Dog training is what I call an intense set of exercises, rep schemes, and techniques designed to push your body to new levels by not allowing it to adapt to old levels.
If you're looking for a '10-minutes a day' type of solution, or something that you might find in an infomercial, then you're going to be disappointed. The number one prerequisite for training progress is increased intensity so prepare to train hard. I'm going to take you through the key concepts that drive my leg training program and if you're unsatisfied with your own set of wheels, I'd like you to give it a shot. I've provided some examples of leg workouts at the end of the article that I think you'll enjoy — in a sick sort of way, that is. Key Concepts 1. Execution of the Set = High Intensity There are five concepts that I incorporate into nearly all my leg training workouts: • 3-second descents — If there's one technique that has given me the most leg mass/size over the years, it's this one. It all started in the 90's when Dr. Eric Serrano and Charles Poliquin were talking about TUT (Time Under Tension). I remember Eric telling me the optimal time to produce hypertrophy was 50-60 second sets and I immediately applied that to my leg workouts. Well, it worked — big time. That said, I found that I don't necessarily buy the limit of 50 or 60 or 70 seconds for hypertrophy. Your body can and will adapt to anything you throw at it if you don't mix it up. With that in mind, I began incorporating the occasional set that took 2 to 3 minutes. I'd get on the leg press and, using a fairly heavy weight, do these until my legs felt like they were going to burst into flames. These 3-second descents are used on four primary exercises — leg presses, barbell squats, hack squats, and stiff-legged deadlifts. We'll use them on other exercises on occasion, but these four turn into pure nastiness when you use this technique. Check out a video on the right for a demonstration. • Partial reps — Many of you are likely familiar with 21's, the classic biceps partialrep training sequence, but there are effective ways to employ partials on specific leg exercises, too. My absolute favorite lower body partial reps exercise is the leg (hamstring) curl. The partials are done out of the extension portion of the movement (with the legs extended), not the contracted; so you may do 15 full range of motion reps and then add in anywhere from 8-25 partials at the end.
The pump you'll get is incredible, and when you move on to quad training, you should notice a huge difference in how good your squats and leg presses feel. These are to be used on leg curls, leg presses, and leg extensions, and for a demonstration, check the video on the right. • Constant tension with heavy weight for high reps — I learned this from a Tom Platz seminar in the late 80's. Somebody asked him how he got his legs so massive and strong, and his reply was that as lifters we often get focused on heavy weight for low reps, or lighter weight for high reps, but the correct way to achieveextreme size, was to use heavy weight for high reps. Now this is obviously very intense, so you have to be careful. You can't get under a squat rack and try to do your max weight for high reps, unless you want to dump the weight or worse, get injured. In fact, I recommend you do not use this on barbell squats, period. I took this tip a step further and noticed that I got very good results with this style when I didn't lock out all my exercises, but rather did a pumping or continuous tension style. I know this isn't a new idea — Joe Weider invented all this stuff, right? — but constant tension with heavy weight for high reps produces incredible intensity. I use this technique primarily on leg presses, machine-type squats, and Smith machine lunges. You have to be careful to not overdue this. One set properly performed on leg day is all you need (along with the rest of your lower body workout). This is the number one technique where pain tolerance comes into play. How far can your mind allow you to take your set? How much pain can you withstand? The answers will determine the effectiveness of this protocol. • Rest/pause explosion — This is a great way to develop raw strength and adductor size. I noticed that my inner thighs/adductors were getting thicker, as were my training partners when we began to go rock bottom on certain movements, pause, and then drive them up as hard as we can. I helped a gentleman prepare for the Mr. USA last year and he started employing this technique in nearly every workout, and it was amazing how his inner thighs looked after six months. We used this technique with squats at Westside Barbell in Columbus when I was there in the 90's and the resulting increase in leg strength was nothing short of phenomenal. Louie likes to do his famous 8 sets of 3 on speed squats, and he's developed some of the strongest guys on the planet. I simply added some reps, and voila, huge inner thighs.
Use a full range of motion, pause at the bottom, and drive up. This technique is applicable with hack squats and machine squats, primarily. For a video demonstration, see the clip on the right: • Drop Sets — Now this is something that will test your testicular fortitude. Again, a well-known technique for arm training zealots, but how many people do a crazy drop set on the hack squat or leg extension? How about using the 3-second technique and partials with it as well? We can incorporate these on almost every leg movement except for free weight squats. Check the video on the right for a demo: 2. Volume There's such an irrational fear of overtraining these days. It seems as if any more than three sets per bodypart is a recipe for zero gains, illness, and crippling injuries. Is this a conspiracy started by gym owners to make folks stay away? Mountain Dog Training uses a 3-cycle approach over 12 weeks: • Phase 1 — Weeks 1-3 — Use a medium volume approach, gradually incorporating the high intensity sets. I have a rule I follow called "get the most out of the least." In other words, for most people, even very advanced trainees, the use of the high intensity techniques described above will be enough to provide initial shock to the legs. Why do 20 sets for legs, when you can get great gains with 12? This allows you to build your volume and intensity and start to reap the hormonal benefits of higher volume training later on, but more on that later. The set total ranges from 11-14 sets. • Phase 2 — Weeks 4-9 — Use a high volume approach. Now we start to build in volume each week. Your body will be adjusting to the intensity you threw at in the first phase, so to keep it off balance we slowly add more overall volume over the course of the next three weeks. Typically, the number of sets will go to 16-20, with more high intensity sets added each week. This phase is a hard six-week grind. • Phase 3 — Weeks 10-12 — Use a low to medium volume approach, with all high intensity sets preceded by proper warm ups. Overall volume now goes down for sets (8-10), but the sets you do will be the hardest you've done in your life.
• Deload Phase — 2 weeks — As with any hard program, there's a period of deloading that will benefit you in the long run with rebounding from the cumulative neural fatigue that accompanies high intensity work. Everyone is different though — I've had people insert this at the six-week point, and others that have gone over 30 weeks training with lights out intensity and continued progress. Two weeks of lighter training is my general recommendation after a brutal 12 weeks of work; sometimes you have to take one step back to take two steps forward. 3. Exercise Sequence There are some things that you just can't learn in textbooks. You can learn about sarcomeres, myosin cross bridges, sarcoplasmic reticulum, A-Bands, I-bands and on and on. And I have to tell you, I love that stuff. But you will never read that to get better hamstrings from your squats or leg presses, perform leg curls first in a certain way. That is something I learned through personal experimentation and has been confirmed by working with countless clients. Truth is, there are many exercise sequences that I believe work better for size and strength gains, with the added bonus of injury prevention. I just don't have the foggiest idea how to prove it scientifically. Here are some examples: Hamstrings • Do high intensity leg curls before doing leg presses or squats, and you'll improve hamstring development. • Perform hams and quads together in the same workout — you'll get more overall size and thickness. • Do your stretching type movements for hams (stiff-legged deadlifts, Romanian deads, etc.) after your hams and quads are fully pumped. Quads • Do leg presses or squats before you do hack squats. • Do at least two movements for quads before you do lunges.
• Don't do any kind of lunge or hack squat first in your routine — you won't engage the muscle sufficiently, and you could beat up your knees in the process. • If your quads are small, don't do leg extensions, period; just focus on squats, leg presses, and hack squats for overall quad development. Leg extensions can be a great tool, but if you use them in place of compound movements I would call them leg "extinctions." Same principle applies for fancy lunges. They have their place, but not until you build a certain level of leg development. 4. Fascial Tissue Stretching and Massage Many highly successful programs such as Dante Trudel's "DoggCrapp" training have been big proponents of fascial stretching, but John Parillo may have been the first to really put the proper emphasis on it. I actually started my very serious training at the Parillo complex back in the early 90's, so I may be a bit biased on this; I just know from experience that it works. Fascia is a tough, dense connective tissue that spreads throughout the body in a threedimensional web from head to foot. A smooth fascial sheath surrounds every muscle of the body, every muscular fascicle is surrounded by fascia, and every fibril down to the cellular level is surrounded by fascia. From this, we can come to the conclusion that it is the fascia that determines the function and length of the muscle that it surrounds and furthermore, we can postulate that if there is a malfunction of this system due to binding down or restriction, it will have widespread effects on the whole body. Binding down and restriction of the three-dimensional web can create numerous problems like myofascial pain, poor posture, shortening and restriction of skeletal muscle — meaning no more hypertrophy! You're going to incorporate some intense fascial tissue stretches during two specific times: 1) when the muscle is extremely pumped, and 2) at the end of the workout. Don't get lazy; take the time to do this, and you'll be rewarded. Any Science? Another extreme training system, right? Can I back it up that it even works?
I could take the easy way out and rattle off the names of some well-known bodybuilders who swear by my methods, like Shelby Starnes of Troponin Nutrition. But there is a physiological basis for why this training system works so well: • The more fibers you can recruit, the more fibers you have to potentially "remodel" during the repair phase. Doing sets as shown in the videos will get maximum muscle fiber activation. • We know that working with heavy loads increases the cross sectional area of the muscle fiber, meaning it gets bigger. We don't get reckless though; we sequence exercises properly, and are not governed entirely by the weight since it's a path that cannot continue forever. • Using higher volume results in favorable endocrine system responses, namely growth hormone and Testosterone levels increase. The Big Pay Off: Sample Mountain Dog Leg Workouts Okay, now that you have read the theory behind my approach to leg training, let's take a look at a few sample workouts: Phase 1 Workout - Total Volume = 12 Sets. A) Lying leg curls, 4 sets. Have someone gently push down on your lower back while you do these to keep your hips down - you won't be able to go as heavy, but it will isolate them better. 2 x 20 (warm-up) 1 x 15 1 x 12 1x8 Add weight each set. Rest about 90 seconds between these sets. 1 x Drop Set* *Go back to the weight you did for 12 and do it 10 times; drop a plate and do 10 more reps, drop a plate and do 10 reps, then go back up (heavier) by one plate and do 25
partials out of the bottom — just start the weight up and come back down. Little reps; the weight will only be moving 2-3 inches. B) Barbell stiff leg deadlifts, 2 sets. Bend your knees at the bottom; use 25-lb plates instead of the larger 45's to get a better stretch. 2 x warm-up 2 x 10* *Flex your glutes and hams on every rep. C) Leg press, 3 sets. Feet slightly wider than shoulder width and a little lower on the platform. Start light with 1 plate on each side; during the first few sets you should still feel it in the hams and inner thighs during the eccentric. Keep going up in weight until you're properly warmed up. Perform 3-second negatives, but explode on the way up. Do 3 sets like this with a weight that's a hard 10. Fascia Tissue Stretch, 1 minute each quad. D) Hack squat, 3 sets 3 x 10 reps with a full range of motion. On the third set, use the same weight, but go down all the way and pause, then drive the weight back up hard. Maintain constant tension — do not lock out the weight. Do 10 reps like this, then cut the weight in half and do 15 more reps to finish your leg session. Fascia Tissue Stretch for 1 minute on each quad, and repeat 2 times. Phase 2 Workout - Total Volume = 17 Sets. A) Seated leg curl, 4 sets. Get a full range of motion, all the way up and back. 2 x 20 (warm-up) 1 x 14 1 x 12
1 x 10 Add weight each set. Rest 1 minute between sets. 1 x 35 reps (!)* *Go back to a weight that's 1 or 2 plates lighter than what you started with and do 35 reps. The first 10 reps will be easy before the fire kicks in. It will be hard to reach 35, but do it, even if your last 10 are partials. Get through this set. B) Leg Press, 3 sets. Standard positioning; feet shoulder width, toes pointed straight up, and medium stance on the platform. 2 x warm up sets. Gradually add weight until you get to a load you could normally do for 10-12 reps maximum. Stick with that weight. 3 x16, heavy weight plus high reps.* *These are all done with continuous tension style - no locking out. You may have to use your hands to assist. Try to work the lower part of the movement the hardest; this is how you nail the teardrop portion of the quadriceps. Rest about 2 minutes between sets. C) Machine type squats or hack squats, 3 sets. 1 x warm up set 3 x 8* *Use a weight that allows you to go all the way down and pause in a very controlled manner. Drive up, but do not lock-out. It won't take much weight, and your legs should be extremely pumped after 3 sets of 8. Again, go deep, pause, and then fire back up. Fascia Tissue Stretch, 1 minute each quad. D) Smith machine squat, 3 sets. 2 x 8 reps with a full range of motion, aka rock bottom.
1 x 8* *On the last set, employ the 1-1/2 technique. Hit rock bottom, and only come up half way, then back down to rock bottom again, then all the way up — that's one rep. Fascia Tissue Stretch, 1 minute each quad. E) Dumbbell stiff leg deadlifts, 4 x 12 reps. Don't come up all the way, and bend your knees slightly at the bottom. Focus on getting a good stretch and on each set, try to get slightly deeper. Think about pushing your hips back as you go down, and keeping the dumbbells right against you. Phase 3: Well, you can use your imagination for a Phase 3 workout; think of all the possible combinations with the above techniques! Wrap-Up That's an overview of leg training the Mountain Dog way, and an introduction to my overall approach to building muscular size, fast. The techniques listed here don't necessarily apply to all bodyparts, but in my experience legs can withstand a great deal of punishment. So punish them I do. Going back to the first paragraph and why I don't think there are more people out there with big strong legs? I think it's because of two words: Pain tolerance. Along with two other words — work ethic — you simply need to have it to be successful. I look forward to taking you through other bodyparts in the coming days.
Build Brutal Leg Thickness 6 Ways to Use the Leg Press by John Meadows, CSCS – 3/02/2011
The leg press is like Olive Penderghast in the movie, "Easy A" (or for you more classically educated meatheads, Hester Prynne in "The Scarlet Letter") in that her reputation has been sullied, perhaps unjustly and disproportionately. For some reason, leg presses are regarded as a mediocre exercise with little direct application to sport. Plus, you have to admit those videos of Revered Pat Robertson leg-pressing over a thousand pounds didn't help much either (especially since his range of motion was about as long as an angel's hair is wide). Here's the bottom line. If you're a professional athlete, then it's true, leg presses won't have much direct carryover to the athletic field. However, if you just want to pack muscle onto your legs, then the leg press is an important tool. Here, courtesy of John Meadows, are 6 ways to use the leg press effectively, plus one bonus method to build up those sorry-ass calves of yours. By far, my favorite exercise in the world is barbell squats. They're the ultimate exercise for muscular hypertrophy. In fact they're so good for building leg size that it might be tempting for you to brush off other exercises that are extremely effective and label them as "second class."
Specifically, I'm referring to the leg press. I think many have also avoided the leg press because it's not nearly as "functional" as the squat, but make no mistake, it still has many cool hypertrophy applications, especially for bodybuilders! The leg press is a beast of an exercise, too. You can use this machine to inflict pain like perhaps no other. If your goal is to gain muscle on your legs, this machine should be part of your regimen. Let me first talk about what this article is NOT:
1. 2. 3. 4.
This is not me debating which is better, squats or leg presses. This is not me teaching you how to use the leg press safely. This is not me teaching you basic anatomy. This is not me suggesting that if you don't do leg presses, your quads will shrivel up so they look like the pasty-white, blue-veined legs of old guys who sit around the pool in Miami.
Okay, so what is this article about?
It's about how you add size and thickness to your legs using brutally effective techniques and rep schemes on the leg press, period. None of this is rocket science, but not many are willing to take their training to this level either. Okay, so let's get going.
6 Techniques for Intensity
1. The 3-second descent
Anybody who has read any of my stuff is familiar with this. It isn't enough to just know what a 3-second descent is. Actually DO IT! You'll feel more pain doing leg presses than ever before. When you start to do your leg presses this way, it will lessen the amount of weight you use to a certain degree, but as your muscles adapt, they'll get stronger and your weight will come right back up, except now you'll be able to completely control the weight from start to finish. I also find that people's adductors thicken up noticeably when using this style. When you do these, have your partner count out loud – 1-2-3. No matter how tempting it is to drive up at 2 seconds, maintain your discipline. Take the full 3 seconds before driving back up. Below is Brad Davis, a top national competitor and absolute beast using this technique while going to war in preparation for this year's Mr. North America. This is what Tom Platz means when he said, "Forget high weight low reps or low weight high reps; go high weight and high reps for ultimate intensity."
2. Drop sets
Most of you have probably toyed around with this one throughout your lifting careers. Most people I know are literally scared of the pain of a leg press drop set, though. You have to be a little off your rocker to enjoy these, if you know what I mean. I fit into this category perfectly. Oh, and what about women using these techniques? Well, here's fitness model Victoria Felkar doing a monster drop set despite the fact she has no training partner for the day. See if you can match this, guys! 3. Teardrop finishers
As your thighs blow up with blood, a great way to further rock your vastus medialis/teardrop is to drop your feet down on the leg press platform a little bit (I still want you flat footed), but keeping them close and pumping out reps. The deeper these are done, the more ROM your teardrops will get, and thus more pain and gain. An important part of doing these is ankle flexibility, specifically as it relates to dorsiflexion. Tony Gentilcore wrote a sweet article on squats last month where he mentioned this. Unfortunately, a lot of people lack ankle flexibility, but luckily I picked up something from a Tom Platz seminar back when I was a 14-year-old teenager. He showed us how when you moved your feet down, the weight shifted to the balls of your feet and your heels would elevate off the platform. Then we did some gentle stretching and lo and behold, on the second try, we could easily keep pushing with our heels as they stayed flat. This basic principal not only applies to squats, but leg presses, too. What I'll have people do who are tight in their ankles is to sit on a seated leg press and let the weight of the carriage (no added weight) gently stretch them for a few seconds, after which they get up and do a few reps of standing calf raises. Be careful not to use any weight on these, though, as you'll overstretch and you'll get hurt, probably by way of a soleus strain or tear. So again, remember less is more...don't overdo it! If you want to get really crazy like me, you can combine all of the above. Do 3-second descents, drop sets, and then the teardrop finisher, all in the same set!
At the end I do drop my feet all the way to the bottom and let my heels come up, but save that for when you have really thick teardrops. You don't need to use much weight either. I'm proud to say that in over 25 years of training, I've never once had a knee injury. 4. Bandwork
Buying a few sets of bands from EliteFTS is a great investment to make in your legs as they're amazing at building strength and size in your legs. Louie Simmons has always said that if bodybuilders were ballsy enough to try something different, bands could produce great gains of size for certain exercises. I agree 100%. The other thing I notice with bands is that they build quad sweep. It's kind of weird. I don't know why this is, but it's visually noticeable in just about everybody I work with after one 6-week plan of using bands on the leg press. The way we use bands is to use one set of "monster minis," and then after a few weeks, add a second set. This makes the reps tough as hell. You can't stop fighting at any point throughout the rep. Reps are kept around 8. I don't like high reps on these, but I don't like to take reps too low, either. The 7-8 rep range is where I've seen the best results. As mentioned, I like to do 6-week intervals using bands. I also really like to push progression on these. A successful 6-week program might look like this in terms of increases:
Week 1 – 410 x8, 500 x 8, 590 x 8 – use 1 set of monster minis Week 2 – 500 x 8, 590 x 8, 640 x 6 – use 1 set of monster minis Week 3 – 500 x 8, 590 x 6, 640 x 6 – use 2 sets of monster minis Week 4 – 500 x 8, 590 x 8, 640 x 8 – use 2 sets of monster minis Week 5 – 590 x 6, 640 x 6, 690 x 6 – use 2 sets of monster minis Week 6 – 640 x 8, 690 x 8, 740 x 6 – use 2 sets of monster minis This is not unrealistic at all in terms of strength gains for most. Obviously there's a preceding warm up to this as well. When doing these, really fire out of the hole. Train like a sprinter on these. In other words, EXPLODE!
The video below shows another animal you guys all know – Shelby Starnes – as he prepares for this year's USA. Shelby Starnes has seen some INSANE strength jumps doing these while dieting! Here's where he is currently after 4 weeks. Notice he's using a vertical leg press, too! Week 1: 2 doubled minis plus 270 (3 plates per side) x 3 x 8 Week 2: doubled minis plus doubled monster minis + 290, 380, 450 x 8 Week 3: doubled minis plus doubled monster minis + 470 x 3 x 8 Week 4: doubled minis plus doubled monster minis + 470 x 3 x 10 Also check out last year's Team Universe Middleweight winner, Pam Wentz, grinding out double-banded heavy reps on a 45-degree leg press. I want you to watch how she fights to get through every inch of the range of motion, which is one of the great benefits of bands! 5. Dead-stop machine leg presses
Of all the things we've talked about so far, this is probably the "sneakiest," as Dave Tate likes to put it. When I send the rep scheme to people, they often say this doesn't look bad. Ha! Famous last words. If I had to cast a vote on the most brutal way of using the leg press, this is it. People also tend to see I've written machine in place of a free-weight leg press, and then assume it's going to be a cakewalk. The beauty of using a machine/selectorized stack is that you can dead stop the weight. You can't really do that on most leg presses. The rep scheme and employment of dead stops is the key here. Here's the rep scheme that I typically use:
Warm up
Set 1 – Pick a weight that's a hard 20 reps using continuous tension. Go up and down and get them burning and drive the blood in there.
Set 2 – Go up in weight a bit. Now I want you to do 15 reps with continuous tension, THEN do 5 more reps, but employ the deadstop technique. Do as the name implies. Let the weight go all the way down in the hole and stop. Relax your legs for a split second, and then BAM! Drive up hard.
Set 3 – Go up in weight again. Now do 10 reps with continuous tension, and 10 deadstop reps.
Set 4 – Okay, this is it. This is the set where most people fall out of the machine nearly unconscious. Go up in weight again, and do 5 continuous tension reps, and 15 dead stops.
Let me re-iterate, on the "dead stop" reps, let the weight literally stop and rest. Take a deep breath and fire out of the hole; explode on these, too. Do not lock these out.
Here's video of me enjoying myself doing set 4 (5 continuous and 15 rest pause). 6. Unilateral leg presses
I actually prefer to use the leg press machine with the selectorized weight stack for unilateral leg presses as well. For whatever reason, these just don't feel as "natural" on my knees when I'm using a normal 45-degree leg press. Again, I'm not debating science here, just telling you how I feel about doing these. They absolutely crush your hams, glutes, adductors, and teardrop all in one. I tend to like using short rest periods between sets on these. It pushes your pain tolerance just a wee bit as you'll see. An example of how to do this would be to do 10 reps on one leg, then 10 on the other. Take a 45-second break and repeat. Then before your 3rd set, take 60 seconds before your last set of 10. Here's some video on this one so you can see form.
Bonus Round 7. Timed Toe Presses
We can't sign off without talking about these! If you have a leg press machine that allows you to do toe presses for your calves, try doing these timed. One scheme we like to do is 3 sets of 60-second straight toe pressing. One non-stop minute on these will sting a bit. You may have some trouble walking the next day! Generally speaking we alternate our approach on these, pyramiding up to a very heavy weight for sets of 8-12 one week, then doing the timed sets the following week. A challenge to you! So if you've made it to this point in the article, great! And as a "reward," I want to offer a sort of challenge to you. Don't be one of those guys that sits around and says "Yeah, I know all that stuff," or, "Yeah, my legs would be big if it weren't for shitty genetics," and then does nothing. Try the workout below and then let's talk about how it went on the Llivespill feed. I would love to see video of what you do as well!! The Workout
Leg curls – 2 light warm up sets, then 4 sets of 10 reps with a weight that is tough, but still allows you to get all of the reps. Free weight Leg Press – Do as many warm-up sets as you need, working your way up. Once you get to a hard weight I want you to do:
1 set of 15 reps with a 3-second descent on each and every rep. Don't cheat! Take 3 seconds on the way down!
Using the same weight, do 15 reps with a 3-second descent; drop the weight and do 10 more reps with a 3-second descent; and then drop the weight and do 25 normal-speed reps with your feet a little lower on the platform for your teardrop. I especially want to see Video of this one!
Machine Leg Press – Here comes the deadstops! Do your warm up progression as described above. Go up in weight a bit on all sets!
Set 1 - 20 continuous tension reps (no locking out). Set 2 - 15 continuous tension reps and 5 dead stop reps. Set 3 - 10 continuous tension reps and 10 dead stop reps. Set 4 - 5 continuous tension reps and 15 dead stop reps. VIDEO this one, too!
In between the 4 sets, feel free to rest 2-3 minutes to catch your breath. No rush here. If you're feeling real froggy, I want you to do 3 sets of the single leg presses too, as well as 3 sets of toe presses (timed for 1 minute) for calves as your finisher. I'm pumped up to see some crazy intense sets and to talk about it over the Livespill feed! Train like an animal!!
4 Simple Leg Workouts to Spur New Growth by John Meadows, CSCS – 4/30/2012
Summer is many a bodybuilder's favorite time of year. The sunny skies and warm temperatures affords an easy opportunity for us to strut our stuff and expose that superhero physique we've been building all winter. But if you exercise your Iron Right to do the peacock walk, you best be able to back it up – and that means sporting a set of legs that matches your "showy" shoulders and pecs. Let's start with programming. There are many ways to set up the nuts & bolts of a training program. You can operate from a percentage of one-rep max, shoot for a specific rep total, and modulate the training frequency. However, one factor that rarely gets talked about – and one that's arguably as important as the choice of exercises – is exercise sequence. Setting up the exercises in the correct order will help you stay healthier, get stronger, and grow larger. Here's how your programming will look over the next four leg sessions: Frequency: How often you train legs will depend on how you feel. When your legs feel rested and ready to blast, go again, whether it's three days or six days later. Rest periods: Keep it simple. Just take as much time as you need to feel strong again. Don't start a set out of breath or you'll compromise performance. Exercises: Each workout will consist of four exercises. They'll be sequenced in this order: Exercise 1 – A leg curl variation Exercise 2 – A squat variation Exercise 3 – An exercise that's safe to do with all-out intensity Exercise 4 – A deadlift variation that emphasizes hamstring development
Starting With Leg Curls
Leg curls are incredibly underrated as a hamstring developer. Starting your workout with leg curls allows you to place considerable emphasis on the hamstrings, as opposed to just tossing in a few meaningless sets at the end of your leg workout. Most lifters are extremely quad-dominant – if you look at bodybuilders doing the classic side chest pose, it's rare (below the professional level) to see one with thick, hanging hamstrings. Sequencing leg curls first addresses this issue. There's also a larger benefit, one not found in any Pub Med search: doing leg curls first will make your squats "feel" better. With pumped up hams, you'll feel "sturdier" in the bottom position of the squat, and your hips will seem "greased" during each squat repetition. Furthermore, as strange as it sounds, you'll find that your knees need less warming up after starting with leg curls. Again no peer-reviewed data to back this up, just decades of experience and hundreds of client testimonials. The other nice thing about leg curls is that you can easily employ techniques like drop sets and partial reps to further drive blood into the muscle. Provided you're using good form, this can quickly produce impressive gains in hamstring strength and thickness. The Meat & Spuds
Nothing compares to squats for leg size. While other exercises certainly have merit, squats will form the core of your workouts. However, while I was certainly born to squat – wide hips and short femurs – it isn't necessary to go completely rock bottom on every set of squats you do. My preferred
approach is to vary squatting depth – some weeks squatting just to parallel, others well below. Variation is a good thing – just ask Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell. When I trained there, we'd move the height of the box down an inch every week to help build flexibility. We would also vary our stances, as wider squats help develop hip and groin flexibility. I also like to vary the bar used with squats. Different bars recruit the quads and hamstrings to varying degrees. (If you're lucky enough to have a safety squat bar, get it ready for action!) The Insanity
The third exercise in the sequence will be the most painful. The more advanced you are, the harder you should push yourself. Remember, the goal is huge legs, so don't train like everybody else (i.e., half-assed) and expect to look any different from them. Expect and demand more from yourself. You'd be surprised what you're capable of. (And don't worry, I give examples below.)
Stretch It Out
Now that your legs are absolutely loaded with blood, it's time to kick in some deadlifts for hamstrings. We'll use different stances and depths for variation. The Workouts
Let's get to the iron. The following workouts are tough, so put your heart into it – don't just go through the motions and expect to make gains. Workout #1 Lying Leg Curls – Simply do 3 sets of 8 reps with a hard flex at the top. On the fourth set, do 8 followed by 25 partials from the stretched position. Just move the weight 4-6 inches from the bottom. Your hamstrings will feel like Jell-O when you're done. Two to three warm-up sets and then four total work sets. Barbell Squats – Do sets of 8 to warm up. Go below parallel. As you rise up, avoid locking out – come right back down to maintain continuous tension. Once you reach a weight that's challenging for 8 reps, do 4 sets of 8. Use any stance that's comfortable, just be sure to make note of it because next week you'll go a tad wider. Wear a belt. Four total work sets. Leg Press – Do 3 hard sets of 25 reps. Use a shoulder-width, feet in the middle of the platform stance. Turn your toes out slightly – this will blow up your VMO. Don't lock out on these either. You may need to do some light quad stretching between sets as your legs should be completely full of blood. Three total work sets. Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlifts – Do 2 sets of 20. Go slow and stretch your hams. Bend your knees slightly at the bottom to avoid injury. Don't come up all the way – come up 3/4 of the way, then go right back down. This will finish you off for the day. Two total work sets.
Workout #2
Lying Leg Curls – Do a standard pyramid of 15, 12, 9, and 6 reps. After the last set of 6, drop the weight and do 6 more, then perform one more drop and do a final 6 reps. This 18-rep drop-set will pump your hams and get you ready for squats. Two to three warm up sets and then four total work sets. Barbell Squats – Do sets of 8 to warm-up, but this week use a slightly wider stance. Focus on sitting back and driving your knees out so they don't buckle. This week just hit parallel, no lower, and use more weight than last week. This may be tough if changing your stance exposes some hip weakness, but try. Knock out another 4 sets of 8 once you reach your target weight. Four total work sets. Bulgarian Split Squats –This week the leg press is swapped for split squats. Your legs will be tight and pumped, so you might have to work a little deeper each set to derive the maximum benefit. Do 12 reps on each leg, holding light dumbbells. Take three seconds on the way down (this will hurt), and slowly get to a comfortable depth. Again, you should get a little deeper on each set. I typically do some very light hip flexor stretches for a quick 10 seconds between sets. Three total work sets. Barbell Stiff Legged Deads – This week we switch dumbbell stiff legged deads with the barbell version. Use 25-pound plates to get the maximum stretch, but don't try to
achieve max stretch on the first set. Each set you do, work a little deeper. Do 3 sets of 15. Come up all the way and flex your hams and glutes. This will finish you off for the day. Three total work sets. Workout #3
Seated Leg Curls – The first two weeks we did lying leg curls, the last two we'll do the seated version to hit the hamstrings at a slightly different angle. Do 4 sets of 10 reps and on the last set, after the 10 reps, do 15 additional partial reps out from the stretched position. Two to three warm up sets and then four total work sets. Safety Bar Squats – Like last week, work up to your starting weight doing sets of 8 reps. Go to just above parallel on these. This is a different bar, and it'll place more emphasis on the quads. Focus on a slow 3-second descent. You may lock out reps if needed. Just find that perfect weight for 8 reps and stay there for 3 sets. Then do a fourth set a little heavier and shoot for five reps. Four total work sets. Leg Extensions – Don't laugh! You've done some hard work on the leg press and split squats, so let's work in another variation, leg extensions. Avoid letting the weight come back so far at the bottom that you stress the knees, just down until your shins aren't quite parallel. Go heavy but flex every rep at lockout for 1second.
These will feel great with the pump you already have. Pyramid up doing sets of 12, 10, 8, and then a final set of 8. After the last set, drop the weight and do 8 more reps followed by 8 partials out of the bottom – the weight should only move 3-4 inches. Four total work sets. Romanian Deadlifts – This week we'll stick with the bar but add a little more knee bend so it's a true Romanian deadlift. Since we aren't going for a super stretch, you can go back to using 45-pound plates. Do these powerfully – let the weight sit on the ground and then drive it up. No bouncing or cutting the reps in half. Pyramid up doing sets of 10 and 8, and then 2 sets of 6. Four total work sets. Workout #4 Seated Leg Curls – Do 3 of 12 reps. On the last set, after you hit 12 reps, drop the weight and do 8 more reps, and then do another drop and do 8 more. Two to three warm up sets and then four total work sets. Safety Bar Squats – Like last week, work up to your starting weight doing sets of 8 reps, but this week hit parallel. Continue to focus on a slow 3-second descent. This week you're going to do sets of 8 with a moderately heavy weight, then a tough set of 5 like last week, and then finally a tough set of 3 (don't forget the 3-second descent). After you do the set of 3, cut your weight in half and shoot for as many reps as you can with good form! Four total work sets. Single-leg Lunge – My favorite way to do walking lunges is with heavy dumbbells using straps. Step forward with your left leg, go down in a controlled manner, and then bring your right leg forward so your feet are beside each other. Now stay on the same leg and do it again. Do 10 paces with one leg, then turn around and come back on the other leg. This takes momentum and inertia out of the movement and helps keep tension focused on the working leg instead of giving it a break between reps. Three rounds equals one set. Four total work sets. Rack Romanian Deadlifts – After you catch your breath, we'll finish with rack RDLs. Set the pins at mid-shin. Work up in sets of 3 until you can barely get 3, and then call it a day. Count the last 3 sets as working sets. Three total work sets. Restoration – I'm a strong believer in using the Rumble Roller to enhance recovery and break down adhesions that build up from training with high intensity. The short video shows how I use the Rumble Roller:
Walking, as boring as it may be, is also helpful. I'd do both, combined with proper nutrition to ensure you recover and improve. Remember, you're only as good as your weakest link, so if your nutrition sucks, your training progress will be limited. Forty-five to sixty minutes before training, I eat 6 ounces of fish and 1/2 cup of oats with 1 tablespoon of nut butter. During training, I use MAG-10® and Anaconda™, but not in the prescribed way. I take 3-4 scoops of MAG-10 and 2 scoops of Anaconda, and I drink it INTRAworkout – it's the best thing I've ever taken for recovery. Forty-five minutes after training, I have two scoops of Metabolic Drive® Muscle Growth, 2 cups of cooked rice, and 1 tablespoon of raw organic honey. That's the whole plan! Simple but effective.
