Post by Science on Aug 4, 2013 15:03:15 GMT
Today I will focusing on my legs, the biggest muscle group on anyone's body. Let's get to it!
The Warm-up
I always start my leg day by warming-up with some simple stretches, they can be dynamic or static stretches, it truly does not matter, just get the legs (hamstrings, quads, calves) stretched out!
Now I am going to introduce three stretches to you that may or may not already do, these three will be focusing on your lower-back, your hip-flexors, and your IT band.
If you do not have access to a foam roller then I strongly encourage you to either buy one, or search up on YouTube how to stretch these areas without one. These three stretches will immensely help with the depth in your squat, it took me three weeks of hardcore stretching but I was able to get my squat from an average depth (to parallel) to a deep squat (ass to grass) without my hips giving out or caving under.
I also usually do a 5 minute bike or run before I begin my weight session.
Time to Crush Legs!
The most important exercise you will ever learn, and the key to a physique a god, is squats (front or back). Today I will be starting with a wave loading pyramid set followed by a burn out on squats here is what it will look like for me!
SET !: 15 x 135lbs
SET 2: 10 x 185lbs
SET 3: 10 x 225lbs
SET 4: 4 x 275lbs
SET 5: 2 x 315lbs
SET 6: 4 x 275lbs
SET 7: 10 x 225lbs
SET 8: failure x 185lbs
SET 9: failure x 135lbs
For most people, this would be enough for one day; that's a pretty intense workout already. But I am not most people, I want to look like a beast, so it's time to train like one! Moving on to incline squats!
I follow the classic 5x5x5 set routine, it's the 21's (7x7x7 arm workout) for legs, I'll throw on 225lbs and hit 5 reps on the bottom, 5 reps on the top, and then 5 full range of motion reps! I find that this really emphasizes tension both on the quad and the hamstring:
SET 1: 5x5x5 x 225lbs
SET 2: 5x5x5 x 225lbs
SET 3: 5x5xfailure x 225lbs
Now, we will be hitting the leg press to help the outer side of our quads grow. My sets will look like:
SET 1: 10 x 300lbs
SET 2: 10 x 400lbs
SET 3: 10 x 500lbs
SET 4: 6 x 600lbs
SET 5: 4 x 700lbs
SET 6: 2 x 800lbs
SET 7: 1 x max (somewhere between 950lbs - 1000lbs)
SET 8: failure x 400lbs
Next we hit leg extensions to develop the lower quad and give it some great overall definition:
SET 1: 10 x l50lbs
SET 2: 5 x 250lbs
SET 3: 2 x 300lbs
SET 4: failure x 150lbs
At this point my body will be absolutely drained of all muscular energy and muscle fibers are already torn all over the place. If you are not sweating, physically and mentally exhausted at this point then you are NOT training hard enough. When I say failure at the end of each workout I truly mean failure. I don't mean until it starts burning (hell, a true set doesn't even start until it's burning) I mean until you drop the damn weight because your muscles can no longer hold it up! Now, my body will be exhausted here, but I am not done. You cannot exclude hamstrings and calves.
Hamstrings (leg curls):
SET 1: 10 x 100lbs
SET 2: 10 x 120lbs
SET 3: 10 x 120lbs, 8 x 75lbs, failure x 50lbs (drop and burn out set)
Calves (calf raises)
SET 1: failure x 185lbs, failure x 90lbs, failure x 45lbs
SET 2: failure x 185lbs, failure x 90lbs, failure x 45lbs
SET 3: failure x 185lbs, failure x 90lbs, failure x 45lbs
Everyone always complains that they don't see their calves growing at all, that is because barely anyone know how to properly train them! First off, the calf muscle is slow twitch, meaning it responds best when it is fully fatigued and you keep pushing it (endurance), it is scientifically proven that the only way to grow a slow twitch muscle is by either:
-indirectly hitting the target muscle (ex. squats will help with your abs; ex. dead lifts will help with your traps)
-pushing the muscle to failure and then forcing more (pushing it to failure again, and again, and again, and etc.)
I hope you guys found this useful, cheers,
Neuro
The Warm-up
I always start my leg day by warming-up with some simple stretches, they can be dynamic or static stretches, it truly does not matter, just get the legs (hamstrings, quads, calves) stretched out!
Now I am going to introduce three stretches to you that may or may not already do, these three will be focusing on your lower-back, your hip-flexors, and your IT band.
Lower-back:
IT Band:
Hip-flexor:
IT Band:
Hip-flexor:
If you do not have access to a foam roller then I strongly encourage you to either buy one, or search up on YouTube how to stretch these areas without one. These three stretches will immensely help with the depth in your squat, it took me three weeks of hardcore stretching but I was able to get my squat from an average depth (to parallel) to a deep squat (ass to grass) without my hips giving out or caving under.
I also usually do a 5 minute bike or run before I begin my weight session.
Time to Crush Legs!
The most important exercise you will ever learn, and the key to a physique a god, is squats (front or back). Today I will be starting with a wave loading pyramid set followed by a burn out on squats here is what it will look like for me!
SET !: 15 x 135lbs
SET 2: 10 x 185lbs
SET 3: 10 x 225lbs
SET 4: 4 x 275lbs
SET 5: 2 x 315lbs
SET 6: 4 x 275lbs
SET 7: 10 x 225lbs
SET 8: failure x 185lbs
SET 9: failure x 135lbs
For most people, this would be enough for one day; that's a pretty intense workout already. But I am not most people, I want to look like a beast, so it's time to train like one! Moving on to incline squats!
I follow the classic 5x5x5 set routine, it's the 21's (7x7x7 arm workout) for legs, I'll throw on 225lbs and hit 5 reps on the bottom, 5 reps on the top, and then 5 full range of motion reps! I find that this really emphasizes tension both on the quad and the hamstring:
SET 1: 5x5x5 x 225lbs
SET 2: 5x5x5 x 225lbs
SET 3: 5x5xfailure x 225lbs
Now, we will be hitting the leg press to help the outer side of our quads grow. My sets will look like:
SET 1: 10 x 300lbs
SET 2: 10 x 400lbs
SET 3: 10 x 500lbs
SET 4: 6 x 600lbs
SET 5: 4 x 700lbs
SET 6: 2 x 800lbs
SET 7: 1 x max (somewhere between 950lbs - 1000lbs)
SET 8: failure x 400lbs
Next we hit leg extensions to develop the lower quad and give it some great overall definition:
SET 1: 10 x l50lbs
SET 2: 5 x 250lbs
SET 3: 2 x 300lbs
SET 4: failure x 150lbs
At this point my body will be absolutely drained of all muscular energy and muscle fibers are already torn all over the place. If you are not sweating, physically and mentally exhausted at this point then you are NOT training hard enough. When I say failure at the end of each workout I truly mean failure. I don't mean until it starts burning (hell, a true set doesn't even start until it's burning) I mean until you drop the damn weight because your muscles can no longer hold it up! Now, my body will be exhausted here, but I am not done. You cannot exclude hamstrings and calves.
Hamstrings (leg curls):
SET 1: 10 x 100lbs
SET 2: 10 x 120lbs
SET 3: 10 x 120lbs, 8 x 75lbs, failure x 50lbs (drop and burn out set)
Calves (calf raises)
SET 1: failure x 185lbs, failure x 90lbs, failure x 45lbs
SET 2: failure x 185lbs, failure x 90lbs, failure x 45lbs
SET 3: failure x 185lbs, failure x 90lbs, failure x 45lbs
Everyone always complains that they don't see their calves growing at all, that is because barely anyone know how to properly train them! First off, the calf muscle is slow twitch, meaning it responds best when it is fully fatigued and you keep pushing it (endurance), it is scientifically proven that the only way to grow a slow twitch muscle is by either:
-indirectly hitting the target muscle (ex. squats will help with your abs; ex. dead lifts will help with your traps)
-pushing the muscle to failure and then forcing more (pushing it to failure again, and again, and again, and etc.)
I hope you guys found this useful, cheers,
Neuro
