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> How to get big legs like these in less time than you think!
 As you know, building muscle is a simple process of tear and repair. The more muscle tissue you tear while weight training, the more muscle that gets repaired into stronger more effective muscular fibres. Sounds easy! Though careful pre workout preparation and post workout nutrition are absolutely essential in any muscle building phase.
Last Tuesday I woke up with a desire to train my legs harder than I have at any time this year. My benchmark session was with my training buddy Rob over in Dublin, Ireland. It was the week before I moved my personal training company back to oz earlier this year. We Set up the squat rack, had a quick warm up run on the treadmill and loaded the olympic bar with 45lbs (20kg) plates. Starting at 135lbs and workout our way up to 400. We basically performed set after set, I go then you go until ultimately our legs gave way and the workout ended. The pain in my legs lasted for several days afterwards and peaked as expected 2 days after the session, which didn't help on my 23 hour flight back to Sydney later that week!
What made this workout so effective was a training method named 'consistent gradual overload'. It's a method which keeps a constant flow of heavy stimulation on a muscle group for a sustained period of effort. Now, if you look at the muscular structure of your legs and in particular your quadriceps, not only are they one of the largest muscles on your body they are also one of the strongest and fastest recovering. This means that during a leg workout, it is essential to keep the pressure on the muscle at all times to restrict recovery times and maximize muscle fibre stimulation.
So this is what I planned for my Tuesday workout, I just wanted to target the quadriceps and hamstrings and keep the workout under 40 minutes.
It's common knowledge that legs are one of the least favourite body parts to train, this was further backed up by a recent poll on my site with 40% of over 600 people rating legs as their number 1! I'm here to change this mentality for good and flip it upside down into one of your favourites.
So why do I enjoy training legs? Well several reasons actually: - They develop size and strength faster than any other bodypart.
- The awesome jelly legs you can get from under 10 minutes of intensity sends tingles down my back!
- Training with heavy hardcore lifts like leg presses and deadlifts, that's what building muscle is all about.
- A large & defined pair of legs really lets everyone know you have nothing to hide and are well on your way to that complete body.
So what is it you dread most about leg days? Is it the pain in your muscle or maybe its how exhausted you feel afterwards? What ever the reason, from today you must think positive and take this on board.
- All that pain = Muscular stimulation = More muscle fibres recruited & torn = More muscle needing repair = Stronger & larger muscle mass.
So today I really wanted to improve on 2 aspects of the muscles structure, being size and endurance. So to keep things simple I would choose 1 heavy compound movement being 45 degree leg press and 1 lighter highly isolated exercise being leg extensions.
To start, you must warmup, stay away from any weight, your main goal here is to increase your blood flow and up your heart rate. This in turn increases your explosive capacity for the lifting stage ahead. I would usually jump on a static bike for 5 minutes, kick a heavy bag or do 5 minutes of sprints either on a treadmill or preferably outside. After this, the workout begins.
< Exercise Diagrams >
> This Leg Press Machine churns out big legs daily!
> Professional Bodybuilder performing a Leg Extension with toes pointed upwards < Important Notes >
- Any physical exercise and weight training can potentially cause injury, so if you experience any abnormalities or severe pains in joints and muscles please seek medical advice.
- The below table follows the exact liftng weight for myself, your actual lifting weight may be heavier or lighter so I have added a % 1RM (1 Rep Maximum) for you to follow.
- This workout is to be followed from set 1 all the way through to set 20, with strict rest timings in the right column followed at all times.
| TIME | SET #
| EXERCISE | WEIGHT (LBS + KG)
| REPS
| REST TIME
| | 09:00 | #1
| 45 Degree
Leg Press | 480lbs / 220kg
(80% 1RM)
| 7
| 60 Seconds
| | 09:02 | #2
| 45 Degree
Leg Press | 480lbs / 220kg
(80% 1RM) | 7
| 60 Seconds
| | 09:04 | #3
| 45 Degree
Leg Press
| 480lbs / 220kg
(80% 1RM) | 7
| 60 Seconds
| | 09:06 | #4 | 45 Degree
Leg Press
| 480lbs / 220kg
(80% 1RM) | 7
| 60 Seconds
| | 09:09 | #5
| Leg Extension
| 200lbs / 90kg
(80% 1RM) | 7
| 60 Seconds
| | 09:11 | #6
| Leg Extension | 200lbs / 90kg
(80% 1RM) | 7 | 60 Seconds | | 09:13 | #7
| Leg Extension
| 200lbs / 90kg
(80% 1RM) | 7
| 60 Seconds | | 09:15 | #8 | Leg Extension
| 200lbs / 90kg
(80% 1RM) | 7
| 60 Seconds | | 09:18 | #9
| 45 Degree
Leg Press
| 400lbs / 180kg
(65% 1RM) | 11
| 60 Seconds | 09:20
| #10
| 45 Degree
Leg Press
| 400lbs / 180kg
(65% 1RM) | 11
| 60 Seconds | | 09:21 | #11
| 45 Degree
Leg Press
| 400lbs / 180kg
(65% 1RM) | 11
| 60 Seconds | | 09:24 | #12
| Leg Extension
| 130lbs / 60kg
(55% 1RM) | 11
| 60 Seconds
| | 09:26 | #13
| Leg Extension | 130lbs / 60kg
(55% 1RM) | 11
| 60 Seconds
| | 09:28 | #14
| Leg Extension | 130lbs / 60kg
(55% 1RM) | 11
| 60 Seconds
| | 09:31 | #15
| 45 Degree
Leg Press
| 310lbs / 140kg
(50% 1RM)
| 16
| No Rest
| | 09:32 | #16
| Leg Extension | 90lbs / 40kg
(35% 1RM)
| 16
| No Rest | | 09:33 | #17
| 45 Degree
Leg Press
| 310lbs / 140kg
(50% 1RM) | 16
| No Rest | | 09:34 | #18
| Leg Extension
| 90lbs / 40kg
(35% 1RM) | 16
| No Rest | | 09:35 | #19
| 45 Degree
Leg Press
| 310lbs / 140kg
(50% 1RM) | 16
| No Rest | | 09:36 | #20
| Leg Extension
| 90lbs / 40kg
(35% 1RM) | 16
| No Rest | | | | | | | | Total:
36 minutes
| Total:
20 Sets | Total:
2 Exercises
| Total:
5510lbs / 2500kg
| Total:
202 Reps | Total:
14 Min Rest
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