- Oct 25, 2012
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By: Moutaindog - John Meadows
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.
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.
