Welcome back to another informative post for y’all, I know its been a minute!! I want to talk about leg training, specifically how one should go about maximizing their progress when it comes to this!! listen, I will be there first one to tall you that there really is no right or wrong way to train, IF you are training hard and pushing your body outside of its current zone of comfort!!! But I do strongly believe that certain muscle groups respond better to different ways of training, so this is my take on this!!!
Look, your legs are a very large muscle group. I mean for Christ sakes they make up half of your body, so why do you think they should be hit the same as your shoulders or biceps which are not even a quarter of the size!!! And the honest answer to that question is you shouldn’t train them the same!! Your legs can take a lot of intensity, and recover from that if other facets of your program are in place. I mean we walk on our legs daily, which believe it or not, is a muscular contraction. So your legs are used to taking punishment on a regular basis and can handle it!! High Volume with moderate to heavier weight is going to be the bread and butter that will skyrocket your leg development. Sets in the 10-15 rep range with a solid weight and multiple working sets will create a solid growth stimulus. Throwing in a few high rep sets in the 20-30 rep range will create an even bigger pump and overall anabolic effect, especially in the beginning of the workout can really supercharge things!!
One thing I like to do is sets of leg extensions or leg curls as my first exercise, with the first 2 sets being 20-25 reps followed by 2-3 heavy sets of 10-12. This does 2 things that will benefit you!! Number 1 it serves as a way to increase blood flow which will make you stronger as blood flow increases oxygen and oxygen provides force. Number 2 it pre fatigues your body before your main lifts such as leg presses or squats, and that forces you to recruit additional muscle fibers and push to a new level of work capacity, both of which will enhance your strength and growth!!
Here is an example of a leg Day that will enhance your progress
leg extensions 2 sets of 20-25 followed by 3 sets of 10-12 heavy
Hack Squats 3 warmup/feeder sets of 5 reps progressive. 2 workings sets of 8-10 to failure and 1 back off set of 12-15 to failure
Seated or lying leg curl *same rep scheme as leg extensions.
Dumbells stiff leg deadlift *same rep scheme as hack squats
Leg press with a low foot stance with heels at the bottom edge of sled. 1 set of 30 then 4 progressive sets of 12-15
walking lunges 3 sets of 20 yards down and back superset with 50 bodyweight squats
That’s it, and tell me if you are not wiped out, pumped to the max and progress begins to skyrocket!!!
BEYOND JUST BODYBUILDING!!!!