Today's Leg Routine:
I split quads and hamstrings into two separate workout days mainly because I'm too smoked after quads to do any meaningful work on my posterior-chain and vice-versa. I also split for the sake of time since I don't have the time to stay in the gym for 2 hours or more. I WILL do calves both days though, which usually includes a high-volume day and a low-volume day.
I start out with calves because I don't want them to be an afterthought. Too often they are a neglected body part. Unless you're genetically gifted, it takes a lot of patience to dedicate the time and attention to detail that calf-work requires. I'm tired after quads and will not feel like doing a full-on calf routine if I wait till the end.
Calves
3 Supersets of seated calf-raises and donkey calf raises
A1 Seated calf machine raises - 12 reps, slow and controlled, especially on the eccentric portion of the movement. Then superset with donkey calf raises.
A2 Donkey calf machine raises - 40 - 50 reps, rest pause if needed to get to 50 or absolute failure.
2 minutes rest then repeat this superset for a total of three. Plenty of stretching in between each set.
Calf / toe presses on Hammer Strength Uni-Lateral Leg Press* machine. This is one long extended drop set. Each leg moves independently on this machine so it's perfect for single leg work and rest-pause / drop set routines if you have a partner to pull plates for you. It's important to use a weight that can be handled for this kind high-rep drop set exercise. Personally I had about 210 lbs per leg, with a plate arrangement that would allow me to drop-set the weight quickly and easily as needed.
B1 Toe press, individual leg - 10 reps each leg, alternate all the way to 100 reps. This means 10 mini-sets of 10; one leg/calf resting while the other leg is working then switch. I maintained the same weight (without dropping) for the first 3 sets of 10-per leg before I began to drop weight in 5 lbs increments all the way to 10 sets of 10 reps per leg. Remember never to sacrifice repetitions for weight. The reps here are key more so than the weight itself. After this superset was done, I assisted my workout partner through his drop sets (which took about 5 min or so) and then repeated this exercise a second time.
*I used this machine because the gym was so crowded I could not use the equipment that I had intended to use when I got there. I was a little irritated but didn't want to just wait for the machine I wanted. As it turns out this Uni-Lateral Leg Press machine by Hammer Strength worked great for me. It allowed me to work each leg individually which I hadn't done in awhile. It also hit the angle just different enough that i experienced some rapid new growth from it, like the growth you get when you first start working out as a newbie. The sets were brutal and both my soleus and gastrocs were worked pretty hard. I was very pleasantly surprised that my calves responded the way they did. Learn something new everyday I suppose.
Quads
The following quad routine is a 6-12-25 routine. It's an advanced routine published by Charles Poliquin, one of the top strength coaches in the world. I've never used one of his routines that didn't work well for me, as long as I did it properly. I have modified it slightly to fit my goals. I am just starting this one so I am still tweaking it and figuring out my working weights. For example, I will probably increase the weight on the lunges next time to 100 or 110 lbs, as long as I don't sacrifice form and number of reps.
Barbell squat - 6 reps, 225 lbs. slow and controlled
rest 10 seconds
Walking lunges - 12 reps, 90 lbs barbell (this one I did 12 steps in one direction and 12 back across the gym floor to my starting point; 12 per leg, 24 total;
rest 10 seconds
Leg extensions - 25 reps, 110 lbs, the weight here should be high enough that you're reaching muscular failure around the 25th and final rep.
Rest 2 minutes and repeat 3 times. I ended up having to reset on set number 2 because some ass-clowns were sitting on the Leg extension machine just socializing until I asked if I could work in a set and suddenly they were too busy to allow me to do that. I really dislike amateurs who just take up my oxygen and waste the time of those of us who are there to actually be productive in the gym.
Lift or GTFO!!
I split quads and hamstrings into two separate workout days mainly because I'm too smoked after quads to do any meaningful work on my posterior-chain and vice-versa. I also split for the sake of time since I don't have the time to stay in the gym for 2 hours or more. I WILL do calves both days though, which usually includes a high-volume day and a low-volume day.
I start out with calves because I don't want them to be an afterthought. Too often they are a neglected body part. Unless you're genetically gifted, it takes a lot of patience to dedicate the time and attention to detail that calf-work requires. I'm tired after quads and will not feel like doing a full-on calf routine if I wait till the end.
Calves
3 Supersets of seated calf-raises and donkey calf raises
A1 Seated calf machine raises - 12 reps, slow and controlled, especially on the eccentric portion of the movement. Then superset with donkey calf raises.
A2 Donkey calf machine raises - 40 - 50 reps, rest pause if needed to get to 50 or absolute failure.
2 minutes rest then repeat this superset for a total of three. Plenty of stretching in between each set.
Calf / toe presses on Hammer Strength Uni-Lateral Leg Press* machine. This is one long extended drop set. Each leg moves independently on this machine so it's perfect for single leg work and rest-pause / drop set routines if you have a partner to pull plates for you. It's important to use a weight that can be handled for this kind high-rep drop set exercise. Personally I had about 210 lbs per leg, with a plate arrangement that would allow me to drop-set the weight quickly and easily as needed.
B1 Toe press, individual leg - 10 reps each leg, alternate all the way to 100 reps. This means 10 mini-sets of 10; one leg/calf resting while the other leg is working then switch. I maintained the same weight (without dropping) for the first 3 sets of 10-per leg before I began to drop weight in 5 lbs increments all the way to 10 sets of 10 reps per leg. Remember never to sacrifice repetitions for weight. The reps here are key more so than the weight itself. After this superset was done, I assisted my workout partner through his drop sets (which took about 5 min or so) and then repeated this exercise a second time.
*I used this machine because the gym was so crowded I could not use the equipment that I had intended to use when I got there. I was a little irritated but didn't want to just wait for the machine I wanted. As it turns out this Uni-Lateral Leg Press machine by Hammer Strength worked great for me. It allowed me to work each leg individually which I hadn't done in awhile. It also hit the angle just different enough that i experienced some rapid new growth from it, like the growth you get when you first start working out as a newbie. The sets were brutal and both my soleus and gastrocs were worked pretty hard. I was very pleasantly surprised that my calves responded the way they did. Learn something new everyday I suppose.
Quads
The following quad routine is a 6-12-25 routine. It's an advanced routine published by Charles Poliquin, one of the top strength coaches in the world. I've never used one of his routines that didn't work well for me, as long as I did it properly. I have modified it slightly to fit my goals. I am just starting this one so I am still tweaking it and figuring out my working weights. For example, I will probably increase the weight on the lunges next time to 100 or 110 lbs, as long as I don't sacrifice form and number of reps.
Barbell squat - 6 reps, 225 lbs. slow and controlled
rest 10 seconds
Walking lunges - 12 reps, 90 lbs barbell (this one I did 12 steps in one direction and 12 back across the gym floor to my starting point; 12 per leg, 24 total;
rest 10 seconds
Leg extensions - 25 reps, 110 lbs, the weight here should be high enough that you're reaching muscular failure around the 25th and final rep.
Rest 2 minutes and repeat 3 times. I ended up having to reset on set number 2 because some ass-clowns were sitting on the Leg extension machine just socializing until I asked if I could work in a set and suddenly they were too busy to allow me to do that. I really dislike amateurs who just take up my oxygen and waste the time of those of us who are there to actually be productive in the gym.
Lift or GTFO!!
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