My new leg routine....

[Vortexx]

Hi everyone,

Learning from personal experience and fellow lifters here at the messageboard i have revised my leg routine, feel free to add your comments...

It's takes in account the following assumptions:

- it's a bb routine for the pretty boys, no raw 5*5 backsquat here (powerlift routine), instead front squats with higher reps to build specific mass on legs rather than glutes.

- Quadriceps being a large musclegroup with special properties is able to endure more SETS (12-15) than hamstrings, which can thrive on suprisingly low sets (4-6!!!)

- Adding the hacksquat to build nice sweep / teardrops while keeping glute involvement minimized

Hack squat variant # 1 : legs shouldewidth apart, feet in front of you (like smith machine squating) and toes pointed slightly outward.

Hack squat variant # 1 : legs close togethes, feet as much possible directly under torso and toes pointed forward.

(read 'Muscle meets magnet' on why to use different stances)


- split leg training, quads and hamstrings on seperate days

- hsmstrings , being part of the posterior chain I feel there is great synergy to train them with lowerback

- slower tempo for calves to avoid elastic tendon momentum and slightly higher reps to shred the dense red fibers

Ok, here it is:


QUADRICEPS ( 15 SETS )

session 1-4

12-10-8 front squat
20-20 “breathing” front squats
12-10-8 hack squat variant 1
12-10-8 hack squat variant 2
12-10-8 leg extension

session 5-8

12-10-8 front squat
20-20 “breathing” front squats
12-10-8 hack squat variant 2
12-10-8 hack squat variant 1
12-10-8 leg extension

session 9-12

12-10-8 front squat
20-20 “breathing” front squats
12-10-8 hack squat variant 1
12-10-8 hack squat variant 2
12-10-8 lunges

session 13-16

12-10-8 front squat
20-20 “breathing” front squats
12-10-8 hack squat variant 2
12-10-8 hack squat variant 1
12-10-8 lunges


HAMSTRINGS – LOWERBACK COMPLEX & CALVES

Session 1-4

3 * 10-8-6 stldl
3 * 10-8-6 leg curl
3 * 10….. hyperextension (tendon training style, meaning try to complete 10 reps with same weight each set, you probably won’t, but at least should try it)

session 5-8

3 * 10-8-6 stldl
3 * 10-8-6 hip-raise
3 * 10…. reverse hyperextension

session 9-12

3 * 10-8-6 stldl
3 * 10-8-6 one-leg curl
3 * 10…. hyperextension

session 13-16

3 * 10-8-6 stldl
3 * 10-8-6 reverse hip raise
3 * 10…. reverse hyperextension

CALVES

session 1-4

15-12-10-8 Standing calve raises
15-12-10-8 seated calves raises


session 5-8

15-12-10-8 seated calves raises
15-12-10-8 Standing calve raises


To avoid elastic momentum with calves use a 2,0,1,3 tempo

2 seconds lowering to full stretch
0 seconds hold at the bottom
1 second concentric contraction
3 seconds hold in contracted position

Time under tension:

15 reps = 90 seconds
12 reps = 72 seconds
10 reps = 60 seconds
8 reps = 48 seconds

So we have 2 sets (10 and 8 reps that work in the 40-60 seconds TUT zone we normally use for upper body muscle and 2 sets that work slightly more in the RED FIBER TUT zone ( 60 + seconds)

 

[Welsh power house]

By session 1-16 do mean weekly sessions?
If you do then you will seriously overtrain. In any given resistance training programme, you should take a break for a week(after 6-8 weeks training) or at least shift to 50%, stopping way before failure.

This is what a training cycle looks like for most people:

Weeks 1-3: your body prepares it self for the stress it is about to/started to encounter

Weeks 3-6: your body begins to adapt to the stress by actually getting bigger(muscle growth, stronger muscles....obviously!)

Weeks 5-8: your gains slow down rapidly and then stop completely

Weeks 6-10+: exuastion, your body hits a wall, both strength and muscle weight gain will completely stop. If you dont shift training down to 50% or less of what you are doing, or better yet take a week off then you will lose strength and mass through exuastion....call it what you will, your body adopting to lifts ect, but you cant train through it.

The above depends heavily on genetics, how long you have been lifting, diet, drugs ect.

Every lifter at one point will figure out how to avoid overtraining(hopefully!) and plan cycles and rest around given weeks.

It can also depend on types and styles of lifting. for example, i have just done a strength cycle to improve raw strength (reps 1-4 on compund lifts..powerlifting) and had to stop after 6 weeks of heavy lifting.....i was putting 4 lbs on my bench each week for 4 weeks, then i suddenly stopped and by week 6 i could no longer do the 1 rep max i could at week four. I took a week off completely, recovered and now can do the same personall best 1 rep max.

I think that, since you are doing more isolation style training, with higher reps you can probably do 8 weeks straight, but dont do much more since the volume is huge.

good luck, looks a good routine.