John Meadows Leg Training Manual V2

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Table of of Cont Contents ents WHAT YOU WILL LEARN ANATOMY ANATOMY BREAK BREAK DOWN 5 QUADRICEPS RECTUS RECTUS FEMORIS 6 VASTUS MEDIALIS 7 VASTUS LATERALIS 7 MUSCLE FIBER TYP E 8 ISOLATION DRILLS ADDUCTOR MAGNU MAGNUS S 10 ADDUCTOR LONGUS 11 ADDUCTOR BREVIS/PECTINIUS/ BREVIS/PECTINIUS/GRACILIS GRACILIS 12 MUSCLE FIBER TYPE 13 THE HAMSTRINGS 14 LATERAL HAMSTRINGS 14 MEDIAL HAMSTRINGS 15 SQUAT 17 SQUAT VARIATION VARIATIONS S 21 MACHINE HACK SQUATS SQUATS 22 MACHINE LEG PRESSES 23 SINGLE LEG LUNGE (IN (IN SMITH OR BULGARIAN BULGARIAN DROPSET OF DEATH) DEATH) 24 MORE ON HAMS 25 TRAINING EQUIPMENT 6-WEEK LEG TRAINING PROGRAM 29 WEEK 1 37 WEEK 2 45 WEEK 3 53 WEEK 4 61 WEEK 5 69 WEEK 6

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Good day everyone and thank you so much for purchasing our leg training e-book. This is the 4th in our series in which we will cover all major bodyparts! We have also completed an arm, back, and chest manual if you like this one! It’s always good to have an understanding of anatomy and how musculature works so we are going to start this e-book with that, and then progress progress into the actual 6-week program you will be doing. You will learn what to do, and also why you are doing it! I have always been a fanatic with my leg training, as much of it was inspired by the mentality of Tom Platz. Hopefully you will feel and execute these workouts with passion!

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WHAT YOU WILL LEARN • The Quadriceps muscle group is comprised of 4 muscles that lay across the front of your leg giving it shape and function towards activities activiti es that require hip flexion and knee extension. These 4 muscles; the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and the vastus intermedius inter medius work as a unit to control the knee cap (patella) (patella) as well as protect the various ligaments of the knee, most notably the ACL. • The quads appear app ear best trained through a combination of compound movements such as squats and leg presses, and also single leg movements such as the lunge, and split-squat. • The large adductor magnus is an unappreciated hip extensor, while the other adductors are hip flexors. Indeed, the adductor longus, adductor brevis and pectineus appear to be relatively competent hip flexors. • The hamstrings are a key hip extensor and knee flexor. This may imply that exercises involving peak contractions when the knee is bent (like leg curls) are more effective at developing the hamstrings.

Let’s dig right in!

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ANATOMY ANA TOMY BREAK DOWN The Quadriceps muscle group is comprised of 4 muscles that lay across the front of your leg giving it shape and function towards hip flexion and knee extension. These 4 muscles; the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and the vastus intermedius work as a unit to move and stabilize the knee joint.

QUADRICEPS RECTUS FEMORIS The primary function of the rectus femoris is to both extend the knee and flex the hip. This makes the rectus femoris a two-joint muscle or a muscle that crosses and moves two joints. You can think of “flexing the knee” by thinking about doing a leg extension. The Rectus Femoris is a specialized muscle of the quadriceps as its muscle fiber distribution is predominantly composed of fast twitch muscle fibers (50% to 70%); making it highly capable of exerting high force production while also being able to provide postural control to both the hip and the patella through its slow twitch endurance-based muscle fibers. This muscle is highly active during a leg extension. 5

NOTE: Early on in my bodybuilding career I focused almost solely on squats, leg presses, and hack squats. This wasn’t bad per se as I developed 30+ inch wheels, but I lacked good rec fem development on stage. This was an oversight on my part early in my career. John Meadows

VASTUS MEDIALIS The Vastus medialis originates from the femur (intertrochanteric line) and ends by blending into the medial side of the patella. The vastus medialis is considered to have two separate components: the vastus medialis longus (VML), which comprises the large muscle belly of the vastus medialis between the hip and knee, and the vastus medialis oblique (VMO). (VMO). The VMO is a portion of the muscle that comes off on the tendon of the adductor magnus and appears to have its own nerve that may allow the VMO to work independently (Weinstable et al.1989). Owing to the muscle architecture, origin and insertion, the vastus medialis oblique is considered to work as a primary knee stabilizer that directly helps to control control the knee cap as it moves along the groove of the femur (Engelina et al. 2014). John has spoken many times about the need to build and strengthen this muscle to help keep your knees healthy. healthy. This muscle is also the one you hear called the “teardrop”. NOTE: I think a big mistake trainees make is relying on knee wraps when they get to their top sets. This doesn’t allow the VM to work as hard as it should. Don’t take the easy way out!

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VASTUS LATERALIS The Vastus Lateralis originates on the upper aspect of the femur and extends outwardly, outwardly, ending on the upper and most outer side of the patella. The vastus lateralis is the largest of the quadriceps muscles with the rectus femoris being around half its volume. The vastus lateralis has the largest force-producing force-producing ability due to its sheer size. This muscle when fully developed gives the leg that “quad sweep” you hear people talk about. It is very impressive visually.

MUSCLE FIBER TYPE The quad muscles are composed of a mix of slow twitch and fast twitch fibers, which give rise to the functional ability of this muscle group to aid with walking, prolonged standing, along with sprinting and jumping. The rectus femoris has sufficient amounts of type 1, slow twitch muscle fiber, fiber, which gives rise to its anatomical action on the patella. This is needed throughout knee range of motion during low and high-level tasks both in open and closed kinetic chain movement. The remaining vastus group also demonstrate a mix of fiber types, displaying between 44-64% type 1 fibers which suggest varying training intensities, speed of movement, external accommodating resistance bands or chains as well as varying higher and lower recoverable volume weekly sessions. The quads appear a ppear best trained through compound movements as heavier loading can be used through a mix of squats, leg presses and single leg movements such as the lunge, split-squat, and single-leg leg press. Even weighted sled pushes are quite effective 7

for the vastus group. If you want to get really nasty, try dragging a sled backwards while squatting down to parallel for an insane quad burn. Other compound movements such as the trap bar deadlift can be used to target the quads. Of the squat variations, the overhead squat happens to be the less productive selection for increased quad recruitment, likely due to the Quadriceps Muscle Fiber Type Type increased demand on the core muscles, spine, and shoulder girdle which can limit loads. The optimal range of the quadriceps as a unit is at mid-range of knee flexion which is around 45° (Tsaopoulos et al. 2007). This gives rise to the argument of deep squats, and why we should program full range of motion squats as a means of function but not necessarily sports performance IF the individual has healthy enough structure. As we all know, many people have different structures structures though, Slow Twitch Fast Twitch and how your femur sits in your hip socket for example, so take the deep squat recommendation with a grain of salt.

ISOLATION DRILLS Knee Extension The seated knee extension is and will continue to be a sound selection for growth potential even though many do not like it or considerate it dangerous. I would advise not letting your feet feet go past 90 degrees and under your body, when you lower the weight, weight, or it can in fact be dangerous. The seated knee extension specifically appears to be a solid choice when focusing on the rectus femoris, as demonstrated by Ebben et al. (2008) (2008) who noted far superior rectus femoris femoris muscle activity during the knee extension when compared to the squat (relative loads of 6 RM). 8

The adductor magnus is a very large and heavy muscle. It is very impressive when massively developed. It gives your thighs a new dimension to their look and size. It is much larger and heavier than the other adductors. By some measures it is the second largest muscle in the body after the gluteus maximus. Ignoring the adductor magnus is therefore likely to lead to a failure to maximize overall muscular hypertrophy in the lower body. The adductor magnus is a much larger muscle but is less effective at producing hip adduction as the adductor longus and adductor brevis. This may explain why these smaller muscles are more frequently frequently injured in sport. (Ryan et al. 2014, Nevin and Delahunt, 2014.) It’s also good information for you to know if you think doing the adductor machine is going to max out development in this area, it simply won’t, won’t, but it can help strengthen the little adductors and protect you against injury. Weak hip adductors relative to the hip abductors (Thorborg et al. 2011) have been identified as predictive of adductor-related groin pain or increased risk of adductor-related groin strain injury. If you have seen me squatting on many of the old EliteFTS vids wearing knee wraps around my upper thighs, it wasn’t blood flow restriction training, it was for adductor support. I have strained my groin/adductors groin/adductors more times than I can count from personally having this imbalance. The adductor magnus is also an unappreciated hip extensor, extensor, while the other adductors are hip flexors. Indeed, the adductor longus, adductor brevis, and pectineus appear to be relatively relatively competent hip flexors. Dostal et al.(1986), Pressel and Lengsfeld (1998) found that the hip flexion action of the adductor longus muscle was limited to hip flexion angles of up to 90 degrees only. only.

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ADDUCTOR MAGNU MAGNUS S originates on the ramus of the pubis and ramus of the ischium, and ischial tuberosity tuberosity on the pelvis; inserts on the linea aspera on the femur. femur. It is a more effective hip extensor than either the hamstrings or gluteus maximus when the hip is flexed. This means that exercises that have peak contractions in positions of hip flexion (like full squats) likely train the adductor magnus very effectively. Another reason we love squats and even leg presses. In contrast, the adductor a dductor magnus is only a moderate hip extensor when the hip is extended (leg straight or close to it) Németh and Ohlsén (1985). The hamstrings and gluteus maximus are much more effective hip extensors than the adductor magnus in this position. Put a little bend in your knees though when doing stiff legged deads, and you’ll hit it. The adductor magnus is most active between 0 – 45 degrees,

ADDUCTOR LONGUS LONGUS originates on the ramus of the pubis on the pelvis; inserts on the linea aspera of the femur Greater stance width and faster bar speed were found to increase adductor longus muscle activity. Squeezing a medicine ball between the legs during leg presses was found to increase adductor longus muscle activity. (McCaw (McCaw & Melrose, 1999; Manabe et al. 2007; Peng et al. 2013). 2013).

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Adductor Longus is also widely known as the adductor that is commonly strained (see reviews by Renström and Peterson, 1980; Nicholas and Tyler, 2002; Davis et al. 2012). Ishøi et al. (2015) (2015) found that a similar 8-week period of training using the Copenhagen adduction exercise was effective for increasing eccentric hip adduction strength, eccentric hip abduction strength, and the eccentric hip adduction to abduction strength ratio. The Copenhagen adduction exercise is a dynamic, partner-assisted partner-assisted exercise performed through a full range of motion (ROM). This could be a great tool for you if you suffer from repeated adductor strains. Copenhagen exercise The connection between the proximal adductor longus and the rectus abdominis has been identified as particularly relevant for groin groin strains. Cadaver studies have observed that forces applied to the adductors do bring about strain in the rectus abdominis and that the magnitude of this strain differs substantially between individuals (Norton-Old et al. 2013). It’s probably wise to use a wide stance on leg presses, hacks, and squat variations on occasion to load this muscle. You You can also train it by simply using an adductor machine.

ADDUCTOR BREVIS BREVIS/PE /PECTINIUS CTINIUS//GRACILIS Adductor Brevis originates on the ramus of the pubis on the pelvis; inserts on the linea aspera of the femur. Gracilis originates on the symphysis pubis; inserts on the medial surface of the tibia, below the condyle and are most active at 45 degrees. Pectineus originates on the pectineal line of the pubis; and inserts on the pectineal line of the femur. femur.

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The pectineus is most active at 90 degrees. Obturator Externu originates on the external bony margin of the obturator foramen of the pelvis; inserts on the piriformis fossa of the femur. There is probably no real need to try and directly work these muscles if you do hanging leg raises, but I do like to use a basic “stand on one leg, and lean forward straightening back leg out (like an airplane)”, type of movement to “turn on” these muscles. I believe this gives stability to my hips. I typically do 3 sets of 10 seconds on each leg in this stance before I train legs now. It is pretty amazing actually if you give this a try.

MUSCLE FIBER TYPE The adductor magnus appears to display a relatively mixed muscle fiber type proportion, albeit with a greater proportion proportion of type I muscle fibers. Garrett et al. (1984) explored the muscle fiber type of the adductor magnus. They found that the percentage of type II muscle fibers ranged from 36 – 48%, Greater stance stance width in the squat and deadlift, and squeezing a medicine ball between the legs in the leg press may increase adductor longus muscle activity, but the adductor magnus does not appear to be similarly affected. (Zink et al. 2001; Paoli et al 2009). Neither stance width nor weight belt usage has been found to affect adductor magnus EMG amplitude. This could imply that the adductor magnus may be adequately activated simply by moving through hip extension with bent legs as mentioned earlier. Also, deeper squats, aka coming out of the hole, will in fact activate the adductor magnus. I have always had pretty thick adductors (magnus), and when I look back at my training I can see why. I always squatted, hack squatted, and leg pressed pretty deep and with control (no bouncing). I still to this day love my pauses on hack squats in the deep position.

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THE HAMSTRINGS The hamstrings are a group of four four muscles on the back of the thigh. Three of them are two-joint muscles (performing both knee flexion and hip extension) extension) while the fourth performs only knee flexion. For simplicity sake, think of knee flexion as what happens when you do a leg curl. c url. Think of hip extension as what happens during a stifflegged deadlift. The hamstrings are a key hip extensor and a key knee flexor. The hamstrings are better knee flexors when the knee is bent than when it is extended. This may imply that exercises exercises involving peak contractions when the knee is bent (like leg curls) are more effective at developing the hamstrings. They display a balanced fiber type, with type I fiber proportions ranging from around around 49% – 67%. Using a range of high and low repetitions, and both slow and fast speeds may be beneficial (Dahmane et al. 2005; 2006; Evangelidis et al. 2016.) Hamstrings are usually divided into two groups: 1. The lateral hamstrings - biceps femoris long and short heads 2. The medial hamstrings - semitendinosus and the semimembranosus

The biceps femoris (long head), the semitendinosus, and the semimembranosus are all bi-articular (two-joint) muscles. The biceps femoris (short head) is however only a single-joint muscle and causes only knee flexion.

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LATERAL HAMSTRINGS Biceps femoris long head – originates on the ischiac tuberosity of the pelvis and inserts on the lateral condyle of the tibia and head of the fibula. Turning your toes out somewhat will help direct stress to this area. This helps you develop that nice low hanging ham sweep when seen from the side (in bodybuilding competition). competition). Biceps femoris femoris short head – originates on the lower half of the linea aspera and the lateral condyloid ridge of the femur and inserts on the lateral condyle of the tibia and head of the fibula. You have to do a leg curl c url to hit this muscle. Skipping leg curls is a huge mistake! This also contributes massively to hamstring “sweep”. Leg curls of varying kinds (prone leg curl and supine slide-board curl), Nordic leg curls, back extensions and lunges may be useful for targeting the lateral hamstrings (Fiebert et al. 2001; Lynn & Costigan, 2009; Jakobsen et al. 2012; Zebis et al. 2013). Directing athletes to use external tibial rotation (allowing toes to turn out basically) basically) as seen in foot position c below, during certain movements appears to cause greater lateral hamstring stress. I do this naturally because my hips are a externally rotated a bit. I’m not sure if this is good or bad, but the toes out position does feel more more natural to me.

MEDIAL HAMSTRINGS Semitendinosus – originates on the ischiac tuberosity of the the pelvis and inserts on the upper anterior medial surface of the tibia. Directing athletes to use internal tibial rotation as seen in foot position a and b below, (not (not allowing toes to turn out basically – feet pointed straight ahead a head or slightly inward) inward) during certain movements appears to cause c ause greater medial hamstring stress. (Jónasson et al. 2015). 14

Semimembranosus – originates on the ischiac tuberosity tuberosity of the pelvis and inserts on the postero-medial surface of the medial tibial condyle. Kettlebell swings, Nordic leg curls, deadlifts of varying kinds (Romanian and 1-leg), good mornings and glute-ham raises may be superior for targeting the medial hamstrings (Lynn & Costigan, 2009; Zebis et al. 2013; McAllister et al. 2014). 2014).

SQUAT Testing your yo ur Squat Squ at Like building a home, you need to start with the foundation and for squatting this means understanding your foundational level of spine, ankle, knee, and hip, abilities to move into position. Flexibility, mobility, stability and control are ways that we can define the foundation but ultimately, ultimately, we need to understand that each of these terms are limited by and improved by the frequency of squatting. There are no two ways around it; if you want to squat better you need to practice squatting within your abilities. To start let’s assess ankle function first.

Ankle Assessment Here is your check list. • Half kneel in front of a wall about about one fist width away • Keeping the heel down lunge forward to touch the wall with your knee • If you heel elevated during this test and and you felt tension in the calf, we can simply foam roll and work on kneeling ankle pumps •

Foam roller lower leg

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Advanced Barbell lower leg deep tissue release

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• If tension was felt felt in the front, we we will apply a band ankle specific drill and a box squat or band weight reduced squat technique to improve •

Squat Prep Banded Ankle Mobility

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ATG Suspension Ankle Mobility Mobilit y

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Plate Foot Elevated Ankle Mobility

Knee Assessment • While Laying on the floor attempt to bend your your knee to touch your your butt with foot on the floor • Limitations in these respective areas will be address through a combinacombination of foam rolling but more importantly movement and strengthening

HIP Assessment External Rotation • While Laying on the floor flex your your knee to 90 degrees, degrees, and bend your knee 90 degrees. Now grab your foot with one hand and your hip with the other. other. Attempt to move your foot inward as in the image. This movement is known as hip external rotation. External rotation places groin muscles and a few glute muscles on stretch. • You are looking to have your foot foot end up over your opposite hip bone.

Internal Rotation • While Laying on the floor flex you you knee to 90 degrees, degrees, and bend your knee 90 degrees. Now grab your foot with one hand and your hip with the other. other. Attempt to move your foot outward as in the image. This movement is known as hip internal rotation. Internal rotation places the glute muscles and one adductor muscle on stretch. • You are are looking to have your shin be in line with your opposite shoulder.

Complication • If limitations are present, present, use the 90/90 ground ground squat prep drill •

90/90 Ground Squat Prep

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Now that we have our foundation tests done, simple approaches to improvement improvement in the squat let’s start breaking down what the science shows is the best and most beneficial way to train for massive massive legs.

SQUAT VARIATIONS Anatomical variations in the hip socket, rotation of the femur and angle of the hip to the knee are quite abundant in normal findings suggesting that we are all going to squat differently. differently. This is a good point to make as stressing a squat stance that is uncomfortable, uncomfortable, or difficult to the point you lose balance, is likely to create more problems as you continue to stress it. Although the research doesn’t entirely support that we should all squat differently to increase muscle activity (Escamilla et al. 2001), 2001), my years of experience in both performance and rehab has shown me that progress can be slowed or stopped if we don’t give attention to movement proficiency that is respective to your bony anatomy and individual genetic capacity for recovery. Deciding to not take the stairs for a few days at work because your quads are smoked is very different than being unable to train for more than 2 weeks due to knee, hip, or low back pain; all of which can be reduced with proper education and coaching. Pereira et al. (2010) found that the back squat with outwardlyrotated feet led to superior adductor muscle activity than the back 17

squat with parallel feet. We know from the information above this is probably probably the longus and other small adductor muscles, while going deeper will hit the magnus better. Some strength coaches continue to refer to the back squat as a useful exercise exercise for the hamstrings. It may relate to the bi-articular nature of the hamstrings musculature. While the squat exercise involves hip extension, for which the hamstrings are a prime mover, mover, it also involves knee extension, for which the hamstrings are an antagonist, however, however, the literature does not provide support for this view. Indeed, studies have reported that the hamstrings are not activated to the same extent as the quadriceps during squats (Aspe & Swinton, 2014; Yavuz et al. 2015; Contreras et al. 2015) and it is also apparent that hamstrings EMG amplitude does not always increase with increasing external load (Savelberg (Savelberg et al. 2007; Li & Chen, 2013). 2013). Different squat techniques, including foot position, depth, lumbar posture, and type of load (i.e. conventional loading or accommodating resistance) appear to have little effect on hamstrings EMG amplitude. Point is, don’t rely on squats to build thick hamstrings! Simply put, heavier squats provide greater quad muscle recruitment as seen historically from work performed by McCaw et al. (1998), Boyden et al. (2000) and Pick et al. (2000). These groups noted how intensity in and of itself was a means of overload which is also consistent with

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the current understanding of programming low volume combined with heavier weight can be used to maintain strength during in and off-season off-season for an athlete. This in reality can mean taking a 3-rep max or 1 rep max and simply lifting it for a set of 2 or 1, spread throughout the week anywhere from 1 to 3 times. Although good for strength this program design would have little effects on muscle hypertrophy, hypertrophy, as the likely reason why strength gains can be attributed to neurological adaptations and not hypertrophy. hypertrophy. The reality for hypertrophy shows that a range of 6 sets per week for maintenance all the way to 18 sets per week for max adaptation should be used for hypertrophy. hypertrophy. These sets seem best optimized through a rep range of 8 to 15 which covers heavy/moderate loads to moderate/lite loads. Dividing the work between 2 weekly session demonstrates better recovery outcomes, allowing for overloading to occur without taxing out your body. Squat depth and speed are also two main variables in progressing for for leg growth. Interestingly Interestingly enough, a partial pa rtial squat vs a full squat may not have attributed that big of a difference in a single exercise session for muscle activation in the quad; bearing in mind both movements are equal in weight or relative load (Contreras et al. 2015). Although not statistically different, in the long run the subtle increases in average and peak muscle activity with full squats being larger than partial squats may play out. It is also very important to note that there is more force force put on the knee when doing partial squats than deeper squats. This is the opposite of what most people believe to be true. When going below parallel, anterior and posterior forces on the knee are equal. Total shear force on the knee is then reduced reduced to next to nothing. In partial squats, the anterior shear is pronounced as you simply don’t get posterior pull from the hams. I would sum up my position on this by simply saying saying squat as deep as your structure allows, while still maintaining stress where you want it. When your form goes, hello injury and bye bye longevity, so be careful.

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Speed of the squat has shown some interesting findings, and demonstrated some consensus when comparing fast to slow as well concentric to eccentric portions of the lift. Manage et al. (2007), demonstrated that faster bar speeds have the ability to further challenge the fast twitch fiber makeup of the quads, most notably the rectus femoris; with slower bar speeds having an equal yet different demand along the vastus lateralis. This is in line with previous work perform by McCaw et al. (1998) that demonstrated a 32% increase in only the rectus femoris muscle activation during a fast concentric squat; with no significant change in vastus medialis/lateralis. Squat speed therefore therefore is important and should be taken into consideration during programming. The way I handle it is I ask you to descend with good control, and to accelerate hard out of the hole on every set. As the weight goes up, your speed will naturally go down. This allows us to address this within the program without overthinking tempo. For bodybuilders who can’t do back squats due to health reasons, front squats present an interesting possibility. possibility. With much of the current body of literature comparing the front to back squat demonstrating little to no difference in rectus femoris and vastus lateralis recruitment when loads are relative; there appears to be a notable difference in vastus medialis muscle recruitment when performing the front squat over the back squat (Contreras et al. 2015; Yavuz et al. 2015). Hence, finding a way to work in the front squat, within our current movement capacity for the front squat can yield improvements to quad size, and build up

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that teardrop area. I personally like to elevate my heels a tiny bit when doing these, like standing on a 2.5 lb plate for example. Back Squats = Rectus Femoris & Vastus Lateralis (outer sweep) sweep) Front Squats = Vastus Medialis (inner sweep) sweep)

MACHINE HACK SQUATS SQUATS I absolutely love hack squats. Many people have knee issues while performing this exercise, and it’s usually due to the design of the hack squat machine itself. It could also be due to using a foot placement that is too low. Unfortunately, there are some terribly made hack squats out there in gyms all over. I believe you can pile on mass doing perfectly executed executed reps with good depth on a hack machine. I enjoy pausing at the bottom as well. One thing you may want to try is adding bands to a hack squat. You can make the concentric portion much harder pushing the weight and yourself up against the band tension. The reason why you would do this is that because normally the top part of the range of motion is easy. With a band, the higher up you go, the more it pulls down against you (eccentric overload), so there is no backing down on the tension at the top. The other banded style I love is by “reverse” “reverse” banding. This is what is going on in the pic at the top. If you can hook bands up from the top, they will help help you get out of the bottom but not help you at the top 21

end of the range of motion. This is especially useful for people with bad knees, to avoid knee pain but still work these hard. Use position A below for overall quad, position B for a little extra adductor, and position C to make it more quad (especially lower quad) dominant. Exercise Index – Hack Squat Foot Placement Foot Positions and Muscles A) Low foot foot position a. Quad dominant, VMO B) High and Wide a. VMO, Adductors and Glute C) Middle stance a. Outer Sweep (VL)

MACHINE LEG PRESSES For the life of me I don’t get why people hate on the leg press? press? It is awesome for building tree trunk legs. You can use position A to get more lower quad, position A with wide feet to incorporate some adductor, adductor, or position B up high for a lot of glute and hams, or position B close for overall quad development.

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SINGLE LEG LUNGE (IN SMITH OR BULGARIAN DROPSET OF DEATH) Two of my all-time favorite exercises for the lower leg have to be the walking lunge and Bulgarian split squat. These two movements are less demanding of the body when compared to the the squat and just as effective if not more at targeting some key aspects of the quad. When squatting is out, due to back pain or shoulder pain, the rear foot foot elevated split squat (or (or Bulgarian split squat should be used. Andersen et al. (2014) demonstrated BSS have similar levels of muscle recruitment of the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis as the back squat when loaded 70% to 85% of 1RM. The BSS can ca n be performed with free weights in the hands, which can be a direct work around for loading the spine. They reported that holding the dumbbell on the opposite (contralateral) (contralateral) side led to higher vastus lateralis muscle activity in the eccentric phase compared to the same (ipsilateral) (ipsilateral) side. Therefore, carrying the external load in the left hand when stepping with the right foot (and vice versa) appears to be optimal when training the vastus lateralis. I found this to be very interesting, so you can judge which you want to stress a little more and execute accordingly. accordingly. BSS Weight on same side = Vastus Medialis BSS Weight on opposite side = Vastus Lateralis Interestingly enough, the forward forward walking lunge demonstrated to have similar levels of rectus femoris muscle recruitment when compared to the back squat (relative (relative load) but unlike the BSS, the forward lunge also had increased levels of Vastus Lateralis muscle activity (Ebben et al. 2008). This again aids in programming for the lifter who is unable to use the back-squat back-squat posture and still achieve high levels of muscle recruitment and growth potential. Forward Lunge with toe pointed slight outward = Vastus Lateralis Forward Lunge with toe pointed slighting inward = Vastus Medialis 23

MORE ON HAMS Deadlift Escamilla et al. (2002) compared conventional and sumo deadlifts and found no differences differences between the two variations for hamstring stress. In addition, Bezerra et al. (2013) compared the hamstrings EMG amplitude during the deadlift and stiff-legged deadlift and also reported no differences between the two variations. This is kind of puzzling to me, as a sumo dead feels like it hits my hams much harder. harder. It would depend on the form used in the conventional deadlift, so take it with a grain of salt. Good mornings appear to lead to relatively high high hamstrings EMG amplitude Vigotsky et al. (2015) (2015) tested lateral and medial hamstrings EMG amplitude with 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, and 90% of 1RM and reported steadily increasing increasing levels of EMG amplitude with increasing load. This confirms previous assumptions that the hamstrings are a prime mover in this exercise. I never do these, however. The risk to injury is too great for my liking on these. Maybe I am missing out in some gains, but I’d rather stay in one piece. Nonetheless I want you to have the data da ta to make your own decision. Zebis et al. (2013) measured hamstrings EMG amplitude separately between the medial and lateral hamstrings during 1-leg 1 -leg glute bridges, two-hand kettlebell swings, swings, Nordic curls, supine slideboard curls, horizontal back extensions, weighted horizontal back extensions, RDLs, seated leg curls, and lying leg curls. It was found that all of the exercises displayed >60% and >50% of peak EMG amplitude in the medial and lateral hamstring respectively. respectively.

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Nordic eccentrics The Nordic hamstring curl is the primary exercise used for performing eccentric training of the hamstring musculature during long-term trials. This is an exercise I started doing in the 90’s at the Parillo Performance Center. You can do these several ways, I have videos on my YouTube so you can see the variations. Eccentric training of any muscle has been found to shift the optimum length at which torque is developed in the hamstrings (Brockett (Brockett et al. 2001). Eccentric training in general leads to an increase in the ratio of eccentric-to-concentric eccentric-to-concentric strength. Additionally, Additionally, eccentric training has been found to be more effective than concentric training for improving eccentric hamstring strength (Mjølsnes et al. 2004) as well as hamstring strength overall (Kaminski et al. 1998). This all means that this exercise can be great to not only strengthening your your hams, but also for injury prevention. I have used these extensively for many years, and never suffered a hamstring strain. Interestingly, the Nordic curl produces greater increases in muscle fascicle length and preferential biceps femoris (short head) and semitendinosus hypertrophy compared compared to hip extension-based hamstrings exercises (Bourne et al. 2016). This simply means the muscles grow by getting longer in addition to getting thicker in the middle, kind of cool to note.

TRAINING EQUIPMENT Weight belts, knee wraps and shoes. I am often asked about equipment when lifting and like most agree that the literature is not clear on all aspects but that there is some direction that can be inferred from what is available. Belts for example offer little to no assistance in quad recruitment but have demonstrated to have applicability for the abdominal muscle when performing the squat. Understanding the larger 25

role of belts at increasing abdominal pressure, pressure, the guidance is to use one for improving spine posture and the potential benefit for injury reduction. I use a belt on all my heavy sets of squatting type movements for injury prevention. The same can be said with knee wraps, wherein at light loads 60% 1 RM there may be beneficial vastus vastus lateralis muscle recruitment but there can also be a detriment as noted muscle recruitment decreased with knee wraps when loads approached 90% of 1 RM (Gomes et al. 2015). It is silly to wrap with light loads, and could be very detrimental when used with heavy loads. I try to avoid knee wraps personally. personally. I do however like knee sleeves. They keep the joint warm and don’t do the work for you! Shoes, in my opinion do have a larger more direct role on skeletal spine posture as it is influenced through the ankle. With limited ankle dorsiflexion, there will be a change up the kinetic chain; whereby affecting affecting the spine and ultimate position of the barbell or load relative to the base of support. Lifting shoes or a squat box (prime fitness) are my first line of defense with someone who tests positive for having limited ankle movement. These tools can aid in injury reduction while the lifters make the necessary adaptations to the lower leg over time. I personally never liked squat shoes. Tom Platz advised me to use them, and they didn’t feel right to me but I know many people do very well with them, so it is unfair for me to generalize on my experience only. Give them a shot and see what you think. Another simple test for proving to yourself that you move better and feel better with squat shoes, is to grab a pair of 2.5- or 5-pound plates to put under your heels that next time you squat. If you find that you can descend better into the squat with a more vertical spine and better quad recruitment, then the answer is simple. I do stand on little plates like this when I front squat, so go figure? figure?

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6-week LEG Training Program Dr. Novo and John just lead you through a very detailed anatomy of how your your lower body works. Now let’s get to the program where our singular goal is building legs Tom Platz would be impressed by! Next up – The program. We lay out the split for you and give you an idea of volume and frequency of other bodyparts, but the emphasis is of course on your legs. What I want you to think about is your entire upper body body is on maintenance mode, as we are about to go HARD on lower body training to produce a massive growth response. In order to understand how close to failure you should take each set, there is an RPE chart below, that will tell you exactly how hard to go. It is very important that you follow this to the letter. Rate of Perceived Exertion Flow Chart Fairly easy like a warm-up weight

@ 6.0

You can do 4-6 more reps

@ 7.0

You can do 2-3 more reps

@ 8.0

You have 2 more reps left in the tank

@ 8.5

You have 1 more rep left in the tank

@ 9.0

Went to failure at perfect form

@ 10

Went to failure with loose form after perfect reps completed

@ 11

Used a high intensity technique to push beyond failure

@ 12

Used multiple high intensity techniques/go apeshit set!

@ 13

Click on any one of the tags for an example

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Here is the split you are looking at. We have suggestions for volume/ volume/ number of work sets on your maintenance bodyparts. The exact detail and volume for leg training is listed below. Day

Bodypart(s)

# of sets performed

Monday

Legs

See program below

Tuesday

Chest/Shoulders/Abs

9/9/4

Wednesday

OFF

OFF

Thursday

Back/Hams

12/see program

Friday

Arms/Calves/Abs

18/6/4

Saturday

Legs

See program below

Sunday

OFF

OFF

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Week 1 Monday

Saturday

Quads

3 exercises

7 sets

Hams

2 exercises

6 sets

Hams

1 exercise

4 sets

Adductors

1 exercise

3 sets

4 exercises

11 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Quads

1 exercise

3 sets

5 exercises

15 sets

Wednesday - Off

Thursday

Hams

Sunday - Off - Family Day

2 exercises

6 sets

2 exercises

6 sets

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WEEK 1 - MONDAY Quads

3 exercises

7 sets

Hams

1 exercise

4 sets

Legs: Monday will be heavily focused on quads. We will start with a hamstring exercise but notice the RPE (7.0-8.0). (7.0-8.0). The goal is simply to get some blood in there, but not exhaust them.

1/ Hams | Seated leg curls

Pro Tip

As mentioned in the above note, these are simply to warm up and get a sweat going before we squat. Give me 2 sets of 20 reps, followed by a medium weight for 4 sets of 10. 4 total work sets

With this leg curl, scoot your glutes to the back of the pad, kick your feet up on the ankle pad and really lock in your quads with the brace pad. The goal here is to ensure you are only using your hamstrings (namely the biceps femoris) to move the load.

These sets are all RPE of 7-8 Goal – Activation and start pump

2/ Quads | Squats Take your time working up in weight here as we will be tracking our progress and either beating the reps or beating the weight with perfect form each week. After 2 sets of 10 to warm up, hit feeder sets of 4 until you have to start working. From there give me 2 sets of 6 with 3-minute rest periods between sets. 2 total work sets These sets are all RPE of 9-10

135# x 10 (warm-up) 185# x 10 (warm-up) 225# x 4 275# x 4 315# x 4 335# x 4 365# x 4 405# x 6 (working set) 405# x 6 (working set)

Pro Tip Even though our goal is progressive strength, do NOT sacrifice form for reps or weight as this is a main reason guys or gals get injured. Lock in tight, stay braced and nail the weight.

Goal – Train explosively

3/ Quads | Leg Press Pay close attention to the “v-stance” when doing this leg press. Feet as low on the platform as your ankle mobility will allow and focus on driving your knees outside your rib cage. Since we just came off a heavy squat, let’s bump these reps to 20 for 3 working sets. You should only need a couple feel sets of 8 to find the load that is perfect for these sets. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip Depth on the leg press has been talked about for years, so let’s clear this up. Ideally you would be able to drive your knees to your elbows, but 99% of guys cannot do this without their lower back coming off the pad. We want want to stop going down right before this takes place to keep all the tension on your legs, not your low back. It also helps to scoot up on the pad to keep your lower back flat.

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Leg press technique for quad sweep These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Supramax pump

4/ Quads | Leg extension massacre After 2 feel sets to find your right weight I want 1 hard set of 12 where you could not complete another full rep. Rest 3 minutes and get your mind right for what’s to come. This is your last set on your quad heavy day, MAKE IT COUNT! I want 10 full range of motion reps, followed by 5 slow negative reps (if you have a partner have them push down on the pad to really make your fight). Then I want 5 forced reps, and then finish these quads off with a 10 second ISO hold at the midrange of the rep. 2 total work sets Leg Extensions - The Tingling Set The first set is RPE of 9-10, then final set 13 Goal – Supramax pump NOTE: At the end of the day we only have 7 chances to get better today, make them count and do not be temped to add more volume as we have legs 17 more times in these 6 weeks.

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WEDNESDAY OFF DAY

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WEEK 1 - THURSDAY Hams

2 exercises

6 sets

Hamstrings: A cool technique to bring up your hams is to train them after back. And I promise you will love the feeling of your entire posterior chain being pumped when you walk out of the gym.

1/ Hams | Lying leg curls Do 3 warm up sets to get the connection to you hamstrings going. This won’t take the normal amount of warm ups since you just completed an entire back workout. Once you find your weight for a hard set of 10, here is what I want. 4 sets of 10 full reps, followed by 10 bottom half partials. Rest a full 3 minutes and repeat this 3 times. You may lose the full reps, but our goal here is to get 20 total. So on your last set if you get 8 full reps, you must do 12 partials. 4 total work sets

Pro Tip To ensure your lower back stays out of this movement, when you lay down on the leg curl shorten your rib cage, almost like you are doing a crunch. This will put your spine in a neutral alignment and allow for your hamstrings to do all the work. Another coaching que is to drive your hips into the pad. Do both of these and I promise you hams will cramp.

These sets are all RPE of 12 Goal – Supramax pump

2/ Hams | Nordic leg curl Each week our goal is to either get more reps, take a slower negative or use less assistance of the pole. So week 1 we set the target to beat. Pay close attention to John’s hips on these. Push your pelvic girdle forward and control the negative. These will take some time to master, but once you do…….FIRE on the hams. So 2 sets to failure with perfect form here. 2 total work sets

Pro Tip This is a very advanced exercise. Today you may only get 3 or 4 with this form, but that is ok because next week we have a number to beat.

Exercise Index - Nordic Leg Curls These sets are all RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

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WEEK 1 - SATURDAY Hams

2 exercises

6 sets

Adductors

1 exercise

3 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Quads

1 exercise

3 sets

*Today is a total pump day for your entire lower body and as you will notice our highest volume day. Be ready for a big pump

1/ Hams | Standing leg curls

Pro Tip

Don’t freak out if your gym does not have one of these or something like it. Simply do lying leg curls, but 1 leg at a time. After 2 warm ups and 3 feeder sets go right into hard sets of 12 reps for 3 total sets. 3 total work sets

Doing these one leg at a time allows you to see if you have any imbalance between right and left leg. In addition if you are someone who struggles with the mind-muscle connection with hamstrings, this is going to be pure gold for you.

Standing Leg Curl These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Activation and start pump

2/ Hams | Banded RDL for hams After a couple warm ups and a feeder set to find a solid working weight let’s do 3 sets of 8 reps here. Use a long red band from EliteFTS and loop it around your feet and wrists. From there drive your hips back getting a good stretch on the hams. 3 total work sets Romanian banded deads for hams These sets are all RPE of 9-10

95# x 8 (warm-up) 135# x 8 (warm-up) 155# x 4 (feeder set) 185# x 8 (working set) 185# x 8 (working set) 185# x 8 (working set)

Pro Tip Just like with the leg press earlier in the week, depth here depends on the flexibility of your hamstrings. If you have to excessively bend your knees or round your back then you are going too deep. Make sure the tension here is all on the hamstrings.

Goal – Train the muscle from the stretched position

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3/ Adductors | Adduction machine Coming off the banded stiff legs, you will be ready to sit down and work. Just like with squats, I want you to either get more reps or get stronger for the entire 6 weeks here. Make sure you do your warm ups and feeder sets as I do not want you to tear your adductors off the bone. Our goal with week 1 is to set the standard for a hard 10 reps. Just keep moving down the stack until you reach failure. We will call this 3 total work sets. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip In order to properly track progress, you must keep rep tempo and range of motion constant, meaning hold yourself accountable to the form so we can see if you are getting stronger or not.

These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Supramax pump

4/ Glutes | Reverse Lunges Now that you have a great pump going let’s go into some reverse lunges to work the glutes. I want 3 sets of 10 on each leg while holding onto a smithe machine or power rack for balance. Make sure you are leaning forward as I want you targeting your glutes specifically. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip Now if you are doing this program but have lagging quads and over-developed glutes, keep your torso erect to get some extra quad work on this pump day.

Exercise Index - Reverse Lunges The work sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

5/ Quads | Reverse band hack squat Your legs should be full of blood at this point moving onto one of my favorite quad exercises. So, what I need here is 3 second negatives on all reps and to do every single rep just short of lock out. Think about a piston style rep like we typically do on incline barbell press. Control down, drive off your heels explosively, stop just shy of lockout, then right back down for another rep. Give me 3 work sets of 10 reps just like this. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip Foot placement on this exercise is huge, as not all hack squats are created equal. I want your feet as low on the platform as possible but at the same time your heels should never leave the platform and you should have zero knee pain with the reverse band style.

Exercise Index - Reverse Banded Hack Squats The work sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

*That’s it for week 1. Go home rest, eat your meals and even taking an Epsom salt bath would be a great idea after this first week.

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SUNDAY OFF DAY - FAMILY DAY

36

Week 2 Monday

Saturday

Quads

3 exercises

9 sets

Hams

2 exercises

6 sets

Hams

1 exercise

4 sets

Adductors

1 exercise

3 sets

4 exercises

13 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Quads

1 exercise

3 sets

5 exercises

15 sets

Wednesday - Off

Thursday

Hams


2 exercises

4 sets

2 exercises

4 sets

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3 exercises

9 sets

Hams

1 exercise

4 sets

Legs: Monday will be heavily focused on quads. We will start with a hamstring exercise but notice the RPE (7.0-8.0). (7.0-8.0). The goal is simply to get some blood in there, but not exhaust them.

1/ Hams | Lying leg curls

Pro Tip

Just like with week 1, we are doing a hamstring curl to warm up at a low RPE to keep you fresh for your quads. Give me 2 sets of 20 reps, followed by a medium weight for 4 sets of 10. 4 total work sets

Remember the ques for lying curls we did on Thursday? This is a great way to reinforce the technique when going sub-maximal load. Beat this form into your brain because if you find during your work sets that your hips are shooting towards the ceiling, then your lower back is taking the weight.


2/ Quads | Squats Ok so the day is here and it’s time to test your will power to fight for those extra reps. Same exact set up, but our goal is to beat the rep totals of week 1. So you can look at this 1 of 2 ways, either each set as an individual set meaning you have to beat 6 on both work sets today or another perspective is you must get more than 12 total reps on both work sets. 2 total work sets

135# x 10 (warm-up) 185# x 10 (warm-up) 225# x 4 275# x 4 315# x 4 335# x 4 365# x 4 405# x 9 (working set) 405# x 7 (working set)

Pro Tip This is where legs are built. You vs. that heavy bar pressing into your back. Every rep it is trying to pin you to the floor…..but not today, today you will win this fight.

These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Train explosively

3/ Quads | Leg extensions Flipping the order on you because those last 2 sets I know are going to take it out of you. Today I want you to really dorsi flex (pull your toes to your shins) the entire time. This places bias on the rec fem and just burns it to pieces. So find a weight that is a challenging 12. Once you hit a couple feel sets to get there, do 3 sets of 12. On your fourth set we

Pro Tip Manipulating your feet here is a cool trick to target different areas of your quads. Pay close attention how just a simple pointing of the toe changes where you feel the weight.

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are adding a cool trick. Hit your 12 reps, then immediately plantar flex (think (think pushing the gas pedal of a car to the floor) your feet and crank out as many bottom half partials as you can take. This switches the emphasis emphasi s for rec rec fem to VMO and will push your pain tolerance to the limit. Your goal should be no less than 20 partials. 4 total work sets The first 3 sets are RPE of 9-10, then final set 13 Goal – Supramax pump

4/ Quads | Hack squat 1.5s Here is a Mountain Dog staple for leg growth. So we will go all the way down, come half way up, go back down, then come all the way back up…….that is 1 rep. I need 3 work sets of 8 reps here just like that. Really focus on owning every inch of this movement. Its very easy to use momentum when coming out of the bottom position of the reps. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip You are welcome to reverse band this here if you have bad knees or low back.

These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Supramax pump NOTE: As you can see we are slowly building the volume but not so much that it will exceed your ability to recover.

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WEDNESDAY OFF DAY

40


2 exercises

4 sets

Hamstrings: A cool technique to bring up your hams is to train them after back. And I promise you will love the feeling of your entire posterior chain being pumped when you walk out of the gym.

1/ Hams | Seated leg curls I want to go bananas here today. After your warm up and feeder sets I want 2 work sets. Make the first one a hard set of 10 where you could not complete one more rep without assistance. On your last set you already know what this weight feels like so we will do a rest pause set with an ISO hold. See the chart for exactly how to do this. 2 total work sets The first set is RPE of 9, the last set is RPE of 13 Goal – Supramax pump

70# x 10 (warm-up) 100# x 10 (warm-up) 120# x 4 (feeder set) 140# x 4 (feeder set) 160# x 4 (feeder set) 180# x 10 (work set) 180# x 11, rest 15 seconds 7 reps, rest 15 seconds 4 reps then 20 second ISO Hold

2/ Hams | Nordic leg curl I hope you are enjoying beating your previous weeks best. It’s hard in the physique world to always monetize progress, but this way it’s like you are keeping score against yourself. Do not let your form slip one bit, keep your torso and hips in a straight line, lower under control and beat these rep totals. 2 total work sets

Pro Tip If your hamstrings start to cramp during this exercise you know your form is spot on.

Exercise Index - Nordic Leg Curls These sets are all RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

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2 exercises

6 sets

Adductors

1 exercise

3 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Quads

1 exercise

3 sets

*Today is a total pump day for your entire lower body and as you will notice our highest volume day. Be ready for a big pump

1/ Hams | Lying leg curls So we are going rest-pause style here today with the reps, meaning every rep rep begins from a dead stop. So control down, let the weight stack rest, but your hams keep tension, then fire right back up. I want 3 sets of 10 here to kick off our leg pump day. 3 total work sets Leg curls with rest-pause technique These sets are all RPE of 9-10

Pro Tip Just because the weights come to a complete stop, do not let the tension off your hamstrings. This is a great way to increase the time under tension because the set will last significantly longer doing this style of reps.

Goal – Activation and start pump

2/ Hams | Dumbbell stiff leg deads Last week we used a bar and band keeping tension all on the hamstrings, today let’s change this up for dumbbells and coming all the way up for a glutes squeeze at the top. I want 3 hard sets of 8 here today. 3 total work sets These sets are all RPE of 9-10

Pro Tip Just like with the barbell, drive your hips back and feel the stretch in your hamstrings. The dumbbell allows for a freer wrist angle that a lot of people prefer as opposed to being locked in stone with a barbell.

Goal – Train the muscle from the stretched position

3/ Adductors | Adduction machine Now that we know what the number is to beat, it’s time to attack. So no need for a bunch of sets of 10 to find your maximum load. Do 2 sets of 10 as warm ups, then sets of 6 for feeder sets until you get to the top end weight. When there, hold nothing back and destroy week 1’s reps. 3 total work sets These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Supramax pump

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4/ Glutes | Smithe machine lunges Now onto some glute work, but this will also be a nice warm up for your quads. Give me 3 sets of 10 on each leg. This typically doesn’t require a ton of weight for most, but I have come across guys and gals who can really push a lot of load here. Sink these deep, do not dive bomb these reps or bounce off your knees. Total control of all reps reps here is what I’m after. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip To take this exercise to the next level, stand on a plate to increase your range of motion to further tax your glutes and also put a nice stretch on your quads.

Smith machine lunges The work sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

5/ Quads | Leg press Let’s finish up with some 3 second descent leg press. This is an effort to both enhance your pump but also diminish the load it requires to reach exhaustion. 3 work sets of 10 reps reps is what I am after. Again sink these as low as your flexibility allows. 3 total work sets Leg Presses with 3 Second Descent The work sets are RPE of 9-10.

Pro Tip Most people start out with good intentions on these controlled negatives but once the pain sets in, the reps get faster and faster. Have your training partner count out loud so you can just focus on the reps and not counting yourself. This should be awful if done right.

Goal – Supramax pump

*As you can tell the intensity went up significantly this week. As your body begins to adapt to these workouts we will continue to push both pain tolerance and volume.

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44

Week 3 Monday

Saturday

Quads

4 exercises

7 sets

Hams

2 exercises

6 sets

Hams

1 exercise

3 sets

Adductors

1 exercise

1 set

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

6 exercises

13 sets

Quads

2 exercise

6 sets

6 exercises

16 sets

Wednesday - Off Sunday - Off - Family Day Thursday

Hams

2 exercises

6 sets

2 exercises

6 sets

45


4 exercises

7 sets

Hams

1 exercise

3 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Legs: Today you are in for an absolute treat!! A lot of dry heaving at the end of this day

superset with lunges 1/ Ham/Glute | Seated leg curls superset Soto ensure you are warm and ready to crank I want 10 seated curls followed by 8 bodyweight lunges each leg. This is not a race and I want this all non-fatiguing. So do your 10 ham curls, step out of the machine, take a few breaths, then do your lunges. Really focus on lowering with the quad and pushing off the heal with the glute. Rest 2-3 minutes between sets. 3 rounds for 6 total work sets

Pro Tip The goal of the lunges are to loosen up the hip flexors in preparation for your squats. In addition this will create a nice pump in your quads, hams and glutes. Remember, none of this first rotation is close to failure.


2/ Quads | Squats Time to beat your best single set rep total with the max load we have used the last 2 weeks. See the example for what I would like this to look like. After your top end set we are going to strip a couple plates and do a failure set with a sub-maximal load. This will test you harder than just about anything we do. Just get into a groove and pump reps until you want to fall over. over. Your quads, glutes and lungs should be screaming at you. 2 total work sets

135# x 10 (warm-up) 185# x 10 (warm-up) 225# x 4 275# x 4 315# x 4 335# x 4 365# x 4 405# x 11 (working set) 225# x 38 (working set) Go apeshit

Pro Tip There will be multiple times during the final set where you will want to quit and rack the bar, DON’T. If you have to stop a few times to catch your breath that is perfectly okay. Train like a champion here.

These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Train explosively

46

ascendin g set 3/ Quads | Leg press ascending If you have never done this…….get ready for a fun experience. What you are doing here is starting with a low weight (I typically start with 4 plates per side) doing 6 reps, then having your training partners load 1 plate per side, doing your six reps and repeating this process without racking it until you reach a weight that you cannot complete the 6 reps. The goal is to try to get at least 6 mini-sets before racking it. 1 total work set

Pro Tip Having two people load weight here is ideal, but if you only have 1, get ready for more time under tension.

This set is an RPE of 12 Goal – Supramax pump

4/ Quads | Leg press drop set So now we just simply do the opposite. You will already have the leg press loaded up, so take a 5 minute break after the ascending set and attack this drop set. Again the goal is not to rack this or use your hands at all. I want to push you here so instead of the 6 reps, increase this to 8 reps per mini-set. 1 total work set

Pro Tip These first 3 drops are going to test you. But this is what you signed up for. Battle here, as you will be glad you did once the day is over.

This set is an RPE of 12 Goal – Supramax pump

extensio ns 5/ Quads | Tear drop leg extensions Move the seat up, let your butt come off the seat and kick your legs out. This drills the VMO when done corcorrectly. Give me 3 sets of 12 to finish off leg day number 1 for the week. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip The teardrop when fully developed is an impressive muscle. I’ve seen this so pumped on guys that it swallows the knee cap.

Theses sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump NOTE: Despite lowering your sets for quads back to 7, you will not feel cheated one bit on today’s session.

47

WEDNESDAY OFF DAY

48


2 exercises

6 sets

Hamstrings: Hopefully you are enjoying this extra hamstring work tacked on the end of back day. Something cool to try is higher rep deads, 10-15 reps with chains as your last back exercise, then rolling right into these curls.

1/ Hams | Seated leg curls We did some crazy intensity last week, let’s change that up to some volume this week. Give me 4 sets of 8 with a 2 second contraction on all reps. 4 total work sets These sets are all RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

2/ Hams | Nordic leg curl You should really be getting good at these as its now no w 3 weeks in a row. Try to get a couple more reps per set this week as well. 2 total work sets Exercise Index - Nordic Leg Curls These sets are all RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

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2 exercises

6 sets

Adductors

1 exercise

1 set

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Quads

2 exercise

6 sets

1/ Hams | Lying leg curls Good ole bread and butter lying lying leg curls. Work up to a hard 10, once you reach that weight give me 1 set of 10, rest 2 minutes and its time to crank. On your second work set do 10 reps, drop the weight 30% give me another 10 reps, drop the weight an additional 30% and give me 10 full reps followed by 30 bottom half partials. Glue those hips to the pad and win this battle. 2 total work sets

Pro Tip Training the leg curl with this type of intensity is what builds that hang in your side shots. Do not short change the burn here, fight until it’s a struggle to walk after the last set.

Leg Curls With Intensity The first work set is RPE of 9-10 and the final set is 13 Goal – Activation and start pump

2/ Hams | Dumbbell stiff leg deads Sticking with dumbbells here this week, but upping your reps to 10 per set and only coming up ¾ of the way to keep all the tensions on the hamstring. 4 total work sets

Pro Tip Not coming all the way up keeps the glutes out of the movement along with the low back.

These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Train the muscle from the stretched position

3/ Adductors | Adduction machine Exact same set up as last week. Do 2 sets of 10 as warm ups, then sets of 6 for feeder sets until you get to the top end weight. When there, hold nothing back and destroy week 1’s reps. Now if you are getting more than 12 reps go up in weight this week. If you are lifting the stack, pin a plate to the weight stack. 1 total work set These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Supramax pump

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4/ Glutes | Butt Blaster Don’t laugh on this machine as the pump is great if you really work hard. Give me 3 sets of 10 on each leg once you find a good working weight. 3 total work sets Glute training - butt blaster The work sets are RPE of 9-10.

Pro Tip If you do not have one of these machines, barbell glute bridge is an excellent alternative.


extensions superset with dumbbell squats 5/ Quads | Leg extensions You should be more than warm at this point so get right into 3 rounds of 10 leg extensions followed by 10 dumbbell squats. 3 rounds of this will blow your quads up as well as your heart rate. 3 rounds for 6 total work sets Leg Presses with 3 Second Descent The work sets are RPE of 9-10.

Pro Tip To take this quad pump to the next level, slightly elevate your heels with a squat ramp, some 5 pound plates or some extra rubber matting.


*As you can tell the intensity went up significantly this week. As your body begins to adapt to these workouts we will continue to push both pain tolerance and volume.

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Week 4 Monday

Saturday

Quads

4 exercises

10 sets

Hams

2 exercises

6 sets

Hams

1 exercise

4 sets

Adductors

1 exercise

3 sets

5 exercises

14 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

1 set

Quads

1 exercise

4 sets

5 exercises

14 sets

Wednesday - Off

Thursday

Hams


2 exercises

7 sets

2 exercises

7 sets

53


4 exercises

10 sets

Hams

1 exercise

4 sets

Legs: Basic MountainDog Leg day here…….which means, prepare for war.

1/ Hams | Lying leg curls As you know by now we are simply getting blood into the muscle with these lying leg curls. Knock down the following sets 15 reps, 12 reps, 10 reps and 8 reps. Go up in weight each set but leave a few in the tank on every single set. 4 total work sets These sets are all RPE of 7-8 Goal – Activation and start pump

2/ Quads | Squats If you have the ability change the bar type that you use. For example the SS yoke, Spider bar, Cambered bar, Buffalo bar or even front squats would all be great options. In the attached video I want you to get a feel for what reaching “failure” on a set of squats looks like. John could have attempted a few more if he was willing to sacrifice depth or poor form. Notice how he knew with perfect form he was done. We will call the last 3 sets as work. 3 total work sets Safety bar squats - 18 weeks out These sets are all RPE of 9-10

135# x 10 (warm-up) 185# x 10 (warm-up) 225# x 4 275# x 4 315# x 4 335# x 4 365# x 10 (working set) 385# x 10 (working set) 405# x 12 (working set)

Goal – Train explosively

3/ Quads | Dead stop leg press Coming off those squats these dead stop leg press should feel very powerful as well. Work your way up to a miserable set of 8. Come all the way down, let the weight rest on the pins, then fire up as hard as you can. We will call the last 3 working sets here today. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip If you cannot set safety pins, come down, pause the weight, then press back up. Now this is much harder but the same premise.

Dead Stop Leg Presses These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Supramax pump

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4/ Quads | Bulgarian split squat of death Did you think you weren’t going to have to do this?? WRONG! Time to bring the pain. I want a big drop set with ISO holds. See below for details. 1 total work set Bulgarian Drop Set Of Death - Hardcore Leg Workout This set is an RPE of 13 Goal – Supramax pump

Example of what a set should look like: 80# x 10 + 10 second ISO hold Drop to 60# x 10 + 10 second ISO hold Drop to 40# x 10 +10 second ISO hold Finally drop to 20# x 10 + 10 second ISO hold

Pro Tip For those of you craving pain, add an additional set after the final drop of just your bodyweight plus an ISO hold.

5/ Quads | Sissy squats Last thing for the day here. No need for extra weight on this exercise. What I want here are 3 sets to failure with 60 second rest breaks. Your reps will most likely look something like this 10, 7, 4 if done right. This will make your quads feel like the skin is about to rip. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip For your form, sink these deep, keep your torso tilted back and think about shooting your hip flexors forward.

Theses sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump NOTE: The volume jumped again this week as you should be really improving your workout capacity week to week.

55

WEDNESDAY OFF DAY

56


2 exercises

7 sets

Hamstrings: Hopefully you are enjoying this extra hamstring work tacked on the end of back day. Something cool to try is higher rep deads, 10-15 reps with chains as your last back exercise, then rolling right into these curls.

1/ Hams | Seated leg curls Digging the volume of these seated leg curls, so let’s roll with this again but with more reps. Give me 4 sets of 10 with a 2 second contraction on all reps. 4 total work sets These sets are all RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

2/ Hams | Hamstring isotension Ok we are taking a week off Nordic Leg Curls but adding this gem in. in. Get on a slight decline decline bench, pinch a dumbbell between your feet, hold and squeeze your hams as hard as possible. Give me 3 sets of 30 seconds here. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip Not only does this work your hamstrings like crazy, your adductors will get a nice pump if you think about squeezing your feet together, very similar to the Hex Press that we do for chest.

Hamstring isotension These sets are all RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

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2 exercises

6 sets

Adductors

1 exercise

3 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

1 set

Quads

1 exercise

4 sets

1/ Hams | Seated leg curls Sticking with seated leg curls, I want you to work up to a challenging set of 10 reps. Once there give me 3 sets with 10 full reps and then 15 second ISO hold. Rest 3 minutes and repeat 2 more times. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip This ISO hold is a great addition to the leg curl, but if you have your training partner pull up against the pad it takes these to the next level.

These sets are RPE of 12 Goal – Activation and start pump

2/ Hams | Barbell stiff leg deads I want 3 sets of 10 here. Your bread and butter for hamstring growth between the leg curls and stiff legs. 3 total work sets Stiff Legged Deadlifts These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Train the muscle from the stretched position


3/ Adductors | Adduction machine So let’s tack on some volume. Work up to the same weight as you did last week but stay there for 3 work sets. You will most likely lose reps on the final 2 sets and that’s perfectly okay. 3 total work sets These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Supramax pump

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4/ Glutes | Bulgarian split squat Twice in one week?? Am I crazy…..yes, the answer is yes. So on Monday we did the death set, today we are doing this for time. Grab a light dumbbell and give me 90 straight seconds of reps. You may need to stop a couple times to compose yourself and that is fine. Do one leg, rest 3 minutes and then do the other. So the attached video is the drop set…..just wanted to remind you of the exercise form. 1 total work set

Pro Tip If I use a 30 or 35 pound dumbbell for reference and this is absolute hell

Bulgarian split squats The work sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

5/ Quads | Reverse band hack squat Do not be scared to push the weight here as they are perfectly safe on your knees and low back. Just keep working up in weight until you miss 8 reps. We will count the last 4 sets as work. 4 total work sets Exercise Index - Reverse Banded Hack Squats The work sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

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60

Week 5 Monday

Saturday

Quads

4 exercises

10 sets

Hams

2 exercises

6 sets

Hams

1 exercise

3 sets

Adductors

1 exercise

1 set

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

6 exercises

16 sets

Quads

1 exercise

4 sets

5 exercises

14 sets

Wednesday - Off Sunday - Off - Family Day Thursday

Hams

2 exercises

6 sets

2 exercises

6 sets

61


4 exercises

10 sets

Hams

1 exercise

3 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Legs: The first 4 weeks squats have been our main focus, this switches to leg press for the final 2 weeks.

superset with walking lunges 1/ Hams | Lying leg curls superset We introduced this a couple weeks ago so lets bring it back so you are primed to wreak havoc on the leg press. Give me 10 perfect reps on the lying leg curl, step out of the machine and knock down 8 bodyweight lunges on each leg. Rest 2 mins and repeat 2 more times. 3 rounds for 6 total work sets These sets are all RPE of 7-8

Pro Tip When doing these 3 sets of lunges, start with taking long strides for set 1. For set 2 take medium strides and for set 3 do short strides. Doing this will tax your glutes and quads from different stress angles.

Goal – Activation and start pump

2/ Quads | Leg press Now that the warm up is complete, we get to work. Make 2 plate per side jumps until you reach your top end weight for 10 reps. After you do your first set of 10, rest 3 minutes, gather your thoughts, put on some Rocky music because we are about to feel the devil’s breathe. Our goal here it blow out your quads, test your pain tolerance and make you earn this quad growth. I want 5 drops in weight, doing sets of 10 until you get to your second to last drop. Here the weight should be pretty light, so I need you to find another gear and double your reps to 20. On the final drop, slide your feet to the bottom of the platform and heels together. Go as slow as you can for the negative, sink these deep to really stress your VMO, and go to failure. Do NOT lock these out, just keep going until you have to push your legs up with your hands. 2 total work sets

2 plates per side x 15 (warm-up) 4 plates per side x 12 (warm-up) 6 plates per side x 8 8 plates per side x 6 10 plates per side x 4 12 plates per side x 10 (working set) 12 plates per side x 10, drop to 9 plates per side x 10, drop to 6 plates per side for 10, drop to 4 plates per side for 20, drop to 2 plates per side x failure (working set)

These sets are all RPE of 9-10 until the final work set with is RPE of 13 Goal – Supramax pump

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3/ Quads | Leg extensions After that brutal drop, let’s have a seat. Do 1-2 feel sets then we are back at it. For your first set I want 15 hard reps with a 3 second negative on all reps. reps. For set 2, go up in weight, take the reps down to 12 but the negatives to a 4 second decent. Final set here, up the weight one last time, reps go down to 10, but the negative time goes to 5 seconds per rep. This is an incredible time under tension and should burn like crazy. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip The instinct when this gets hard is to rebound this out of the bottom position or cheat the negatives, DON’T!! Even if you start losing range of motion, still follow the guidelines per set.

These sets are RPE of 9-10 Goal – Supramax pump

4/ Quads | Explosive Squats Your pump should be insane at this point, but I need you to call on all the fast twitch muscle fibers you have left. This will not take a big load by any means, but I need the bar to have speed/pop. Give me 3 sets of 6 with a moderate weight. Think about controlling the negative down, when in the hole pause for a split second, then fire up as hard as you can. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip For these I always like to think of my legs like a giant set of springs. As you go down the coil shortens, thus gaining explosive force. In the bottom, call on your glutes and hams to basically jump off the floor. If done properly you will hear the collar of the bar pop.

These sets are an RPE of 8.5 Goal – Train explosively

5/ Quads | Reverse Nordic leg curl finisher Great new exercise for you here. Watch the video closely and you will see to tuck your toes underneath you, keep your torso perfectly flat, control the negative and give me 10 reps. From there stand up and I want you to flex your quads as hard as you can for 15 seconds, then go right into a HARD quad stretch. Rest 2 minutes and repeat this. 2 total rounds

Pro Tip This exercise is great for your hip flexors, VMO and stretching out your quads. It looks easy, but I promise it is not. If you are really strong on this exercise feel free to push the reps to 20.

Exercise Index - Nordic Knee Extension / Reverse Nordic Leg Curl Theses sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump and then stretch

NOTE: This order change may cause some extra soreness this week so double down on your recovery efforts.

63

WEDNESDAY OFF DAY

64


3 exercises

8 sets

Hamstrings: Hamstrings: If you tried ending your back day with deads then going into the hamstring portion and loved it, attack this again.

1/ Hams | Seated leg curls Superset to kick off this hamstring pump fest. Give me 10 reps of perfect form with a squeeze that makes them want to cramp on every single rep. When lowering the weight, make sure you go into a full stretch before starting the next rep. Superset with

2/ Hams | Hamstring isotension Just like last week but, but this is right after leg curls. Get on a slight decline bench, pinch a dumbbell between your feet, hold and Pro Tip squeeze your hams as hard as possible. Give me 3 Not only does this work your hamstrings like sets of 30 seconds here. This combo will push so crazy, your adductors will get a nice pump if you much blood into the back of your legs you will be think about squeezing your feet together, very shocked. 3 rounds for 6 total work sets similar to the Hex Press that we do for chest. Hamstring isotension These sets are all RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

65


2 exercises

6 sets

Adductors

1 exercise

1 set

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Quads

1 exercise

4 sets

1/ Hams | Standing leg curls Back to isolating each leg here today for your pump workout. Give me 3 work sets of 10 reps on each leg. Own every inch of these. Think about carving out those hamstrings with every rep. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip Again if you do not have this machine, feel free to do lying leg curls one leg at a time.

Standing Leg Curl These sets are RPE of 9-10 Goal – Activation and start pump

barbell stiff stiff leg deads 2/ Hams | Banded barbell Back to the band this week as this adds so much tension to the contraction of these reps. Remember, push those hips back, get a good stretch, then come up and flex your hams as hard as possible. Give me 3 sets of 8 reps today. 3 total work sets Romanian banded deads for hams These sets are all RPE of 9-10 Goal – Train the muscle from the stretched position


3/ Adductors | Adduction machine One all out balls to the wall set here today. Once you get to your top end set, here is what I want. Do 10 or so full range of motion reps, then use your hands to help with 5 forced reps, then give me a 20 second ISO hold at the midrange. You will feel this tomorrow. 1 total work set This set is RPE of 13 Goal – Supramax pump

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4/ Glutes | Butt blaster machine If you want those Flex Lewis glutes or a nice round butt in a bikini you have to train it and train it hard. Give me 3 sets of 10 reps on each leg here. If you can max this machine out with weight, do it! 3 total work sets

Pro Tip If you do not have a machine like this do barbell glute bridge.

Glute training - butt blaster The work sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

5/ Quads | Single leg press These will work your entire upper thigh. Give me 4 sets of 15 reps on each leg here. Sink these deep to get a good stretch on the quad to finish off this pump day. 4 total work sets Single Leg Press The work sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

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68

Week 6 Monday

Saturday

Quads

4 exercises

7 sets

Hams

2 exercises

8 sets

Hams

1 exercise

3 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

4 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Quads

3 exercise

12 sets

6 exercises

13 sets

6 exercises

24 sets

Wednesday - Off


Thursday

Hams

2 exercises

6 sets

2 exercises

6 sets

69


4 exercises

7 sets

Hams

1 exercise

3 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

3 sets

Legs: Only 1 way to finish off this leg manual and that is all or nothing!

superset with walking lunges 1/ Quads | Lying leg curls superset You should be really digging this combo to start, so no need to change this. Give me 10 perfect reps on the lying leg curl, step out of the machine and knock down 8 bodyweight lunges each leg. Rest 2 mins and repeat 2 more times. 3 rounds for 6 total work sets These sets are all RPE of 7-8 Goal – Activation and start pump

Pro Tip Last week we played with stride length, this week I want you to play with the angle at which you step step with. Set 1 go in a straight line. Set 2 take a step to roughly 11 and 1 on a clock (Stepping out so to speak) then on the 3rd set step out to 10 and 2.

2/ Quads | Leg press I pray you enjoyed the drop set last week as much as I did. Today we are hitting a rest pause set, then a back off set for the leg press. Do the exact same pyramid but we are changing the work sets. Once you are at the same weight we started the drop set with, I want you to beat the 10 reps you did last week. Rack it, take a 15 second rest period and see if you can get half or more of what you got on set 1, rack it again, take another 15 seconds rest and go to failure. This should be super challenging if you pick the right weight and go to failure each time. From here take a 3-minute rest break, cut the weight by 40% or so and give me a failure set. Just like a piston pump reps like a machine. Do not stop to take breaks intra-set, when your legs give out, rack it. 2 total work sets

2 plates per side x 15 (warm-up) 4 plates per side x 12 (warm-up) 6 plates per side x 8 8 plates per side x 6 10 plates per side x 4 12 plates per side x 12, 15 seconds break 7 reps, 15 seconds break 4 reps (working set) 7 plates per side x failure (working set)

Both these sets are all RPE of 10-12 Goal – Supramax pump

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3/ Quads | Squats Time to squat! If you have access to a spider or yoke bar use it today. I want a classic pyramid up to hard 6 reps. After 2 warm up sets, just do sets of 6 until you reach a weight that you could not complete one more safe rep. We will call this 3 work sets. If you go to 7:58 in the video you will see what kind of bar I am referring to and the form I want you to use. 3 total work sets

Pro Tip If you want to know the understanding of why to rotate the bars you use for squatting listen to Dave Tate’s input.

Superhuman Leg Workout at EliteFTS Maximizing Programming Using Different Squat Bars These sets are RPE of 9-10 Goal – Train explosively

4/ Quads | Bulgarian split squat of death You had to know we were bringing this back for the final week. No holding back, time to get the trash can ready. 1 total work set Bulgarian Drop Set Of Death Hardcore Leg Workout This set is an RPE of 13 Goal – Supramax pump

Example of what a set should look like: 80# x 10 + 10 second ISO hold Drop to 60# x 10 + 10 second ISO hold Drop to 40# x 10 +10 second ISO hold Finally drop to 20# x 10 + 10 second ISO hold

Pro Tip I’m leaving this note in here because I’m praying you are wanting more! For those of you craving pain, add an additional set after the final drop of just your bodyweight plus an ISO hold.

5/ Hams | Hack squat drop set After a couple feel sets its time to go APESHIT! Go to 15:09 Pro Tip in the video and you will see what kind of strip set I’m Watch the video of Jordan and John here looking for. Start with weight that is going to be a hard 5 for reference for what I’m looking for…… or 6, from there the goal is to hit an additional 2-3 reps, which is tons of hard work. then strip 1 plate from the sled. You will do roughly 7 weight pulls before your goal which is to finish with 10 bottom half reps to failure. All in all just work your tail off and have your training partner pull a plate to keep your moving. 1 total work set Superhuman Leg Workout at EliteFTS This is an RPE of 13 Goal – Supramax pump NOTE: You will want to stretch your quads hard after this session.

71

WEDNESDAY OFF DAY

72


2 exercises

6 sets

Hamstrings: Hamstrings: Final back and hamstring day, nothing is to be left to chance.

1/ Hams | Lying leg curls After a few warm ups, I need 8 full reps with partner resistance followed by 8 full reps without resistance for your first 3 work sets. On your fourth set tack on 10 bottom half partials after the first 16 reps. 4 total work sets

Pro Tip A great training partner takes these to the next level. Your partner needs to apply enough force to challenge you, but not so much that you cannot resist.

Leg curls with eccentric resistance These sets are all RPE of 12 Goal – Supramax pump

2/ Hams | Nordic leg curl Finish this day how we started in weeks 1-3, 2 sets of Nordic leg curls to failure. 2 total work sets Exercise Index - Nordic Leg Curls These sets are all RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

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2 exercises

8 sets

Glutes

1 exercise

4 sets

Quads

3 exercise

12 sets

*Nothing beats finishing finishing this leg day off with a giant set. Do a couple light rounds to get warmed up then right into 4 working rounds. Rest 3-4 minutes between rounds rounds to catch your breath. breath.

1/ Hams | Lying leg curls Keep your hips glued to the pad and give me sets of 10 here. Superset with

2/ Hams | Dumbbell stiff leg deads Have a moderately heavy set of dumbbells right beside the lying leg curl so you can step out of that machine, hit your 10 on stiff legs then on to the next exercise. Superset with

3/ Glutes | Leg Extensions I want this ultra-controlled with a 2 second squeeze on all 10 reps. Superset with

4/ Quads | Reverse lunges the same dumbbells you used for stiff leg deads, pick one of them up and give me 10 reverse lunges on each leg, while bracing yourself on the side of the leg extension or leg curl Exercise Index - Reverse Lunges Superset with

5/ Quads | Leg press Use a narrow stance with your feet low on the platform. Control the negative and sink these as deep as you can. This shouldn’t take a lot of weight at this point of the giant set. I want 10 reps here as well. Leg press technique for outer sweep swee p Superset with

deadlif t 6/ Quads | Trap bar deadlift Feet shoulder width, keep your back flat and fire up. All I need is 6 reps here. Make sure you are not sloppy at all with your form. 4 total rounds for 24 total work sets Exercise Index - Trap Bar Deadlift The work sets are RPE of 9-10. Goal – Supramax pump

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@mountaindog1

@cedmonds18

@liftersclinic

If you are looking for full training programs visit the Mountain Dog site at: https://mountaindogdiet.com/category/programs/ Follow John on You ouT Tube at mounta mountaindog indog11 for many more complete workouts! If you are looking to take your knowledge of training, nutrition, and supplements to the next level, please don’t hesitate to sign up on my member website at https://mountaindogdiet.com/membership/ Thank you so much for your support!

John Meadows

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John Meadows Leg Training Manual V2

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