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That Dreaded Day! Leg training is one of the hardest training days you will ever have, and animal leg training is even worst. Welcome to that dreaded day!

Leg day is one of the most important days of the week because while training legs you strengthen your core. Core strength is important because it helps protect your spine.

Probably one of the most anticipated workout days of the week… One that is loved and met with excitement by few, and feared and dreaded by the masses. The next leg workout can be anticipated immediately following the current leg workout’s end. When leg day comes around you are training over half of your body’s muscle groups during one workout. Your leg workout should be one of intensity and purpose. When I get up on leg day I can already feel the adrenaline flowing, I eat breakfast knowing I am preparing for a massive weight or rep day. Everything that is done up until gym time is a way for me to get my mind wrapped around the workout.

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Most people in the gym like to train their upper body more then their lower body due to the fact that the upper body is seen the most. Everybody shows up for chest day and most like to train their arms. But you know you’re serious about your workout when you actually show up for leg day. We call those guys that only train chest and arms “The Club Boys”. They think that they look good with their tight t-shirts and jeans on but as soon as you put them in a pair of shorts it looks like they were walking around on their arms their whole lives.

You can create so much more muscle growth by training legs. Doing heavy compound movements such as squats and heavy leg presses make the body release extra hormones, like adrenaline and the all powerful testosterone. Leg day is one of the most important days of the week because while training legs you strengthen your core. Core strength is important because it helps protect your spine. We have all heard about our parents or grandparents complaining about their bad back. Most back injuries are due to having a weak core. So not only are we improving our physiques and our health, but helping prevent future injuries also.

Okay, now we know why we need to train legs... Let’s talk about why I love to train legs. I love training legs because there are so many different ways to challenge yourself to that additional 50 lbs on the leg press or that last extra 20 rep set of squats. I have one that I love to do on the leg extension; I call it 10, 10, 2, 20—always fun. This exercise is one that not only works the legs but the mind as well. Here is a little explanation of the exercise. Choose a weight that you can get the first ten reps pretty easy. Next should be at least 20-30lbs heavier so that you can just barely get your ten reps. Next should be extremely heavy, I do 2 reps, pausing each one for a 2 sec pause at the top immediately drop the weight to your starting weight and bang out 20 reps. That is set one. Now regroup and do that shit one more time. Now you’re ready to squat. In a typical leg workout there really should be up to four exercises for quads.

I like to start my leg workout with a good ten minute warm up on the treadmill. And the first exercise is the leg extension. Of course I do two light warm up sets, then I may do 2 sets of ten, ten, two, twenty. I like to move into my main exercise which is the leg press—my favorite is the Nebula model. Normally doing 5-6 sets counting my two warm up sets. On a good day working up to over two thousand pounds. Next, of course, is the foundation of leg training--squats. I do variations of this exercise, some weeks I will do the traditional barbell squat, sometimes I will use the Smith or I will use the power squat machine which is the one that I am enjoying at this present time. And nothing polishes off the quads like three sets of walking lunges.

On bad weather days we will do these with the dumbbells the length of the gym floor and back. On good weather days we’ll grab a barbell and some plates and head outback of the gym. The parking lot is on a slight angle, which makes it great to lunge up the hill and back down.

I normally train hamstrings on the same day. We start off with the Cybex iso ham curl. I like this machine because you can see that each hamstring is working equally. Next would be either seated or lying ham curls, super setted with an adductor machine. Sometimes I like to finish off with stiff-legged dead lifts. Those really stretch out the hamstrings. Always make sure you remember to stretch after your hard leg workout. Hopefully all you Animals reading this already train legs. For those of you who don’t, maybe it will encourage you to start.

Tags: Bodybuilding Life Legs

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