Leg Day: The Food, The Training, The Recovery
WARNING: This training program is for those who have been bodybuilding seriously for at least a solid year and should NOT be attempted by a newbie. As always, please be careful in the weightroom and always remember this is bodybuilding and not ego-boosting!!
I’d like to share something I’ve encountered time and time again that has allowed me to further my overall leg development. I have been fortunate enough to speak and learn from bodybuilders like Branch Warren, Tom Platz, and some of the best up and coming national ranked amateurs with wheels that have already made front covers. There is one key factor so many guys are missing out on and if they just tapped into it they would experience growth like never before. What is the missing factor you ask? Simple:
INSANE, NO BULLSH*T, NO HOLDS BARRED, SQUAT UNTIL YOU DROP INTENSITY
This lengthy workout is geared to test your limits. Trust me, if you can survive this workout, you will experience D.O.M.S. like never before and achieve that growth you’ve been striving for days, months, maybe even years to achieve! Break out of your 3 sets of 10 reps workout program and enjoy this little leg workout brought to you by yours truly from Metroflex Plano!
Let’s jump right into it:
Morning
- 2 cups of water (immediately after waking up)
- 8 egg whites, 2 yolks
- 1 ½ cups of cooked quinoa or steel cut oats
- 1 serving of fruit (dark in color)
- 1 tbsp of Macadamia Nut Oil (use to cook your eggs with)
- 1 serving of fish oil
- 5 grams of BCAA
- 1 packet of Multi – Vitamin
Mid – Morning
- 6 oz lean steak
- 1 ½ cups of cooked brown rice
- 1 cup of mixed vegetables
- 1 serving of fish oil
- 5 grams of BCAA
Afternoon
- 6 oz chicken
- 1 medium serving of red potatoes (roughly 50 grams of carbs)
- 5 grams of BCAA
Pre – Workout
- 5 grams of BCAA
- 5 grams of creatine monohydrate
- 50 grams of Karbolyn, KarboLoad, or any other complex carb based pre/intra – workout formula
- Pre – Workout Stimulant OR Non – stimulant Formula (whatever your preference)
Intra – Workout
- TONS of water (if you’re thirsty…drink but drink moderately to avoid water logging!)
- 50 grams of complex carb based pre/intra – workout formula
Post – Workout
- 10 egg whites, 3 yolks
- 4 oz lean cut steak
- 2 cups of white/basmati rice
- 1 packet of Multi – Vitamin
- 1 serving of fruit (pineapple, apple, and/or berries)
Early Evening Meal
- 8 oz extra lean ground beef seasoned
- 1 cup of brown rice
Dinner
- 6 oz Filet Mignon
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 2 cups of mixed vegetables
- 1 serving of Fish Oil
For most competitors, I don’t expect you to be able to consume this much food as far as quantity goes. However, try and stick to the certain food at their appropriate times! This is an ‘off – season’ style menu so don’t follow if you’re prepping for a show! Your meals NEED to be consumed so make sure you force yourself to take in those last bites that would otherwise be sitting on your plate looking at you! Now, onto the good stuff…the training program!
Single Leg Extensions
- 3 sets total
- Each set is roughly 5 – 10 mini sets of 10 reps (no more), pyramiding UP in weight with each mini – set
- Start at 40 lbs x 10 reps, immediately increase by 10 lbs and repeat until failure*** is reached
- Failure: not being able to achieve 6 solid reps!
- Do NOT swing and maintain full range of motion throughout the entire set
- Each set should be roughly 50 – 100 reps for 1 leg
- Rest periods are about 1 – 2 minutes
Barbell Squats or Safety Bar Squats
- 6 – 8 sets total
- Pyramid up in weight with each set with the rep range being
- 15/10/8/6/4/20/30 (I’ll explain)
- For the first 4 – 5 sets, increase the weight anywhere from 30 – 50 percent and reach failure on set 3, 4, and 5.
- For the last two sets, strip the weight back down to what you did for 8 reps. Now, wrap those knees and go until you reach absolute exhaustion in your quads. You should hit somewhere around 20 – 30 reps.
- Repeat at least for 1 more set!
Angled Leg Press (FULL range of motion…no bullsh*t quarter reps)
- 5 sets total
- The first two sets should be a ‘warm up’ so use a moderate weight for roughly 20 reps.
- Put 60 percent of whatever your max weight is one the leg press and shoot for 20 – 40 reps for 3 sets
- This is a FULL range of motion movement. Being that every gym seems to have a different leg press, here is a very simple way to find out your full range of motion: Start with a lightweight and bring it down until your hips start to roll up and off the lower part of the pad. To avoid injury, learn how deep that is and stop just before you hit that spot!
- SIDENOTE: if your legs are not screaming by now, you need to check your intensity levels or check out of the gym.
Vertical Leg Press (if you don’t have access to one, substitute with walking barbell lunges)
- 8 sets total
- (Yes, that says 8 sets) each set should be 10 – 12 reps with 10 second rest periods
- If you need to substitute for lunges, use a weight you can achieve 100 yards with and use a rest – pause method if you need to!
Lying Leg Curls
- 4 sets total
- Each set is to failure with 1 minute rest periods
- Each set is a triple drop set (you must achieve between 15 – 10 reps each drop!)
- These are FULL range of motion with an extremely controlled eccentric phase
Reverse Hack Squats Stiff Leg Raises superset with Seated Leg Curls
- 5 sets total
- Rep Range for each of 10 – 15 reps
- Maintain complete control of the Stiff leg raises on the hack squat machine!! Use a moderate weight!
After your workout, make sure to spend 10 minutes using the foam roller and stretching out all the adhesions caused in between the fascia and muscle fibers. This will help aid in a quicker recovery time. Also, make sure to NOT sit for long periods of time the rest of the week after this workout. If you work a desk job, make sure to move around or else you will feel it the next week!
If you have any questions please contact me at kylecavnar@gmail.com and I hope you enjoy the program!
