One time I saw a guy in the gym doing biceps curls with a heavier barbell than he could press from his chest. That’s sad enough in itself, but what’s even sadder is that he also pressed more than he squatted.
Well, it doesn’t matter whether his goal was just to be in shape or whether he was a circus acrobat who has to walk on his hands a lot. Either way, I see no reason why anyone should be able to lift more with their biceps than the weight they squat.
This happened about a year ago. Today this guy has a pretty decent pair of legs. Some might even say his legs are now his strongest body part.
So what happened? The guy finally decided to come to Thibster and ask for a training program. He wanted to know how he could grow his legs too, because his wife had started teasing him about his chicken legs. It’s good that it went that way, no matter what the trigger was.
So, the goal of our program became solid, muscular legs. The approach we took gave his entire lower body a different look. You can also certainly say that the following program isn’t for those who lack persistence, fighting spirit and the ability to push hard, but if you all survive it, you’ll get results too.
The program:
A: Combination – front squat/regular squat (narrow stance)/regular squat (wider stance)
First do 6 front squats, then set the barbell on the rack for a moment, pick it up again, this time on your upper back with a narrow stance, and do another 6 squats. Finally, widen your stance and do the last 6 squats. For the last two squat variations, specifically when moving from one to the other, you don’t need to put the barbell back on the rack. The weight is the same for all three variations.
Translator’s note: the 6 + 6 + 6 set should be performed more or less as one set with minimal delays. Of course, there’s no need to rush, but you shouldn’t dawdle either.
We do 4 working sets in total, with 3 minutes of rest between sets.
B: Combination – wide-grip deadlift/straight-leg deadlift/sumo deadlift
We start with the wide-grip deadlift (you could say it’s also the starting position of the snatch) and do 6 repetitions. After the first variation, bring your feet close together, with your hands outside your legs, and do 6 repetitions this way as well (straight-leg deadlift). Again, don’t change the weight or rest in between. After the last repetition of the second variation, put the barbell down, take the sumo deadlift stance and pull 6 repetitions. In the sumo stance, the feet are wide and the hands grip the barbell on the inside of the legs.
*** Certainly not everyone is able to do the deadlift variations above in this order. For many people, the straight-leg deadlift is definitely the weakest. In that case, this variation should go first. The weakest variation always goes first.
We do 4 working sets in total, with 3 minutes of rest between sets.
C1: Combination – short-step lunges/long-step lunges/dumbbell squat
Pick up the dumbbells. Start with the lunges, first the short-step lunges, 8 steps per leg. Without resting and without changing the weight, do the next 8 longer lunge steps per leg. After the last lunges, stay standing and finish with 8 proper squats. Now you can put the weights down and rest.
Rest for 2 minutes and then do exercise C2.
C2: Leg curl, 2/1 technique
The next exercise is the leg curl. Perform it by first lifting the weight with two legs, holding the contraction in the top position for about 1 second. Then calmly let one leg down, while the other leg keeps holding the weight up. Now lower the weight back down with one leg, taking about 5 seconds to lower it. And so it goes on: you lift the weight up with two legs again and this time lower it for 5 seconds with the other leg. Do 6 such negative repetitions for each leg.
After the leg curls, rest for 2 minutes and then do exercise C1 again. Do 3 sets of each of C1 and C2. After these exercises, rest for 2 minutes and move on to exercise D.
D: Leg press
Straight and honest, that’s how it is: we finish with a plain leg press. Choose an appropriate weight and do 100 repetitions. You may take short pauses during the set, but keep them to a minimum and avoid them if you can. The more you do in one set, the better.
Do 1 set and rest properly until your next leg workout.
Final word
As you can see, this program is designed to work every last part of your lower body, while the weights can’t be very heavy, which is good for your joints. The nature of the program calls for loads that stimulate strength endurance as well as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which is why this approach suits many athletes at the start of the training season. Footballers, hockey players and many other athletes can use it effectively to kick off their serious training periods. This approach prepares the body’s structures for the heavier and more explosive lifts that should logically come at the end of many training cycles. And of course, if you’re a bodybuilder looking for an effective and fast way to change the look of your legs, this is the program for you.
Translator’s note: I think you can also try two-part exercise combinations, since the front squat among the squats and the straight-leg deadlift among the deadlifts may call for noticeably lighter weights for many people. But if that isn’t a problem, feel free to try it just as the article describes!
Translated by Janar Rückenberg
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