+Bodybuilding Tips
These are some tips and tricks to help you work hard, but smart, to develop your legs in pace with your upper body, so people aren’t giving you that “chicken legs” look.
Tip #1 – Spend one day per week on your quads and one day per week on your hips
You already know what your quads are. By “hips”, I mean your lower back, hams and glutes. With a 5 day split, you can train quads on Monday and hips on Friday, continuing your upper body workout the rest of the week and taking two days off.
Here’s an effective leg training split
Monday – Primarily quads, with 1 hip exercise
Tuesday - Chest + abs
Wednesday - Back + calves
Thursday - Off
Friday – Primarily hips with 1 quad exercise
Saturday - Shoulders, biceps, triceps
Sunday – Off
On your quad day, include some of the following:
- Single-joint exercises like leg extensions;
- Multi-joint exercises like leg presses, squats, lunges, 1 leg squats, wall squats, Bulgarian split squats, smith-machine squats, vertical leg press and all single limb variations.
On your hip day, include these:
- Single-joint exercises like lying leg curls, back extensions, glutes bridges
- Multi-joint exercises like deadlifts, feet wide/elevated leg press and all single limb variations.
Tip #2 – Concentrate on your legs for at least 6 weeks
Don’t worry about your upper body gains fading on you… concentrate on your legs for 6 weeks and you’ll find that your elevated hormonal levels will keep everything growing just fine.
Six weeks of dedicated leg training two times per week will get you growing for weeks.
Tip #3 – Work on your leg extensions on quad day and your leg curls on hip day
Your quads need more reps than your hips, so start them out with 4 sets of 15-20 reps @ 5011 tempo (5 seconds to lower the weight, no pause, 1 second to return to the starting position, then pause 1 second before repeating). Rest 45 seconds between sets.
Your hamstrings will respond better to lower reps and explosive force, so start that workout @ 40x1 tempo (4 seconds to lower the weight, no pause, X means as explosive as possible, then pause 1 second before repeating) with 4 sets of 5-8 reps. Rest 60 seconds between sets.
Tip #4 - Use The 5x5 protocol - 5 sets of 5 reps @ 4011 tempo & 2 minute rest
Hit the squat rack to use this great protocol. Find your ideal work weight and start your first set of five. Ideally, you should reach a failure point on the first set. A typical set might look like this:
Set 1 - 225lbs 5 reps
Set 2 - 225lbs 5 reps
Set 3 - 225lbs 5 reps
Set 4 - 225lbs 4 reps
Set 5 - 225lbs 3 reps
Don’t increase the weight until you’ve finished 5 sets of 5 reps with a 4011 tempo and 2 minute rest between sets. Then you can bump it up 10-15%, holding fast to the tempo and rest periods.
You can also do this 5x5 method with any deadlift variation you like. Try an exercise you haven't used for a while, like the sumo style deadlift.
Tip #5 - Finish each workout with unilateral Exercises
Finish off your day with a unilateral workout. This will help you find any weak spots and build up your lactic acid. Here’s some great wrap-ups for the day:
After quads, finish up with Bulgarian split squats. Put your front foot on a 12 inch block, as this provides deeper knee flexion so you stretch out both the flexed quad and your psoas on the other leg.
After your hip workout, wrap it up with one-legged stiff-legged dumbbell deadlifts. These are great for your hamstrings. If you’d like even more hams isolation, elevate your toes slightly on a plate on the floor.
Putting it all together
Quad Day:
- Exercise 1: Leg extensions: 4 x 15 @5011 tempo -- 45 seconds rest
- Exercise 2: Back squats (heels elevated): 5 x 5 @4011 tempo -- 2 minute rest
- Exercise 3: Bulgarian split squats (front foot on block): 5 x 15 @4011 tempo -- alternate legs
- Exercise 4: Deadlifts: 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1 x 15 @4011 tempo -- 90 second rest
Hip Day:
- Exercise 1: Lying leg curls (toes pointed): 4 x 5 @40x1 tempo -- 60 seconds rest
- Exercise 2: Sumo-style deadlifts: 5 x 5 @4011 tempo -- 2 minute rest
- Exercise 3: One-legged stiff-legged dumbbell deadlifts: 5 x 12 @4011 tempo -- alternate legs
- Exercise 4: Front Squats: 1 x 12, 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 8, 1 x 15 @4011 tempo -- 90 second rest
Stick with this program for 6 weeks and believe me, you’ll get no more “chicken legs” looks.
Tip #1 – Spend one day per week on your quads and one day per week on your hips
You already know what your quads are. By “hips”, I mean your lower back, hams and glutes. With a 5 day split, you can train quads on Monday and hips on Friday, continuing your upper body workout the rest of the week and taking two days off.
Here’s an effective leg training split
Monday – Primarily quads, with 1 hip exercise
Tuesday - Chest + abs
Wednesday - Back + calves
Thursday - Off
Friday – Primarily hips with 1 quad exercise
Saturday - Shoulders, biceps, triceps
Sunday – Off
On your quad day, include some of the following:
- Single-joint exercises like leg extensions;
- Multi-joint exercises like leg presses, squats, lunges, 1 leg squats, wall squats, Bulgarian split squats, smith-machine squats, vertical leg press and all single limb variations.
On your hip day, include these:
- Single-joint exercises like lying leg curls, back extensions, glutes bridges
- Multi-joint exercises like deadlifts, feet wide/elevated leg press and all single limb variations.
Tip #2 – Concentrate on your legs for at least 6 weeks
Don’t worry about your upper body gains fading on you… concentrate on your legs for 6 weeks and you’ll find that your elevated hormonal levels will keep everything growing just fine.
Six weeks of dedicated leg training two times per week will get you growing for weeks.
Tip #3 – Work on your leg extensions on quad day and your leg curls on hip day
Your quads need more reps than your hips, so start them out with 4 sets of 15-20 reps @ 5011 tempo (5 seconds to lower the weight, no pause, 1 second to return to the starting position, then pause 1 second before repeating). Rest 45 seconds between sets.
Your hamstrings will respond better to lower reps and explosive force, so start that workout @ 40x1 tempo (4 seconds to lower the weight, no pause, X means as explosive as possible, then pause 1 second before repeating) with 4 sets of 5-8 reps. Rest 60 seconds between sets.
Tip #4 - Use The 5x5 protocol - 5 sets of 5 reps @ 4011 tempo & 2 minute rest
Hit the squat rack to use this great protocol. Find your ideal work weight and start your first set of five. Ideally, you should reach a failure point on the first set. A typical set might look like this:
Set 1 - 225lbs 5 reps
Set 2 - 225lbs 5 reps
Set 3 - 225lbs 5 reps
Set 4 - 225lbs 4 reps
Set 5 - 225lbs 3 reps
Don’t increase the weight until you’ve finished 5 sets of 5 reps with a 4011 tempo and 2 minute rest between sets. Then you can bump it up 10-15%, holding fast to the tempo and rest periods.
You can also do this 5x5 method with any deadlift variation you like. Try an exercise you haven't used for a while, like the sumo style deadlift.
Tip #5 - Finish each workout with unilateral Exercises
Finish off your day with a unilateral workout. This will help you find any weak spots and build up your lactic acid. Here’s some great wrap-ups for the day:
After quads, finish up with Bulgarian split squats. Put your front foot on a 12 inch block, as this provides deeper knee flexion so you stretch out both the flexed quad and your psoas on the other leg.
After your hip workout, wrap it up with one-legged stiff-legged dumbbell deadlifts. These are great for your hamstrings. If you’d like even more hams isolation, elevate your toes slightly on a plate on the floor.
Putting it all together
Quad Day:
- Exercise 1: Leg extensions: 4 x 15 @5011 tempo -- 45 seconds rest
- Exercise 2: Back squats (heels elevated): 5 x 5 @4011 tempo -- 2 minute rest
- Exercise 3: Bulgarian split squats (front foot on block): 5 x 15 @4011 tempo -- alternate legs
- Exercise 4: Deadlifts: 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 10, 1 x 8, 1 x 15 @4011 tempo -- 90 second rest
Hip Day:
- Exercise 1: Lying leg curls (toes pointed): 4 x 5 @40x1 tempo -- 60 seconds rest
- Exercise 2: Sumo-style deadlifts: 5 x 5 @4011 tempo -- 2 minute rest
- Exercise 3: One-legged stiff-legged dumbbell deadlifts: 5 x 12 @4011 tempo -- alternate legs
- Exercise 4: Front Squats: 1 x 12, 1 x 15, 1 x 12, 1 x 8, 1 x 15 @4011 tempo -- 90 second rest
Stick with this program for 6 weeks and believe me, you’ll get no more “chicken legs” looks.
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