IRON ONLINE LEG ROUTINES

TIM'S MASS BLAST #3

This one will work well because it seems a lot of great supersets have been formulated together for the past two routines and now I will introduce some heavy weights, the most important tool for mass building.

Squats- 3 warmup sets, 3 heavy sets about 3 minutes rest between sets

Deadlifts- 1 warmup set, 3 heavy sets about 3 minutes rest between sets

Leg Curls- No warmup, 4 heavy sets about 2-3 minutes rest between sets

BB Hack Squats- 3 heavy sets about 3 minutes rest between sets

For an example to make it easier for me to write and for you to understand I will substitute my weights.

HEAVY Squats- (Call some pals to come train with you today, you need some spotters)

1st warmup set- very light, concentrating on the feel and mental preparation, 135 lbs. for 20 very easy reps

2nd warmup set- very light, feeling the heart pumping a little faster, but the weight is still easy, not taxing your body in any way, 225 lbs. for 15 very easy reps

3rd warmup set- still relatively light, concentrating on going as deep as you can and slower, now we need smooth repetitions, not the easy fast reps in the first two warmup sets. We are preparing our body and mind for the shockingly heavy weight we will put on our back, 315 lbs. for 10 somewhat easy, very smooth reps

1st hard and heavy set- Concentrate on tensing every muscle in your body to help lift that weight. Power it up. It's a do or die situation. You WILL get that heavy weight up and you'll get it up about 5 times, 725 lbs for 5 extremely hard reps

2nd hard and heavy set- exactly the same plan (count on at least 3 minutes of rest after the last torture set)

3rd hard and heavy set- exactly the same again (the mental part of this routine is easy, but the performance and concentration and muscle coordination to get that extremely heavy weight up is the hard part. Again, concentrate on tensing every muscle in the body to help lift that weight especially: the abs, the glutes, the neck muscles, and the teeth :-) *it's all right if you only get 4 reps for a set or two. You'll be dead and I understand that.

Deadlifts- Very heavy again. This is a great power exercise for the legs and lower back. The reason for including deadlifts in our leg routine is so it will strengthen our lower back muscles and is a tremendous aid to our squatting poundages.

1st warmup set- (You'll only need 1 warmup, you'll be fully warmed up already), 225 lbs for 10 reps. Keep your eyes up, tummies in, butt low, back straight, not slumped, and then tense every muscle in your body to help lift that weight and straighten your back.

1st hard and heavy set- again, very heavy with spotters! 705 lbs for 5 hard smooth reps. Keep good form, this is a must! You'll be dead from squats already, and you'll want to sluff off and not keep good form. This is why you shouldn't add plate after plate when you know it'll be too heavy for you.

2nd and 3rd working sets are the same. (We don't need all these fancy training techniques such as forced reps and burnout sets, but plain old-fashioned hard work.

This routine is relatively uncomplicated but yields wonderful results. Try to get about 3 minutes of rest between sets again. Remember to keep stretching!

Heavy Leg Curls- Our hamstrings are already fried, but now we'll serve them for dinner.....sorry, bad pun, you're probably not in a good mood right now anyway after all the torture you've been going through.

No warmup necessary usually, but don't hesitate if you think you need it or you haven't been stretching.

1st hard and heavy set- I'm unsure of weights for this exercise because I use a hamstring machine that provides resistance based on bodyweight and I haven't cared to figure it out because I'm so fatigued at that point in time. I just crank out whatever reps I can do in the 4-6 rep range.

2nd, 3rd and 4th working sets performed in the same manner, under control

BB Hack Squats- since your quads have had a little time to recover you'll need a warmup set or two with very light weight

1st hard and heavy set- I'm so dead after all these exercises that I can only muster out reps with 225 lbs in order to hit the 4-6 rep range.

2nd and 3rd working sets the same. This movement will take lots of stress off the butt and lower back and put almost all of it on the quads to really blast them.

That's all folks. Only 13 working sets for the largest muscle in your body. That's less than many people complete for smaller bodyparts, but I don't think anyone will say it doesn't work or it's not effective.

Calves will be aching as well, believe it or not. In the long term I recommend direct calf training in some sort of calf raises, but for one all-out mass blast workout for the entire leg, I can't think of one better than this!

Good luck and may the force be with you throughout this grueling workout. Warning: This workout can sound scary, but the only thing that will be scary is that you'll increase your thigh girths with muscle mass that much faster. Mine's up to 30 inches now with all this heavy training and I'm sure you all will achieve wonderful results as well. Best Wishes.

Tim *Phd. Health and Fitness*