Hi Jean, I was hoping you would share your leg workout with me?
My legs look sooo shapeless and I'm so frustrated!

Thanks!

KMT

It seems that I get a leg inquiry, usually from women, at least once a week, so I figured it's about time to share a little.  To preface this, I think that a lot of my leg potential is a genetic gift, but it was definately enhanced with training and good diet!

1. Love your legs like you love your chest, back, etc.

A half-hearted effort on leg day will not produce great results. In order train legs effectively, you must begin with the mindset that you are going to get an intense workout. Though you know it will be grueling, it will also be beneficial, so you love it anyway.

2. Change it up

If your leg workouts have resembled this: Squats—Leg Extention—Hamstring Curl—for the last 6 years, it's about time for a change. Try front squats, hack squats, spilt squats, legs close together, legs far apart, full squats, partial squats, sissy quats, single leg squats, smith machine squats, fried shrimp, shrimp cocktail, shrimp kabobs—catch my drift? There's no need to do one exercise the same way every single time the legs are trained. For more ideas go here and here. Spending a half hour or so looking up new exercises before you begin a workout can be highly motivating also.

3. No strenuous cardio before leg training

While this is true for all body parts, it is especially true for legs. Strength will diminish if you blast the legs with an endurance workout immediately before lifting. If you want to gain quality size on your legs, make sure the leg training is the focus of the workout on that day.

4. Eat like you mean it before and after leg training.

Legs are large muscle groups and require large fueling to get the most out of them! If I am not dieting for a contest, I will sometimes increase my calories before and after leg training by 30% or so.

5. Go in fresh

I will not train legs (or anything for that matter) on a day that I am physically exhausted or sick. I will actually leave the gym and take a day off if my strength is down a down 20-30%. In essence, if a warm-up weight feels heavy and I am light-headed or ill, I will not stay in the gym. I believe that my body is trying to tell me something in that case. This is a NOT the same as a lack of motivation; it took me years of lifting experience to recognize the difference. If I simply feel bad about myself or my training/life in general, I will stick it out and finish the workout. If I feel sick and weak, I go home. During actual illness, stress hormones (like cortisol and catecholamines) are increased and your muscle is already being broken down more than usual; training too hard on top of that can make it difficult to recover and excess muscle may be lost. That said, a case of the sniffles is NOT a reason to delay a workout; coming down with the flu probably is.

If you want to prioritize leg training, leg day should follow a rest day.

All that said, I don't follow a written program for anything (hey! to each her own ;-) but, generally speaking, I do two leg days per week. One day is typically more intense than the other. Whether the following program is makes any kind of logical sense in terms of order or muscles worked together, I really don't know. My workouts are, however, very high-volume, fast-paced, and intense (most of the time; we all have off-days). I take about 45 seconds to a minute between sets. I would not suggest starting with the following workouts if your leg training is not already intense and diversified. The two leg training days during the week may look something like this:

Day 1

Front Squats 5-6 sets of 10-15 reps to failure (one warm-up set for all)

Straight Leg Dead Lift or RDL 5-6 sets of 12-18 reps to failure

Stepping back and forth lunges 4-5 sets of 15-18 reps –tri-set with

- Single leg calf raises 4-5 sets of 20-25 reps, and

- 45° Reverse Calf Press 4-5 sets of 20-25 reps

Barbell Step-up with flexed kick 4-5 sets of 20-25 reps

Leg Extension 4-5 sets of 10-15 reps to failure

Lying Hamstring Curl 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps to failure

Cable Hip Abduction 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps to failure

Seated Calf raise 3-4 sets of 15-20 reps to failure

Day 2

Single Leg Smith Machine Squats 5-6 sets of 10-15 reps to failure (one warm-up set for all)

Front leg elevated dumbbell lunges 4-5 sets of 15-18 reps super-set with

Ankle flexion to stimulate anterior 4-5 sets of 20-25 reps each leg

tibialis

Dumbbell stability ball wall squat 3-4 sets 15-20 reps

Hamstring Curl 4-5 sets of 12-15 reps to failure

Leg Extension 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps to failure

Machine Hip Adduction 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps to failure

Seated Calf raise 3-4 sets of 15-20 reps to failure