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LEG CHRONICLES OF SKINNY CBUM
Leg day and I have always had a love hate relationship – which I’m sure is
pretty common amongst all of you. In the beginning, it was all love! I think it’s
safe to say, training legs was a huge aspect in what made me fall in love with
bodybuilding. This sport, or whatever you want to call it, is so much more than
starving yourself and stepping on stage. It’s constantly pushing your
body to new limits – limits you never thought you had – and that proud,
satisfied feeling when you hit a new PR or watch your body
transform.
I’ve always gotten the most satisfaction from killing a
gruesome leg workout as compared to training anything else. This all
began in high school when my goals were to excel in sports, mainly
basketball and football. I felt that in order to become a better athlete, I had to
become more powerful, rather than focusing on fine tuning my skills such as
dribbling, footwork, etc. I found myself constantly in the gym, whether it be after
practice or during lunch at school. As a result, I found myself running faster,
jumping higher and hitting harder.
Sitting here right now, I can remember having savage leg workouts back in my
younger days. I would routinely go into the gym on leg day, squat 405 lbs until
failure, go as heavy as I could on leg press, do walking lunges with 135 lbs and
then finishing up with every possible leg machine the gym had to offer. This
would take me well over 2 hours to complete. Looking back now, I could never
push myself for as long, but it showed me the kind of intensity I could bring to
my training.
A few years of training like that lead me to a university where my school gym
was filled with powerlifters. The atmosphere alone motivated me to train,
mainly for strength. I got equipped with some SBD knee sleeves, an Inzer lever
belt and went to town training for over 3 hours a day, even if I was only doing a
few exercises. When it was all said and done, I got up to a max squat of 605
lbs and a max deadlift of 695 lbs. Again, looking back I could never train that
heavy now, but it taught me what benefits strength could bring to my leg
training. For me, I found my legs responded in terms of growth when I was
training with a heavier load, but it came with a catch. Training like this led to
nagging injuries, specifically some crazy painful knee tendonitis.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
CHRIS BUMSTEAD
By the end of high school, I had built some crazy strength – I was squatting
405 lbs for reps, deadlifting 5 plates on each side – but sadly, all the strength in
the world could only take me so far with the skill I had. Even though I stopped
playing sports when I got older, I had found a new passion in weight lifting, and
it all stemmed from my love of leg day.
4
LEG CHRONICLES OF SKINNY CBUM
The injuries is where the hate comes into play for this relationship. I always
thought I had perfect form training, but when you go as heavy as I was,
constantly, even being a little off can lead to an injury. I never did any mobility
work and didn’t warm up as nearly as much as I should have, so the intense
training led to extremely tight muscles, which of course is not optimal for
lifting weights. I definitely learned this lesson the hard way and am still
paying for it now. If I could stress one thing to everyone, it’s for
you to realize that you are not invincible and it’s much better to
be proactive in avoiding injuries rather than waiting until it’s too
late.
From all of this experience, I learned to find a middle ground with my leg
training. Intensity became the most crucial part, not the 3 hour marathon
session. I found that if you can’t kill your legs in an hour’s time or even less,
then you need to start pushing yourself a hell of a lot more. This is not to say I
don’t advocate strength training. I’ll always believe strength training is essential
for building a base for your legs when you first begin lifting.
If you take anything from my story, learn that experimentation is often the best
way to go to find what works best for you. As I tried new things, I was always
inspired by someone who’s physique I had looked up to, taking tips and tricks
from them, and trying them out on my own. It was the only way I could decide
which ones worked and which ones didn’t for me. Down below, I’ll show what I
have found is the best way to get TICC quads and JOOCY hamstrings, glutes
and calves and explain how you can avoid the nagging injuries that have
plagued me over the last few years.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
CHRIS BUMSTEAD
Along the way, I’ve experimented with different leg splits, all of which are great
when time is a concern, I am traveling, or if I’m trying to bring up a lagging
body part. In all instances, it all comes down to one thing, go hard or go home.
I’ve always be asked, “do you train legs once a week or do you split up quads
and hamstrings/glutes?” There’s benefits in both. Training them once per week
allows them to get the proper rest they need. Training them separate allows
you to focus specifically on each body part, resulting in no discrepancies, and
thus a balanced physique. Personally, I do both, but I make sure to apply it for
at least 6 weeks to get the proper benefit out of each training program.
5
WHY YOU AVOID TRAINING LEGS
“
The general consensus is that people HATE leg day. So why don’t you like it? Because it’s
not arm day...or chest...or shoulders... or even back. All kidding aside, there are many
reasons why people hate leg day, and as a result, lack well developed legs.
1. It Requires Your Full Energy and Focus. Leg day is a battle, so treat it that way.
It’s impossible to think that you can just show up, do a couple of half assed exercises
and expect your legs to grow. I get it, it’s 5am or you’ve just gotten off from work, but I
can guarantee you that if you don’t put 100% into your leg days, your never going to
achieve that well balanced physique you desire.
2. DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). You’re not willing to embrace the pain
associated with training legs, and more so after. Training legs takes an entire toll on
your body. When you train biceps, you never get that puking sensation, but when
training legs, you sure as hell do. It’s hard. It’s grueling. And the next day or two, you
can barely walk, it’s a pain in the ass (figuratively and literally!) going up and down
stairs or getting in and out of your car ...or even just trying to sit on the toilet, but guess
what, it’s all fucking worth it when your legs look awesome, so you do it. Embrace the
pain. Don’t run from it. Welcome it. When you feel the pain (not injury), you’re growing.
Change your attitude and see pain as an accomplishment, not a punishment. You’ve
conquered your legs one more time without giving up once. You’ve won.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
6
WHY YOU AVOID TRAINING LEGS
3. Bad Knees or Fear of Injury. I don’t know how many times, I’ve heard
someone cry about their “knee pain” or how their knee is “messed up.” Chances are
your knee really isn’t messed up. Unless you’ve been to the doctor, I bet it’s because
you aren’t using proper form, your knees aren’t used to the load you are doing and
most importantly, your surrounding muscles in your legs are underdeveloped or
tight. As for someone who’s afraid of squatting or deadlifting, yeah there’s potential
of injury, but you can’t live in fear. You’ll never accomplish anything if you do that,
both in and out of the gym. So forget about that, and move that weight (with proper
form of course!).
4. Your Legs Are Weak and You Don’t Want To Make A Fool Of Yourself .
In simplest terms, you don’t want to look like a pansy. You’re the king of the gym.
You’re always talking about how much you can bench, but when you go to squat,
you can barely put up 135lbs. You avoid the squat rack, put on some sweats and go
right back to benching. Instead, take the same mentality that you put towards chest
and apply it for several months towards developing your legs. Take that humble pill
once or twice a week and in a few months time, I know you’ll be glad you did. You’ll
be much happier with the way you look and feel.
5. Legs Aren’t Glamorous Muscles. It’s tough to get excited about training legs,
when your quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves largely go unnoticed. It’s simple,
doing curls at the gym looks good. Adding an inch on your arms is much more
noticeable than adding an inch on your quads. We don’t get the same recognition
for the progress we made on our legs, however, I don’t know about you, but I sure
as hell don’t want to be wearing sweats in the summer to cover my legs. We’re
striving for a symmetrical physique and trust me, if you’ve got big legs and glutes,
people will notice!
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
7
IDENTIFYING & CORRECTING
MUSCLE IMBALANCES
Muscle imbalances are caused by poor posture, stress, repetitive movement,
injury, or a combination of these things. The terms “overactive” and
“underactive” muscles come into play when muscles on one side of
the joint become chronically shortened and muscles on the
opposing side of the joint become chronically lengthened. In its
simplest terms, muscle imbalances occur when one muscle is
stronger than its opposing muscle. An overactive muscle is assumed to
be short, tight and strong, whereas an underactive muscle tends to be long
and weak. Muscle imbalances may not be a problem at first, however, the real
issues occur over time. Unless you can identify and fix whatever imbalances exist,
you could be cheating yourself from gaining as much muscle mass in your legs as
possible or even worse, you could be headed straight for injury.
Let’s face it, unless you’re in a job that demands physical activity such as
construction, you’re pretty much tied to your chair all day at your job. So if you’re
sitting down all day at a computer, there’s a good chance your hamstrings, upper
quads, hip flexors, calves and abdominal muscles, just to name a few, will be
extremely tight and hinder the activation of other muscles such as the glutes, lower
quads, lower back, traps, rhomboids and spinal erectors, resulting in these muscles
being weak.
CHRIS BUMSTEAD
Give your body more credit – it’s a lot smarter than you think. If you get under the
bar to squat, your body is going to recruit the muscles that are the “strongest,”
rather than the intended muscle group you were trying to train. That’s why those
who have imbalances tend to have incorrect form, and as a result, continue to see
zero to minimal progress.
You will have to change your entire mindset at the gym. Often, we find ourselves
worrying too much on the weight and not enough on the quality and feel of the
movement. In order to improve your movement patterns and be injury-free, you
might have to take a hit to your ego and drop the weight for a few weeks while you
refine your form and technique. If you don’t and you continue to neglect proper
stretching and therapy, your muscles will tighten up and get progressively worse,
thus compromising your range of motion, strength and ability to build more
muscle.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
8
IDENTIFYING & CORRECTING
MUSCLE IMBALANCES
I can’t stress how important it is to identify your muscular imbalances. Yes,
identifying imbalances isn’t easy and fixing them for sure doesn’t happen
overnight – it can take several weeks or even months to fully correct –
but by listening to you body and building a solid foundation, you’ll
have bigger and less injury-prone legs than ever before. Most of you
will probably skip over this section, however, if I didn’t think this
was important, I wouldn’t have even bothered to include it. Take it
from someone who’s had to learn it the hard way first hand. After a year
and half of knee issues, it’s something I wish I would have learned sooner.
Learn from my mistakes guys!
CHRIS BUMSTEAD
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
9
WHAT’S YOUR IMBALANCE?
Ready to put your form to the test? You’d be surprised what one exercise can show you.
Standing with your feet shoulder width apart, press a dowel or light pole over your head
(similar to an overhead squat). While sitting back in your heels, drop into a deep squat
as if you were sitting back into a chair before pushing through your heels to stand back
up. Ideally, the bar should remain locked out overhead throughout the entire
movement.
Here are some common movement compensations and how to fix them:
1. Excessive Forward Lean: An excessive forward lean is most likely due to
overactive calf muscles, hip flexors and/or abs, as well as, underactive glutes,
anterior tibialis and/or spinal erectors. To fix this, you’ll need to stretch your calves
and hip flexors, and focus on strengthening your core, glutes and lower back.
2. Arms Fall Forward: If you find it challenging to keep your arms overhead while
performing a squat, it’s probably due to overactive lats, teres major and/or pec
major/minor, as well as, underactive mid and lower traps, rhomboids and posterior
delts. To fix this, you’ll need to stretch your lats, pec major/minor, while
strengthening your mid back and rear delts.
3. Rounding of the Lower Back: Rounding of the lower back is most likely due to
overactive hamstrings and/or abs, as well, underactive glutes and/or spinal erectors.
To fix this, you’ll need to stretch your hamstrings, adductors, and abs, while
strengthening your glutes and lower back.
4. Knees Caving Inward: Knees caving inward would probably be the most common
compensation. When your knees cave inward it is most likely due to overactive bicep
femoris (short head), adductors, vastus lateralis and/or tensor fasciae latae, as well
as, underactive glutes and vastus medialis. To fix this, you’ll need to foam roll your
tight hip adductors, then stretch them and perform isolation exercises for your weak
abductors.
5. Feet Turn Outward/Heels Coming Off The Ground: When your feet turn
outward and your heels come off the ground, it is most likely due to overactive calf
muscles, bicep femoris (short head), as well as, underactive glutes, hamstrings and
adductors. To fix this, you’ll need to stretch your calves, while strengthening your
glutes, hamstrings and adductors.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
10
THE LOWDOWN ON FOOD
PRE-WORKOUT, INTRA-WORKOUT, POST-WORKOUT
Leg day is not for the faint of heart. Leg day will make the biggest guy at the gym look
weak. It will not only tear you down physically, but mentally as well. For 60-90 minutes,
it’s an all out war where all you feel is pain, sweat and the will to fight. With that being
said, our nutrition should not be taken lightly. Without the proper fuel, you will not only
not perform at your best, but you’ll get less muscle and strength as a result. We’re
looking to thrive during leg day, not just survive. Therefore, I recommend that you
increase your total daily calorie intake by 15 percent and provide your body with the
proper nutrients it needs by creating the perfect pre-, intra- and post-workout nutrition.
Pre-Workout
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. I get it, not all of us are bodybuilders who
can have complete control of our daily schedule, but if you want to build some serious
legs, pre-workout nutrition is not something you should take for granted. Training legs
puts an extreme amount of stress on your body, but by consuming an optimal dose of
protein and carbs prior to training, you can create the most anabolic environment to
help avoid muscle catabolism and ensure you continued growth. Therefore, if you’re
looking to maximize growth or increase your strength, I don’t suggest training legs
fasted, first thing in the morning. Ideally, your leg day pre-workout meal should be
eaten 2 to 3 hours prior and it should be your second or third meal of the day. To ensure
you’re properly prepared for leg day, aim to consume 25-35 grams of high-quality
protein, minimal fat and 30-50 percent of your daily carbohydrate intake, consisting of
moderate-high glycemic index carbs – including things like white rice, rice cakes, or
even a weekend warrior favorite, cereal – while minimizing fiber to avoid feeling full.
Intra-Workout
Intra-workout nutrition seems to be the most neglected component of someone’s diet.
By implementing proper intra-workout nutrition, you are not only benefiting your
current workout, but also starting the recovery process for tomorrow’s as well. During
an intense training session, especially legs, we lose ample amounts of water from sweat,
containing important electrolytes and deplete our muscle glycogen. Muscle glycogen is
the energy source that fuels our workout and when we run out, we hit that theoretically
“wall,” and if we don’t intervene, our performance will suffer. An intra-workout cocktail
of fluid, fast digesting simple carbohydrates – dextrose and highly branched cyclic
dextrins –, BCAAs, creatine, glutamine and electrolytes will help you maintain optimal
hydration, sustain energy levels, alter muscle glycogen metabolism and minimize
muscle breakdown.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
11
THE LOWDOWN ON FOOD
PRE-WORKOUT, INTRA-WORKOUT, POST-WORKOUT
Post-Workout
The great debate – the anabolic window. By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard that
meal timing and post-workout nutrition are all bro science, but I can’t seem to wrap my
head around people who can say results are 85 percent of the equation, but then go on
to claim that these two things are irrelevant. Nutrition is the most important aspect of
recovery. During an intense workout, you’ve depleted your muscle glycogen and have
incurred a state of protein breakdown, a process which is only stopped by the ingestion
of protein, and so you remain in this state until your next meal. So the sooner you
consume a meal, the quicker you can flip the switch from a catabolic state to an anabolic
environment, replenish glycogen stores and begin to rebuild and repair damaged
muscle tissue. Now I don’t know about you, but after a gut-wrenching leg workout, I
don’t have much of an appetite. Immediately following your workout, ingest a protein
shake consisting of 50 grams of protein coming from whey isolate. One hour later,
consume a solid meal. Your post-workout meal should be as big, or maybe even bigger,
than your pre-workout meal. It should contain 30-50 percent of your daily carbohydrate
intake – medium-high GI carbs – and 40 grams of protein coming from lean sources,
such as chicken breast, to maximize growth and recovery. If you do schedule cheat
meals or re-feed days, leg day is the perfect day of the week. You burned quite a
significant amount of calories so why not give your muscles the fuel to grow, and reward
yourself for completing the workout.
Using a meal prep company, when it fits your budget, is an effective tool in bring
consistent with your diet. Use code CBUM at TrifectaNutrition.com for 20% off your
order.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
12
SUPPLEMENTATION
PRE-WORKOUT, INTRA-WORKOUT, POST-WORKOUT
Supplementation is just another part of the equation if you’re looking to pack on quality
pounds of mass onto your legs. Supplements are exactly what they are – supplements to
your diet – and shouldn’t be the end all be all, however, with the right supplements you
will increase muscle growth, improve your recovery, enhance your strength and
maximize your energy and pumps in the gym. There are a lot of supplements out on the
market today, but which ones are the right ones? These are the supplements I use daily
and I recommend you do the same:
* Whey Isolate
* Pre-Workout (when needed)
* BCAAs
* Multi-Vitamins
* Greens Supplement
* Fast Acting Carbs – Dextrose
* Creatine
* Glutamine
* Omega 3 Fish Oil
Leg Day Checklist:
! 1 scoop of greens, omega 3 fish oil and multi-vitamin upon waking with your first
meal
! 1 scoop of your favorite pre-workout, when needed
! Combine 50g dextrose, 5g BCAAs, 5g creatine, and 5g glutamine intra-workout
! 1-2 scoop(s) whey isolate post-workout.
! Omega 3 fish oil and multi-vitamin before going to bed with your last meal.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
13
TRAINING TECHNIQUES 101
There are many factors that go into building muscle, but one is the most
important – progressive overload. Without the progression of weight, intensity or
reps over time, I can guarantee you that you won’t see much in the way of building
muscle. Now I’m not telling you to blindly push heavier weights – that’s never a good
idea – but you should be trying to progressively lift heavier each workout, beating what
you did the previous week. Yes, sticking to the same program can be boring, however, I
can bet money that it will have a positive correlation on your physique.
Understanding things like time under tension, tempo, range of motion and using
different training techniques will help to optimize training regimen and maximize your
results. Incorporating things such as pre-exhaustion, supersets, drop sets and partial
reps to name a few, will be key to seeing progress in the overall development of your
legs.
Time Under Tension (TUT) refers to how long a muscle is working, contracting or
under stress during a given rep or set. This depends on a number of things including,
the amount of reps in a set, the tempo of the reps and whether you lock out at the end of
each rep or not – all of which are effective ways to increase your muscles’ time under
tension. You can manipulate the tempo of the exercise by using a 3-5 second tempo on
the concentric (positive) or eccentric (negative) phase of the lift. For example, if you use
a 3 second tempo on the positive and negative portion of the exercise, that’s 6 total
seconds per rep. If you do 10 total reps in a given set, that’s 60 total seconds.
Pre-Exhaustion adds a different element of intensity to your training and is one of my
favorite training techniques for hypertrophy. Just like the name implies, it’s prefatiguing a certain muscle using a isolation exercise first, before moving onto a meatand-potatoes compound exercise. When performing a compound movement first, you’re
smaller muscles will tire first and the target muscle might not receive ample overload.
For example, if you squat first, your lower back may give out before your quads,
however, if you implement pre-exhaustion and do leg extensions first, before moving
onto squats, it will force your quads to work twice as hard and will ensure muscular
fatigue, not neurological fatigue. You’ll be able to hit those deep muscle fibers with a
much lower weight, thus making the movement safer for your tendons and joints.
Supersets are pretty straightforward. It’s when you alternate sets of two different
exercises with no rest in between. This can be done with the same muscle group or
opposing muscle groups. For example, you can superset two quad exercises, two
hamstring exercises or a quad exercise with a hamstring exercise. Supersets are great
when you’re press for time, looking for an insane pump, need to work on your mind
muscle connection, and to create more metabolic stress.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
14
TRAINING TECHNIQUES 101
Drop Sets are an excellent method for increasing volume and therefore, hypertrophy.
Drops sets allow you to extend your current set, training completely to failure. It
involves doing several sets in a row where you reduce the weight in between each set
with no rest. Drop sets are typically done on the last working set of an exercise and
typically done at the end of a workout.
Partial Reps are very controversial with social media these days, but when done
correctly, they do have their place. Partials can be used to strengthen a specific range of
motion, increase muscular overload (TUT), and to extend a set past failure. Partials are
a great way to blast your quads during a set of leg extensions or your hamstrings during
a set of hamstring curls after you’ve exhausted them already with a full range of motion.
Peak Contraction Training involves holding the peak contraction in the top position
under maximum load at the finish point of an exercise for 1-2 seconds. It’s a great
technique to increase definition, separation, shape and hardness in your muscles. Peak
contraction training is a great tool for increasing TUT and a great way to break through
a current muscle building plateau.
Pause Reps are when you hold the weight at the bottom (eccentric) portion of the
movement, letting the weight come to a complete rest, but not releasing tension on your
muscles. I recommend holding it for a minimum 2 second pause before completing the
rest of the movement. This will eliminate any momentum.
Isometric or Static Contraction Training is holding a weight in a fixed position for
several seconds in a maximally contracted position. This usually involves weight,
however, I like to incorporate this method of training without weight as well – typically
done by flexing. For example, after a set of squats, I’ll move off to the side and flex my
quads for 30 seconds.
Rest-Pause Training involves breaking down one set into several mini-sets, with
10-15 deep breaths in between each. For example, you’ll start with a weight that you can
perform 8-10 reps (80% of your 1RM), stopping just short of failure. After completing
those 8-10 reps, rest for 10-15 deep breaths and do another set of as many reps as
possible. You’ll take another 10-15 deep breaths before performing the exercise again
until technical failure.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
15
ANATOMY OF THE QUADRICEPS
Your quadriceps are made up of 4 smaller muscles, originating at the hip and
connecting to the knee. The four muscles are the rectus femoris, vastus medialis,
vastus intermedius and the vastus lateralis. While you cannot individually isolate
each one of these muscles, you can adjust your form to improve the activation of
your quads overall. Therefore, you’ll need to assess which exercises are hip
dominant and which are quad dominant. A hip dominant movement is when you sit
back, breaking at the hips, while a quad dominant movement is when you break at
the knees, resulting in your knees tracking over your toes. When your knees go past
your toes, you will have higher quad activation.
Rectus Femoris
The rectus femoris originates at two different places from the pelvis: at the anterior
inferior iliac spine, which is at the front lower ridge of the hip and just above the
rim of the acetabulum or where the hip socket is. It’s the only muscle in the quad
that crosses the hip joint. The rectus femoris continues down the middle of the
thigh and is inserted into the top of the patella. The rectus femoris has two main
purposes: knee extension and hip flexion.
Vastus Medialis
The vastus medialis or VMO is what we like to call the infamous teardrop muscle,
which is found above the knee on the inner part of the thigh. The vastus medialis
originates on the intertrochanteric line and medial lip of the linea aspera of the
femur. It plays an important role in knee extension and stabilizing the patella or
kneecap.
Vastus Intermedius
The vastus intermedius sits on the deepest part of your femur and lies between the
vastus lateralis and the vastus medialis. The vastus intermedius originates on the
anterior and lateral surfaces of the shaft of the femur. It extends vertically down the
center of your thigh, while partially being covered by the rectus femoris.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
16
ANATOMY OF THE QUADRICEPS
Vastus Lateralis
The vastus lateralis is the largest and most powerful muscle of the quads. This is
what we bodybuilders like to refer to as our sweep. The vastus lateralis originates
from the greater trochanter and lateral lip of the linea aspera of the femur. It begins
at the top outer portion of your thigh and attaches to the patella. It’s main function
is to extend and stabilize your knee.
THE CLASSIC PHYSIQUE – TICC AND JOOCY LEGS
17
ANATOMY OF THE HAMSTRINGS
The hamstrings, like the quadriceps, are made up of 4 smaller muscle groups.
Those muscles are the biceps femoris short head, biceps femoris long head,
semitendinosus and the semimembranosus. The hamstrings primary functions are
to help you stabilize and hinge at the hips. More often than not, due to our
sedentary lifestyles, our hamstrings are the leading cause of postural problems
because they become very tight and underactive. It’s crucial for us to strengthen
and stretch our hamstrings, to fix our posture before it’s too late.
Biceps Femoris (Short Head)
The short head of the bicep femoris originates along the posterior portion of the
femur at the lateral lip of the linea aspera and the lateral supracondylar line of the
femur. It inserts on the lateral condyle of the tibia, the lateral fibular head and the
fascia which runs laterally down the lower leg. The bicep femoris short head
performs several actions including the flexion of the knee joint and the lateral
rotation of the lower leg at the knee joint.
Biceps Femoris (Long Head)
The long head of the bicep femoris originates at the ischial tuberosity of the pelvis –
closer to the hip – which is higher up than the short head, thus making it longer. It
inserts on the lateral condyle of the tibia, the lateral fibular head and the fascia,
which runs laterally down the lower leg. The bicep femoris long head helps you
perform the same actions of the bicep femoris short head – the flexion of your knee
joint and lateral rotation of the lower leg at the knee joint – but is also responsible
for the extension of the hip joint, which contributes to hip stability.
Semitendinosus
The semitendinosus originates at the inner surface of the base of the pelvis, which
is also known as the tuberosity of the ischium, and the sacrotuberous ligament. It
inserts at the medial tibial condyle and is comprised of fast twitch muscle fibers.
The semitendinosus primarily deals with knee and hip extension, but also to help
medially rotate the tibia when the knee is flexed and to medially rotate the femur
when the hip is extended.
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ANATOMY OF THE HAMSTRINGS
Semimembranosus
The semimembranosus originates at the back of the thigh and runs from the base of
the pelvis, specifically at the ischial tuberosity and inserts in the medial tibial
condyle or the medial portion of the tibia The semimembranosus has several
functions, including the enabling of the leg to flex and medially rotate and to serve a
as a hip extensor.
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ANATOMY OF THE GLUTES
The glutes contain the largest and most powerful muscle in the body, the gluteus
maximus. The other two muscles are the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus.
Contrary to popular belief, the primary function of the glutes is not to help you gain
more likes and followers on Instagram. On a serious note, the glutes are responsible
for stabilizing and keeping your torso upright. If you find yourself struggling with
squats or deadlifts, start training your glutes as you would your quads and
hamstrings. You may learn a thing or two from the girl across the gym that you
can’t keep your eyes off of. I’ll let you investigate though, I get nervous talking to
girls!
Gluteus Maximus
The gluteus maximus is the largest of the three gluteal muscles and is the main
extensor muscle of the hip. It originates from the gluteal surface of the ilium, the
lumbar fascia, the sacrum and the sacrotuberous ligament and it inserts into the
iliotibial band (IT Band) of the fascia lata, which passes across the greater
trochanter. The gluteus maximus is a major extensor of the hips and assists in
lateral rotation and abduction of your thighs.
Gluteus Medius
The gluteus medius forms the middle layer of the gluteal musculature. It originates
between the anterior and posterior gluteal lines of the ilium and inserts into the
greater trochanter of the femur. The gluteus medius is the major abductor of the
thigh. The anterior fibers help to flex and internally rotate the hips. The posterior
fibers help to extend and externally rotate the hips. When the anterior and
posterior fibers work together, they work to abduct the hip and to stabilize the
pelvis in the coronal plane.
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ANATOMY OF THE GLUTES
Gluteus Minimus
The gluteus minimus is the smallest of the three gluteal muscles and sits under the
gluteus medius. It originates from the outer surface of the ilium, between the
anterior and inferior gluteal lines and inserts into the greater trochanter of the
femur, near the hip joint. The gluteus minimus’ main function is to abduct and
medially rotate the hip joint making it a local stabilizer for the hip.
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ANATOMY OF THE CALVES
The calves are comprised of the triceps surae – the two-headed gastrocnemius, the soleus,
possibly the plantaris and the tibialis anterior. Calves are the one of most stubborn and
hard to develop muscles. Genetics play a crucial role in the development of your calves,
however, we’re not going to make any excuses. We’ve got to work with what we got. You’re
most likely not training them hard enough, are training them incorrectly or let me guess,
the most popular answer, you’re not training them at all. That’s going to change today
because without calves, we can’t finish off our balanced physique.
Chris Tip: We’re all a little insecure about our calves when wearing shorts, whether they
are small or big – they can never be big enough. Wear higher socks just below your calves,
to make your calves appear bigger.
Triceps Surae
The triceps surae is a three-headed muscle that consists of two distinct muscles: the twoheaded gastrocnemius and the soleus. The triceps surae provides flexion, supination and
adduction of the foot, thus allowing the foot to move upward.
Gastrocnemius
The gastrocnemius is comprised of two heads: the medial and lateral heads. Because the
gastrocnemius is comprised of two heads, the muscle originates at two separate points and
then converges to insert at one point. The medial head originates at the medial femoral
condyle of the femur and the lateral head originates at the femoral lateral condyle of the
femur. The medial and lateral head unite to form a common tendon which connects with
the soleus muscle. This tendon is known as the Achilles Tendon and inserts at the back of
the heel bone. The gastrocnemius assists in plantar flexion at the ankle joint and knee
flexion. The uppermost of your two calf muscles consists of fast muscle fibers and is
primarily involved in things like running and jumping and is involved in lesser movements
such as standing and walking. The gastrocnemius gives your feet the push-off power with
each step you take.
Soleus
The soleus is the smaller head of the triceps surae and is located beneath the
gastrocnemius. The soleus originates from the upper portions of the tibia and fibula and
joins with the gastrocnemius to attach via the achilles tendon at the back of the heel, or
other known as the Achilles heel. Along with the gastrocnemius, the soleus muscle is
responsible for plantar flexion of the foot at the ankle joint – helps you stand up from a
seated position. Unlike the gastrocnemius, the soleus is comprised of slow muscle fibers
and fixes your ankle in place. It is most worked from the seated position. It is vital in
walking, running, keeping balance and plays an important role in maintaining posture by
preventing the body from falling forward, thus allowing you to stand up straight.
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ANATOMY OF THE CALVES
Plantaris
The plantaris muscle consists of a small, thin muscle belly that originates from the lateral
supracondylar line of the femur just above the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle. It
runs beneath the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles and attaches to the medial side of the
heel bone. The size, thickness and length of the plantaris muscle can vary in size, but it is
thought to be entirely absent in 7-20% of people, causing many to describe the muscle as a
vestigial muscle. The plantaris runs next to the larger Achilles Tendon and assists the
gastrocnemius muscle in plantar and knee flexion.
Tibialis Anterior
Unlike the triceps surae, the tibialis anterior sits on the upper two-thirds of the outside
surface of the tibia and inserts into the medial cuneiform and first metatarsal bones of the
foot. This is the often forgotten strip of muscle next to your shin. A well developed tibialis
anterior muscle will help your calves look big from both the front and side. The tibialis
anterior is responsible
for dorsiflexion and
horizontal inversion of
the foot. This allows
the foot to be brought up
and be held in a locked
position, thus providing
some cushion for your
ankle if it were to
be rolled. The tibialis
anterior plays an
important role in
walking, running, hiking,
kicking a ball or any activity
that requires you to move
your leg or keep your leg
vertical.
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TICC AND JOOCY LEG WORKOUT
The Warm Up: TAKE THE WARM-UP SERIOUSLY! Weekend Warriors need to properly
warm-up – we haven’t done anything all week long! All jokes aside, if you’re looking to stay
in the game long, warming up is essential. I’ve walked into the gym, stacked plates onto the
bar and went to town squatting. This only lead to nagging leg injuries that hinder me to this
day. The purpose of warm-up is to increase your heart rate, get the blood flowing, activate
your muscles and prime your central nervous system for the intense training your about to
do. By properly warming up your quads, hamstrings, glutes and hips, you’ll see drastic
improvements in your performance.
The warm-up should take about 15 minutes. For your warm-up, you’re going to start with the
stationary bike for 8-10 minutes to get your blood flowing, before moving onto stretches
using various ranges of motions, foam rolling or dynamic stretches to open your hips up.
The Routine: Over the course of the next 12 weeks, we’re going to split our leg training into
two 6 week increments, to maximize our gains. For the first 6 weeks, we’re going to train legs
once per week including quads, hamstring, glutes and calves on the same day. For the final 6
weeks, we’re going to split leg training into two workouts per week, one focusing on quads/
calves and the other focusing on hamstrings/glutes/calves.
Week 1-6: Leg Day
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TICC AND JOOCY LEG WORKOUT
Week 7-12: Quad and Hamstring/Glute Days
Leg Day I (Quad Dominant)
Leg Day II (Hamstring/Glute Dominant)
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TRICKS OF THE TRADE
EXERCISE GUIDE: SQUAT
Without the proper setup of the squat, you’ve failed the movement before it’s even begun.
Get yourself under the bar and properly position yourself so that the weight is over your midfoot. With your shoulder blades back and your lats tight, take a deep breath in, squeezing
your glutes forward to unrack the bar. Once the weight is settled, take one small step back,
then take a step back with the other foot, lining it up with the first. With your feet in position,
take a deep breath, keep your chest up, slightly arch your back, brace your core, engage your
glutes and push your tongue against the roof of your mouth – your tongue positioning
throughout the movement will improve your posture and keep proper alignment in your
spine. From here, hinge at the hips, sitting back into the movement and bend your knees
until you are parallel or slightly below parallel with the ground.
By hinging at the hips first, you’ll
reduce the stress on your knees,
however, if your knees are healthy
and you want to target your quads
more, you can break at the knees
first. Once you’ve hit depth, press
yourself back up by forcefully
driving with your outside foot and
heel, while breathing out. Don’t
just think about driving up, instead,
think about driving your hips
forward and pushing the floor
down, rather than pushing the
weight back up. If you get stuck in
the hole, this might sound counterproductive, but pull down on the bar. It will further
engage your lats and tighten the rest of your body to help you get back up. Perform each rep
slow and controlled with a two second pause at the bottom. Don’t lock out your knees at the
top of the movement.
There are 3 traditional stances for squats; neutral, narrow or wide. With a neutral stance,
your legs are shoulder width apart, toes slightly angled out. This will target the entire
quadricep, hamstring and glute. You can typically generate the most power from this stance.
With a narrow stance, your legs are slightly inside shoulder width apart, toes pointing
slightly forward. This will target the outer sweep of the quadricep. With a wide stance, your
legs are slightly wider than shoulder width apart, toes angled out at 45 degrees. This will
target the teardrop and inner part of your your quadricep.
When squatting avoid cushioned shoes and squat with a hard-soled shoe, like Converse AllStars. If you use a soft cushioned shoe, you’ll lose some energy transfer and it’ll make you
unstable. In addition, you can elevate your heel with a 10 pound plate to put you in a better
mechanical position for squatting and to better activate your quads.
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TRICKS OF THE TRADE
EXERCISE GUIDE: LEG PRESS
You can manipulate your foot placement on the leg press to recruit more quads or
hamstrings and glutes. A low stance, will put greater emphasis on your quads. A
narrow stance will work your sweep, while a wide stance will work your teardrop. A
high and wide stance, will put greater emphasis on your hamstrings and glutes.
Doing leg press with one leg at a time, rather than two, and your foot placed high on
the platform, allows you to activate your hamstrings and glutes more effectively.
When performing single leg press, position your body inwards to get the proper
positioning. This produce more power and explosiveness. Single leg press is a great
movement if you’ve got tendinitis in your knees. Not only is it great for building
muscle, but it’s great for strengthening your stabilizers without any knee pain.
At the bottom of the movement, your legs should make a 90 degree angle and you
should never let your lower back round and come off the pad. If you have issues
keeping your lower back on the pad or find yourself feeling lower back pain, position
yourself higher in the seat so that your butt is 1-2 inches off the seat. Keep constant
tension on your quads, never fully locking out on each rep. Due to the lower risk
factor than something like squats, leg press is great for doing higher reps, drops sets,
rest-pause sets, etc. to get the most out of your legs.
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TRICKS OF THE TRADE
EXERCISE GUIDE: LEG EXTENSIONS
In the program listed above, leg
extensions are used at two junctures
of the workout; in the beginning and
at the end. When performed at the
beginning, you’re doing it more for
pre-exhaustion. By doing so, you’re
priming our quads for the rest of the
workout by flushing the area with
blood. This will help create a
better mind-muscle connection.
When performed at the end, you’re
going a bit heavier and using it as
a tool to build muscle-tissue. No
matter if it’s done at the beginning
or the end of your workout, keep
your knees in a neutral position and
control the weight at all times, not
letting your hips or lower back
move off the chair.
However, you can adjust the
positioning in which you sit. You
can sit more forward, with your butt
a few inches away from the backrest and emphasize the contraction by holding and
squeezing your quads with each rep or you can slide your butt back against the
backrest and lean back a bit, getting a better stretch with each rep.
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TRICKS OF THE TRADE
EXERCISE GUIDE: STIFF LEG DEADLIFTS
Stiff leg deadlifts are a breadand-butter movement that
should be a staple in any leg
program. Our first thought
should be to create as much
tension against the floor, almost
like your leg pressing the floor.
By doing so, everything from
your quads, to your
hamstring, to your glutes, will
contract. Keeping a slight
bend in your knees (do not
lock your knees), lower the
bar straight down, hinging at
the hip and pushing your butt
back. Once you feel a deep
hard stretch in the hamstrings
and glutes, open up your
hamstrings. You can do this by
letting your knees cave in, ever
so slightly. Hold the weight at the bottom for a two count and then come back up,
driving your heels back and into the ground. Come three fourths of the way up, before
going back down for another rep. During the entire movement, consciously try to
spread the floor apart.
This is a hip-hinge movement, so you’re not using your lower back. At the top of every
rep, contract your hams and glutes before performing the next rep. For an even better
stretch, elevate your toes by placing a plate underneath.
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TRICKS OF THE TRADE
EXERCISE GUIDE: LUNGES
There are two different styles to perform
lunges. To increase quad recruitment,
keep the body more upright and take
shorter strides with your knee traveling
over your toes. Drive through the toes,
rather than placing weight on the heels.
On the other hand, to increase glute and
hamstring recruitment, decrease the
angle at the hip joint by keeping your torso
inline with your shin and take longer
strides so that your shin is perpendicular
with the floor at the bottom of the
movement. Drive through the heels, rather
than placing the weight on the toes.
There are many variations of lunges,
including walking, stationary, reverse, all
of which are fine to incorporate into your
program. Typically, the gyms I go to have
a lot more open space than your typical
commercial gym, so I stick with weightless, dumbbell or barbell walking lunges
because I can get 20 steps in each direction. Lunges are a great finishing movement
when you’re looking to empty the tank and add extra detail and mass onto your legs.
EXERCISE GUIDE: BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT
Fact: The bulgarian split squat is one of the most underrated exercises for building
TICC and JOOCY legs. If done correctly, these fuckers will make you want to cry, but
you’ll have a nasty leg pump. Place your non-training leg up on a bench. Staying
upright, hold a dumbbell in the opposite hand of the leg you are training, while the
other hand is holding onto something to stabilize you. With hypertrophy being our
primary goal, eliminating the balance component, really allows us to hammer the legs
hard. To recruit more quads, position your foot closer to the bench. To recruit more
hamstrings and glutes, position your foot farther away from the bench. If you feeling
sadistic, perform a triple drop set, cutting the weight in half on the first drop and
going weightless on the last drop until failure.
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TRICKS OF THE TRADE
EXERCISE GUIDE: HAMSTRING CURL
When deciding which hamstring curl machine to use, try to find one with a flat
surface, rather than one that is flexed or angled. The reason being is that we want to
create as much hip extension as possible when performing the movement. If you’re
gym only has the angled one, push your upper body upright into straight alignment
with your glutes. This will help you achieve better hip extension. When performing
each rep, whether it be on the lying hamstring curl, the single leg hamstring curl or
the seated hamstring curl, contract your glutes at the beginning of the movement
before contracting your hamstrings. Keep your glutes flexed throughout the entire
movement, while keeping your hips flush against the pad. By doing so, you’ll able to
achieve a fully contracted hamstring and glute and help you sculpt an even better
glute-ham tie in.
If you really want a humbling experience, lay flat on the ground or on a flat bench and
perform these with a dumbbell between your feet. Make sure to keep your hips glued
to the floor or bench and squeeze the dumbbell as tight as possible. Because you are
using a dumbbell, there will be no tension at the top of the rep, therefore, you’ll want
to stop at about three quarters of the way up for each rep. You may want someone to
hand you the dumbbell to make the movement a little easier.
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TRICKS OF THE TRADE
EXERCISE GUIDE: CALF RAISES
If your parents didn’t give you gifted calf genetics – like most of us – you’re going to have to
work your ass off to get some decent sized calves. Your calves will ONLY grow if you train
them correctly and train them hard. PERIOD. You cannot do a couple of half assed sets at
the end of your workout and magically get calves. Calves are a very adaptable muscle group.
You’re walking on them every single day so they get worked a lot. You’ve got to treat those
sets as you would any other body part and train them with intensity.
Execution of each rep is the most important thing to consider when training calves. As
discussed above, calves are ankle extensors or plantar flexors – or in simpler terms, they are
responsible for pointing your toes. Whether you’re doing seated or standing calf raises, you
want to execute each rep by pointing your toes forward, not rolling on the outside portion of
your foot. To help achieve this – with your feet firmly planted on the floor or machine –
consciously try touching your knees and ankles together. If you’re having trouble doing this,
place a ball or object between your legs to do so, you’ll notice a world of difference. By doing
so, you force yourself to execute each rep on the inside portion of your foot.
Something you’ve probably never thought about when training calves is figuring out what
your active range actually is. Your active range is how far you can get your ankle into
dorsiflexion – or how far you can stretch your calf. It’s
important to know this because if you stretch your
muscle more than you have to, you can inhibit growth.
You can determine it by sitting on a bench or chair. With
your legs straight out in front of you, with your heels on
the ground, lift your toes up towards your face. Easy
right? Now continue to bring your heels closer to your
body, performing the same movement. At some point,
you won’t be able to lift your toes up off the ground
anymore. This is your active range and this is where
you’ll want to stay to train them.
In our program above, seated and standing calf raises
are our two main movements for calves. You’ll want to
perform these exercises with your feet in a neutral
position and in a shoulder width stance. Don’t just go
through the motions. Think of each exercise as a two
part movement. The first movement is flexing your
calves at the beginning of each rep. The second
movement is completing the rep and getting full
contraction at the top.
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