Piggybacking off of Make America Squat Again, I'm going to show you a tried and true accessory regimen. I was taught this seven or eight years ago by an ATWR holder, and at that time out of the six of us training together, four people had ATWR in the squat. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them. To this day, this has been a staple in my program, and I get asked a lot about what I do to get my legs to look the way they do, so here it is.
Squat according to usual, and use your prescribed MSM to address your specific weaknesses, after that work is finished, try this.
Heavy-ish we would go 8-10 plates aside to start. Do sets of 10, adding weight to the second and third set. Drop the fourth and fifth sets back down and continue to get 10 reps. A lot of times, the fifth set became a “Whose Dick’s Bigger” contest, and it would end being a fuck ton more than 10 reps. I'd stick with 10s unless you're feeling terrific that day because the rest of the session is pretty high paced, but I'd never tell anyone to shy away from going all the way in.
OK, now you've squatted and possibly completed some MSM work and pumped blood in the legs via leg press. This where the “fun” starts.
Keeping with the third set being the heaviest of the five sets protocol, you're going to want to start with something moderate. You'll want the third set to be the heaviest and hardest, and you will lower the weight on fourth and fifth sets to be able to continue to keep the rep scheme prescribed.
These are done in succession of one another.
Here’s what it would look like on paper:
Leg Extensions: Set 1: 90 pounds. 20 reps, with no rest go right into Hamstring Curls.
Hamstring Curls: Set 1: 75 pounds. 20 reps, again, with no rest go right into Calf Raises.
Calf Raises: 100 pounds. 20 reps.
Once that's completed, you've finished Round 1. This will be completed for five rounds. Take no more than two minutes to rest between rounds. Of course, as with anything, times and weights can be adjusted accordingly, but stick with the five rounds and 20 reps scheme.
The whole session would look like this:
Round 1
- L.E. 90 pounds, 20 reps
- H.C. 75 pounds, 20 reps
- C.R. 100 pounds, 20 reps
Rest two minutes
Round 2
- L.E. 110 pounds, 20 reps
- H.C. 95 pounds, 20 reps
- C.R. 120 pounds, 20 reps
Rest two minutes
Round 3
- L.E. 130 pounds, 20 reps
- H.C. 115 pounds, 20 reps
- C.R. 140 pounds, 20 reps
Rest two minutes
Round 4
Start to lower weights.
- L.E. 110 pounds, 20 reps
- H.C. 95 pounds, 20 reps
- C.R. 120 pounds, 20 reps
Rest two minutes
Round 5
Feel free to push these past 20 reps in you can.
- L.E. 90 pounds, at least 20 reps
- H.C. 75 pounds, at least 20 reps
- C.R. 100 pounds, at least 20 reps
This isn't about any unusual angles, movements, or attachments. This is just a meat and potatoes approach to building bigger legs and a bigger squat. This can be an easy day or a killer; it's all about how far and how hard you're willing to push yourself. Doing this with training partners is a great way to push the pace and make each other work harder. Try to outdo each other, and make it competitive. It worked for us, and it'll work for you.
I'm 375 pounds and have legs that rival some bodybuilders, I always say, I have the legs of a bodybuilder, the back of a powerlifter, and the gut of a truck driver. I feel people get way too complicated in their accessory work; in football, it was always said: K.I.S.S., or “keep it stupid simple.” Not everything has to be overly complicated for it to work. The wheel is round and hasn't had to be reinvented.
I get it, at some point in all of our training, we will need to do some weird shit to break past plateaus. It's like building a house: Lay the foundation, do the framework, put a roof on it. Once the structure is sound, only then do you worry about paint color, shingles, windows, and landscaping in laymen since I'm getting all metaphorical. Build your base, then add the fancy shit, otherwise, you're just shining up a turd, and even if it's shiny, it's still just a turd.
Try this out for 6-8 weeks and see how it works for you.
Bodybuilding for the Powerlifter: The Offseason (with Full Program)
