On Nov. 9, 2022, Labrada posted a video to his YouTube channel where he powers through a demanding leg workout. The session is a part of Labrada’s “Road to the O” video series, sitting roughly six weeks before the onset of the latest edition of bodybuilding’s flagship competition.

Here’s a complete rundown of Labrada’s leg routine as he preps for his third crack at the Mr. Olympia.

Seated Leg Curl

To start his workout, Labrada elected to work in some seated leg curls. The movement can warm up the knees while importantly helping to develop hamstring mass and strength. The athlete completed a few casual sets before proceeding forward.

Leg Extension

In the next phase of his routine, Labrada implemented some heavy leg extensions. The athlete clarified that when the weight gets heavier, the load’s leverage can lift people out of the seat. That, in turn, reduces their range of motion but also diverts attention from the quads. To account for this potential issue, Labrada adjusts the seat and straps in with a seat belt to ensure he can better isolate his quads and perform high-rep sets.

Pendulum Squat

The middle portion of Labrada’s workout saw the bodybuilder show off some pendulum squats. The pendulum squat emphasizes the quads and glutes, where an athlete performs essentially the same movement as a traditional back squat on a machine — except they don’t have to worry about maintaining balance with a loaded barbell in their hands. Labrada worked through some challenging, high-intensity sets with a heavy resistance band added for increased tension.

Walking Lunge

After working with some machines, Labrada performed a bodyweight movement with walking lunges across the gym floor. It was apparent Labrada focused on proper technique with proper control over a few sets.

Hip Adduction Machine

As a high-level bodybuilder, aside from the health benefits of stabilizing the trunk, Labrada cannot afford to neglect his adductor muscles when training his lower body. The athlete had a concise explanation for how to best perform hip adductions for maximum results.

“Whenever you’re doing this, you want to maintain a degree of neutrality in terms of external and internal hip rotation. You don’t want to be pushing from your feet with your knees coming off the pad.” Labrada maintained.

Standing Calf Raise

Labrada concluded the leg session with focused work on standing calf raise machine, before donning trunks for posing practice under the watchful eyes of his coaches and training partners.

Alongside stars like two-time reigning champion Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay, Labrada will be one of the bigger names present at the 2022 Mr. Olympia. If he continues his “Road to the O” with rewarding leg workouts like this, he might even be the main headline by the contest’s end.

Featured image: hunterlabrada on Instagram

The post Bodybuilder Hunter Labrada Cruises Through a Leg Workout 6 Weeks Before Mr. Olympia appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

On Oct. 5, 2022, over his YouTube channel, Bumstead shared a comprehensive look at his recent training. This time, he focused on his legs. After already diagramming how he trains aspects of his body like arms and shoulders earlier in the off-season — the new clip is another detailed look at how one of bodybuilding’s superstars is preparing for the Olympia stage again.

[Related: How to Do the Standing Calf Raise for Complete Leg Development]

Here’s a complete rundown of Bumstead’s latest “killer leg day” before the 2022 Mr. Olympia commences on Dec. 16-18, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV.

Seated Leg Curl, Leg Extension, Hip Adduction

Bumstead treated the first part of his leg workout like a warm-up. He didn’t have a concrete number of repetitions or sets he wanted to reach. It was more about getting his lower body muscles prepared for the meat and potatoes of his training session. The leg curls and leg extension were for Bumstead’s hamstrings and quads, while a few sets on a hip adduction machine loosened up his adductor muscles along the inner midline of his thighs.

Mid-way through this warm-up series, Bumstead removed his shoes and trained in socks for the remainder of his workout. He has previously stated this leg day ritual helps him feel more stable during exercises and improves his mind-muscle connection.

Hack Squat

For his first big movement of the day, Bumstead started with some hack squats. The athlete did an initial set without any plates attached to the machine to get a sense of the movement, and slowly added weight as he progressed. Bumstead’s final working set featured him completing nine reps with nine 45-pound plates on each side, followed by a “back-off set” using seven plates for 12 repetitions.

During a between-set rest period, Bumstead was approached by recently retired, seven-time 212 Olympia winner Flex Lewis. The coincidental meeting likely occurred because the training location, Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym in Syosset, NY, is known as “the East Coast Mecca of Bodybuilding” and regularly hosts a who’s who of bodybuilders and sports stars.

Single-Leg Press

Bumstead shifted to the leg press machine, where he performed a few heavy sets of the movement unilaterally to give both of his legs equal attention. After his sets, he discussed the importance of listening to your body during a workout, especially when you’re having a high energy, high performance day.

“Sometimes you just have to ‘read the room,'” he said. “One day if you feel a lot stronger, if it feels too light, or feels too easy, don’t just do 10 reps to do 10 reps. Rack the weight. Put more weight on. ‘Buckle up for the ride.’ That’s the quote for this year.”

Leg Extension

To center on his quads, Bumstead returned to the leg extension machine as a main lift, not simply a warm-up. While he did a few more challenging sets, Bumstead makes sure not to load too much weight so as to keep any potential punishment on his knees at a minimum.

Instead, he achieved a deep stretch in the bottom position of each rep and worked through a long range of motion for maximum work.

 

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A post shared by Chris Bumstead (@cbum)

[Related: How to Do the Goblet Squat for Lower Body Size and Mobility]

Romanian Deadlift with Barbell

To shift focus on his glutes and hamstrings, Bumstead performed a few sets of a Romanian deadlift with a loaded barbell. The bodybuilder had two plates per side for sets of 12 as he worked through this part of his routine. Bumstead noted that his glutes and hamstrings were still fatigued from the single-leg press, making this relatively light weight more than enough.

Sissy Squat

As he neared the end of his workout, Bumstead implemented some sissy squats into his routine. The movement, which asks the quads to lift the majority of a person’s body weight, can help strengthen connective tissues and muscles in the knees and legs. Bumstead appropriately powered through some sets of sissy squats as best as he could before finally moving off of quad work.

Seated Leg Curl

Bumstead had everything come full circle for this workout when he finished with seated leg curls to give his hamstrings attention. After he “beat up” his legs with textbook-perfect repetitions here, the bodybuilder called it a day.

 

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A post shared by Chris Bumstead (@cbum)

[Related: How to Do the Bulgarian Split Squat for Leg Size, Strength, and Mobility]

Bumstead will have to overcome a few noteworthy peers to win his fourth consecutive Classic Physique Olympia title. There’s former two-time champ Breon Ansley (2017-2018), whose reign ended with Bumstead’s first title in 2019, and Terrence Ruffin, an athlete who usually finishes around the top of the Classic Physique Olympia. Late riser Neil Currey might be someone to watch as a dark horse, too.

However, if this glimpse at Bumstead’s commitment to building powerful legs says anything, his impressive run in the Classic Physique division may well continue.

Featured image: Chris Bumstead on YouTube

The post Chris Bumstead Goes for Broke With a “Killer Leg Day” Routine appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

No offense to you dedicated basket weavers out there, but I am a big leg and lower body advocate. I’ve written about it before, and I’ve always stood by the maxim: to get from point A to point B, it’s your legs that matter. Think about it. When was the last time you saw someone suspended on his or her arms and moving with alacrity gain ground as quickly as possible?

The Benefits of Leg Workouts

There are way too many positive effects of training the lower body with demanding protocols. Here are a few:

• Demanding leg workouts utilize a lot of muscle tissue.
• Your heart rate skyrockets when pounding the legs. Yeah, it’s a cardio thing.
• Trying to burn more calories in your weight-loss program? Get after it with exercises below your waist.
• Are you seeking weight scale-enhancing body weight? Your largest muscle structures reside in you lower half. Work them hard. Stimulate growth. This will assist you in gaining functional body weight.
• Want to improve your mental toughness? Challenging lower body workouts can do this because they require an up-tick in intestinal fortitude.

You get the idea. But in reality, many people avoid working the legs hard even though there is a huge upside to it. If you’re truly serious, it’s time you make up your mind and do it. Are you willing to cross the line and get after it?

7 Insane Leg Workouts

If you want to fully develop your lower body, here are seven quality workout routines that can be used solely as leg days or as a part of a total body session. Either way, they can be alternated from session to session for variety.

Workout #1

100 – 50 – 25

Choose either a squat or leg press. Do three sets. 100, 50, and 25 reps. Assure the resistance used for each set is demanding. When it becomes easy, increase the resistance for the set(s) that need more spice.

Workout #2

3 x 2 x 12

Three exercises performed for two rounds of 12 repetitions each to volitional muscular fatigue with minimal rest between each exercise. Two multi-joint and one hamstring or backside exercises are used.

Deadlift x 12

Leg curl x 12

Leg press x 12

Repeat

or

Barbell squat x 12

Dumbbell lunge a 12 each leg

Glute/hamstring raise x 12

Repeat

Workout #3

Five-position static holds

Ugh. This one requires a partner-operated stopwatch, a metronome, or your ability to count to twenty seconds while under duress. Similar to the 3 x 2 x 12 workout, two multi-joint and one hamstring or backside exercises are used.

The workout entails statically holding (isometric contraction) for :20 at the one-quarter, one-half, and three-quarter positions of the range of motion, then back to the one-half and one-quarter positions to complete the set. The amount of resistance to use in your initial workout should be approximately 75% of your 10-repetition maximum.

Leg press example:

From the legs and hips-extended position, lower the resistance to one quarter of the range of motion. Statically hold there for :20. Press the resistance out, rest for a few seconds, then lower the resistance to half of the range of motion. Again, statically hold at that position for :20, then press out, rest a few seconds, then allow the resistance to lower deeper to approximately three quarters of the range of motion. Following another :20 hold, again press out, then reverse the process and repeat the half and quarter position static holds in that order.

Use this procedure for the other multi-joint and hamstring exercise. It takes some practice, but the proper resistance and true all-out effort makes this workout brutal.

Workout #4

Countdowns 20 – 18 – 16 – 14 – 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 4

Use one multi-joint and one hamstring/backside exercise. Nine total sets will be performed for each exercise (20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, and 4 repetitions).

Regarding the proper amount of resistance, use your best 20-repetition maximum for all sets of each exercise.

The rest time between sets are 1:00 following the first three sets (20, 18, and 16), :45 following the sets of 14, 12, and 10 repetitions, and :30 following the eight and six repetition sets.

Procedure:

Following a warm up, perform a set of 20 repetitions for the multi-joint exercise. This should be tough to obtain. Rest 1:00 and then perform 18 repetitions. Again, rest 1:00 and perform 16 repetitions. Rest 1:00 and then perform 14 repetitions, but now rest only :45 before the set of 12 is performed. Continue in this manner according to the above-mentioned rest time procedure.

Perform the same process for the chosen hamstring exercise.

Workout #5

Count Ups 4 – 6 – 8 – 10 – 12 14 – 16 – 18 – 20

This is similar to the aforementioned countdown workout except it is performed in reverse order and the rest between sets differ.

Again, use one multi-joint and one hamstring/backside exercise. Similarly, nine total sets will be performed for each exercise, but in reverse order (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 repetitions).

Regarding the proper amount of resistance, use approximately 90% of your best 20-repetition maximum for all sets of each exercise.

Following a more extensive warm up as compared to the countdown workout, perform a set of four repetitions for the multi-joint exercise. This will not feel difficult. Likewise for the other forthcoming lower-repetition sets. The rest time between sets is different than the countdown workout. Rest 1:00 following sets of four, six and eight repetitions, :45 following sets 10, 12, and 14 repetitions, and 1:00 following sets 16 and 18 repetitions.

Workout #6

5 x 10

Simple but difficult. Chose either a squat, deadlift, or leg press movement and perform five sets of progressively heavier 10 repetitions for each set. The key factor in this workout is assuring the last two sets are brutally difficult. Example:

• Leg press
• Warm up sets
• Set one = difficult
• Set two = more difficult
• Set three = demanding
• Set four = brutal
• Set five = even more brutal and possibly not achieving 10 repetitions.

Workout #7

Pre-exhaustion

A single joint exercise is performed to volitional muscular fatigue (VMF) at a target number of repetitions followed by a multi-joint exercise targeting the same muscle group. The multi-joint exercise is also performed to VMF. Two rounds of each sequence are performed. Three examples:

Leg extension x 15 repetitions to VMF

Immediately to a barbell squat x 15 repetitions to VMF

Repeat

Leg extension x 20 repetitions to VMF

Immediately to a deadlift x 15 repetitions to VMF

Repeat

Stiff leg deadlift x 15 repetitions to VMF

Immediately to a leg press x 12 repetitions to VMF

Repeat

The previous seven lower body routines can be used in your program with great results provided you use them properly. Work hard and be progressive.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 7 Insane Leg Workouts That May Make You Take Up Basket Weaving appeared first on Breaking Muscle.