Do 1,000 Reps To Build Huge Legs

Online, January 31, 2011 (Newswire.com) - 10,000 reps? 1,000? 100 reps? Should you really do that many reps to build big muscles? Well I found a crazy article by the Internet bodybuilding "grandfather" about doing a ton of squats to build up your leg but also to build big muscular ones. Check out the snippet of the article from leehayward.com right here:
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Awesome Leg Routine - 100 Rep Squat Workout!
By Lee Hayward
Yesterday I trained legs and did something totally out of the norm that I'm not accustomed to doing...
I did a 100 Rep Squat Workout!

And let me tell you I'm feeling the after effects right now... I'm literally sore right from my bottom to my ankles. (And just to make sure we're all on the same page here, that muscle soreness was caused from the squat workout LOL)

Now speaking of muscle soreness, I normally don't get sore anymore from my workouts. Generally as you get more advanced and in better shape physically, the less muscle soreness you'll experience. For the most part it's only beginners who really get that deep painful muscle soreness that lasts for days.

To see the pictures that go with this article, see the post on my site, click here.

But when you change things up and do something totally off the wall that your body isn't used to, even advanced lifters can experience muscle soreness... Just like I am right now.

So this is how the 100 Rep Squat Workout went down...
I normally start off a leg workout with light high rep leg extensions to warm up my knees and get a pump going in my quads. Then I'll move on to a big basic compound exercise (squats, leg press, etc) and then finish up with some isolation exercises for the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, etc.

Now yesterday I started off just like a "normal" leg workout, it began with 100 total reps of light leg extensions to warm up my legs. I do these in a rest pause fashion, so I'll bang out 20 reps or so, rest for 10 or 20 seconds, bang out another quick set, rest pause, etc. and keep going until I get a total of 100 reps. This is great warm up for anyone who has knee problems and it also helps pre-exhaust the quads before getting into the actual workout.
Then I moved into the meat and potatoes exercise of any leg workout, the barbell squat. After several progressively heavier warm up sets I worked up to doing 5 sets of 5 reps. I really like the 5×5 rep range for big basic power moves like squats, benches, and deadlifts.

Barbell Back Squats
After the squats I thought, "Oh whatever, I'll do some front squats too"... So I did a couple progressively heavier warm up sets and then went ahead and did 5 sets of 5 reps of front squats. I'm normally not a big fan of doing front squats because I find it uncomfortable holding the bar across my front shoulders. But I said to myself... "Lee, don't be a wuss, suck it up and just squat like a real man."So I did...

Barbell Front Squats
With the completion of back squats and front squats I was feeling pretty good about myself! You know how you start to get that natural high once the endorphins are flowing from good old fashion hard workouts... Well that's kind of how I was feeling at this point.
As I was walking away from the squat rack and heading over to the water fountain for a drink, I had to pass by the hack squat machine. After quenching my thirst at the fountain, the thought crossed my mind... "Why not just do an entire squat workout! The hell with doing any isolation exercises, I'm just going to do a ton of squat variations!"

So over I went to the hack squat machine and I went through the same pattern again... Several progressively heavier warm ups and then on to 5 sets of 5 reps of hack squats.

Hack Squats
You'll notice that I always do lighter warm up sets for every big basic exercise before attempting maximum weight. I even do this when I'm already in the middle of a workout and physically "warmed up". The idea here is to get my body in the groove of doing the exercise before pushing myself with heavy weight. Chances are you've probably noticed in your own workouts that when doing multiple sets of an exercise that it's usually not until the 3rd set or so that you really feel solid and "in the groove" with that exercise. So that's why it's important not to skip on your warm ups, they will help you get ready mentally and physically to give it your all when it's time to do your heavy working sets.

After banging out 5×5 of the hack squat my legs were starting to feel like jelly. The muscle soreness was already setting in, and I hadn't even left the gym yet!

See the rest of the article just click here
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Darren here again. Isn't that nuts? He's already done 75 reps on his legs! Yes I would have to say this isn't for beginners but you should definitely check out the rest of his article if you can handle the pain. With most workouts you need to keep changing it up. Doing a ton of reps is definitely out of the norm for most people. If you are doing high volume consider trying shorter workouts.

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