I'm going to say right off the bat that I normally am not a big fan of specialization programs which have a tendency to have a ‘one size fits all’ look to them. What works for one person may end up a waste of time for someone else. Ideally, I prefer that trainees get in the mindset of training MOVEMENT PATTERNS and not muscle groups. Not only in terms of establishing a balanced training program that will elicit a well rounded and strong body, but also to prevent nagging injuries.

Regardless, peruse most mainstream paper or online magazines and you will see hundreds of specialization programs designed to “chisel your chest” or “blast your biceps” or “scintillate your sternocleidomastoid.” Suffice it to say, most training programs you come across stress the upper body or focus on the ‘beach muscles’ that many frat boys look to fill out their UnderArmour shirts covet. Rare is the day when you find a program designed specifically to bring up your wheels (for those who aren’t familiar with gym talk, I am referring to one’s legs). And even rarer, is the day when you walk into a gym and see someone using the squat rack for its intended purpose or performing any form of posterior chain work. That being said, the following article is definitely geared towards novice or intermediate level trainees in mind, however I have a feeling that many quote-on-quote ‘advanced’ trainees will learn a thing or two along the way as well.

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A Dose of Reality

Walk into any gym on any given day and I guarantee you will see one of the following:

1. A teenage kid spending two hours in the gym training just his biceps or front deltoid.
2. A gym veteran performing endless sets of flat press, incline press, and decline press thinking that doing so, will hit his “upper, middle, and lower” chest.
3. An empty squat rack.
4. Someone using the leg press with 8-10 plates on each side using a ROM of 4 inches. As well as the token training partner screaming, “dude, you are a monster.”
5. Deadlifts? What are those?

The point is, most head to the gym with a mission on days they know they will be training their upper body (chest, biceps/triceps, etc), but those same people always seem less than ecstatic on leg days. Hence, why most leg workouts generally revolve around three sets of ten of leg press with a few sets of leg extensions and prone leg curls thrown in. I mean let’s be honest, for most people, lower body days consisting of squats, deadlifts, and/or various unilateral work: about as enticing as watching a marathon of Golden Girls on television for some.