Use free weights (free weight is a foreign idiom that refers to training with barbells and dumbbells to distinguish it from training with other fitness equipment) and basic compound movement training, and use the maximum weight while ensuring that the movements are correct.
In the off-season, I, like them, care more about strength than body fat levels, so I can lift huge weights and build bigger muscles. I am less than 1.83 meters tall and weighed 114 kilograms when I participated in the U.S. Championship, but this season I have maintained my weight at 134.
Between 138 kilograms, although the muscle lines are not very obvious at this time, there is not too much fat. I find that I can train with greater intensity at heavier weights. I love training with heavy weights. My training philosophy is low volume, high intensity - maybe not as rigorous as Dorian Natz or Mike Menzel. I train a little more volume than they do, but it's still low volume, high intensity. Generally, each exercise involves 1 to 3 sets to warm up, and then do two formal sets.
The quadriceps is the largest muscle in the human body. Now I will use it as an example to talk about my training.
I choose four exercises, namely squats, leg presses, leg extensions and weighted walking lunges. In order to save the most energy for the heaviest exercises, my warm-up exercise is just 5 minutes of pedaling on the stationary bike.
Squat:
Once my legs are slightly congested and warm, I start doing squats. Since the quadriceps are a large muscle and the weight used in squats is heavy, I first do 3 sets of 25 reps with a lighter weight to warm up. This also warms up the lower back, biceps femoris, hips, and knees.
Two formal sets is different from what most bodybuilders do because my quads react easily. My heaviest sets are 12 to 15 reps, not 6 to 8 like I would for upper body exercises. In other words, I train my quadriceps with high reps so that I can focus more on controlling the muscles without being distracted by too much weight.
I try to reach complete failure in one set. For example, I can do 15 reps with a weight of 455 pounds, which means doing 16 reps is almost impossible. I grew up very strong and muscular as a child, so in recent years I have focused on muscle mass. I've found that high-rep training both improves muscle mass and develops leg muscles. Control is the most important thing, I always "squeeze" the quadriceps very slowly during the squat, and then use explosive force to stand up. If you calculate the time, it takes about 4 seconds to squat and 2 seconds to stand up. Standing up is half as fast as squatting. I don't believe changing the position of the feet makes any difference in stimulating the quadriceps. My feet naturally stand shoulder-width apart or slightly wider.
In order to get the best results, I think you should squat at least until your thighs andThe ground is parallel, preferably lower. I've heard many different opinions over the years, but I've always gotten the best results from deeper squats.
Leg press:
Since I had just finished squatting, I only used a medium weight to do one set of 15 times to warm up, and then increased the weight to do two formal sets of 12 to 15 times.
The distance between the feet of the exercise should be about shoulder width or slightly narrower. The purpose is to ensure that it is most conducive to exerting force and can lift the maximum weight.
As the weight drops, I move my knees as close to my armpits as possible, keeping my back against the cushion and my hips unable to rotate. Many people lower their hips so low that their pelvis rotates forward, which is not good. The speed of movement is controlled like the squat. Some people bend their legs very quickly, and then use the rebound force to push them up quickly. This not only weakens the training effect, but also easily injures their knees. I did it very slowly during the leg bending phase, and then kicked off with explosive force.
When pushing to the highest point, the quadriceps must continue to maintain tension, so avoid locking the knees. The knees should remain slightly bent.
Leg flexion and extension:
This is not the end of the exercise, but an important step in growing your quadriceps, so I make sure to hit complete failure on every set.
Since it is not a compound movement, I do not do warm-up exercises, but directly use the maximum weight to do 3 sets. My goal is to do at least 15 reps per set. This is the only exercise I can possibly perform on forced lifts, but only in a few training sessions.
Many people say that leg flexion and extension should not be done through the full range of motion because it has a great impact on the knees. I like to extend my legs to the highest point and perform a peak contraction, because I feel that this can put better pressure and stimulation on each head of the quadriceps.
Weight-bearing lunges:
I end every leg workout with weighted lunges. This action is mainly to "refine" the joint area of the gluteus maximus, biceps, and quadriceps. It can also excellently stimulate the sartorius muscle, the entire inner thigh muscles, and all small muscle groups. I carry a medium-weight barbell on my shoulders, usually 52 to 61 kilograms, and lunge back and forth around the gym, about 28 meters each way.
Aaron Maderon’s training schedule
Monday: Chest, biceps, calves
Tuesday: Back and abdominal muscles
Wednesday: Close
Thursday: Shoulders, triceps, calves
Friday: Biceps femoris (morning) Quadriceps femoris, abdominal muscles (afternoon)
Saturday and Sunday: Closed
Aaron Madelon’s quadriceps training plan
Practice groups
Squat 2 12-15
Leg press 2 12-15
Leg extension 3 15
Weight-bearing lunge walking 28 meters
Today, the new, so-called revolutionary leg training programs are all sound and sound, but I have yet to find anything that beats the basic principles of the early days - training hard plus compound movements. -More effective. This is what gives me the most muscle in a short period of time, so I'll continue to use it.