How to pump up huge legs? For people like me, this is problem number one: my legs just don’t want to grow. At first, I tried to go the classical way – I picked up a set of percussion exercises and did them to the point of stupor. In the early days, progress was tangible, but soon came to naught. How to be? Then I remembered shock training.

As you know, shock training is a short-term application of mind-blowing loads using the contrast method. Let’s say you usually lift light weights for high reps. Then you take a submaximal weight and do no more than 5-6 repetitions. And practice this technique for about a week or two. No more.

Shock training is, after all, the strongest stress. Here, the main thing is not to overdo it, otherwise you will get the opposite effect – you will generally fall apart. Personally, I have always lifted heavy weights, so for my muscles, the shock is a return to light weight. Then it remains only to think over the scheme in such a way as to gain peak intensity with such weight. I’ll tell you how I do it. Four exercises (leg extensions, leg presses, squats and their variant with a bar under the heels) I combine in a series, and there is not even a second of rest between individual movements. And I do such series for training 5.

Start with a warm up. It includes three sets of extensions of 45 repetitions each. Weight is not important here. The main thing is to properly warm up the knee joints. We start the main work with the same extensions, however, we set the weight so that we can do 25 repetitions with an effort. Given the warm-up, it will not be easy to overcome such a volume of repetitions, so you have to give everything. And exactly in a moment we proceed to the leg press of 25 repetitions, making movements emphasized slowly, with concentration and calmly.

Next comes the squats. There are 15 repetitions in a set. You don’t need to ask a partner for help. If you feel that you can no longer stand up, drop the barbell back. If a partner is standing behind his back, then this will relax and will not allow him to gather his best. Well, when you know that there is nowhere to wait for help, then the attitude to the exercise turns out to be completely different. A reasonable risk, it’s kind of like doping. But in the second set of squats, when you put a bar under your heels, a partner is required. He should stand behind and support your elbows (but not the bar!). In total, there are 45 repetitions in the set, of which 25 are purely yours, but the rest, in fact, will be done by your partner. You only have to fight with the weight of the bar so as not to lose balance and fall to the floor. It is clear that after such work it will seem to you that you are no longer capable of anything, but bite the bullet: there are four more such series ahead.

In the second series, slightly lose weight in all exercises – you still can’t cope with the same weight. Yes, actually, and not in weight business. The secret is to finish all the scheduled repetitions, and even in all the series. If at the end of the training you feel that you have jelly instead of muscles and you cannot take a step, do not be alarmed. This is a normal symptom that the shock method has worked. However, the next day you will not be able to go down the stairs without grimaces and curses. Here I advise you to get up early (the sooner the better) and take a long walk. Such a technique with a guarantee protects against injuries, but in addition, it speeds up recovery. By the way, if the rest is tight, give yourself an extra respite in one or two extra days.

How to apply my method? Insert 1-2 of these workouts every 4-5 weeks of regular training, not more often. And in no case do not make them a habit. After all, what is the most important thing here? Contrast. Not intensity, but a sharp change in the load mode “shakes up” the muscles. And further. The whole method will go down the drain if you have to wait until this or that simulator is free. So choose a time for shock training when there are fewer people in the hall.