While Mike Mentzer was renowned for his spectacular arm development, his thighs may have been his most striking bodypart. Indeed, they were huge and shapely, with each muscle group well chiseled. And when he struck a thigh pose, it looked for all the world like rolling waves of muscle that would crash and explode into splinters of fibrous activity upon the bone and tendinous shores to which they were attached.
As much as Mike was taken by big arms (Bill Pearl had been his hero), he never once lost sight of the beauty and impressiveness of a well developed pair of legs. As he once recalled:
"When I got into bodybuilding, it became obvious that no matter how tremendously developed your upper body might be, if the legs didn't match, forget it!"
And while proper training is crucial for optimal leg development, Mike also recognized the importance of genetics in this area. He once pointed out to me two classic examples in which a genetic deficiency hindered the professional careers of otherwise phenomenally gifted bodybuilders: Freddy Ortiz and Dave Draper. In both cases, Mike indicated, the problem wasn't ignorance or a willingness on their part to bust ass in the gym. As Mike explained it:
"Though I don't know this for a fact, I'm guessing that in most cases where a bodypart is lagging way behind the rest of the body, there is less fiber density in that area. This means that even if the individual were to double or even triple the size of the existing fibers, there just aren't enough total fibers to amount to much in the way of mass."
On the topic of genetics and leg training, Mike once made the following observation:
"I have been more fortunate than many in that I inherited a pleasing shape in my leg muscles, as well as the potential for developing a lot of mass. My dad never even knew what a toe raise or leg curl was, and yet his calves measured about 17 inches. I well recall as a youth marveling at his thighs when he mowed the lawn in his shorts. However, my thigh development is not merely the result of having 'chosen the right parents.' In spite of my favorable genetic predisposition for developing massive, shapely legs, I've always trained them hard."
Mike's leg strength was almost legendary even when he was a teenager, for he began working his legs very heavy when he was only 14, at which time he could quarter-squat with more than 700 pounds. At age 16 he was full-squatting with 500 pounds. He once confided to me that he believed that the foundation he laid with those early squat workouts contributed to his ability to develop muscle at a rapid rate later.
Too many young bodybuilders, blinded by their quest for big arms, neglect leg work. The imbalance in development that results from such neglect, unfortunately, typically proves ruinous to their bodybuilding aspirations.
The workout below is relatively brief compared to most of the other top champions layouts. However, brevity is vital if your concern is power and lasting mass. If you're training with maximal intensity, carrying each set to failure while using maximum weights and strict form, your workouts will be brief of necessity. The moment you begin adding sets to the number recommended, intensity must diminish, and there will be inroads into your ability to recover, both of which add up to little or no progress.
The following workout is one that Mike used to prescribe for his Heavy Duty clients and, with only minor variations, essentially the one he employed in training for competition.
Mike recommended working legs in a separate workout (unless a client was on his consolidation routine . . . https://www.mikementzerheavyduty.com/#articles
which meant working legs, at most, once every 12 days and often but once every 21 days.
The muscles that form the legs are large -- the largest muscle group in the boy -- and as a result, exercises that work them are especially taxing. Compare how you feel after a set of barbell curls to failure to how you feel after a set of heavy squats to failure. See what I mean? The strain that hard leg work places on the body's reserves is so great that we must be especially cautious. According to Mike:
"The possibility of overtraining looms ever present when we do leg work, so we must perform the absolute minimum amount that will stimulate growth. Doing more sets than necessary to induce growth will only hinder the recuperative process and possibly even prevent growth. Remember that following a workout the body must recover and replenish what was used up during the workout. It is only after full recovery has taken place that growth can occur. So to stimulate growth, train intensely; and to allow for such growth, train briefly and not too frequently."
Here, then, is the leg routine that Mike Mentzer employed and recommended to his clients:
1) Leg Extension supersetted with Leg Press.
The leg extension exercise is valuable in that it focuses the stress almost entirely on the front thigh muscles, the quadriceps. Here is what Mike had to say about the performance of these two exercises:
"The isolation of these muscles is important because the strength of the adjacent muscles such as the adductors and the buttocks is preserved for the second exercise to follow -- either squats or leg presses. When you perform exercises such as squats or leg presses, it's usually the smaller and weaker adjacent muscle groups such as the hips and lower back or buttocks that fatigue first, thus preventing the front thighs from carrying on to the point of failure. By first carrying a set of leg extensions to failure, we pre-exhaust the quadriceps. This means that in the second exercise, squats or leg presses, the adjacent muscles are temporarily stronger than the quads, and we're able to work the quads to the point of failure without the surrounding muscles giving out first.
"The second exercise of the pre-exhaustion must be done immediately, with zero rest, while the front thighs are still exhausted. If you rest and saunter around between the two exercises, the front thighs will regain most of their strength and the effectiveness of pre-exhaustion is nullified.
"Use enough weight on the leg extension to allow for the strict performance of 8-15 reps, with a distinct pause in the locked, or contracted, top position, where the movement arm of the apparatus is parallel to the floor. Then lower slowly to the starting, or stretched position.
"If you cannot pause and hold the weight momentarily in the top, contracted position without having the weight fall out of control, it means you used excessive body leverage and momentum in lifting the weight. Since your static strength is considerably greater than your ability to raise a weight, you should be able to hold the weight at the top for about 2 seconds.
"After you've completed the last possible rep, have a partner help you force out two more reps. His assistance must be minimal, just enough to help you barely make it."
Immediately after leg extensions, move to leg presses. This exercise is so productive because you can use extremely heavy weights. According to Mike, heavy weights can make a world of difference:
"At one time I had trouble muscle on my inner and outer vastus. Then I started doing leg presses. I eventually got to a point where I was doing 8 reps with 1200 pounds, and that solved the vastus problem. If you have access to the Nautilus Compound Leg machine, the one with the leg extension and leg press contained in one unit, fine. That machine is perfect for pre-exhausting the thighs, since you can move directly from the leg extension to the leg press without having to get up and run across the gym to another machine, during which time the front thighs would recover.
"The first time I used this machine, I simple could not believe it; it can only be described as an otherworldly experience [right up there with the "squat altar" when it comes to low-shelf otherworldly experiences.]. If you don't have the compound machine, try to set up your leg press as close as possible to the leg extension machine so you can jump right off the one and onto the other with as little rest as possible.
Remember that your quads will be fatigued at this point, so you may require less weight than normal.
For forced reps, push with your hands on your knees, providing yourself with jus enough assistance so each remaining rep is extremely difficult, requiring all-out effort. Keep in mind that intensity refers to the force exerted through muscular contraction. Too much assistance on the forced reps lowers intensity. Negatives on leg presses are difficult for obvious reasons. so emphasize the lowering of the weight during the 2 forced reps."
2) Full Squats.
If you don't have access to a leg press, substitute squats as the compound movement of a pre-exhaustion superset. That is, do your leg extensions and immediately go right into squats.
Don't worry about forced and negative reps on squats, however, because of obvious safety considerations. Merely go to positive failure if you have spotters or squat in a power rack. If you don't have spotters or a rack to catch the weight in case of failure, terminate your set at least one rep short of failure. Always remember, safety first. Be very careful to keep your spine straight during the lift. And slowly lower the weight to a little shy of 90 degrees.
Do one set of squats to failure, again for one set of 8-15 repetitions. Mentzer's quad routine was short and sweet: one pre-exhaustion superset of leg extensions and leg presses or squats, rest, and then one final set of squats to finish off the muscles.
3) Leg Curls
This is an exercise that Mike eventually dropped from the workouts of his Heavy Duty clients, as he believed that the hamstrings received ample stimulation from the leg presses or squats and that performing another direct set for them simply used up more recovery ability, which delayed the production of new muscle mass. Nevertheless, Mike did do leg curls during his competitive days, and he had a unique way of performing them:
"I use enough weight to allow for the usual number of strict positive reps, with a momentary pause in the contracted position of each rep. I continue with the forced reps, my brother Ray helps me into the fully contracted position and holds the weight there for me until I can mentally and physically lock and pull the weight into the buttocks for a several-second count and peak-contract the leg biceps as hard as I can against the resistance of the weight.
"Working the leg curl in the fully contracted position not only works the total hamstring muscle but activates many of the muscles on the upper inner thighs. I saw muscles I never knew I had come out in my thighs when I employed this technique. And I know that fully contracted leg curls done in the aforementioned manner were responsible."
Again, Mike would recommend no more than one set for 8-15 repetitions. Many advanced-level trainees have inquired how Mike advised people to perform advanced Heavy Duty techniques, such as negatives and forced reps, in leg training. Here is what Mike advocated:
"More advanced men should continue beyond the positive reps and one or two forced reps with the addition of two or three more negative-only movements. Have your partner or partners lift the weight all the way to the top, fully contracted position and hold it there momentarily so you can lock into the contraction and hold the weight there before lowering slowly. And make sure the downward progression of the weight on these negative reps is continuous. Don't ever try to stop the weight on negative-only extensions or leg curls until the movement is completed. Lower slowly and under control to the starting position. Do not try to stop and hold the weight."
So there you have it -- a truly Heavy Duty leg workout that helped Mike's already well-developed legs become even better. And if you follow his outline, even the most stubborn underpinnings will respond. Yes, leg training is tough if progress is your goal. But then, as Mike said:
"Need I remind you that growth never comes easy? I must literally be forced."
And now you have the perfect routine for doing just that.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
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