Shock Your System with These Shocking Leg Workouts

Leg day, the day many love, many hate, and many avoid.  This article is not to explain why you should lift for your legs.  If you need to know reasons, look it up, but there is NO EXCUSE not to train your legs.  I am a big fan of training legs.  I feel it’s a big time challenge anytime you are putting the bar on your back or walking with some weight in your hands.   I want to give you a couple challenging Leg workouts to do which will truly shock your system, help you get stronger and build mass on your legs.  

Use these workouts on a day when you can relax and enjoy the hard work you just put in.   Reward yourself post-workout with an abundance of  food; make it an extra cheat day since your metabolism will be through the roof.  

Remember-- it is not always about the number of exercises you do but the intensity of work you do.  I can’t take credit for all of these workouts. I have picked these up from different people over the years but I do have to give credit to one of my training buddies, Carmen Bruno, for the last two workouts listed below.

Keys to success:

1. Warm-Up – Make sure you do not go right into the workout – 15 Minutes of your own warm-up must be done including some light lifting.

2. Use great form.  If you need to cheat you need to lower the weight.

3. Write down the workout prior to training 

4. Record what you did.  

Shocker #1

10 Sets of 10 Reps Back Squats

This is my favorite one personally.   The first 3-4 sets are relatively easy and the last 2-3 are painful.

60% of your 1RM – Do 10 Sets of Squats resting only 2 Minutes between each set.  Make sure the bar is moving again when the timer hits 2:00.

Shocker #2

4 Sets of 25 Reps Back Squats

Self-explanatory, Use 50% of your 1RM Rest 3-4 Minutes before your next set .  

Shocker #3

Leg Press Add-on Sets 

Start with one Plate on each side of the Leg Press and do 50 reps, immediately add another plate to each side and do 40 reps, add another plate and do 30 reps. Continue until you get to five plates and 10 reps.   It works best if you have a partner to change the weight. The only rest you should have is when the weight is being changed. This equals 150 Reps and will take you a while to complete the set.  If it is too easy add weight the next time to start or climb back up to 50 Reps by removing the plates.

Shocker #4

6/12/25 (3 Sets)

Pick three leg exercises.  You will need to pick an exercise to do for 6 Reps (70% 1RM), 12 (50% 1RM) Reps and 25 Reps(40% 1RM).  Make sure the exercises are major movements (no calf raises!).   Do each exercise and immediately follow it up with the next.

An example – 6 Back Squats, 12 Lunges, 25 Leg Extensions

Try three sets changing the order of the exercises each set, meaning do 6 Lunges, 12 Leg Extensions and 25 Back Squats.   

Shocker #5

Leg Press Super Drop Set 

Simple workout.  Put some plates on each side on the leg press.  If you can, put (4) 45 lb plates on each side and do 20 reps.  Take a plate off and do another 20 Reps.  Do 20 reps until there are no more plates.  If you are not strong enough to do 4 plates try (4) 25 lb plates.  Try 3 rounds of this.

Shocker #6

100 Reps of Squats 

Simple workout, but brutal as well.  The weight should be about 50% of 1RM.   Get under the bar and squat until you are about 3-4 reps from failure and rest for a bit.  Get under the bar again and do some more reps and then rest.  Continue this cycle until you are at 100 Reps.   *Write down your time so you can try to beat the time when you do the workout again, OR try adding some weight to the bar next time.

Coach Chadd Braine is the Defensive Coordinator at East Stroudsburg University