This workout can be used by anyone. Younger athlete. Old men. Females. Grandmas. Dads. Whatever the age or station in life, this lower body pump will get the muscles swøle. We guarantee it will put mass on the thighs and impeded one’s ability to walk up and down steps for a limited amount of time; however, we also guarantee that the muscle mass gained will pay off over the long run in quality of life, longevity, and self-care.

Let’s take a gander at this lower body pump session.

To get those quads nice and swøle we want to start with the classic bodybuilding front squat. Typically we like to go with a more narrow stance through a full range of motion (a** to grass people), really lengthen those quads. A big key is to get the full range of motion and focus on shorter rest periods. Rest somewhere between a minute, while warming up with a strong focus as a transition from set to set. 

As building heavier in weight, really focus on posture. Be cognizant of keeping the elbows up and the back is nice and tight. As the weight continues to increase, hit one or two big reps, keep nice and tight and drive out of the hole. After that heavy set, the quads and back will be lit up, drop about 10% of the weight just hit and rest for about forty seconds. Then go ahead and put that bar on the back with a slightly narrower stance than a normal back squat. If possible, go super narrow. Perform a short range of motion back squat, standing up past parallel but never locking the hips, pulsing up and down. Hit about eight reps to get the VMO lit up and the quads pumping even more. We recommend doing another drop set in the same manner but drop the weight once again. The second drop set should decrease the weight from the bar in the neighborhood of 20% being removed. For the second drop set, go ahead and hit a set of twenty and feel the burn and muscle growth! 

After hammering the quads right off the back, we like to target the posterior chain with the lower back. We will do some easy dumbbell RDLs, focusing on keeping the back nice and tight. Do a slower eccentric when performing this movement to feel the hamstrings really start to lengthen. Focus at the top of the movement of feeling the hips extend because of the hamstrings. Zero in on contracting at the top and squeezing the muscles to feel the extension. Go ahead and do two sets there to feel the muscles right at the bottom of the butt to get things firing.

From there, up the dumbbell weight and just start busting out reps. This time when getting to the top of the movement be more aggressive because the hamstrings are predominantly fast-twitch. It is important to keep the lats and lower back tight while doing the movement. Go ahead and do fifteen to thirty reps of this RDL movement.

The fun comes with super setting the dumbbell RDLs with the leg extension. Let’s face it, the leg extension has its detractors. We believe the people who are anti-leg extensions are the same people who yell at clouds about knees going over the toes when squatting. The leg extension helps get a lot of blood flow to the knee.

On the first set of leg extensions, get a real easy set going. Approach the weight like easy cardio--be able to hold a conversation while performing fifteen to thirty reps. Now as the strength starts to wake up between the two movements, bump the load up and get heavier. We like having a slight pause at the top of the movement. We do this because the quads are not as fast-twitch as the hamstrings, so holding a little bit more isometric tension at the top creates a huge pump. Once that pump starts to come about, kill the slight isometric hold and go ahead and bust out ten more reps to get a huge pump

Between each exercise, we want to take twenty to thirty seconds between the movements. To perform Spanish Squats wrap a band around a solid post and step the feet inside the bands so that the bands are pulling the body toward the post. Get tension on the band so that when the shins are vertical the knees must be tense so that the quads drive the knees to extend. This is paramount to getting the quad pump. Go ahead and grab a dumbbell to utilize as a goblet. From there, go ahead and squat deep, letting the knees track forward, and then get to the top and extend. The extension with the band forces more activation of the quads. Hit this for seventeen reps.

Take a short rest and walk over to the sled. Pull the sled backward nice and easy for forty to eighty meters (eighty meters is A LOT; it will kill the legs). Walking backward lights up the quads and requires decent posture, and creates some nice quad lengthening. The sled is easy to load up. The quads are hollering at this point. Go ahead and rest fifteen to twenty seconds before moving on to the next movement.

We call this next exercise the Praying Mantis Lunge. The movement has the body in a nice deep lunge. In the nice deep lunge walk forward, coming through with each leg in succession while holding hip flexion the whole time. By holding the hip flexion, the quads and hamstrings never get a break. Make sure to try and keep a decent, upright posture. As the legs fatigue, the body will transfer the load to where strengths exist. If leaning the torso forward, probably hamstring and lower back dominant. A more quad dominant athlete will do a better job of keeping the torso upright will occur.

We recommend doing four to five sets of these three exercises in succession. Seventeen reps for the Spanish Squats; forty to eighty meters with the sled pull; ten to twelve reps for each leg with the Praying Mantis Lunges. 

A lower body pump resonates through the whole body. Legs are shaky, mom’s spaghetti type of feels. Still, chasing that pump in the weight room is fun. It translates into muscle endurance and swøle legs. Bigger muscles create the potential for stronger muscles. Go ahead and try this session out. Start with a front squat and follow it up with some narrow stance back squats for drop sets. Then go ahead and sandwich some RDL’s with leg extensions before finishing the session off with a true burner of a tri-set: Spanish squats, sled pulls, and praying mantis lunges back to back to back. Give it a try and let us know how the legs hold up walking down the steps at the house or out of the gym. Now go and get swøle!