Tom Venuto's BodybuildingSecrets.com - "That guy on the floor... is he ok?"

“That guy on the floor… is he ok?”

Tom Venuto, CSCS, CPT

Today is Thursday, June 23rd - 99 days out - and our mission today was shoulders, triceps and abs … However, it would be a sin if I didn’t backtrack and log in our first pre-contest leg workout which took place two days ago on Tuesday the 21st. I’ll come back to the shoulders & tri’s workout later.

I’ll try to describe this as best as I can… but we really do have to capture these leg sessions on video one of these days, because you have to see it to believe it…

Here’s how leg day went down:

6:45 am: Wake up, drink rejuvenating, life-sustaining fluid (Starbucks coffee), eat 1 cup oatmeal, 12 egg whites (1 yolk) and 1 grapefruit (pretty standard breakfast… for now… carbs may decrease later)

7:00 - 7:30 am: Give time to digest food a little bit, review my workout plan, which I had written out the night before, then visualize and mentally rehearse the entire workout (I’ll write much more info on my approach to “mental training” in future logs)

7:50 - 8:00 am: Arrive at Empire Fitness Club, hop on stairmaster for 10 minute warm up

8:00 - 8:10 am: Static stretching, followed by some dynamic stretching

8:10 am - The fun begins

This is the breakdown of exercises, sets and reps:

Barbell back squat

1 set X 135 lbs X 15 reps (warm up)

1 set X 165 lbs X 12 reps (warm up)

1 set X 185 lbs X 30 reps (13 reps using slow, constant tension @ 4030 tempo, then 17 regular reps)

1 set X 205 lbs X 20 reps (9 reps using 1 1/4 technique, then 11 regular reps)

1 set X 225 lbs X 14 reps

Hack Machine Squat

1 set X 270 lbs (3 plates per side) X 20 reps

1 set X 320 lbs (3 plates + quarters per side) X 17 reps

1 set X 360 lbs (4 plates per side) X 7 reps + 3 forced reps

Leg Extension

1 extended descending set (40 reps total)

10 reps X 260 lbs

10 seconds rest

10 reps X 240 lbs

10 seconds rest

10 reps X 220 lbs (last few were forced reps)

10 seconds rest

10 reps X 200 lbs (last few were forced reps)

Stiff Legged Deadlift

1 X 135 lbs X 12 reps (warm up)

3 sets X 225 lbs X 12, 10, 8 reps

Seated Leg Curl Machine

3 sets regressive weight pattern (drop weight, add reps each set)

1 set X 160 lbs X 12 reps

1 set X 140 lbs X 15 reps

1 set X 120 lbs X 19 reps

9:15 am: Session ends… with great difficulty, we hobble down the stairs (where’s a damn elevator when you need one!)… Mike heads off to Club KO, the kickboxing club where he’s the manager and head instructor (How he teaches kickboxing after these leg sessions, I’ll never figure out)… me?… I go home and eat a big satisfying post workout meal… then pass out for a one hour nap (bwahahaha Mike… in yer face!)

Workout commentary

We started the party with squats! This was our first squat workout in a while. We had been doing a lot of leg presses, split squats, lunges and leg extensions previously, and it was about time to get back underneath the barbell (we change exercises frequently).

Since this was the first squat workout in a while, poundages were only moderate. Heavy squatting is risky for me anyway because I ruptured a disc (L4) many years ago. It’s an “old” injury, and one that I have “rehabilitated” to a degree that the doctors predicted was impossible, but caution is always in order when I squat. Going above 315 lbs almost always ends up aggravating my back, and it would be just plain stupid to allow myself to get injured, especially before a contest, simply because I wanted to see how much weight I can lift.

What I do instead of going heavy is to use intensity techniques that make moderate weights feel much heaver. For example, rather than locking out at the top of the squat, I often come up only 3/4 or 4/5 of the way, which increases the quad’s continuous time under tension. I often combine the technique with slower tempo (slow continuous tension or SCT reps), and it’s highly effective (it burns like crazy too!)

Another technique I love is the one and a quarter rep method (1 1/4’s), where I drop down into a full rep, then rise up only one quarter of the way, then back down into a full squat, then all the way back up - that’s ONE rep! If you think 200 - 225 lbs is too light for an advanced bodybuilder to get a good quad workout, just try 8-12 1 1/4 rep squats with a tempo of 4 seconds down, no pause at bottom, 3 seconds up, no locking out and no pause at the top (tempo - 4030)… then (you’re not done yet), continue your set for another 8-12 regular reps (or to complete exhaustion), and then get back to me.

I also do a ton of high rep training; 15, 20, even 30-40 reps or more. I believe that high rep squatting is one of the best ways to develop your legs (it worked for Tom Platz, didn’t it?) My best efforts for reps so far are 225 lbs X 54 reps, 275 lbs X 32 reps and 325 X 20 reps.

One of these days, I swear I’m gonna hit 225 for 100 reps. One of my former training partners did 75 reps with 225 lbs not long after I did 54 reps and it pissed me off to no end that he smoked my record like that. I mean, the guy could have done 55 reps and said, “There, beat you!” But noooo… he had to add insult to injury and do TWENTY more! 100 reps… just wait and see… game’s not over yet!

Tom Platz once squatted 225 for 10 minutes! He didn’t even count the reps, he set a timer! He also did 315 for 50 reps. Is that insane or what? (You gotta love that guy! He’s my idol).

Anyhow, as you can see, I’m quite a long ways off my all time bests - but those were personal records (PR’s) - and again, this was only squat workout #1; the REAL training is just getting started. Frankly, it was more than enough to kick our butts. I have to confess, I was sucking wind. Gotta bring up the level of conditioning. The whole workout was only 7 sets for quads (not counting warm ups) and 6 sets for hamstrings, but took an hour and 5 minutes; partially because the high rep sets took so long to complete, but mainly because we were sucking so much wind between sets…

As a matter of fact, after my second set of hacks, I collapsed to the floor and propped my feet up on a nearby leg press machine as I tried to “drain the acid out of my legs” and get some oxygen back into my lungs… Meanwhile, a girl who was doing lunges nearby asked Mike if “the guy on the floor over there” was ok… as it surely must have appeared to an unsuspecting onlooker that I was having an aneurysm.

Mike told the girl, (who was about ready to call 911), “Oh, Tom’s fine… that’s normal. He doesn’t throw up as often as most people do on leg day, but he does spend a lot of time passed out on the floor between sets… He’ll get up in a couple minutes and do it again.”

Alas, no aneurysm… just another day at the office.

Posted 23 June, 2005 in Workouts

Comments

Maxine Johnson said:

That is too funny. great workout! This is the first time I've read about a guy doing such high reps. It's changed my paradigm. I thought high reps were for females who were just looking to tone and stay slim. I guess not. I'm a figure competitor and I've been trying to develop side shape in my quads and I've done ok. But I just need a little more definition and I've been hesitant of doing high reps/low weight for fear of losing what little mass I've worked so hard to put on. Anyway, thanks... always good to read about what others do. Blessings
Maxine

Posted on Jun 29, 2005 02:02 AM

Tom Venuto said:

It's miraculous what a program of high rep leg training can do for you! The "20 rep squat routine" has probably packed more muscle on more people than any other. (See Randall Strossen, 'Super Squats'). Strength athletes may need to stay with lower reps, but bodybuilders are "hypertrophy" athletes and will benefit from training across all rep ranges, particularly for lower body. Tom Platz always used to use a heavy day and a light day. That solves your problem of losing strength by doing only light days and it's a good approach for physique athletes. It's actually a "high rep" day, because it was NOT light weights. Back in the day, Platz squatted 315 for 50 reps, 405 for 30 reps and in front of a crowd at an exhibition, he squatted 500 lbs for 23 reps (it was captured on video: www.joeskopec.com/biglifts.html. I get the chills every time I watch this. Platz was surely genetically gifted (and used various enhancements), but that still does not overshadow his accomplishments, which were nothing short of "other worldly." I think Tom still sells his leg training manual at www.tomplatz.com. It's the same mail order manual he sold back in his 1980's glory days... a must for the serious collector

Posted on Jun 29, 2005 10:22 AM