The fear is all too common — and all too wrong. We’re talking about the idea that training like a bodybuilder will soon have you looking like one, complete with huge, ripped muscles and cartoonish proportions.
The reality is it takes efforts way beyond what most people could even imagine to forge the type of physique that could step foot onstage of a bodybuilding competition. We’re talking years of dedicated training, mountains of food, and a 24/7 lifestyle all centered around maximizing every ounce of muscle to its fullest potential.
A few workouts that mimic the champs just ain’t gonna do it, according to celebrity trainer Jason Kozma, owner of High Performance Personal Training in Los Angeles. “You will not get ‘too bulky’ from resistance training,” states the former Mr. America. “What will happen is you can get leaner, have more energy, and end up liking the way you look with more toned muscle.”
In other words, by borrowing a few key training techniques of elite-level bodybuilders, you can “fast track” your path to appreciable gains. Take legs, for instance. The following bodybuilding-style workout, designed by Kozma to hit the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves from multiple angles of attack, can help shore up any weaknesses or instability in your lower body and deliver the type of results you may not be getting from a lighter-resistance, higher-rep, lower-body program.
Try the workout below, and check out the rest of the Old-School Strong series HERE.
The Old-School Bodybuilding Leg Workout
Here, you’ll work your legs from hip to heel using the principles of progressive resistance — that is, pyramiding up your weight from set to set, working in a rep range of six to 12, and ending up at a heavy enough resistance that the final rep induces momentary muscle failure to the point at which you can’t do another rep with good form. Meanwhile, three challenging sets per movement should be plenty to maximize muscle stimulation without overdoing it. (You also should consider adding a warm-up set for at least the first few exercises, doing 15 to 20 reps with a lighter weight to promote blood flow to the lower body.)
“Make sure you’re ‘dominating’ the weight before adding reps or sets to a particular exercise,” Kozma adds. “Other ways to increase intensity are to reduce rest time or work through a smaller range of motion after you reach initial muscle failure. Above all, go after your fitness goals like you mean it!”
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