Celebrity workouts are one of the most commonly searched for items in the fitness industry. The majority of gym members and fitness enthusiasts trying to learn how to build muscle have, at some point in their lives, been influenced by seeing their favorite personality or movie star build a great physique. One such personality is Dwayne Johnson.
Of course, there is a booming fitness career for celebrities who wish to latch on the next big thing or fad diet and sell dvd's to the masses. This means many of these plans are not effective. Johnson, however, is a guy who trains simply because he loves working out. One look at his lower body routine is enough to see this.
The Rock leg workout is something which is particularly eye catching.
One of the reasons for this is that Dwayne Johnson has achieved an impressive transformation in the last year. While his workout routine is something which anybody can do, of course, those results have also been achieved because of a strict diet and putting proven hypertrophy principles in place before hitting the gym.
There are two things here which are usually lacking in lower body training sessions. Those are intensity and basic movements. While many people get caught up in looking for the next big development in exercise and science, such as performing split squats while suspended with a resistance band, this routine sticks to the old classic moves such as Squats and Leg Press. Intensity also becomes a huge focal point of the session, with as little as thirty seconds of rest between exercises to boost fat loss.
The workout plan itself looks quite simple on paper.
* Five sets of Box Squats, with 25 reps per set.
* Four sets on the Leg Press machine, with reps of 25, 20, 18 and 16 in a pyramid fashion. This is immediately followed by a burnout set of twenty five reps.
* Four sets of Lunges performed on a Smith Machine, with eight repetitions per leg.
* The Lying Leg Curl machine gets four sets of pyramid training with reps of 12, 10, 8 and 6. Again, this is immediately followed up with a burnout set of a further twelve.
* And finally, the Standing Calf Raise rounds out the session with six sets of 16 repetitions followed by a burnout of 20 after the final set.
One of the biggest mistakes to make, of course, is to look at a session on paper and presume it's going to be very easy because it doesn't incorporate any new, ground-breaking techniques. In fact you have probably performed all of the exercises before. The thing most people overlook, however, is the intensity level. With just 30 seconds of rest after each set you will be pushed hard.
As well as the fat loss benefits of keeping down your rest periods, you will also notice two old principles of hypertrophy are at play here. Those are the pyramid technique and burnout sets.
Pyramid training involves gradually lowering your target reps with each set you perform, allowing you to steadily increase the resistance level as you progress through each set and cover a wide variety of rep ranges. This means you will literally work every fiber in the muscle being targeted.
Burnout sets are designed to mop up any remaining energy left in the targeted body part following the last round. By placing a light weight on the bar and pushing out up to twenty more repetitions immediately after your last set of a particular exercise you will be able to stimulate further growth.
While it sticks to the basics, The Rock leg workout is by no means basic in it's execution. It shows that the trick to building the body your trying to achieve lies not in the exercises you perform but in the way you perform them. If most men are honest with the gym they'll admit that they don't hit their lower body with the same intensity they show when training the 'ego muscles', such as chest and biceps. Losing that bad habit is key to making the most of your potential on lower body workouts like this.
Of course, there is a booming fitness career for celebrities who wish to latch on the next big thing or fad diet and sell dvd's to the masses. This means many of these plans are not effective. Johnson, however, is a guy who trains simply because he loves working out. One look at his lower body routine is enough to see this.
The Rock leg workout is something which is particularly eye catching.
One of the reasons for this is that Dwayne Johnson has achieved an impressive transformation in the last year. While his workout routine is something which anybody can do, of course, those results have also been achieved because of a strict diet and putting proven hypertrophy principles in place before hitting the gym.
If you don't know how to build muscle today's interview will assist you a lot.
There are two things here which are usually lacking in lower body training sessions. Those are intensity and basic movements. While many people get caught up in looking for the next big development in exercise and science, such as performing split squats while suspended with a resistance band, this routine sticks to the old classic moves such as Squats and Leg Press. Intensity also becomes a huge focal point of the session, with as little as thirty seconds of rest between exercises to boost fat loss.
The workout plan itself looks quite simple on paper.
* Five sets of Box Squats, with 25 reps per set.
* Four sets on the Leg Press machine, with reps of 25, 20, 18 and 16 in a pyramid fashion. This is immediately followed by a burnout set of twenty five reps.
* Four sets of Lunges performed on a Smith Machine, with eight repetitions per leg.
* The Lying Leg Curl machine gets four sets of pyramid training with reps of 12, 10, 8 and 6. Again, this is immediately followed up with a burnout set of a further twelve.
* And finally, the Standing Calf Raise rounds out the session with six sets of 16 repetitions followed by a burnout of 20 after the final set.
One of the biggest mistakes to make, of course, is to look at a session on paper and presume it's going to be very easy because it doesn't incorporate any new, ground-breaking techniques. In fact you have probably performed all of the exercises before. The thing most people overlook, however, is the intensity level. With just 30 seconds of rest after each set you will be pushed hard.
As well as the fat loss benefits of keeping down your rest periods, you will also notice two old principles of hypertrophy are at play here. Those are the pyramid technique and burnout sets.
Pyramid training involves gradually lowering your target reps with each set you perform, allowing you to steadily increase the resistance level as you progress through each set and cover a wide variety of rep ranges. This means you will literally work every fiber in the muscle being targeted.
Burnout sets are designed to mop up any remaining energy left in the targeted body part following the last round. By placing a light weight on the bar and pushing out up to twenty more repetitions immediately after your last set of a particular exercise you will be able to stimulate further growth.
While it sticks to the basics, The Rock leg workout is by no means basic in it's execution. It shows that the trick to building the body your trying to achieve lies not in the exercises you perform but in the way you perform them. If most men are honest with the gym they'll admit that they don't hit their lower body with the same intensity they show when training the 'ego muscles', such as chest and biceps. Losing that bad habit is key to making the most of your potential on lower body workouts like this.
About the Author:
What to do next: Learn how to build muscle with expert fitness coach Russ Howe PTI. Today's session, the rock leg workout, is just one of many ready on his exclusive gym blog.
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