At one stage or another, almost everybody who uses the gym has gone online in a bid to search out the workout program of their favorite celebrities. After all, if you're trying to learn how to build muscle you'll probably find it easier if your favorite movie star is teaching you, right? That's the theory many fitness enthusiasts have and one of the public figures who is usually at the forefront of this trend is wrestler and actor Dwayne Johnson.
This trend has grown in popularity over the last ten years and, naturally, many celebrities have caught onto the fact that there is a good business opportunity here. This is why you'll often find personalities regularly releasing fitness dvd's which cash in on the 'next big thing' in fitness. As you'll discover, however, the superior workouts tend to come from those who purely train because they enjoy training.
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.
Of course, two of the major factors behind the huge results are the intensity of each session and the nature of the exercises being performed. While sticking to old, proven movements such as Squats and Leg Curls, you will be able to adopt new techniques such as keeping minimal rest periods between sets, therefore increasing your fat loss results and stamina simultaneously.
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.
* Smith Machine Lunges - 4 sets of 16 repetitions.
* 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.
To anybody who finds themselves constantly searching for the next big exercise to develop, this workout may look quite simple. This is a common mistake to make. While it certainly does stick to the basic movements, this actually works in your favor because those basics are still the optimal exercises for building a powerful lower body. Intensity is key here, keeping your rest periods as low as 30 seconds between sets will dramatically increase fat loss results.
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.
A technique which is nowhere near as commonly used as it used to be, the pyramid system is designed to help you hit each different fiber in the targeted muscle. It does this by gradually lowering the repetitions in each set, allowing you to add more resistance every time you finish a set.
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.
This trend has grown in popularity over the last ten years and, naturally, many celebrities have caught onto the fact that there is a good business opportunity here. This is why you'll often find personalities regularly releasing fitness dvd's which cash in on the 'next big thing' in fitness. As you'll discover, however, the superior workouts tend to come from those who purely train because they enjoy training.
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.
Discover how to build muscle with 5 simple rules.
Of course, two of the major factors behind the huge results are the intensity of each session and the nature of the exercises being performed. While sticking to old, proven movements such as Squats and Leg Curls, you will be able to adopt new techniques such as keeping minimal rest periods between sets, therefore increasing your fat loss results and stamina simultaneously.
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.
* Smith Machine Lunges - 4 sets of 16 repetitions.
* 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.
To anybody who finds themselves constantly searching for the next big exercise to develop, this workout may look quite simple. This is a common mistake to make. While it certainly does stick to the basic movements, this actually works in your favor because those basics are still the optimal exercises for building a powerful lower body. Intensity is key here, keeping your rest periods as low as 30 seconds between sets will dramatically increase fat loss results.
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.
A technique which is nowhere near as commonly used as it used to be, the pyramid system is designed to help you hit each different fiber in the targeted muscle. It does this by gradually lowering the repetitions in each set, allowing you to add more resistance every time you finish a set.
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:
Your next move: Learn how to build muscle with expert personal trainer Russ Howe PTI. This workout, the rock leg workout, is just one of tons ready on his free gym blog.
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