Mighty Quads: Pre-Fatigue Leg Workout

Tired of repetitive leg workouts? Write a pre-fatigue workout script for the coolest quad pump of your life!

Author: Bill Geiger

If you’re like most bodybuilders, you either adore or hate leg day, but it’s this excruciating lower-body workout that separates beach boys from serious athletes. You cannot hide which camp you belong to; on the legs, experienced bodybuilders (and even ordinary spectators) will figure you out at once.

Now imagine what would happen if you increase the intensity of an already tough session of the week. This is exactly what happens in leg training with. It’s perfect for those stuck on a training plateau, looking for variety, or looking to take a break from their usual heavy squats.

I can already see how many are leaving the race. The rest will be happy to just hobble out of the gym.

Weaklings don’t belong here

Most leg workouts start with multi-joint exercises like lunges and lunges, as these recruit muscles to the maximum and allow you to lift the maximum weight. And after a massive attack on the hips and buttocks from all flanks, you finish them off until the muscle groups are completely depleted.

Leg extension

In pre-fatigue training, the strategy changes. Here, you first load the quadriceps – either the back muscles or the glutes – decently with isolating movements, causing the main muscle to become the weak link in the multi-joint exercise that follows. This simple trick makes any exercise that comes second much more difficult!

Leg workouts with this approach can start with machine extensions that work the quads, followed by squats, leg presses, or lunges. Since by the beginning of the multi-joint exercises, the quads are already pretty tired, and the glutes and muscles of the back surface are full of strength, the approach ends when the quadriceps are surrendered, and not the muscles of the back chain.

This ensures that the quadriceps are the ones that work out to the fullest, are the weak link, if you will, and not the glutes or the back muscles.

Pre-fatigue leg workouts: what, how and why?

Understandably, changing the sequence of exercises will lead to the fact that you will be noticeably stronger in the first movement – which you normally do at the end of the session – and significantly weaker by the time you get to multi-joint movements. This has its pros and cons.

The benefit: You can load your quads with a higher working weight, much more than usual. And this is tantamount to new muscle growth! But, at the same time, that you have to moderate your ardor – you don’t need to put an outrageous weight and cut the number of repetitions. In single-joint movements, excess weight creates an additional load on the knee joints, and low-repetitive training can aggravate this load. I recommend doing at least 8 reps for all pre-fatigue sets.

Squats

Needless to say, you will have to unload the barbell in the final exercises. The usual weight for squats will seem almost overwhelming. Another consequence of the early is the difficulty in balancing the bar in the late phase of the training session, so in the end it is worth looking towards the counterparts in the simulators. There is nothing worse than squatting with muscles, bloodshot to the eyeballs!

When you find the sweet spot between working weights and reps, you will notice that the pre-fatigue tactic reduces stress on your joints and allows you to do things that were previously out of reach. Athletes who have been injured use pre-fatigue to get to the point of denying squats and other heavy lifting exercises with less weight than if they squatted at the start of the workout.

Pre-fatigue quads training tips

• Don’t confuse pre-fatigue with warm-up. You still need to warm up and do a few light sets before your work sets.
  
  
• To turn the workout into a backside session, instead of extending, do a leg curl in the machine first. Alternatively, you can use a cable pull or leg abduction on the lower block.
  
  
• To fatigue the target muscle more, add a couple more sets to the first exercise. For example, at the beginning of your workout, do 6 sets of leg extensions.
  
  
• Continue the workout with a variety of multi-joint movements. As fatigue builds up in your legs, it will become more difficult for you to maintain technique and balance the projectile. Don’t be afraid to unload the bar and switch to machines or Smith instead of free weights. Since your legs are already tired, you will not be able to handle your usual working weight.
  
  
• Choose working weights that allow you to reach muscle failure within the intended rep range.

Pre-fatigue quads workout

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