Posts Tagged ‘Derrick Twum’

I hate training legs, what else can I do?

I hate training legs, what else can I do?

Hi Derrick,

I have been training for about 4 years now and I HATE training legs with a passion!….I only train them once a month and even that is a struggle.

I don’t like doing squats, leg press and I know they are major strength  builders but I just hate doing them!…is there any other alternatives or way that I can tolerate these exercises?

John Butcher

Hi John

I can’t stress enough to you just how important training legs are!
Not only are they great strength builders as you quite rightly said, but if you are looking to put on some size then training legs are detrimental to your training regime!

Training legs can be a tough ride but rather than doing set after set try spicing up your legs training regime.  Get yourself a white board and marker and make note of what exercises you will be performing and at the end of each working set make a note of what weight you pushed and how many reps. 

By doing this you are creating a history of your workout and you also have something to challenge the following legs session.

Another trick you can try is the card training regime that has ALWAYS worked well for me.  I use this system frequently on push ups and it works a treat.

Split a deck of cards evenly (after a good shuffle) and select one half.  That half you have selected will be your training challenger. 
You Your cards will be face down  to begin with. 

When you are ready, turn over the first card and perform the number of reps that the card has shown.  So if it is a 4 or spades you do 4 reps.  You then rest for 30 seconds before turning over the next card and again perform the desired number of reps.

If you get any aces or faces then that is 10 reps and if you get any jokers then that is 20 reps!

You cannot not complete a set on this training system. 
If it takes you 3 minutes to do a set of 5 reps then you carry on until you have completed the set, or the deck wins! 
(You MUST complete every set regardless of how long it takes)

I would recommend this type of training regime to be on compound exercises such as a leg press or hack squat as there are multiple muscles working at the sametime and will give you much better gains than isolation exercise.

This system is not only different but will have you coming back the following week for more! 

You would NOT do any other leg exercises after this has been done!

I hope this helps…

Derrick Twum
The Secrets of Bodybuilding 2010

The Chest & Card Workout

The Chest & Card Workout

Try this on for size the next time you are feeling a little bit bored with your chest routine, it is guaranteed to give you the pump of your life IF the cards do not stack in your favour!

You will need a full deck of cards and a training partner to do this workout effectively.

Shuffle the deck well and place them on the floor face down, you and your training partner will be either side of the cards getting ready to start this chest ripping workout!

You will turn the first card over and whatever number you get on the deck is the number of reps you must complete before you can rest.  As soon as you have successfully completed your set your partner will then turn over the next card and perform the amount of reps that are shown on the card.

Now, if you get any face card, i.e, a king, queen or ace that is 10 reps and if you get a joker that is 20 reps!  It does not matter how many times you collapse to the floor you MUST complete the set.  The longer you take the longer your training partner gets to rest!

If the cards don’t stack in your favour then this is going to be a long workout!

Enjoy….

Derrick Twum