Thanks for the great insight, man. I think 5-3-1 would be a perfect supplement for the upper body.
I did the Hungarian Oak Leg Blast today, the first workout (the 2-minute version). Man, that was seriously tough! I was only using 65 pounds, but my heart was racing like crazy, and the lactic acid buildup in my legs was insane. The leg extensions were super hard, too, with that squeeze at the most contracted position after the leg pump had already developed from the squats. I can absolutely see why, if you apply progressive overload over time, this workout will get you some insane legs! It should also help with cardio/endurance.
I think I’ll be sticking with this for a while. My only thought is: how do you think you should scale once you reach the maximum time – just increase the weight and go back to 2 minutes?
Glad you liked it! I need to give it a shot one of these days.
I really don’t know what you’d do afterwards - the guy in the article squatted 135, which was 30% of his 1RM (so 405). So yeah, you could probably just use the 30% of your new 1RM, which I’m sure will increase after several weeks of this, even though it’s not a dedicated strength program. Your upper body is looking pretty good right now, so maybe you would want to run this 2-3 times just to get your legs to catch up.
Or, what I’d like to do someday, is just switch between really “bodybuilding” focused programs like this and 5/3/1. Spend some time getting stronger, then spend a little while doing higher reps for some hypertrophy and just rotate between the 2.
Maybe you could do what you’re doing right now, and do this for legs and 5/3/1 for upper body, then do 5/3/1 for your squat and deadlift and some really high volume for your upper body. Just keep rotating your focus.
If you stick with this program, definitely come back with some after photos! I’d really like to see what the results look like on a real person.
Oh, and by
do you mean the bodyweight leg extensions from that Paul Carter article?
Dude, definitely give it a shot. I’d love to hear what you think, as I know this isn’t the most popular program but it seems very, very promising. I’m already excited for (and simultaneously dreading) the next run-through! This workout is both fun and terrible.
I really like the idea of emphasizing lower-body hypertrophy 2-3 days a week and working on strength for the upper body as I try to balance out. I think I’ll be blending this program with 5-3-1, like you suggested, doing the bench and press workouts. The only thing that’d be missing in that case is some type of pull workout (e.g. rows or pullups), but I believe that should be covered by the assistance work.
No question, my man – I’ve got you! I’ll also be measuring my legs and taking before/after photos of them for the first time. I’ve never emphasized them before, so I’m fired up. This will be the Fall of Wheels. Time to train them like a maniac and eat heavy (but not too heavy – not trying to get fat!).
I was actually referring to the leg extensions from the Hungarian Oak program, the second exercise, which follows the squats. The leg curls were tough, too, but those high-rep extensions with the squeeze were just as hard as the squats – if not even harder!
You probably have a super back dominant squat and deadlift. That is the only explanation I can think of for your lagging legs. You need to really focus on staying upright during squats, and driving with the legs and using your glutes to lock out your deadlifts. It might mean dropping the weight but who cares.