Mondays with Thibs: The Skinny-Legs Cure
by Christian Thibaudeau


I once saw a guy at the gym who was curling more than he was
bench pressing. Which is sad enough. But he was also bench pressing
more than he was squatting.
Unless his goal in life was to be shaped like a light bulb, or
he was a circus acrobat who'd been forced to walk on his hands
to earn a living, I can't think of any reason why he
should've been able to curl more than he could squat.
That was about a year ago. Today, that same fella has an
impressive set of wheels. Some might even say they're now his
strong point.
What happened? He made the wise decision to come to the Thibster
for a training program. He wanted to know how to build his legs
because his wife was starting to mock him. (It was the right thing
to do; who cares if it was for the wrong reason?)
So we set off on our quest for tree-trunk legs.
This is the program that led to most of his lower-body
transformation. It's not for the faint of heart, but if you're
tough enough to survive it, you will get you results.


A. Front squat / close-stance back squat / wide-stance back
squat combo
Start by doing 6 front squats. Rack the bar and immediately
switch to a close-stance back squat for 6 reps. Use the same
weight, and don't rest during the transition. Now, without
racking the bar or resting, widen your stance and do 6 more
reps.




Sets: 4
Rest: 180 seconds


B. Snatch-grip deadlift / Romanian deadlift / sumo deadlift
combo**
Start with 6 snatch-grip deadlifts. Set the bar down, change to
a clean grip (arms just outside your knees), pick it up again, and
do 6 Romanian deadlifts. Don't change the weight, and
don't rest. Set the bar down again, widen your stance, move
your arms inside your knees, grab the bar and do 6 sumo
deadlifts.
** Not everyone will be able to do these three exercises in this
sequence. Some of you, because of muscle imbalances or individual
biomechanics, will be weaker in the Romanian deadlift than you are
with the snatch grip. In that case, do the RDLs first. Always do
your weakest movement first.




Sets: 4
Rest: 180 seconds


C1. Short-step walking lunge / long-step walking lunge /
dumbbell squat combo
Grab a pair of dumbbells. Start with the short-step walking
lunges — 8 steps per leg. Without resting or even setting down the
weights, do 8 reps per leg of the long-step walking lunges. Finish
with 8 dumbbell squats. Only then can you put down the weights and
catch your breath.




Rest 120 seconds, then do C2.


C2. Leg curl, 2/1 technique
Lift the weight with both legs, hold it at the top for one
second, release one leg, and lower it for 5 seconds with the other
leg. Repeat, lowering it with the opposite leg. Do 6 reps per leg,
alternating sides on each rep.


1 | 2



1 | 2

Rest 120 seconds, then repeat C1.

Sets: 3 each of C1 and C2
Rest: 120 seconds after C1 and C2


D. Leg press
This one is fairly straightforward. Simply perform 100
continuous repetitions. Yes, you can take very short pauses during
the set, but try to avoid them as much as possible.




Sets: 1
Rest: until the next workout…


Conclusion
As you can see, this workout hits everything in your lower body
without being excessively tough on your joints and connective
tissues. Since it builds endurance strength, athletes can use it in
the early stages of an off-season program. It should be especially
effective for hockey, rugby, and soccer players, acting as an
"anatomical adaptation" stage to prepare them for heavy
lifting and power training as they get closer to their competitive
season.
And, of course, if you're a bodybuilder looking to jack up
your wheels as fast as possible, this is the program for you.


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