Splitting Up Your Leg Training Days.

As a beginner, I can't really make the case for having 2 distinctly different leg sessions per week.

As an intermediate or advanced lifter I definitely can.

Get a baseline of strength

As with most things, beginners are best sticking to the basics - a Squat or Squat Variation, and a Deadlift or a Deadlift variation.

Depending on a bunch of individual factors, most males can realistically run their Squat up to 225+ and their Deadlift to 315+ in the first year of training with good coaching and programming.

Notice I said most and not all. So please don't email and inform me as to why you cannot achieve these numbers. I know there are exceptions and so I'm not talking to you.

Most females can likely get to between 135-185 lbs on their Squat and 185-225 on their Deadlifts within the first year.

Again, yes I know some cannot and some can do much more. These numbers are very rough.

A basic upper/lower split

Once some basic functional strength has been established, my next step is to align the next phase of training with the client's goals.

If they are a physique-oriented athlete then usually the intermediate phase of training is a basic upper/lower split with two lower body days per week.

Lower body work is generally pretty evenly distributed between quads and hams/glutes....as up to this point, it's likely that neither are really well developed.

My usual lower-body physique template looks something like this:

An actual week of training might look like this:

This is an example set up straight out of my 4-Day Upper / Lower Hypertrophy program. (This is my recommended program for intermediate physique-oriented trainees).

When full leg days stop working

However, what happens over time is that the demands of a comprehensive leg day are simply too much drain on both time, recovery, and energy.

It's also difficult for someone to train hard enough to bring up a lagging body part in this split.

So as someone advances in strength and ability it's both necessary and normal to split things up more and more.

This is pretty common with the upper body.

It's exceedingly rare to see an actual competitive bodybuilder - enhanced or natural - train the entire upper body in a given session.

It's just not possible to dedicate enough time, energy, and effort into every single body part in a full upper session.

So athletes split things up into "Push-Pull" or Chest Days, Back Days, Arm Days, etc.

This is done for a reason.

Quad focus and hamstring focus

It's becoming more common to also see athletes splitting up Hams and Quads for the same set of reasons.

It is nearly impossible to full isolate your hamstrings from your quads in a workout and you should not try to do so.

Sessions are "Hamstring Focus" or "Quad Focus" - but really never "Hamstring/Quad ONLY."

In my KSC Method for Power-Building Program the Hamstring and Quad focus days look like this:

The simple progression

So it actually really is a simple progression:

I really can't think of a scenario where a physique-athlete would need something more or different than that basic progression.

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2 Full Lower Body Sessions Per Week, Use this:

The Baker Barbell Upper / Lower Hypertrophy - Andy Baker

1 Quad dominant, 1 Hamstring dominant session per week, Use this:

The KSC Method for Power Building - Andy Baker