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Leg Day With Kai Greene
When Kai Greene does something, he often makes an impact and heads have been known to turn. The 2012 Mr. Olympia was an excellent example, where a dialed-in Kai Greene was a standout in the lineup and was runner-up to the champion, two-time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath. Kai has some of the best wheels in bodybuilding, and here are some of the exercises that the Greene Machine uses to build those massive pillars.
Leg Day With Kai Greene
When Kai Greene does something, he often makes an impact and heads have been known to turn. The 2012 Mr. Olympia was an excellent example, where a dialed-in Kai Greene was a standout in the lineup and was runner-up to the champion, two-time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath. Kai has some of the best wheels in bodybuilding, and here are some of the exercises that the Greene Machine uses to build those massive pillars.
KAI’S LEG WORKOUT
Kai’s workouts change all the time, but here’s a more basic workout that we’ve seen him do a few times:
1. Lying Leg Curls: 4 sets x 15-20 reps
2. Standing One-leg Curls: 4 sets x 12-15 reps
3. Stiff-leg Deadlifts: 4 sets x 15-20 reps
4. Walking Lunges: 3 sets x approximately 40 yards
5. Leg Extensions: 4 sets x 20, 15, 12, 12 reps
6. Squats: 4 sets x 20, 15, 12, 12 reps
7. Leg Press: 4 sets x 15-20 reps
WATCH & LEARN
Watching Kai train is both beautiful and frustrating. His movements are precise, contractions are hard and each rep is harmonious with the next. You can see things happening with muscles you never knew existed. The frustration comes when you try to copy his movements during your own workout, and realize that Kai’s mind-muscle connection is extraordinary. You can get there, but it takes work, focus and understanding of the goal of each movement. We can help you with that last part. Here’s a breakdown— Kai-style— of the workout that’s right here on musculardevelopment.com:
1. Lying Leg Curls
On each rep, Kai lifts his hips slightly as he contracts his hamstrings. This makes for a deeper squeeze in the hams and a much harder contraction. He adds in a momentary pause at the top and you can see his enormous hams fill with blood.
2. Standing Leg Curls (single leg)
Kai is all about visualization and this move allows him to imagine he is standing onstage squeezing his hamstrings in
rear double biceps or lat spread. Kai keeps his body completely still and only moves the working hamstring; there is no hip movement or cheating to get the weight up.3. Stiff-leg Deadlifts
Kai has a trick on this one. He stands pigeon-toed, and makes a conscious effort to keep turning his toes back in after each rep— give it a try and you’ll feel it on the first rep. You’ll also quickly understand why you don’t see Kai using a ton of weight.
4. Walking Lunges
For Kai, the challenge isn’t getting from one end to the other— the challenge is making his legs grow. With each step, he carefully plants his heel, and lunges down until his back knee touches the ground— and slowly pushes back up before taking the next step. It’s most effective to step, then lunge— rather than trying to lunge into each step and cut short the contraction.
5. Leg ExtensionsHigh reps or heavy weight? Both! Kai will do as many sets as he needs to get connected with his quads, and each set is in the range of 20 reps. The amazing thing to see is how he keeps increasing the weight, and each set looks as smooth and natural as the last. As he gets to the bottom of the weight stack and failure comes before the 20th rep, Kai will pause for a few breaths and resume the set until he reaches the magic number.
6. Squats
Kai uses the connection he has with each muscle to make squats a complete leg exercise with a glute-hamstring focus— instead of a mass-builder for his quads. Each rep is deliberate and controlled as he squeezes his glutes and tightens his hamstrings all the way down and back up.Each rep of the squat is full of opportunities to contract a different part of the leg; if you can do this effectively, you can build big legs and not just big quads.
7. Leg Press
Feet wide and high, so the quads are still working but the hams are taking some of the load. Just like squats, Kai is controlling the weight through every inch of movement and never using momentum. While many guys use the leg press to load up the weight, for Kai it’s a finishing move to add some polish to his wheels.Discuss Leg Day With Kai Greene{module [247]}
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