“Lean Beef Patty,” a fitness influencer who exploded on social media in 2021, and the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League bodybuilder Brett Wilkin linked up with four-time Classic Physique Olympia champ Chris Bumstead to push each other through a challenging leg workout.
They filmed their training session together, and it was published on Bumstead’s YouTube channel on April 4, 2023. Check it out below:
[Related: Frank Zane’s Advice to Competitive Bodybuilders: “Don’t Stay Peaked”]
Ascension Sets Leg Workout
Here’s a breakdown of the leg exercises Bumstead, Lean Beef Patty, and Wilkin completed:
- Machine Hip Abduction
- Machine Leg Extension
- Machine Seated Leg Curl
- Sled Leg Press
- Pendulum Squat
- Machine Lying Hamstring Curl
[Related: Watch Shaun Clarida Do FST-7 Training For the First Time with Hany Rambod]
Hip Abductions & Leg Extensions
Bumstead, Lean Beef Patty, and Wilkin started their leg workout with accessory movements. As the name suggests, machine hip abduction requires abduction of the legs — moving the legs away from the body — to engage the lower body muscles, particularly the upper glutes.
Machine leg extensions target the quadriceps. Many bodybuilders use this exercise to warm up the knee joints before performing compound movements like squats.
Seated Leg Curl
Bumstead, Lean Beef Patty, and Wilkin hit seated leg curls to engage their hamstrings. The quads contain four muscles, and the hamstrings are composed of three muscles. Therefore, it’s typically favorable to train hamstrings more often. The two muscle groups are antagonistic, meaning that while one contracts, the other lengthens. If the quadriceps are overactivated and the hamstrings are undertrained, hamstring injuries are likelier to occur.
After a few isolation exercises to engage the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and thigh muscles, the bodybuilding trio added the compound exercise, sled leg press, to their leg workout. They included ascension sets to ramp up the intensity.
View this post on Instagram
[Related: Derek Lunsford Trains Back and Biceps with Ronnie Coleman]
Sled Leg Press — Ascension Sets
According to Brett Wilkin, an ascension set is the opposite of a drop set. Rather than removing weight to continue to set, weight is added throughout the set until the lifter reaches failure.
“Bumstead and I will do five plates for 12 reps. When [Bumstead] racks [the weight], Patt and I will add a plate on each side, then he’ll do five reps [again].” Wilkin continued, “After that, he’ll rack it, then do five more reps with another plate on each side. This will continue until he can’t do it anymore.”
Pendulum Squat & Lying Hamstring Curl
Pendulum squats are done on a machine. However, compared to other machine squat variations, such as the Smith machine squat and hack squat, the pendulum squat enables a greater range of motion (e.g. more knee flexion to bias the quads). Lean Beef Patty performed drop sets on this movement.
View this post on Instagram
To finish their workout, the trio added another hamstring movement — lying hamstring curls. It requires less hip flexion than seated hamstring curls, so it’s less effective for hamstring hypertrophy. However, lying hamstring curls place less tension on the lower back than the seated alternative. A 2015 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found them to be more effective than stiff leg deadlifts for activating the hamstrings. (1)
More Bodybuilding Content
- Hunter Labrada on Mindset: “Framing Everything We Do in the Gym as a Practiced Skill”
- Derek Lunsford Trains Back and Biceps with Ronnie Coleman
- How Strong Was Dorian Yates? Breaking Down the 6-Time Mr. Olympia’s Training Style
References
- Schoenfeld, B. J., Contreras, B., Tiryaki-Sonmez, G., Wilson, J. M., Kolber, M. J., & Peterson, M. D. (2015). Regional differences in muscle activation during hamstrings exercise. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 29(1), 159–164. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000598
Featured image: @leanbeefpatty on Instagram
