Awesome Leg Routine – 100 Rep Squat Workout!

Yesterday I trained legs and did something totally out of the norm that I’m not accustomed to doing…

I did a 100 Rep Squat Workout!

And let me tell you I’m feeling the after effects right now… I’m literally sore right from right my ass to my ankles. (And just to make sure we’re all on the same page here, that muscle soreness was caused from the squat workout LOL) 😉

Now speaking of muscle soreness, I normally don’t get sore anymore from my workouts. Generally as you get more advanced and in better shape physically, the less muscle soreness you’ll experience. For the most part it’s only beginners who really get that deep painful muscle soreness that lasts for days.

But when you change things up and do something totally off the wall that your body isn’t used to, even advanced lifters can experience muscle soreness… Just like I am right now.

So this is how the 100 Rep Squat Workout went down…

I normally start off a leg workout with light high rep leg extensions to warm up my knees and get a pump going in my quads. Then I’ll move on to a big basic compound exercise (squats, leg press, etc) and then finish up with some isolation exercises for the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, etc.

Now yesterday I started off just like a “normal” leg workout, it began with 100 total reps of light leg extensions to warm up my legs. I do these in a rest pause fashion, so I’ll bang out 20 reps or so, rest for 10 or 20 seconds, bang out another quick set, rest pause, etc. and keep going until I get a total of 100 reps. This is great warm up for anyone who has knee problems and it also helps pre-exhaust the quads before getting into the actual workout.

Then I moved into the meat and potatoes exercise of any leg workout, the barbell squat. After several progressively heavier warm up sets I worked up to doing 5 sets of 5 reps. I really like the 5×5 rep range for big basic power moves like squats, benches, and deadlifts.

Barbell Squats
Barbell Back Squats

After the squats I thought, “Oh what the heck, I’ll do some front squats too”… So I did a couple progressively heavier warm up sets and then went ahead and did 5 sets of 5 reps of front squats. I’m normally not a big fan of doing front squats because I find it uncomfortable holding the bar across my front shoulders. But I said to myself… “Lee, don’t be a pussy, suck it up and just squat like a real man.” So I did…

Barbell Front Squats
Barbell Front Squats

With the completion of back squats and front squats I was feeling pretty good about myself! You know how you start to get that natural high once the endorphins are flowing from good old fashion hard workouts… Well that’s kind of how I was feeling at this point.

As I was walking away from the squat rack and heading over to the water fountain for a drink, I had to pass by the hack squat machine. After quenching my thirst at the fountain, the thought crossed my mind… “Why not just do an entire squat workout! The hell with doing any isolation exercises, I’m just going to do a shit load of squat variations!”

So over I went to the hack squat machine and I went through the same pattern again… Several progressively heavier warm ups and then on to 5 sets of 5 reps of hack squats.

Hack Squat Machine
Hack Squats

You’ll notice that I always do lighter warm up sets for every big basic exercise before attempting maximum weight. I even do this when I’m already in the middle of a workout and physically “warmed up”. The idea here is to get my body in the groove of doing the exercise before pushing myself with heavy weight. Chances are you’ve probably noticed in your own workouts that when doing multiple sets of an exercise that it’s usually not until the 3rd set or so that you really feel solid and “in the groove” with that exercise. So that’s why it’s important not to skip on your warm ups, they will help you get ready mentally and physically to give it your all when it’s time to do your heavy working sets.

After banging out 5×5 of the hack squat my legs were starting to feel like jelly. The muscle soreness was already setting in, and I hadn’t even left the gym yet!

I stopped for a few minutes to rest and review what I’ve done thus far in my leg workout…
-> 5 sets of 5 reps of barbell back squats.
-> 5 sets of 5 reps of barbell front squats.
-> 5 sets of 5 reps of hack squats.
That’s 75 heavy working reps of squats!

That is quite an intense leg training session right there… But I thought to myself,
“Why not go all out and make it an even 100 Rep Squat Workout?!”.

I started scanning the gym and looking for another squat variation that I could do…
I could use the smith machine, but that would basically just be repeating what I’ve already done with a barbell… I could do some sort of box squat variation, but honestly at this stage of the workout the thought of getting under the bar again wasn’t that appealing. I mean I was getting tired…

But I still wanted to hit that magic 100 rep squat workout. If nothing else it would give me some sort of weird satisfaction of having done 100 squats, and I could even write up silly blog post about the whole thing and you would probably take the time to read about it on the Internet *wink* 😉

While I was thinking it over and catching my second wind during the little rest break. I decided to finish off with Jump Squats! Doing some explosive plyometrics would provide totally different muscle stimulation than the exercises I’ve done so far, but I would complement the workout nicely. The cool thing about plyometric exercises like jump squats is that you can exert 100% maximum effort with every single rep. After all you explode up and literally jump as high as you can!

Bodyweight Jump Squats
Bodyweight Jump Squats

So to finish off the squat workout and get my 100 total reps I did 5 sets of 5 reps of jump squats. But I didn’t just bang them out as quickly as I could, instead I took my time resting at least 2 minutes in between each set so I could really exert every last bit of strength and power that I had left in my legs at that point. It was an awesome finisher to my awesome leg routine!

In fact I’ve posted up a quick YouTube video of the Jump Squats that I did during this exact workout below:

Click Here To Subscribe To My YouTube Video Channel.

Click Here To Subscribe To My YouTube Channel

So to recap the workout…
Start off with 100 reps of light leg extensions done in a rest pause fashion to warm up the knees.

Then do the following exercises, making sure to do as many progressively heavier warm ups as you need before lifting your top working weight.

Barbell Back Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps
Barbell Front Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps
Hack Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps
Jump Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps

That’s a total of 100 reps for an absolute leg trashing muscle blasting workout!

If you’d like some other killer leg workout routine. I’d highly recommend that you try
the “Blast Your Squat” program.

Blast Your Squat Program

This is an extra bonus workout that is included for FREE when you pick up a copy of my “Blast Your Bench” program. This is an awesome routine for making rapid fast strength gains. In fact a lot of guys who have already followed this program have gained as much as 50 pounds to their max squat with just a single cycle through this workout.

For more information and to get your copy, just visit: http://www.BlastYourBench.com

About The Author

leehayward

Lee Hayward is a former competitive bodybuilder and muscle building coach who has been online coaching people since 1997. His work has been featured in several international magazines such as: FLEX, Muscle Insider, Muscle Mag International, Testosterone, Ironmag, and Forbes. Lee's main focus right now is with helping men over 40 - who don't want to be fat anymore - lose the gut, build muscle, and get back in shape. If you're ready to "Start Again" for the last time and finally build a lean healthy body that you can be proud of, just e-mail Lee to discuss a realistic action plan that's right for you... lee@leehayward.com

15 Comments

  • Dave

    What a great tip. I’ve been using 100 as a goal for a set of body weight squats for awhile. I usually have to break it into 4 or 5 sets. They definitely stimulate the quads that way. But this way looks like I’d have trouble even walking after a good set of them broken down like this.

  • johnny moncion

    Hey guys, I will make very simple Ian trying to get big and I want to see if you can give me a routine. so when I go to the gym i will know what to do without be wondering what to do. By the way I whey 160 and Iam 29 years of age but I dont gain so please help me out to accomplish my goal. Thanks .

  • sixtysomething

    Great tip!
    I think my funeral is next Saturday.
    Just kidding!!

  • Mars (from the Phils)

    I will try that on my next workout. Definitely something different to stimulate my leg muscles.
    Thanks for the tip.

  • johnny moncion:
    Hey guys, I will make very simple Ian trying to get big and I want to see if you can give me a routine. so when I go to the gym i will know what to do without be wondering what to do. By the way I whey 160 and Iam 29 years of age but I dont gain so please help me out to accomplish my goal. Thanks .

    =============

    You should sign up for the Total Fitness Bodybuilding “Inner Circle” Program at:
    http://www.TotalFitnessBodybuilding.com

    This is where I help coach people directly with reaching their personal fitness goals.

  • stratt

    Now you got me scared to do this exercise Lee i’m afraid to jump and won’t come back down?any alternates to this exercise lee?

  • great tip i have seen a guy doing this at the gym i use and was wondering what the heck he was at but after watching the video and then trying this out myself i fully understand why he was doing it my legs never felt as sore but i must admit i felt good after coz i knew my legs had been shocked to bits

  • Nathan

    wow lee thats as high as you can jump? lol just kidding man good workout. builds all kinds of explosiveness

  • Sandra

    try jumping in the front squat position! 🙂

  • Dan

    Everyone is only secure! EVERYONE IS SECURE!! There is only security!!-fact

  • Kitra

    The Jump Squats at the end are definately a killer finisher. I like to do them from the floor to the top of a step (one foot on either side of the step – straddle). A little extra adductor blast….and when you feel you can’t possibly do another one, step down and then squat jump up for a few more reps!

  • Ismail

    Well, there is a lot of variation that i actually can create with squat and i never thought about this before. Looks great and I will be implementing this into my workout schedule. Maybe i should reduce the number of reps to make it easy for me to follow as i am new to this. Looking forward into it, thanks .

  • David Nicholls

    I am a retired 66 year old working out in Pattaya Thailand .I do squats starting off 40 kg 3 sets x8 Increase to 60 kg 3×8 reps and 80 kg 3 x8 and y 100kg 3 sets x8 and 120 kg 3 sets 8 and 125 3 sets x8 .its on the smith Machine so I don’t count the weight of the bar as it’s not that much .I usually work my way same backwards .so end up doing many reps .I go most of the way down and takes !e close to a hour to complete .I do this once every 4 days and get tender Knee caps but usually pain gone after 4 days to repeat .do you think I am overdoing this .Im 106 kilo and 5 ft 11 tall
    I think I can possible go more weight another 15 kilo but guys are saying I might over do it at my age .What do you think .
    David Pattaya .From Australia

  • David Nicholls

    I can’t seem to get on to this post .

  • Ricky

    I recently started doing 100 rep workout last week. I use an interval timer to make me honest in my workout and not spend too much time resting. My plan was to do 10×10 135lb squats, followed by 10×10 180lb leg presses, then 10×10 50lb standing hamstring curls and finish with 5×20 260lb seated calf presses.

    During my first time, I completed the squats and leg press okay, but I could only do about 30 reps of hamstring curls. And I did managed to do finish the 100 calf presses. I was so sore the next 3 days and I thought the only way to get rid of this soreness was to do the workout again.

    My goal is to gain mass on my chicken legs by hitting this routine 2x/week. I don’t have sprinters’ massive thighs yet but I’ll continue this routine for legs for at least 3 months and see how much I gain.