Wheels of Steel!

By Joe DeAngelis

Isn’t it marvelous how some trainers only have to look at the rack in order to sprout inches on the thighs, while others who spend half their lives under a squat bar only end up with painful quads. Whichever type you are check this routine out. It belongs to Joe DeAngelis, a man who has known both slow gains and "Wheels of Steel!"

First off, I’ll just admit that no part of my body ever grew easily! In fact, when I hear about a guy like Jay Cutler who can grow from doing 3 sets of extensions, you can imagine that I am impressed. I grew up being impressed with muscularity in general because I was a real fat little kid. AT 14 I tipped the scales at 200 pounds. And just to put perspective on it, I was in no way a 200-pounder ready to enter his first NPC competition.

When I got the idea to begin working out, I wanted to shed those extra pounds and get into the sort of shape I had always dreamed about. So I bought my first workout book and headed down to the basement. Luckily this book emphasized squatting almost more than any other exercise, and I began the love affair that still endures to this day. I love to squat. I think I squat deeper than any human being on the face of the earth, I mean, my squats are the kind where my butt is pushing my heels into the floor.

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t enjoy the prospect of squatting. The night before a leg workout I begin to get a sick feeling in my stomach, and the thought of enduring such sickening stress is almost more than I can take. About five minutes before a workout is the most dreadful, dark time I can imagine. I am really feeling sick, and I’m thinking: "oh my God! I’m back here again!" It’s the most incredibly sinking feeling. I feel as though I could puck and climb Mount Everest at the same time. Then, five minutes after I squat, I experience quite possibly the most exhilarating feeling in the entire world because it’s over and I’ve accomplished this straining, painful, exhausting punishment called squats.

When I began squatting I’d go heavy for high repetitions. Thinking back, I’m almost frightened to remember the sort of workout I did. But I got results, and that’s why I continue to believe squats are the mainstay of all good leg workouts. When I finally got to the point where I had enough development in my upper body, I still had some weaknesses in my legs. My quads had come up through squatting, but my hamstrings sorely lacked size.

The most productive workout I did to correct this imbalance was one that prioritized my hamstrings. I did leg curls first, full squats second, and straight-leg deadlifts last. This routine brought my hams up tremendously, and they actually became my strongest body part. When I competed and won the NPC Iron Man this past December, the judges even said I could stand to bring my quads up a bit. While this criticism probably wasn’t great to hear in some ways, I certainly got satisfaction from the knowledge that my quads had finally been eclipsed by my hamstrings. That was a welcome change!

In the beginning my form on most exercises was poor. It was all about lifting a heavy weight rather than working a muscle thoroughly. Then I started working out in Jersey at this guy Kenny Castagnoli’s gym. It was sort of a private gym, and I was training with guys who were older than me and certainly more developed. I knew I had to clean up my act in terms of form because I didn’t want to look like a fool in front of them. In the process of improving my form, I also started decreasing the weight and squatting much deeper. I remembered thinking, "If I squat deep, no one can say I didn’t get a squat at that particular weight." So that’s why I continue to do deep squats today.

I believe in forging a relationship between mind and muscle. When I approach a weight, while I’m thinking ‘intensity,’ I’m also thinking ‘meticulous.’ I maintain impeccable form while working out with the intensity of an animal. I think that’s the one component that gets lost in the shuffle when people talk about a mind/muscle connection. The meticulous part is three, and the thinking is there, but the intensity is lacking.

When I train legs, I focus on the sweep and outer/lower heads of the quads. While I’m thinking size, I’m always thinking about balance too. I think balance is the key to almost everything relating to how the physique looks and how you train it. At various times during my bodybuilding career I have altered my training, constantly trying to do one more repetition for each weight I use. I might try to add five pounds onto each workout so that I can keep upping the ante in resistance. That doesn't mean I simultaneously add repetitions and weight each set. I simply try to improve all the time. I want to master what I’m doing at each weight.

I never wear a belt and never use knee warps for squats or leg presses.

I used to when I started training, and they just made my back and knees weak. I bound that giving up the belt strengthened my lower back, and my joints became stronger when I left the knee wraps behind. I don’t keep a written workout record. I keep a mental one. Mentally I always keep abreast of what I’ve done the last time and the time before that. The only people who actually keep records are skinny guys who race around the gym with their workout spiral and record useless weight figures that don’t ever seem to alter their physique!

I usually do about 3 or 4 sets per exercise for legs. I rep out per exercise for legs. I rep out between 10 and 15 each set, always trying to push myself to do one more based on my theory that progressive resistance produces progressive results. I order the exercise much differently from most people because I believe that taking the more difficult path challenges my muscles. That approach makes sense to me. I never do anything but straight sets. I don’t superset or drop set or do pyramid sets. I just stick to straight sets and that seems to do the trick.

Leg Curls-I start with leg curls because that’s what has been successful for me in the past few years. They work the area of my legs that used to lag behind my quads. Even though my hamstrings are well developed today, I still do leg curls first to make sure my quads don’t ever overpower them again. Besides you can never have hamstrings that are too big. This is another reason I prioritize them. When I work my hams in this exercise, I try hard to immobilize my hips so that my hams are the only part moving below my waist. I do this by propping my upper body up on my elbows and pressing my pelvis into the pads. I also try to relax my feet. This is very difficult to do because we are all used to either flexing or extending our feet. AT the top of the movement I flex as hard as I possibly can without lifting my hips of the pad. The style is almost like doing a concentration curl for the leg biceps. At least that’s how I look at it.

4 x 15 –20 (I do the most repetitions in my initial exercise for each part of the leg.)

Squats - Squats are my nemesis, but they are also the lifeblood of my entire leg program. That’s because I’ve gotten more out of squats than any other exercise for any other body part. One of the reasons squats have been so effective for me is that fact that I do full squats. My but touches my calves and heels, almost pushing my heels to the floor. I try to do the entire movement in a fluid manner (which is difficult to achieve when you’re squatting fully), keeping my chest up, my back flat and my eyes either forward or slightly upward to maintain my balance. I also keep my hips and butt tight as I lower myself with the weight. That’s important for keeping the torso from buckling under the pressure.

One time I wanted to rep out with squats and time myself to see how long it would take. I loaded the bar with four plates on each side (405 pounds) and did 41 reps! I think, if I remember correctly, the set took me six minutes and 50 seconds - full squats in impeccable form. At one point I was doing something like one rep every 15 seconds.

4 x 10 – 15 full squats

Sissy Squats – I absolutely love doing sissy squats on what’s called a "sissy bench." I got indoctrinated into this exercise with Ritchie Baretta. He taught me the sensation of business my quads to the ground and personally I really feel this is what makes a leg attractive. I helps with separation, shapes the outer sweep, and lends detail to the side of the leg that is hard to get otherwise. Typically I flex at the top of the movement and do a full squat at the bottom. You have to be careful to watch the knees because of the immobilization of the ankles. You can easily tear the ligaments around the knee joint, so you must be deliberate and slow with the movements on this one. This is a quad exercise pure and simple, and it works everything from the hip flexors down to the tear-drops over the knees. I often do front squats with a barbell, but only using a light-weight.

3 x 15 – 20 9high reps, either weightless or using a light barbell)

Leg Presses – I do leg presses only when I am not doing squats. I deadlift heavy, so to preserve my back , at times I substitute leg presses for squats before a deadlift workout. I believe leg presses are much less taxing than squats, so doing them isn’t an apples-to-apples substitution. However, they are much easier on the back. I hate unloading a leg-press machine when it’s had 14 plates piled on it! It’s a drag and a waste of time. But I will concede that when I do leg presses, I definitely feel them and see them as effective, provided I vary my foot positions and bring the weight all the way down to simulate a full squat. I try to avoid "Venice-style reps." A VSR occurs when a guy loads up the machine with more than a dozen plates and brings the weight down about a third of the way. He reps out a 2 and then take long rest. I have been experimenting with half reps, or reps that aren’t as deep as I would normally go. I see pros like Flex Wheeler and Chris Cormier doing them and I think, ‘Hmmm...maybe there’s something to those.’ On the other hand, maybe half-reps work for them because they’re genetic freaks. Who knows?

4 x 10 – 15 either full or half-reps

Stiff-Leg Deadlifts – I do these up on a deadlift platform, but I also elevate my toes to make them more difficult. I keep my legs hyper extended back so that there is no bend in the knees. My butt is way back and out and my back is flat. I lower the bar to my toes, keeping my back as flat as possible as far as I can. That’s difficult because the hips lock at a certain point, forcing the back to buckle slightly. Sometimes I bend my knees to do stiff-leg deads. I certainly recommend this technique to the average person because it’s much safer.

3 x 15-20 (with straight legs or a slight bend in the knees)

Precontest Extras

Lunges – When I’m getting ready for a competition, I do lunges. I save these for that time because I want to have something extra for shape that my legs aren’t accustomed to doing. I always do lunges on a block, extending my leg forward and up onto a platform for an extra stretch. I feel this style supports the knee better. I hold a barbell behind my neck and lunge either one leg at a time or alternate legs. I also vary my step, taking either large lunges or smaller steps. When I want to work more on the gluts and hams, as opposed to the quads, I take larger steps. When I want to work more on the glutes and hams, as opposed to the quads, I take larger steps. I try to keep my stomach tight throughout this movement because you lunge forward, particularly up onto a block. I keep thinking ‘back tight’ because I’m holding weight while stepping forward.

4 x 15 (each leg)

Since legs are the largest muscle group in the body, I try to work them as completely as possible. That’s why I do full squats. The legs are a complex grouping of muscle requiring a great deal of effort to make them respond. Using just one exercise or stimulus isn’t enough. At times, instead of using four exercises, I choose six, do one warm-up set for each, and then one set of each – as heavy as possible – for 30, 40, 50 repetitions. Or I may just do a 50-rep set of squats after a few warm-up sets. Either way the legs need a lot of volume or a lot of intensity. Sometimes doing both can be equally rewarding. Whatever the case, you have to get creative and work your legs like there’s no tomorrow!