The Cutler Quad Workout

Note: Warm up thoroughly prior to your working sets. I suggest two sets of barbell presses and two sets of dumbbell side laterals, 30 reps each.

SQUATS
After my knees are warmed up, I hit a squat rack for two sets of 25-30 reps with 135 pounds. Then I use 225 for eight to 10 reps, followed by 315 for another eight to 10. Finally, I do two sets to failure, seven to 10 reps each — the first set with 405, the second with 500.

The technique I use for squatting is what you might call blue-collar smart. It’s not fancy or sophisticated. It’s just biomechanically functional enough to deliver the most power possible. My stance is normal and comfortable, with toes out slightly and chest up. I’m trying to develop each entire leg, not just the teardrop of my quads, so I don’t elevate my heels. Every rep goes all the way down, almost to the floor. You’ll never find me doing half reps on anything.

My pace is fairly quick, with explosive movements. I don’t torture myself with reps. Instead, I blast through them, tightening on the way down, then exploding off the bottom. I shock the muscles.

HACK SQUATS

I don’t do warm-ups here — no “feel” sets — just two working sets of eight or nine reps each. I position my feet high on the platform and shoulder width apart, wherever I feel the movement best hitting my teardrops. Range of motion is all the way down — very, very deep — just like my squats, exploding off the bottom.

LEG PRESSES

By the time I finish my 500-pound squat set, I’m fairly warm, so I do leg presses next. While doing this exercise, my hips are all the way back so I can get a full contraction. My feet are straight on, neither too close nor too far apart, and are planted fairly high on the platform to avoid undue knee pressure.

To get the feeling of the movement, I start with a set of 15 reps at about 70% of my max weight, then load up the apparatus for two working sets of six to eight repetitions each. Range of motion is all the way down, with my knees touching my chest. During presses, I stop just short of full lockout at the top.

DUMBBELL LUNGES

Most bodybuilders consider this a glute and hamstring exercise, but I use it to etch cuts in my upper thighs and add detail to my quads. Both qualities are very important in today’s contests.
I grab a pair of dumbbells and let them hang at my sides. I keep my head and chest up. With my upper body erect and without a warm-up, I go straight to two or three working sets of 12-15 reps.

I make sure my legs do all the work. No bouncing. I don’t worry about the amount of weight I use as long as I feel the exercise in my quads. Each lunge explodes but is very controlled and always flat-footed.

I keep my calves out of it. My quads do all the work, and I try to get as much stretch as possible in my quads and hamstrings. My original intent was for lunges to be a stretching movement, but since stretching allows the muscle to extend its weight resistance over a greater distance, this movement serves as a mass builder, too.

LEG EXTENSIONS
Finally, I return to leg extensions, but this time for three heavy sets of six to eight reps each. I want to totally burn out my thighs, so these reps are slow and consistent, not explosive.
I concentrate on the contraction. I bring the weight up to the top of the movement, hold it and squeeze. Then I lower it almost to the bottom, but not to a resting point.
I hold it again for a squeeze and continue to failure, applying constant tension all the way.

Originally featured in: Flex June, 2000
Written by: Jay Cutler
Photos by: Chris Lund