Professional bodybuilder Brett Wilkin is looking to make a statement, he took to his YouTube channel to showcase his intense leg workout. Wilkin has what it takes to compete with the biggest names in the sport, let's see the type of workouts that have landed him there.
WHO IS BRETT WILKIN?
Brett Wilkin is the real deal; the Colorado native earned his IFBB Pro league card in 2018 by winning the NPC Junior Nationals as a classic physique competitor. After two shows in 2019 (Toronto Pro and Puerto Rico Pro) as a 212 competitor, Brett decided to take a break to bulk up. He took a year off to bulk up, which helped him have his best pro placing at the 2021 Chicago Pro, coming second only to Hunter Labrada.
Brett is just getting started, though. In a month and a half, he will be competing in the 2022 Arnold Classic, set to happen on the weekend of Mar. 4-5, 2022 in Columbus, OH. He'll compete alongside 13 other athletes for one of bodybuilding's biggest titles.
Brett launched his new YouTube channel (Brett "The Butcher" Wilkin) on February 3rd, 2022, where he walks his subscribers through his workouts. With each exercise in this leg workout, he shows proper form and gives helpful insight into how he does it.
Brett Wilkin's Leg Day Workout
He starts the video talking about his reasoning for starting his channel and that he wants to document his come up in the sport. He speaks about the growth he's made since last July, you can tell that Wilkin is excited by his progress. He's been eating well so this workout will be done to the extreme. The workout begins at the six-minute and thirty-second mark.
Calf Exercises
Before rushing into quads, Brett says he needs to work his calves first. So for the first exercise of the day, he performed machine-standing calf raises, working the weight until they were heavy. Make sure to squeeze through the calves at the top of the exercise. After doing a couple of working seats at this machine, he moves on to leg press calf presses to do a couple more working sets there. The negative of each rep is done slowly, and then an explosive press & squeeze at the top.
Quad Extensions
Brett starts with some leg extensions to start off the quads and get them warmed up. He says he wants to focus more on slowing down the movement and completing the full reps as he is getting closer to his show; it helps to work on the details within the muscles. He completes a 3 second eccentric and 3-second concentric while also doing a quick hold at the top of each repetition. He wants to make sure to complete each rep and work under tension. Brett is a firm believer in pre-exhausting the quads because it makes the rest of the workout much harder.
Related: Concentric Vs Eccentric Contraction For Strength & Hypertrophy
Hack Machine Squats
After a handful of warm-up sets, Brett has seven plates per side on the machine. The goal was to 8-10 reps per set. To help assist with the lift, Brett gas a band on the top of the machine that helps him get out of the hole. Each rep was completed with a 3-second negative and control the load. The back-off sets are 21's. A 21 means 7 bottom, 7 top, and 7 full reps of the lift; if you have any energy at the end, do full reps until you're burnt out.
Smith Machine Squats
The most he has ever done on this exercise is five and a quarter plates on each side for 12-13 reps. The goal for Brett with this workout is to hit 6 plates on each side for 10-12 reps. He recommends being smart with your warm-ups; don't waste too much energy. To prevent using too much energy, do 6-8 reps per warm-up set and then grow the weight until you hit your target weight. Make sure to have a slight pause at the bottom of each rep.
Adductor Machine
Brett uses this machine for adductor work on quad and hamstring days. According to Brett, this is a great exercise to implement to help your legs look wider, which creates an overall better look.
Single Leg Hack Squats
Brett kept it quad-dominant by his foot placement on the platform and kept his reps in the 10-12 range. Wilkin pushes himself to the brink with this last exercise. He looks relieved after the training session is completed. The pump in his quads looks absolutely ridiculous and he said this has been one of his best workout sessions that he can remember.
Sample Brett Wilkin Leg Workout
The following workout is based on the one seen above. Wilkin focused much of his workout on his quads by doing elevated heel squat work and changing his body positioning. You can following his cues of trying to hit the quads more or you can complete the exercises in a standard way.- Machine standing calf raises: 2-3 sets x 10-12 reps
- Leg Press Calf Raises: 2-3 sets x 10-12 reps
- Hack Machine Squats: 3 sets x 10 reps (last set complete as 21's)
- Smith Machine Squats: 2-3 working sets x 12 reps
- Adductor Machine: 2-3 sets x 10-12 reps
- Single Leg Hack Squats: 2-3 sets x 10-12 reps
Note: Each rep should have a 3-second negative, a 1-second pause at the bottom, and then a 3-second positive. Keep rests between sets 1-2 minutes.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
This leg workout performed by Wilkin highlights a topic that's consistent with the top bodybuilders, time under tension (TUT). We encourage everyone to really focus on the muscle contraction while increasing the time under tension to get the most of your workouts. We're looking forward to March to see how Wilkin compares to the top men in the game!
Let us know if you run through the leg workout above!
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Andrew Lenau
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