Wicked Winter Wheels by Vinny Galanti OK, I have been going crazy with what to write for the first of the year, and I'm coming up with nothing. The talk of New Year's resolutions are a big topic right now, and you see the gyms filling up with new members who you hope quit by Feb 1st, because they are on their cell phone, or reading a magazine while they are on “your” machine. So I got to thinking, I need to fill out a bit more in my own physique, and need more time in the gym this off-season. I will be training for the NPC Masters Nationals this coming July 21st, and I need to bring up a few weak areas to be a serious threat at the contest. So, if I had to say I have a New Year's resolution, it would be to hammer my legs and bring them up, with more sweep, and hamstrings that hang with the best of them. I will be 40 this coming April, and after training serious for over 25 years, you can say I have had my share of aches and pains through the years. I even had knee surgery for torn cartilage, and with a damp day, a nice dull ache settles in. So for the most part, I have never been one to throw around heavy weight. No I'm not going to write about a 600lbs squat, or walking lunges with 315. Nope, I will tell you how I try to train a little smarter now that I'm a little older. Do I look like I'm about to be 40? Well, I guess that is all that matters. With having surgery on my right knee, and even having herniated disks in my lower back, L4 and L5, I have to be very careful with how I train. I have found that normal stance squats put more emphasis on my hips and lower back, and I hardly feel my quads get a pump, so I was playing with various stances, and oddly enough found that a wide stance gave me a very good pump in my inner, and even my outer quads, and never have any issues with my lower back and hips. I also have been training much slower, where I take about 4-5 seconds to lower the weight to a full stop without a bounce at the bottom, and I take about 4-5 seconds to squat back up. I work my way up to 365, and have no lower back issues the next day. I feel very powerful and more comfortable in a wide stance, where I don't have to “try” to feel my quads, I just do from the very beginning of the training session. If I were to perform even 225 with a regular shoulder width, I would a wreck, with my back banged up for the next 2-3 days. Luckily my brother-in-law is a chiropractor--every bodybuilder should have a good bone bender in the family. Here is an outline of my New Year's Leg Workout: Warm up: bike 5 min, treadmill 5 min Lying leg curls: 4 sets very slow, about 12-15 reps each set Wide stance squats (all very slow reps): 135 for 5 135 for 5 185 for 5 225 for 10 275 for 10 315 for 10 365 for 10 Walking dumbbell lunges: 3 sets, 70s x 12 reps One legged leg press (feet low on the platform): 3 sets for 20 reps with 3 45's on each side Barbell stiff-legged deadlifts: 4 sets, 185 x 12 slow reps. If you have been training a long time, or just starting out, give this slow paced training a try, and watch how pumped you get… Good luck and Happy New Year. Train Hard.