Jose Raymond and Aaron Clark on Building Big Wheels | IFBB Ferrigno Legacy 2017
Legs 101 - Jose & Aaron On Building Big Wheels
IFBB Ferrigno Legacy 2017
Jose Raymond is one of the founding fathers of the 212 division and a seasoned IFBB Pro League veteran with nearly a decade in the big leagues, as well as nearly a quarter century of competing overall. Aaron Clark is 14 years younger and still a relative newcomer to the pro ranks. To put things in perspective, this will be Aaron’s eighth pro show. It will be number 40 for Jose. Jose is an Arnold Classic 212 champion and a perennial top five shoo-in at the 212 Mr. Olympia, while Clark has yet to crack the top five yet in his two outings. Yet both men will be out of their element this coming weekend at the Ferrigno Legacy Pro, competing in the open class rather than the 212. Jose has ventured into the open seas once before, placing second place at the 2015 Phoenix Pro. This will be the open debut for Aaron Clark, who has not been onstage for just over two years now. He was last seen at the 2015 212 Mr. Olympia, and since then has been in off-season mode to grow into the open ranks and be able to compare to any man who dares to enter. Which of the two men will fare better? That remains to be seen.
Both Jose and Aaron own some freaky wheels. In May 2013, MD brought them together at Bev and Steve’s Powerhouse Gym the day after the New York Pro to slam quads and hams and talk all about how they got those monster legs.
RH: Jose, you were a maniac with the leg training as a kid, weren’t you?
JR: In the early years I trained with my older brother Tito, and our leg workouts were crazy. We would warm up with a couple of sets of leg extensions and then slap three plates on the squat bar. I would do three sets with 315 for 25-30 reps. At my first show when I was 18, the 1993 NPC New England where I won a pretty big teenage class, I was all arms and legs. My legs were even more overwhelming then because my torso hadn’t filled out. Everybody was commenting on them.
RH: And you were playing football all through high school and college too, right?
JR: I was the shortest guy on the team at Plymouth State in New Hampshire, but I was pretty good as a running back. I weighed 195 pounds and my training was all basics: squats, deadlifts, bench presses, power cleans. I really hardly ever used machines in my workouts at all until I graduated.
RH: Aaron, tell me a little bit about your early leg training and results, and how your leg training has changed as time went on.
AC: In my first couple of years, I was trying to be Ronnie Coleman. I saw him in his video squatting 800 pounds, and I thought I would get huge legs using super heavy weights too. I got up to doing over 600 pounds for deep reps on the squat, but gradually I started to realize that there might be other ways to go about it. I changed things up and began using more volume and intensity techniques like supersets, really aiming more for time under tension and stimulating the fibers instead of just blasting up a ton of weight. Look at a guy like Kai Greene. He’s got some of the freakiest legs in the business. They’re like alien legs! He hits the legs from every angle and he’s all about focus and squeezing. I had dinner with Jay Cutler after a show in Missouri, and he told me that he hasn’t squatted more than 405 since he was a teenager. I was telling him how heavy I was squatting, and he said: “Don’t be stupid, you’re gonna wreck your back and your knees— there is no trophy in bodybuilding for a 700-pound squat, anyway.” At that point I was already dealing with nerve issues in my lower back near the sacrum. Long story short, since I made those changes my legs have improved by leaps and bounds. I used to hear how my upper body dominated my physique, but I don’t hear that anymore.
RH: Jose, how would you say your leg training has changed and evolved over the years? What do you do differently now?
JR: I do a lot more shaping exercises, and a lot more contracting and squeezing than I used to. Back in the day it was all about how much weight I could lift and for how many reps. That’s how I built the mass, but now what I need is a lot more separation and detail. Everything could always be bigger, but for me condition and detail is what I have to have more of.
RH: And Jose, there was a knock on your legs after the last Olympia, that they were down in size. Why did that happen, and how did you get your legs nice and freaky again?
JR: The 2012 Olympia was a failed experiment, but a great learning experience. The whole idea was to downsize my midsection and get a more streamlined look in order to beat Flex and Dave Henry at their own game. But in doing so, I lost my advantage, the freak factor. I stopped heavy squats and deadlifts, but my taper wasn’t any better. One comment after the show really got to me. Steve Blechman said, “I liked you bigger.” At the time, that made me very upset. He’s my boss; he’s supposed to be supportive, on my side! But after a while when my emotions had simmered down, it made sense to me. A true champion takes constructive criticism and makes the necessary adjustments. So I went back to what works for me, being a bull in the gym and treating every workout like it’s my last one. I got my size and fullness back. At the New York Pro, people were telling me my waist looked smaller. But it wasn’t at all. My shoulders and back were thicker and rounder and fuller, and that gave me a better taper.
RH: What would you say are the biggest mistakes bodybuilders make about leg training that keep them from ever building the biggest legs they are capable of?
JR: A lot of guys use a restricted range of motion because they worry too much about how much weight they’re using and who’s watching them do their sets. They also listen to bad advice like “don’t go too deep on squats, you’ll wreck your knees.” Everybody with great legs, from Platz to Branch to Kai, did a lot of ass-to-grass squats. And you also see tons of guys who treat their legs like an afterthought. They will spend almost two hours on chest, but on leg day they will be out of there in a half-hour. I’m pretty sure it’s a day that gets skipped a lot for any excuse possible. Hard leg training is a bitch and it wipes you out, but that’s what it takes to get the big quads and hams.
AC: I think most guys go too heavy like I did, and many of them either have no idea what a full range of motion is, or they don’t care. A lot of guys think heavy, straight sets are the best way to build the legs, but I don’t think that works for most bodybuilders, or at least not for long. Eventually you will need to start hammering the legs more creatively and going for time under tension, plenty of reps and a deep burn.
RH: Question about squats. Do you think both regular squats and front squats need to be part of any bodybuilder’s routine if he wants the best leg development possible, or could either one of them get the job done?
JR: I think if you can do both safely, you should do them. You may not have the proper mechanics for one or the other. I do one or the other every time I train legs, but I wouldn’t do both in the same workout.
AC: They’re both very effective. Which one you do more often should depend on your body type as well as your strengths and weaknesses. Jose and I both have short legs, so front squats hit our legs well. For a taller man, they might just be too awkward to ever be productive. I actually got away from them because I saw I was becoming very quad dominant, especially the teardrops. With back squats, I sit down more on my hams and hit the hams and glutes better, which is what I need at this point. Bodybuilders should probably alternate them unless they find one is delivering much better results.
RH: Jose, you never used to use knee wraps, but over the last couple of years I see you’ve started breaking them out for the heavier sets. Why is that?
JR: Two years ago I had pretty severe patellar tendinitis that lasted for about six months and hindered my performance in the gym. Since then I’ve started wrapping for my heavy sets. Better safe than sorry. I like the support and it feels good.
RH: Aaron, what about you? Where do you stand on knee wraps? And how about a weight belt?
AC: I do use knee wraps, but not in the standard way. I just wrap them under my knees, around the patellar tendon, not all around the knee for a spring effect like a powerlifter. I feel heavy compound movements put a lot of wear and tear on that tendon, so I’m trying to save it because I do go very heavy and deep on things like hacks and leg presses especially. With a belt, it depends on how I’m training. I will use a belt for anything over 405 on squats for sure, but many times I’m not going that heavy. One thing I like to do is supersets of walking lunges going right into squats. That way I’m only using 315-405, and I don’t need a belt for that.
RH: Are you happy with your legs right now, or is there some aspect you want to improve on still?
JR: I definitely want to improve them. I want deeper separations, and I want my legs bigger and fuller from every angle— 3-D legs. At the level I compete at and with the goals I have, I can’t ever be satisfied. I want nothing less than to beat the number one guy in the world, and that’s what drives me in every single workout to push myself past what I’ve done before.
RH: Aaron?
AC: As a pro, you can’t ever have legs that are too good. I’m happy with their density and separation, but I still want more thigh sweep and more hams.
Aaron’s Contest History
2008 Southern States Teen Light Heavyweight, Second
2008 Teenage Nationals Light Heavyweight, Second
2010 Maryland East Coast Classic Heavyweight and Overall Champion
2012 USA Championships Heavyweight Winner
2013 IFBB New York Pro Fourth Place, 212 Division
2014 IFBB New York Pro Winner
2014 IFBB Arnold Classic Third Place, 212
2014 IFBB Mr. Olympia Sixth Place, 212
2015 IFBB Arnold Classic Fourth Place, 212
2015 IFBB Texas Pro Second Place, 212
2015 IFBB Mr. Olympia 14th Place, 212
Jose’s Pro Record
2009 IFBB New York Pro* Eighth Place
2009 IFBB Europa Super Show Ninth Place
2009 IFBB Atlantic City Pro Second Place
2009 IFBB 202 Showdown at Mr. Olympia Sixth Place
2010 IFBB Orlando Pro Third Place
2010 IFBB New York Pro Second Place
2010 IFBB Tampa Bay Pro Winner
2010 IFBB Battle of Champions, Hartford Winner
2010 IFBB 202 Showdown at Mr. Olympia Fourth Place
2010 IFBB Sacramento Pro Second Place
2011 IFBB New York Pro Winner
2011 IFBB 202 Showdown at Mr. Olympia Third Place
2012 IFBB Optimum Classic Shreveport Winner
2012 IFBB British Grand Prix Third Place, 212
2012 IFBB New York Pro Championships Third Place, 212
2012 IFBB 212 Showdown at Olympia Fourth Place
2012 IFBB Sheru Classic, India Second Place, 212
2013 IFBB New York Pro 212 Winner
2013 IFBB Toronto Pro 212 Winner
2013 IFBB 212 Showdown at Mr. Olympia Fourth Place, 212
2013 IFBB Phoenix Pro Seventh Place, 212
2014 IFBB Arnold Classic Fifth Place, 212
2014 IFBB New Zealand Pro 212 Winner
2014 IFBB Korean Pro Second Place, 212
2014 IFBB 212 Showdown at Mr. Olympia Third Place
2014 IFBB Phoenix Pro 212 Winner
2014 Prague Pro Third Place, 212
2015 IFBB Arnold Classic 212 Winner
2015 IFBB Showdown at Mr. Olympia Second Place
2015 IFBB Korean Pro Second Place, 212
2015 IFBB Prague Pro 212 Winner
2015 IFBB Phoenix Pro Second Place
2016 IFBB Arnold Classic Second Place, 212
2016 IFBB 212 Mr. Olympia Third Place
2016 IFBB Korean Grand Prix Fourth Place
2017 IFBB Arnold Classic Third Place, 212
2017 IFBB 212 Mr. Olympia Third Place
2017 IFBB Asian Grand Prix, Korea Third Place
2017 IFBB Kuwait Pro Second Place
*All pro shows except 2015 Phoenix Pro were in the 212 division, which was limited to 202 pounds prior to 2012.
Jose’s Training Split
Sunday: Light back and chest
Monday: Heavy quads, light hams and calves
Tuesday: a.m. - Cardio, abs, posing
p.m. - Chest and triceps, 8-10 supersets of lateral raises and rear delts
Wednesday: Back and biceps
Thursday: Shoulders and abs
Friday: Heavy hams, light quads and calves
Saturday: Arms
Aaron’s Training Split
Day 1: Hamstrings and some quads
Day 2: Chest
Day 3: Arms
Day 4: Quads
Day 5: Delts
Day 6: Back
Day 7: OFF*
Off days aren’t actually scheduled, but are taken as needed. Abs and calves are typically done twice a week.
Jose Raymond
Typical Off-Season Leg Workout
Quads:
Leg Extensions 2 x 10-12, third set is a drop totaling 20-30 reps
3 x 6-10
Hack Squats 3 x 10 (warm-ups)
3 x 8-12
Barbell or Smith Lunges 3 x 12, each leg
Hams and Calves:
Single Leg Curls 3-4 x 8-12
Lying Leg Curls 3-4 x 8-12 (work up to entire stack)
Seated Leg Curls 3-4 x 8-12
Stiff-Leg Deadlifts 3-4 x 8-12
Seated Calf Raises 3-4 x 10-20*
Standing Calf Raises 3-4 x 10-20*
*Jose does the first 10 reps at a slow tempo, and the last 10 more explosively.
Aaron Clark
Typical Off-Season Leg Workout
Quads:
Leg Extensions 3 x 20-30
Jefferson Squats 3 x 10
Superset with
Leg Press 3 x 10 (up to 32 plates total)
Hack Squats 3 x 8-10
Walking Lunges 3 x 15 steps per leg
Superset with
Hams:
Lying Leg Curls 3 x 10
Glute-Ham Raises on Lat Pulldown Seat 3 x 10
Stiff-leg Deadlifts 3 x 10
Jefferson Squats 3 x 10
Superset with
Power Squat Machine (with back on pad) 3 x 10
Walking Lunges 3 x 15 steps per leg
Superset with
Jose Raymond
Aaron Clark
So that’s it. If you are unsure about whether or not you’re ready to get under those bright lights and flex your heart out, hopefully I’ve helped you answer that question.
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