Why I’m Testing a Back-and-Legs Focus for the Next 8 Weeks

After my first NPC show, the question isn’t whether I can train hard. I’ve been doing that for more than 20 years. The question is whether my training is directed at the things that will change my physique the most before I step onstage again.

For the next eight weeks, I’m testing a new split built around my back and legs. This isn’t a magic program or a promise that eight weeks will transform everything. It’s a focused experiment: give the muscles I most need to improve a better share of my time, energy and attention, then look honestly at the results.

Why change what I’m doing?

My arms and chest have been strengths. The bigger opportunity is to build more quad sweep and hamstring thickness, along with a wider, denser back and more side-delt width. Looking at stage photos and my current physique helped clarify those priorities, but garage pictures and contest photos aren’t a fair conditioning comparison. They’re a direction for the work, not proof of exactly how much muscle I need.

I’m a natural bodybuilder in my 40s, with a long training history and some muscle I’ve carried before. That makes consistency and muscle memory worth paying attention to, but it doesn’t mean I can assume a particular rate of growth. I want a plan I can train hard, recover from and evaluate, not just a split that looks impressive on paper.

The split I’ve saved in Hevy

The folder is called 8-Week Back & Legs Focus. It has five gym sessions, plus separate home routines:

• Monday (quads and side delts): leg press, hack squat and leg extensions, followed by cable laterals and a machine shoulder press. Adductor work opens the session.
• Tuesday (back width and hamstrings): weighted pull-ups, Meadows rows and straight-arm pulldowns, followed by lying curls, a Smith-machine Romanian deadlift and seated curls. Single-arm pulldowns are logged as warm-ups.
• Wednesday (no main gym session): home abs and calf work are programmed.
• Thursday (delts, chest and triceps): cable and dumbbell laterals, Smith overhead press, rear-delt work, incline bench and weighted dips. The pec-deck sets are marked as warm-ups.
• Friday (all legs): hack squats, leg extensions, standing leg curls, barbell hip thrusts and both standing and seated calf raises, with adductor work.
• Saturday (back thickness and biceps): chest-supported T-bar rows, weighted pull-ups, seated cable rows and face pulls, then curls.
• Sunday (no main gym session): posing and back stretches are scheduled at home. There are additional home abs sessions on Friday and Saturday, posing and back stretches on Tuesday and Thursday, and calf work on Monday. This is five lifting days, not a seven-day gym split. The home work is useful, but it still counts toward the recovery picture.

Why this setup makes sense for me

Legs get two distinct opportunities. Monday puts the focus on quads; Friday comes back to hack squats and extensions while adding hamstring, glute and calf work. Tuesday’s curls and hinge give my hamstrings a separate exposure. I’m looking for better training quality and progression, not simply more sets at any cost.

Back width and thickness get their own emphasis. Tuesday pairs vertical pulling with rows and straight-arm work. Saturday brings the chest-supported row and cable row forward alongside another pull-up exposure. The labels help me organize my intent; they don’t mean any single exercise grows only width or only thickness.

Side delts get attention before pressing. The plan puts laterals early on Monday and Thursday. That matters because if I want more shoulder width, I need to give those sets some energy instead of treating them as an afterthought.

The rest of my physique doesn’t disappear. Chest, arms and pressing are still in the program. They just aren’t getting first claim on every hard set while back and legs are the priorities.

What I’ll track for eight weeks

The test isn’t whether every workout leaves me wrecked. It’s whether I can repeat quality work and improve it while recovering well enough to come back.

1. Performance: loads and reps on the hack squat, Smith RDL, weighted pull-up, rows, hip thrust and presses, using consistent range and technique. Last week’s logged hack squat of 315 × 8 and seated cable row of 165 × 12 give me useful reference points, not automatic all-time PRs.
2. Execution: working sets separated from warm-ups, plus notes on range of motion and how close sets are to failure. A heavier number only matters if the reps are comparable.
3. Recovery: sleep, soreness, joint feedback and whether performance holds across sessions. Tuesday is a particularly full day; if quality drops, I’ll adjust volume rather than force every set.
4. Physique and presentation: repeat photos under similar lighting, body-weight trends, and posing practice with Daniel. Eight weeks can show a useful trend, but it won’t settle every question about muscle growth or contest readiness. If fatigue accumulates, I’ll reduce volume or take a lighter week. I’m not treating a deload date as a guarantee that I need one, or ignoring recovery because the calendar says I don’t.

The real goal

I’m not changing splits because I need novelty. I’m changing the allocation of work to match the physique I’m trying to build for my next competition.

For eight weeks, the plan is simple: prioritize the work, log it honestly, recover, pose, and see what moves. Then I’ll keep what earns its place and change what doesn’t.