Sommerfeld brought the complete package to the podium at the 2025 Arnold Classic, impressing the judges with his muscle mass, definition, symmetry and fitness, but with a stacked field in front of him in March, the big man shares that one of the workouts he devised takes a back-to-basics approach. Apparently The Bad Ass’ leg day is about quality over quantity and only requires four exercises in total. “Two for hams and two for quads,” he explained.
Mike Sommerfeld’s 4-exercise leg day workout ahead of the 2026 Arnold Classic
Warm-up
Hamstrings
Quadruplets
Mike Sommerfeld’s Leg Day Strategy Explained
Sommerfeld joined other great bodybuilders Martin Fitzwater in saying he is starting leg workouts with adductor muscles to warm up his thighs and boost circulation. “I always start with adductors to warm up and get my hips going,” Sommerfeld explains. “Especially mentally and physically to lift heavier weights for the upcoming exercises.” He noted that while sitting on the machine, he pushes his back toward the pad as far as he can, to increase both the stretch and contraction as he performs his reps.
Sommerfeld’s first exercise, which uses his hamstrings, is the seated leg curl. “The reason for that is you get a great pre-stretch position just by sitting on the machine (and getting ready),” the man-mountain said. Next up is the deadlift. “Why? Because we’ve already hit the hamstrings pretty hard, and they’re getting pumped up a lot,” Sommerfeld confirmed. “Now we can stretch the s**t out of our hamstrings.”
Moving onto quads, the 2025 Arnold Men’s Classic Physique champion shared that his new favorite quad exercise is the hack squat (also called the hack press). “The reason for that is it feels so much more natural for my knees.” Sommerfeld explained that he feels virtually no pressure or pain on his knees with this squat variation. “And I can go really deep into the stretch, and I can fully concentrate on my way up, contracting my quads as hard as I can.” The Bad Ass also shared that he likes to use rest-pause sets during the hack squat, where he performs his reps toward failure, takes a short break, and then goes toward failure again. “So after I do 10 to 12 reps, I like to pause for a few seconds and then go again for another three to four reps.”
Last but not least for his legs, Sommerfeld finishes his workout with the belt squat. “The reason for that is that it’s actually so much smarter to use a belt squat, because it loads your hips, not your shoulders,” coached the champion. “With regular (back) squats you have all the load on your shoulders, and your body has to stabilize it all the way. That causes a lot of fatigue and we want to train legs, not our whole body. That’s why I opted for the belt squat, a great machine. You can hold yourself and stabilize yourself (on the platform). You can go very deep, wait a second in the extended position, and then go back up and squeeze it out.”
In terms of sets and reps, Sommerfeld explained that he does “multiple, multiple sets,” but for us mere mortals, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps will yield massive building results. By focusing on the quality of his stretches and contractions and isolating his quads and hamstrings instead of tiring the rest of his body, Mike Sommerfeld was able to present his best physique yet in March.
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