Hell On Earth

by Brad
(Pittsburgh, PA US)

The best workout I have ever done is called Hell On Earth. It was invented by a bodybuilder named Steve Michalik and I discovered it while reading an Internet column written by someone who trained under him.

What you do is you pick a body part that you want to lift weights with. You then set up three different exercises at the same time that will hit each body part in a different way.

My best workout took place when I was 23 and decided to do this for legs. Legs hit your body very hard, because they are the largest muscle group and your body must exert a lot of energy.

For a normal exercise, I usually do 4 sets of 8 reps. I kept the sets and the reps the same, but I lowered the weight much further than what I normally do, because there is no rest for this exercise.

I set up the hack squat machine with a 45-pound weight on each side. I use the machine, because it keeps your posture straight.

Next, I went over to the leg press, and sat a pair of 100-pound weights on each side of it.

Then, I went over to the seated calf raise machine and put a pair of 25-pound weights on each side.

I turned on my Ipod and then I started. There would be a total of 12 sets and 96 reps, without any rest.

First, I started with the hack squats, then went to the leg press and then the seated calf raises.

By the time I was done, I was soaked to the bone with sweat and had to sit down for about 15 minutes fighting back the urge to throw up.

I do not recommend this workout to anybody. I was in excellent shape at the time and I do something sporadically to break through plateaus in lifting weights.

Once I was done, I had to hold on to the railing to keep from falling down the steps as I could barely walk. The next day, my thighs were screaming from soreness.