Hassan Mostafa Builds Tree Trunk Legs During Off-Season Training

Hassan Mostafa is making the most of his time to make up for the time lost in 2022 due to health concerns. Mostafa is an Egyptian professional bodybuilder that made his debut at the 2019 Indy Pro in the Men’s Open division. He achieved a podium finish and scored a third place at the show. Mostafa became the talk of the town following this show as fans and critics praised the insane conditioning and muscularity in his physique. Following a couple of respectable performances at the 2020 Tampa Pro and the 2020 New York Pro, Mostafa had to sit on the sidelines due to health issues that stopped him from training. However, he made a solid comeback in 2021 and competed a whopping seven times, scoring multiple top three finishes. The scores earned him a qualification to the 2021 Olympia where Mostafa finished in the top 15.

2022 was the most successful competitive season of the Egyptian bodybuilder’s career as he took home the 2022 Puerto Rico Pro and the 2022 Orlando Pro trophies, earning a direct qualification to the 2022 Mr. Olympia. Hassan looked extremely impressive in his physique updates leading up to the 2022 Olympia. But unfortunately, he had to pull out of the show due to health concerns. Mostafa announced the decision in a YouTube video and stated that he had chosen to pull out of the show in favor of his long-term health and career.

With his health getting back on track, Hassan Mostafa is now back in the gym and he is in the middle of his off-season diet and training routine. Recently, Mostafa went through an intense leg training session in the gym and posted the video of the workout on his YouTube channel. So without further delay, let’s take a closer look at the detailed account of this training session.

Hassan Mustafa goes through a leg workout

Quads were the primary focus of this lower body workout. Hassan Mostafa kept the volume high and performed 5 to 6 sets of every exercise and each set comprised 8 to 12 reps.

“Of course it is important to lift as heavy as possible but it’s important to lift right and use proper form,” Mostafa said before starting the workout.

The Egyptian Tank followed the pyramid technique during this workout which means doing the sets of exercises with incrementally heavier weights.

Leg Extensions

Mostafa started the training session with this quad isolation movement. Leg extensions are an effective exercise to warm up the target muscles. However, they can be harsh on the knees if done irresponsibly. The 2022 Orlando Pro winner performed a few solid sets of the movement with slow and controlled motion. He then spoke about his approach to training.

“The goal is not to reach a certain number of reps. The goal here is to feel the right muscle contract.” 

Mostafa further stated that focusing too much on hitting a certain number of reps should not be the goal and you should concentrate on following the correct technique in every rep.

“Once you reach failure and execute the exercise correctly, you can then look to increase reps and weight. But as long as long as it’s done correctly,” He added.

With that, Hassan Mostafa jumped into the next quad exercise.

Smith Machine Squats

Mostafa next took to the first heavy compound movement of the day – the Smith Machine squats. The machine not only offers all the benefits that a barbell squat does but also greatly reduces the chances of a training injury. The weights on the Smith Machine move along a fixed trajectory. This eliminates the need to control them. As a result, a person can train heavily without having to risk an injury. The Egyptian Tank executed every rep of this exercise with slow and controlled motion to really focus on the movement and keep the muscles under tension for a longer time.

“I did a 3-second count going down and a 3-second count going up… Really slow… This makes the movement harder,” Mostafa said.

Mostafa candidly spoke about a typical gym-goer’s mentality after finishing all the sets of Smith Machine squats. He stated that many people tend to get frustrated when they cannot lift incrementally heavy weights weeks after weeks. But according to Mostafa, it is absolutely normal to take a dip every now and then as it solely depends upon all the energy you spend  in doing other activities outside the gym. So as long as you’re making progress in the long-term, there is no need to bother if you find yourself lifting a little bit less than you did the past week.

Hack Squats

Hassan Mostafa next took to the hack squats to fire up the quads further. Hack squats primarily focus on quadriceps but they also activate the glutes and hamstrings. However, those two muscles take a supporting role in this compound movement. Additionally, the spinal compression is greatly reduced as the back is supported against the pad. Therefore the hack squats are a lot less stressful on the lower back compared to regular squats.

The 2022 Puerto Rico Pro winner pushed through a few solid sets of hack squats and jumped into another compound movement.

Pendulum Squats

This compound movement targets all the major muscle groups like quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes in the lower body. Additionally, it is also a lower back friendly variation of squats. With different foot placements, pendulum squats can be made more quads or hamstrings-focused. Mostafa cranked out a few good sets of the movement and took to the final exercise of the day.

Leg Press

The Egyptian bodybuilder performed some heavy sets of leg presses to add the last bit of stimulus to his quadriceps. Following this, he put some adductor and abductor muscle work in.

Hip Adduction and Hip Abduction Machine

Adductors are a group of muscles in the thigh region that help bring together (adduct) the legs. On the other hand, abductors are the group that helps move the legs away from each other. Hassan Mostafa worked these muscles on the machine to cap the training session and called it a day in the gym.

Overall, Hassan Mostafa’s quad workout included:

• Leg Extensions
• Smith Machine Squats
• Hack Squats
• Pendulum Squats
• Leg Press
• Hip Adduction Machine
• Hip Abduction Machine

The Men’s Open division has developed into one of the deepest talent pools across the sport with a great mix of established veterans, young contenders, and hungry up-and-coming prospects. Hassan Mostafa has all the tools to be a successful competitor. If he maintains the intensity and focuses in his diet and training, the Egyptian Tank can surprise a lot of onlookers when he returns to the stage.

You can watch the full workout video here, courtesy of Hassan Mostafa’s personal YouTube channel:

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