Build Brutal Leg Thickness - LEG PRESS

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Build Brutal Leg Thickness6 Ways to Use the Leg Press

by John Meadows | 03/02/11

The leg press is like Olive Penderghast in the movie !"asy #! $or %or yo&

more 'lassi'ally ed&'ated meatheads (ester Prynne in !The )'arlet

*etter!+ in that her rep&tation has been s&llied perhaps &n,&stly and

disproportionately-

.or some reason leg presses are regarded as a medio're eer'ise with

little dire't appli'ation to sport- Pl&s yo& have to admit those videos o%

evered Pat obertson legpressing over a tho&sand po&nds didnt help

m&'h either $espe'ially sin'e his range o% motion was abo&t as long as an

angels hair is wide+-

(eres the bottom line- % yo&re a pro%essional athlete then its tr&e leg

presses wont have m&'h dire't 'arryover to the athleti' %ield- (owever i%

yo& ,&st want to pa'k m&s'le onto yo&r legs then the leg press is an

important tool-

(ere 'o&rtesy o% John Meadows are 4 ways to &se the leg press

e%%e'tively pl&s one bon&s method to b&ild &p those sorryass 'alves o%

yo&rs-

5y %ar my %avorite eer'ise in the world is barbell s6&ats-

Theyre the &ltimate eer'ise %or m&s'&lar hypertrophy- n %a't theyre so

good %or b&ilding leg si7e that it might be tempting %or yo& to br&sh o%% other

eer'ises that are etremely e%%e'tive and label them as !se'ond 'lass-!

)pe'i%i'ally m re%erring to the leg press- think many have also avoided

the leg press be'a&se its not nearly as !%&n'tional! as the s6&at b&t make

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no mistake it still has many 'ool hypertrophy appli'ations espe'ially %or

bodyb&ilders8

The leg press is a beast o% an eer'ise too- 9o& 'an &se this ma'hine toin%li't pain like perhaps no other- % yo&r goal is to gain m&s'le on yo&r legs

this ma'hine sho&ld be part o% yo&r regimen-

Let me first talk about what this article is NOT:

1- This is not me debating whi'h is better s6&ats or leg presses-

2- This is not me tea'hing yo& how to &se the leg press sa%ely-

3-

This is not me tea'hing yo& basi' anatomy-

:-

This is not me s&ggesting that i% yo& dont do leg presses yo&r 6&ads

will shrivel &p so they look like the pastywhite bl&eveined legs o% old g&ys

who sit aro&nd the pool in Miami-

Okay so what is this article about!

ts abo&t how yo& add si7e and thi'kness to yo&r legs &sing br&tallye%%e'tive te'hni6&es and rep s'hemes on the leg press period-

;one o% this is ro'ket s'ien'e b&t not many are willing to take their training

to this level either-

Okay so lets get going-

6 Techni"ues for #ntensity

$% The &'second descent

#nybody who has read any o% my st&%% is %amiliar with this- t isnt eno&gh to

,&st know what a 3se'ond des'ent is- #'t&ally


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=hen yo& start to do yo&r leg presses this way it will lessen the amo&nt o%

weight yo& &se to a 'ertain degree b&t as yo&r m&s'les adapt theyll get

stronger and yo&r weight will 'ome right ba'k &p e'ept now yo&ll be able

to 'ompletely 'ontrol the weight %rom start to %inish-

also %ind that peoples add&'tors thi'ken &p noti'eably when &sing this

style-

=hen yo& do these have yo&r partner 'o&nt o&t lo&d > 123- ;o matter

how tempting it is to drive &p at 2 se'onds maintain yo&r dis'ipline- Take

the %&ll 3 se'onds be%ore driving ba'k &p-

5elow is 5rad


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bit $ still want yo& %lat %ooted+ b&t keeping them 'lose and p&mping o&t

reps- The deeper these are done the more OM yo&r teardrops will get

and th&s more pain and gain-

#n important part o% doing these is ankle %leibility spe'i%i'ally as it relates

to dorsi%leion- Tony Bentil'ore wrote a sweet arti'le ons6&ats last month

where he mentioned this-

Cn%ort&nately a lot o% people la'k ankle %leibility b&t l&'kily pi'ked &p

something %rom a Tom Plat7 seminar ba'k when was a 1:yearold

teenager- (e showed &s how when yo& moved yo&r %eet down the weight

shi%ted to the balls o% yo&r %eet and yo&r heels wo&ld elevate o%% the

plat%orm-

Then we did some gentle stret'hing and lo and behold on the se'ond try

we 'o&ld easily keep p&shing with o&r heels as they stayed %lat- This basi'

prin'ipal not only applies to s6&ats b&t leg presses too-

=hat ll have people do who are tight in their ankles is to sit on a seated

leg press and let the weight o% the 'arriage $no added weight+ gently stret'h

them %or a %ew se'onds a%ter whi'h they get &p and do a %ew reps o%

standing 'al% raises- 5e 'are%&l not to &se any weight on these tho&gh as

yo&ll overstret'h and yo&ll get h&rt probably by way o% a sole&s strain or

tear- )o again remember less is more---dont overdo it8

% yo& want to get really 'ra7y like me yo& 'an 'ombine all o% the above-


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+% Bandwork

5&ying a %ew sets o% bands %rom "lite.T) is a great investment to make in

yo&r legs as theyre ama7ing at b&ilding strength and si7e in yo&r legs-*o&ie )immons has always said that i% bodyb&ilders were ballsy eno&gh to

try something di%%erent bands 'o&ld prod&'e great gains o% si7e %or 'ertain

eer'ises- agree 100E-

The other thing noti'e with bands is that they b&ild 6&ad sweep- ts kind

o% weird- dont know why this is b&t its vis&ally noti'eable in ,&st abo&t

everybody work with a%ter one 4week plan o% &sing bands on the leg

press-

The way we &se bands is to &se one set o% !monster minis! and then a%ter

a %ew weeks add a se'ond set- This makes the reps to&gh as hell- 9o&

'ant stop %ighting at any point thro&gho&t the rep-

eps are kept aro&nd F- dont like high reps on these b&t dont like to

take reps too low either- The GF rep range is where ve seen the bestres&lts-

#s mentioned like to do 4week intervals &sing bands- also really like to

p&sh progression on these-

, successful 6'week *rogram might look like this in terms of increases:

=eek 1H

:10 F D00 F DI0 F > &se 1 set o% monster minis

=eek 2H D00 F DI0 F 4:0 4 > &se 1 set o% monster minis

=eek 3H D00 F DI0 4 4:0 4 > &se 2 sets o% monster minis

=eek :H D00 F DI0 F 4:0 F > &se 2 sets o% monster minis

=eek DH DI0 4 4:0 4 4I0 4 > &se 2 sets o% monster minis

=eek 4H

4:0 F 4I0 F G:0 4 > &se 2 sets o% monster minis


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This is not &nrealisti' at all in terms o% strength gains %or most- Obvio&sly

theres a pre'eding warm &p to this as well-

=hen doing these really %ire o&t o% the hole- Train like a sprinter on these-n other words "P*O


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#n eample o% how to do this wo&ld be to do 10 reps on one leg then 10

on the other- Take a :Dse'ond break and repeat- Then be%ore yo&r 3rd set

take 40 se'onds be%ore yo&r last set o% 10- (eres some video on this one

so yo& 'an see %orm-

Bonus 0ound

1% Timed Toe Presses

=e 'ant sign o%% witho&t talking abo&t these8 % yo& have a leg press

ma'hine that allows yo& to do toe presses %or yo&r 'alves try doing these

timed- One s'heme we like to do is 3 sets o% 40se'ond straight toe

pressing-

One nonstop min&te on these will sting a bit- 9o& may have some tro&ble

walking the net day8 Benerally speaking we alternate o&r approa'h on

these pyramiding &p to a very heavy weight %or sets o% F12 one week

then doing the timed sets the %ollowing week-

# 'hallenge to yo&8

)o i% yo&ve made it to this point in the arti'le great8 #nd as a !reward!

want to o%%er a sort o% 'hallenge to yo&-


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.ree weight *eg PressH

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