For all you leg press blokes out there....

[Times Roman]

when i leg press, ffirst thing i do is to adjust the stop so that the backs of my heels pretty close come to touching my arse with my feet at the very bottom of the foot plate. Then i slowly increase weight, trying to keep max weight to max reps of about 20. I believe that utilizing 100% full range of motion provides the best benefits to the entire leg, including the glutes.

Now the observation. I'm at the gym today. Some bloke in his 40's (i imagine) was telling his buddy that he is going for 900 lbs on the leg press today. I watch the whole thing. He gets on there, and after a brief warm up, puts the correct amount of plates on there, and does maybe three reps. He jumps off, and knuckle bumps his buddy, and proudly so.

Now let's look at what he really did. The range of motion he achieved was somewhere in the neighborhood of 12" of travel. It's not clear to me how he thinks he accomplished anything besides hit a number. He jumps off, and within a brief moment, he seems fully recovered. but when i do it the way i do my leg press, i'm sweating, breathing real hard, and it takes a good 60 seconds or more for my heart rate to recover. Respiration rate takes even longer.

So does everyone here think like me, or is there another school of thought. I ask, because at my gym, i have yet to see anyone go full range of motion, and instead, concentrate on the big numbers and the small amount of travel/range of motion.

[MuscleInk]

I saw the same thing last night. A guy loaded the machine with 5 plates a side and then proceeded to move his legs up and down 3-4 inches in rapid succession. My trainer and I looked at each other and smirked.

It's not just legs. I see this mistake often with curls. Guys pick up the heaviest dumbbell or barbell and then lift most of the weight through their back and shoulders because the don't isolate the upper section of the arm moving only the forearm and curling through the biceps.

Calves....same thing. Load the stack for standing raises and then move 2 inches up or down never achieving a full contraction.

[Times Roman]

I saw the same thing last night. A guy loaded the machine with 5 plates a side and then proceeded to move his legs up and down 3-4 inches in rapid succession. My trainer and I looked at each other and smirked.

It's not just legs. I see this mistake often with curls. Guys pick up the heaviest dumbbell or barbell and then lift most of the weight through their back and shoulders because the don't isolate the upper section of the arm moving only the forearm and curling through the biceps.

Calves....same thing. Load the stack for standing raises and then move 2 inches up or down never achieving a full contraction.

i guess i bring this up because i'm only lifting half the weight this other bloke was leg pressing. not sure why that bothered me today? pretty silly actually.

for some reason, i'm seeing ALOT of blokes in the gym doing some real shitty two arm curls. it's a combo swing and a curl. and then they don't even go to failure. when i say alot of blokes are doing it, i'm thinking upwards of maybe a third? dumbest thing i ever saw.

[MuscleInk]

i guess i bring this up because i'm only lifting half the weight this other bloke was leg pressing. not sure why that bothered me today? pretty silly actually.

for some reason, i'm seeing ALOT of blokes in the gym doing some real shitty two arm curls. it's a combo swing and a curl. and then they don't even go to failure. when i say alot of blokes are doing it, i'm thinking upwards of maybe a third? dumbest thing i ever saw.

No Roman. You are spot on. If you don't get maximal contraction with a full ROM, you don't achieve optimal outcomes. Too many young guys want to impress everyone with how much they can lift yet their technique is horrible. I saw a guy last week deadlifting way more than he could actually handle. His form was terrible and it's only a matter of time before he throws his back out.

When I lift with my trainer, if my form breaks, we've increased the weight too much and we back it off until we find the weight that gives me proper form and FULL ROM. He never lets me lift beyond proper form.

It's a valid point and critical topic.

[Sgt. Hartman]

That drives me crazy too. If people want to work out stupidly I couldn't care less, but when they do 1/4 reps and then act like bad asses like they've accomplished something it's irritating. Squats are the worst.

I've been doing single leg, leg press lately. The full range of motion is easier and I feel like I get more out of it that way. My legs are actually growing lol.

[MuscleInk]

That drives me crazy too. If people want to work out stupidly I couldn't care less, but when they do 1/4 reps and then act like bad asses like they've accomplished something it's irritating. Squats are the worst.

I've been doing single leg, leg press lately. The full range of motion is easier and I feel like I get more out of it that way. My legs are actually growing lol.

Gawd....don't get me started on squats. Most people bend, they don't squat!

Yes I've been doing a lot of single leg supersets with my leg presses. Burns my legs out and is really bringing the vascularity out!

[ironbeck]

Those ppl make me sick, i feel like embarrassing them in front of everybody by talking very loud to them and say what the **** are you doing? What the **** is the point of putting all that weight on if you are going to do half a friggin rep? you need to cut your weight in half and do full range reps because your not just not impressing anyone you look like a half hazard fool. I usually give them a look of disgust and a grin like what the F. lol

[Times Roman]

That drives me crazy too. If people want to work out stupidly I couldn't care less, but when they do 1/4 reps and then act like bad asses like they've accomplished something it's irritating. Squats are the worst.

I've been doing single leg, leg press lately. The full range of motion is easier and I feel like I get more out of it that way. My legs are actually growing lol.

Gawd....don't get me started on squats. Most people bend, they don't squat!

Yes I've been doing a lot of single leg supersets with my leg presses. Burns my legs out and is really bringing the vascularity out!

when i was in afghanistan, i was REALLY challanged by the equipment available to me. I ended up having Big5's total bodyworks 5000 shipped to me. cost $150 and $800 in shipping. at the highest elevation and all 4 bands connnected, leg press was too many reps, so ended up doing one leg leg presses for the year. yes, the legs did grow some. more noticeably, however, was the vascularity. my reps were in the 17 to 20 range, and because i was really struggling the last few reps, i strongly believe it drove not only growth but vascularity.

it's amazing how difficult it is to do one legged presses to failure. when you get off, and begin to walk, it really feels like if you are not careful, you could hit the ground.

[MuscleInk]

when i was in afghanistan, i was REALLY challanged by the equipment available to me. I ended up having Big5's total bodyworks 5000 shipped to me. cost $150 and $800 in shipping. at the highest elevation and all 4 bands connnected, leg press was too many reps, so ended up doing one leg leg presses for the year. yes, the legs did grow some. more noticeably, however, was the vascularity. my reps were in the 17 to 20 range, and because i was really struggling the last few reps, i strongly believe it drove not only growth but vascularity.

it's amazing how difficult it is to do one legged presses to failure. when you get off, and begin to walk, it really feels like if you are not careful, you could hit the ground.

Totally. Single leg is much harder and the vascularity is ahead of size growth. Pretty cool actually. I like seeing the vascularity pop more.

[ironbeck]

I was a witness to it tonight,,,a friggin joke I tell you.. also there is this guy probably like 60 not muscular who puts like 600 on and does like quater motion on his reps while pushing his knees with his hands??? I swear...thats it Im going to say something in a nice but sarcastic tone next time ...all the time!!

OH yea the one leg reps are awesome I always finish with a couple sets of those they really isolate...good stuff when done properly.

[ironbeck]

I usually never do weight that I can't do at least for 15 reps right now I end with 800 like butter I tell you knees to chest...with knees raps of course.. gotta protect my old beeeaten up multiple surgery knees//lol

[spywizard]

well... anything past 90 degrees on the knee transfers the weight to the skeletal system and thus allows the muscle to release the tension.. and if he's 40, i'd suggest he better not be going past 90 degrees for sure..

Further, once the muscle is engaged and the mitochondria is exhausted, and bursts, recovery and development of the mitochondria would be his desired goal.. if muscle fiber grown is desired, and he's 40, i'd suggest he needs to be on at least trt, and IGF supplementation to achieve that..

CNS development is also a problem, many people don't lift as much as they are capable because the CNS is not shocked nor developed, I'd suggest he is doing that as well..

thoughts??

[Times Roman]

well... anything past 90 degrees on the knee transfers the weight to the skeletal system and thus allows the muscle to release the tension.. and if he's 40, i'd suggest he better not be going past 90 degrees for sure..

Further, once the muscle is engaged and the mitochondria is exhausted, and bursts, recovery and development of the mitochondria would be his desired goal.. if muscle fiber grown is desired, and he's 40, i'd suggest he needs to be on at least trt, and IGF supplementation to achieve that..

CNS development is also a problem, many people don't lift as much as they are capable because the CNS is not shocked nor developed, I'd suggest he is doing that as well..

thoughts??

I agree with you on the 90 degree issue with squats. but for me, and leg press, all the way down to the backs of my heels, and i've never really had any issues with my knees. But again, I'm lower weight and higher reps, and therefore not pushing the 900lbs like i saw this other bloke doing.

I also agree with the CNS comment. Leg press really is difficult for me (as i suspect it is for many), and I need to push this as i know it will extend my CNS, slowly, but it will.

[ineedauser]

Typical gym nonsense. Quarter squats, shoulder press to parallel, bench to parallel, swinging curls, etc... you'll never escape it!

Single leg shit is awesome. One legged squats, reverse lunges, bulgarians... all awesome!

Helped get my vert to 36"! Up from 32".