Leg Press personal best

[drscott]

[skip this boring entry!]

Leg day at the gym. Warmup with the leg press at 540# 15.15.15, then 630# 16, 760# 16.16.16.16.16. Record (go me!) -- though my legs aren't any bigger since 100# ago.

Then it's some leg extensions (255# 16.16.16), leg curls (105# 15.14.12), various piddly abductor and adductor things...... then a little cardio at the end to oxygenate everything.

I only do legs twice a month, with the second set centered around barbell squats, c. 245#. Total weight lifted for squats is the weight of the bar plus your body weight, so about 420# in this case, while the press, since it's at a 45 degree angle, is 760# / sqrt(2) or 540# (actually slightly more because of the unknown weight of the sled.) Yet the squat is much more draining, presumably since more degrees of freedom in motion means more energy expended to control posture and keep the back straight.

Comments

She's got Leeegggggggss!

[heypyro.livejournal.com]

I have never worked my legs at the gym, however I have great calves and thighs. I played "soccer" and rugby as a kid back in the U.K. and indoor soccer when I moved to the U.S. When I talk to people who work their legs at the gym, they can never seem to get them as big as people who played sports growing up. I don't know what the science behind the phenomena is.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

Do you remember the numbers (weight and # of reps) or do you record them as you go?

Re: She's got Leeegggggggss!

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Well, there's decent proof that bones, for example, increase in strength and density as they are stressed, and that some of that increase is permanent, so it wouldn't be surprising if continuous use of leg muscles during youth and adolescence had a permanent effect on size, added to whatever genetic component there is. Quite a few guys, especially if they do other running-about sports, have no need to work their legs. And since it's hard and doesn't directly contribute to how you look in a tight shirt, lots of guys who should don't.

There's some theorizing that hard work on core trunk muscles and legs (which together are more than 50% of your total muscle mass) increases production of growth hormone and indirectly makes it easier to add muscle everywhere. Probably true, just as a long-distance runner adaptively sheds fat and muscle where not needed to streamline the body for the most common activity.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I write everything down in code. I usually never refer to it again, but I often forget just where I am in a gradual increase and need to refer to the records. This is very helpful when you get injured or ill and have to cut back, so you can see how long it takes you to catch up with where you were.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

Hey, I didn't read the original subject line. Congratulations!