Leg Training for Endurance

Most of my male clients leg press 800-1000 pounds for sets of 10-30 reps. Doesn't matter whether they are lean (A.K.A. Skinny) marathon runners, beefy rugby players, or Long Beach Grand Prix drivers.  Leg strength is not a factor of size for most people.  Its a matter of bio mechanics and understanding of how the nervous system functions.  

That can seem like a hard to believe statement until you look at decades of leg training and recognize that many people in the gym are really not training legs with the objective being strength and endurable strength.  A lot of runners feel that running is leg training.  It simply is not.  Running is practice for running or racing and it is cardio.  In fact running as a stand alone leg routine is going to weaken your overall leg strength just because that makes sense in an evolutionary human biology sort of way.  Another example is the squat.  A squat does not build great leg strength per se even though that has been considered the classic go to exercise for strength and conditioning coaches for years.  

Every time I see folks begin their leg routine in the gym with squats I feel for them.  All that effort with so little to show for absolute strength and endurance.  Think about it... How can your legs really get great strength from an exercise when you are lifting a weight that rests on top of the shoulders and is balanced by the entire spinal column.  Just not sensible.  Your Spinal alignment just will not tolerate what your legs and glutes will tolerate without injury.  In the immortal words of the first chiropractor I ever knew, SPINAL ALIGNMENT IS ALL THERE IS.  Think about that saying during every single exercise you ever do and it will likely change your gym life I'm guessing.  Before the whole world of runners and squatters go crazy on me let me say that I love running and I love what a squat does for an athlete.  Both of those examples are irreplaceable for what they offer.   My point is that if you want freakishly strong, endurable LEGS and not just a powerful squat then you may want to look at leg training a bit differently.  

So without further adieu here is a leg routine to try on for a few weeks.  Ultimately you have nothing to lose by giving it a go and everything to gain.  I do not want to run on for pages about my background or the science of neurons and all of that.  It simply will not be a good use of our time here and really my intention is not to impress you with B.S. because that is what linkedin profiles are for.  I am just going to give you a routine to try if your leg press is less than 600 pounds (including sled which is typically 100-125 pounds).  Now the caveat here is that I am talking about leg strength and endurance being the objective for this routine and NOT leg size.  Leg size happens of course but there are faster methods to build useless in sport but quite useful in body building competition leg size that does not necessarily correlate with strength or speed over ground.

The most important aspects of any routine will be the direction of training and bio mechanics.  Meaning that which order the exercises are completed in will make ALL the difference in gains.  I could write a text book on this  topic alone but for the moment just go with it and try it and you will see.  Bio mechanics meaning range of motion and form.  I cannot show this in a blog post so my suggestion is that you youtube several examples of good form and range and look for the common patterns in each speaker.  DO NOT JUST LOOK AT ONE since that trainer may be a train wreck when it comes to bio mechanics and form.  

• Warm up for ten minutes with something that uses legs
• Leg extension 4 sets by 8-12 reps
• Adductor (inner thigh) machine 3 sets by 15-20 reps 
• Leg press (inverted 45 degree not horizontal) 4 sets for 10-12 reps 
• Lunges 3 sets of 50 yards (walking) with or without weights depending on level of ability
• Any other leg day exercise you enjoy I.E. squats 3 sets 12 reps
• Straight leg calf raises 4 sets 12-15 reps 

Continue this routine for several weeks until you test out of it with a 400 pound leg press for 30 reps for women and a 600 pound leg press for 30 reps for men.  If you want to be on the 1000 pound leg press plaque then you need to continue on with this until you can do a solid set of 10 reps at a 1000 pounds for men and 700 for women including sled as I mentioned before.  This sounds like a lot but It isn't when you train with the correct direction of training, the right breathing and as always, flawless bio mechanics.  

Hamstrings and more calves are done on a different day in this routine so that is why you do not see them there.  Notice what is NOT in this routine.  Box jumps, band work and all sorts of other bosu ball and gitchamagoo extras.  Nothing wrong with any of those things but a few weeks on this routine WITH perfect form and range of motion and your leg strength will jump up and I do mean jump up like double or triple what it is for most of you right now.  I did not add box Jumps and what not because this routine is for novice to advanced gym people and box jumps etc. are for people who are at a specific point in their routines and I cannot safely assess that for you here.  I get more rehab clients from box jumps, squats and bosu balls simply because they are not strong enough to be doing ballistic or unbalanced exercises yet and so many trainers seem to be nuts about having clients balance, ball and band their way through their routines.  Folks all of those exercises I just listed will not be missed in your routine and None of that ever put an athlete in the winners circle when the foundation of strength and endurance was not seriously in place well before anyone started jumping around.  

I have trained and I do still continue to train the worlds Elite Special forces, athletes, moms, teachers, biz folks and grandmas and there is a foundational strength that will always be necessary when one wants to maximize performance and minimize injury.  Its not rocket science but it is real science and it simply isn't taught in your average gym or personal training school.

Try this routine for a few weeks and watch your running, walking and cycling improve and of course you get to be the guy or girl with the most plates on the machine in the gym who isn't doing one inch sets, using momentum and grunting and groaning like they are lifting a car off a dead cat.

As always, Decide what you stand for and lead from the front people.

John Mac