Step-Ups – Leg Exercise
Main Muscle Worked: Hamstrings
Other Muscles Worked: Quadriceps, Calves, Glutes
Equipment: Barbell
Mechanics Type: Compound
Tips: Place a barbell on your shoulders like you would if you were doing Barbell Squats. Step up onto a flat bench with your left leg. Then step up with your right leg so you are now standing on the bench. Step down with your left leg, then your right leg. Repeat, starting with your right leg this time. Be careful not to fall! Use lighter weights. Can also be done with two dumbbells in your hands instead of a barbell.
Categories: Bodybuilding Exercises, Leg Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: box, legs, step-up
Barbell Reverse Lunges: Leg Exercises
Main Muscle Worked: Hamstrings
Other Muscles Worked: Quadriceps, Calves, Glutes
Equipment: Barbell
Mechanics Type: Compound
Tips: Place a barbell on your upper back. Lift your chest up and look straight ahead. Position your right leg forward in a long stride. Your foot should be far enough in front of you so that when you bend your right knee, your thigh and lower leg form a right angle. Slowly bend your knees, lowering your hips so your rear knee just clears the floor. Pause briefly in this position, then slowly straighten your legs and raise your body back up to a standing position. Complete a full set, then switch legs and repeat, or alternate legs for each rep. Make sure your knee does NOT travel past your toes in the down position! Can also be done with dumbbells in each hand instead of using a barbell.
Exercise Definition Credits To:
Categories: Bodybuilding Exercises, Leg Exercises, Strongman Exercise Database Tags: barbell lunges, reverse lunges
Stiff Leg Deadlift Leg Exercise
Primary Muscle: Hamstrings
Secondary Muscles: Lower back, glutes, shoulders, lower back, upper back
Equipment Needed: Barbell
Mechanics Type: Compound
Proper Exercise Technique:
Pick up a barbell off the ground using power from your legs (not your back). Space your feet slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart and hold the bar with an overhand grip just outside of your legs. Keeping a slight bend in your knees, bend forward at the waist and lower the weight toward the ground. As you lower the weight your lower back should remain arched as this will keep the tension on your hamstrings throughout the entire exercise. Lower the weight down until you feel a full stretch in your hamstrings. The distance that you are able to lower the bar will vary from person to person and will depend on body structure and flexibility. Once you feel a full stretch in your hamstrings, pull the weight back up into the standing position but stop just short of being fully erect. By not allowing your body to stand up completely straight you will keep the stress on your hamstrings at all times. Continue the motion until you have reached muscular failure.
Tip: It is extremely important that you do not round out your lower back at any point during this exercise but instead maintain a slight arch at all times. In order to keep your back flat, really focus on sticking your butt out and keeping the bar close to your body. You must also remember to keep a slight bend in your knees as you perform your reps as this will keep the tension on the hamstrings and will minimize your risk of injury.
Front Squat Leg Exercise
Primary Muscle: Quads
Secondary Muscle: Glutes, Hamstrings, Calves, Back
Equipment Needed: Barbell, Squat Rack
Mechanics Types: Compound
Proper Technique:
Step into the squat rack and adjust the pins so that the bar will rest at about shoulder-height. Cross your arms in front of your body so that they are parallel to the ground and rest the bar across the front of your shoulders. Lift the bar off of the pins and take a small step back. With your feet spaced shoulder width apart, toes pointing slightly outward, back flat, abs tight and head up, begin the movement by squatting down toward the ground. Continue lowering yourself until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground. Once you reach the bottom, drive the weight back up until you are back in a standing position. When you have completed your desired number of reps, walk back to the pins and re-rack the bar.
Tips: Front squats are a very awkward exercise to perform at first so make sure you start out with light weight in order to get a proper feel for the lift. Make sure that you maintain proper form at all times by keeping your lower back arched and by avoiding jerky motions or body momentum. When you are in the standing position, remember to not lock your knees out as this will keep the stress on your quads and minimize the stress on your joints. Taking this exercise to all-out failure can be potentially dangerous and because of this I would recommend that you stop your set one rep short of failure and safely re-rack the bar.
Dead Lift Leg Exercises
Primary Muscle: Quads
Secondary Muscle: Glutes, Lower Back, Back, Calves, Hamstrings
Equipment Needed: Barbell
Mechanics Type: Compound
Proper Exercise Technique: Think of a deadlift as a squat, only the bar is in your hands rather than on your back.
The Stance: Approach the loaded barbell and assume a stance about as wide as your own shoulders while gripping the bar such that the inner aspects of your arms are slightly outside of your thighs. Another way to determine your optimal deadlift foot placement is to jump down from a box which is half your own height and “stick” the landing. Now look at your feet…this will approximate your ideal stance width and degree of foot turn-out.
Feet and Shin Position: Feet should point straight forward or turned out to a 25 degree angle at most. The best foot angle is one which provides the least amount of hip and knee restriction when you lower the hips in preparation to lift, so don’t be afraid to experiment a bit. The shins should be two to three inches from the bar and then when you actually bend down and lower your hips in preparation to lift, the shins will touch the bar. Most of the weight will be on the heels of the feet. This facilitates maximal contribution of the glutes and hamstrings. During the ascent, the bar will travel as close to the leg and shins as possible. Ideally, wear cotton sweat pants or track pants with long socks to protect your shins.
Hand Position: A “reverse grip” should be used when deadlifting. This means that one hand will be supinated (palm faces you) and the other pronated (palm facing away). This will help keep the bar in your hand. If grip strength is not one of your training targets, feel free to use wrist straps with a conventional grip. Hold the bar high up on the palm to compensate for any roll of the bar when pulling the weight up. Generally, the grip should start with the index finger and the little finger bordering the knurling in the middle of the bar.
Head Placement and Eye Contact: The entire spine should remain neutral, which means you look neither up nor down, but instead, the head follows the body, almost like you’re wearing a cervical cast on your neck. It’s OK for the head to be SLIGHTLY up (this tends to improve muscular contraction of the low back muscles) but in all cases, the lift must start with the hips down, the entire spine neutral, and the feet flat on the floor.
The Ascent: As you stand up with the weight, imagine pushing the earth away from you with your feet. When viewed from the side, your hips and shoulders should ascend together; if the hips rise before the shoulders, it means you’re using your back rather than your legs. If this happens, reduce the weight until you can perform the lift correctly and add more specific quad-strengthening exercises to your program.
The Lockout: Competitive powerlifters are required to demonstrate control over the weight by standing up and then extending the hips forward in an exaggerated manner. If you’re NOT a competitive lifter, simply stand up with the weight without this exaggerated maneuver.
The Descent: Simply return the bar to the floor, under control, by reversing the technique you used to lift the weight.
Barbell Squats Leg Exercise
Primary Muscle: Quads
Secondary Muscles: Hamstrings, Lower Back, Glutes
Equipment Needed: Squat Rack, Barbell
Mechanics Type: Compound
Proper Exercise Technique:
Step into the squat rack and adjust the pins so that you can easily un-rack the bar. You should also make sure that the safety catches are in place in case you reach failure and can’t lift the weight out of the bottom position. Space your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart with your toes pointing slightly outward and rest the bar on your lower traps and rear shoulders. Grip the bar with your hands spaced evenly apart and clear the bar off of the pins. Keeping your head up and abs tight, take a step back. Make sure that you are in a secure position with the bar balanced and with a solid base. Start the movement by bending at the knees and squatting down toward the floor. As you squat down make sure that your head is up, your abs are tight and your lower back is arched. Continue to descend until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground. Once you reach the bottom, drive the weight back up until you are in a standing position. Continue until you have completed your desired number of reps and then re-rack the bar.
Barbell Squat Leg Exercise Video
Tips: Squats are a big power movement and it is important that you use good form at all times. If you get sloppy by using momentum or twisting and jerking around you will be at high risk for an injury. Make sure that your abs are tight at all times and that your head is up. Your lower back should also be arched throughout the exercise rather than rounded out. When you reach the standing position, don’t lock your knees out as this will stress the joints. I wouldn’t recommend taking this exercise to all-out failure since you could easily hurt yourself. You should simply continue the exercise until you are one rep short of failure and then re-rack the bar. You should start out by using very light weights until you get a good feel for the lift and can execute it with perfect form.
Box Squat with Chains – Leg Exercise
Primary Muscle: Quads
Secondary Muscles: Hamstrings, Lower Back, Glutes
Equipment Needed: Squat Rack, Barbell, Box
Mechanics Type: Compound
About: Accomodating resistance with the chains, this is a great box squat variation.
Chains & Bands
By Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell
There are many keys to success, but two invaluable ones are accelerating strength training and accommodating resistance by add-ing chains or bands or sometimes both.
Chains and bands are used in all of our training, be it the dynamic method for speed strength and acceleration or the maximum effort day to develop absolute strength.
In the bench press, bands and chains have helped 17 of our lifters achieve 550 or more and 7 lifters have done 600 or more. When I talk about bench training, I am referring to my lifters with a 550 bench or better; that’s who we experiment with.
On speed day for the bench, while doing the 8-10 sets of 3 reps, the chains are attached in the following manner. Loop a 1/4-inch-link chain with a hook around the bar sleeve to regulate the height of the 5/8-inch-link chain (5 feet long). Run the 5/8 chain through the metal loop and adjust it so that half of the 5/8 chain is lying on the floor while the bars in the rack. Use 60% of a no-shirt max on the bar. For example, if your max is 500, put 300 pounds on the bar. When the bar is on your chest, only the weight of the bar should be on your chest; that is, all the 5/8 chain should be on the floor.
If your best bench is 250 pounds or less, use one pair of 1/2-inch-link chains; these weigh 23 pounds a set, so you are locking out an extra 11.5 pounds. A 350 or more bencher should use one pair of 5/ 8-inch-link chain. By doing this, you will be locking out an extra 20 pounds. (They weigh 20 pounds each, but half is on the floor at lockout.) A 500 pound bencher can use both the 5/8 and 1/2 inch chains for a combined added weight of 31 pounds. A 600 bencher uses two 5/8 chains and sometimes adds a 1/2 inch chain, for 40 or 51 added pounds at lock-out.
You can experiment on your own, but remember this process is to build bar speed and acceleration. It also teaches you to launch the bar off your chest. A special note: Lower the bar fast and try to catch and reverse the weight as fast as possible. Never pause.
On max effort day, warm up to 315, then do a single. Next, add a 5/8 inch chain on each side and do a single. On the next set, use two sets of chain, then three sets, and so forth. This is similar to how a bench shirt works: the weight is less at the bottom and much greater at the top. The chains build not only acceleration but also a fast start and a strong lock-out.
For floor pressing, simply drape the 5/8 inch chain over the sleeve of the bar and you’re ready. J.M. Blakley and George Halbert do a lot of floor presses like this. George will use 200 pounds of chain (5 sets of chain) and works up to a single. His best at a bodyweight of 220 is 440 plus 200 pounds of chain, which is 640 at the top.
J.M. uses a different combination of weight and chains. ,J.M.s best is 400 pounds on the bar with 7 sets of chains, for a combined weight of 680 at lockout. Try any weight-to-chain ratio. Feel free to experiment. A cambered bar can be used as well.
These are a few methods to add to your max effort day.
Bands are a little tough for some on speed day because of the added eccentric properties they create. Also the weight resistance is much more radical at different positions:
much less at the bottom, but much greater at the top. Remember, the bands are literally pulling down on you.
There are three bands with different strengths: pink is the least strong, for 300 pound benchers and below; green for 300-450 pound benchers; and blue for 500 pound benchers and above (shirtless max).
When using bands, be careful not to overdue it. The bands produce a large amount of eccentric overloading and can cause exces-sive soreness, but they are more than worth it. They build the lockout as well as the start. One realizes very fast that you have to outrun the bands, so you develop a fast start to enable you to lock out a heavy weight.
The most popular methods us-ing the bands are as follows. On max effort day, do board presses with four 2 x 6’s. Loop the bands through the bottom supports of the bench and then around the sleeve of the bar. When using four boards, the tension is never released. Be-cause of this, a quick start is impossible and locking out a heavyweight is really tough. To make it even tougher, use a cambered bar. ‘J.M. presses’ with bands are very popular at Westside. To make it as tough as possible, use several bands. Lower the bar straight down, aiming between the nipples and chin, stop 4-5 inches off the chest, and press back up. Use a close grip.
Bands and chains are often used for triceps extensions. This will radically change the strength curve of the movement by accommodating resistance (lifts are usually easier at the top).
A Westside supporter who con-stantly bugs me with some of the craziest ideas actually came up with an exercise that really works. So thanks to Doug Ebert for the follow-ing band exercise. Attach a blue band to the bar and start with 95 or 135 pounds because this is tough. Then take a pink or green band, depending on your strength, twist it once, and place it around your upper back so the tension is pulling back your hands. Now lie down on the bench, stretch the band to grab the bar, and start benching. This ‘double’ tension is unreal.
Also try the ‘lightened’ method, recommended by Carl of Jump-Stretch. Attach a set of blue bands to the top of the power rack with a slip knot. Load the bar to 135. It should be almost weightless at the chest. This way you can bench 135 pounds more than normal. This builds tremendous power at lockout, which is perfect for bench shirts.
Bands and chains have helped to increase our list of 550 benchers at Westside to 17. George Halbert recently benched 688 at 235 to capture the world record at 242. George also holds the 220 world record. Only two people can claim to hold a world record bench in two weight classes: George Halbert and Dave Waterman.
Now on to squatting. With an army of 800+ squatters, 22 to be exact, when we experiment and establish results, they are sound and proven. We also have a 755 squat-ter at 165 and a 782 squatter at 181. They all use chains and bands. Here’s how.
First use a set of 1/4-inch-link chains that attach to the bar sleeves. We suspend a metal ring from the 1/4 inch chains, which regulates height of the 5/8 chain from the floor. Loop the 5/8 inch chain through the metal ring so about three chain links are lying on the floor when you are standing. When you are sitting on the box, slightly below parallel, half of the chain will be unloaded onto the floor.
How much chain should you use? If you squat 350 or less, use one set of 5/8 inch chain, equaling 40 pounds at the top. If you squat about 600 pounds, use about 60 or 70 pounds of chain at the top. If you squat 800 pounds, use 80~120 pounds of chain at the top. As you can see, about 10% of your squat weight should be added with chain. If you are doing sets wIth 400 on the bar, you will be standing up with 520. An 800 squatter whose top training weight is 480, or 60%, will add 80-120 pounds of chain to the bar, equaling 600 at the top.
To use bands for squatting, if you squat 650 or less, use green bands. If you squat more than 650, use blue bands. Here are two ex-amples of 900+ squatters. Billy Masters and Dave Barno used a top weight of 500 pounds and 150 pounds of tension with blue bands. Billy did 909 and Dave did a perfect 925. Neither train at Westside, but they use our methods.
When squatting, wave your training weights from 50% to 60% in a 3 or 4 week cycle. Do mostly 8 sets of 2 reps with 45 seconds rest between sets.
For max effort work, one can choose a bar weight of, say, 400 or 500 pounds. Do a single and then add a set of chains. Keep doing singles and adding a second and third set of chains until you break a PR or miss. You can do the same with Flex bands. Good mornings are a great exercise to do with chains and bands. High pulls with the pink or green bands are also great.
I have seen one of our lifters with a 600 deadlift go to 670 in 6 months by using bands on the deadlift. Bob Young would use 275-315 on the bar, with about 200 pounds of tension from the bands. We use the platform that Jump-Stretch sells with their bands to do this exercise.
If you want to excel at powerlifting or any sport, then you must develop speed strength, increase acceleration, and gain absolute strength. Bands and chains can be instrumental in developing these aspects of strength. I highly recom-mend that you try them as soon as possible. For chains, call Topper’s Supply at 614-444-1187. For bands, call JumpStretch at 1-800-344-3539.
