M (20)

JUNE 2016 MUSCLE & FITNESS 97

BIG WHEELS

>^ CHANGE THE GAME OF LEG TRAINING FOR STRONGER

QUADS, HAMS AND GLUTES AND LESS RISK OF INJURY.

BY SEAN HYSON

IFTERS TEND TO BREAK

down into two categories: those

who squat and those who don’t.

The squatters, it’s believed, stand to

gain the most muscle and strength,

while the non-squatters are, well...

wussbags. At least that’s been the

prevailing line of thinking since

gyms began. But it’s wrong.

Leg training – heck, all training –

just isn’t as simple as that. Squats

are great for building your legs, but so are a whole

bunch of other exercises. So if you can’t or won’t

squat, either due to injury or fear of incorrect form

(but not because you don’t want to work hard, like

some wussbag), this guide to leg training will change

the way you pump your wheels forever.

THE CASE FOR LEGS

Ladies love sculpting a round butt and curvy thighs, but

men would almost always prefer adding more sets of

chest and arms to their leg training. The thing is, if you

had to pick one body part to be biased about , it should

be legs. The glutes are the most powerful muscles in your

body and, in conjunction with your hamstrings, are the

chief forces behind fast running, high jumping and the

ability to create power with the upper body. The

quads help to stabilise your knees and decelerate

your running, so you can change direction quickly.

Every hit for six, knockout punch and heavy overhead

press begins in your legs.

Just this year, the Journal of Strength & Conditioning

Research found that rugby players who increased their

squat strength – as opposed to their bench press, row

or clean – had the greatest improvements in tackling

ability. In fact, their three-rep-max squat was found to

be a “moderately good predictor” of change in tackling

ability – as was an improvement in three-rep-max

strength relative to body mass.

But even if performance means nothing to you, leg

training still should. Weak quads, glutes and hamstrings

set you up for knee and hip injuries, and men who avoid

leg training for more upper-body work inevitably end up

with “light bulb” bodies –big up top and nothing below

the belt. (Yes, we know there’s a double-entendre there,

and it holds true: men who don’t train legs have no balls.)

THE ROYAL FAMILY

The barbell back squat is often referred to as the “king of

all exercises”, and it definitely rules. It targets the quads,

glutes, hamstrings and lower back and also involves

the core, upper back and shoulders to stabilise the bar.

TRAINING: