How To Build A Lean, Powerful & Athletic Lower Body
In this episode, Tom and I discuss how to build a lean and powerful lower body. Very few people today emphasize this approach. Most leg routines are focused on building a ton of mass.
Here at Kinobody, our aim is to develop lean, hard and athletic-looking legs. This means training to build a natural amount of muscle while optimizing power and athleticism.
As well, I cover how to create the ‘superhero leg effect’. This is where you have incredible proportion throughout your entire lower body.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How to quickly gain strength and size to your legs (for people with a skinny lower body)
- Why building big legs is actually very easy to do and why it will ruin your physique
- How to build strength and power without triggering muscle gains
- The best exercises for creating powerful and aesthetic looking legs
- How to jump higher and sprint faster with one simple technique
- How to achieve the ‘superhero leg effect’. The key is gaining muscle in two key areas
Thank You For Listening!
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Ok awesome man thx!I’ll try that rep scheme next week for those. This is random but for your superhero program could I add in the hanging side to side knew ups to the ab exercises to get that v cut or would that be overkill ?
Yeah you can throw those in there for sure!
If I am tall with long legs that aren’t very strong will the superhero leg workout work for me? I want to put on more mass on my legs but I also want to gain strength so I don’t easily get knocked off balance during sports, plus I want to look more proportional as well
Yess! But you could possibly focus on more mass – start with an emphasis on squats and deads.
Ok awesome I’ll try It out. What do you mean by emphasis on squats and deadlifts? Would I still do the same reps and sets while still using revere pyramid training?
I’d go 4-6, 6-8, 8-10 on squats. And 3-4, 4-5 on deads.
Ok so to clarify on the deadlifts I would only do 1 set of 3-4 and then 1 set of 4-5? So 2 total sets?
Exactly!
Hello Craig
Love your website.
I was wondering what do you think is a good baseline for strength and to work towards in terms of squat and deadlift or other lifts to be as fast and explosive as you can be without adding size.
So for a soccer player like me where acceleration is key and the 0-20 meters. But i dont want to add size but i want to become as strong as possible or i should say. As strong as i need to to get the most out of the strength in terms of positive.
What would you focus on ?
I would actually focus on weighted pistol squats and power cleans or power snatches. That will build better power. Build up to weighted pistols with half your bodyweight. And work up to power cleans with 1.25-1.5x bodyweight.
Hi Greg,
Im doing the warrior workout but my legs lack size n definition. Could i throw in the leg mass portion of this workout into the warrior?? What would be the best approach?
Which warrior workout are you following? The one from my warrior shredding course? Yeah you can replace the leg portion of the workout with the leg mass from here.
Hi Greg, great podcast. It’s refreshing to hear someone taking aesthetics into mind with leg training instead of just encouraging people to get as big as possible.
In your article “The Secret Code to Building a Great Body” you discuss your current strength to bodyweight ratio for your four key lifts:
Incline Bench Press: 250 x 6 reps (1.43x bw)
Pull ups: 120 lbs x 4 reps (0.69x bw)
Standing Press: 185 lbs x 5 reps (1.06x bw)
Barbell Curls: 145 lbs x 6 reps (0.83x bw)
I was curious if you have a # of reps at % of bodyweight we should strive for for squats and deadlifts? I love pushing myself on squats and it would be great to have a concrete goal to aim for on squats and deadlifts before switching over to your maintenance/explosiveness routine.
Anyways, thanks for the site! Tons of great info I don’t find anywhere else.
That’s a really good question! I think some people can get their legs pretty big without getting insanely strong on squats or deads. My legs were surpassing the big side when I was squatting just over 1.5x bodyweight for sets of 5. For deadlifts I think if you can do a double bodyweight deadlift, that’s a good level. Then I would do weighted one leg squats and power cleans.
Hi Greg,
This might be a strange question but here goes. If you look at yourself from the side, does your chest stick out more than your stomach or is it the same? I’m obsessed with getting my chest further out than my stomach and getting my stomach as little as possible (I’m already lean). I just can’t figure out if its an unrealistic target or that it wouldn’t look that good when it comes down to it.
Appreciate your thoughts!
My chest sticks out further, unless I consumed an insane amount food. Don’t worry about it too much, build a lot of strength and get under 10% body fat and you’ll be set.
Thanks Greg! The reason why I’m concerned about it is because I’m already below 10% body fat but I don’t really feel I have the right proportions.
Spot on – as always!
i really prefer the pistol squat over the BB squat, though im only at 25lbs for 5 reps.. i have a long way before i can challenge you (;
anyways, i was wondering, if i just needed a bit more size, and wanted to use the pistol squat for that.
how would you go around it? its hard to use RPT with the pistol squat, so should i just do something like 3×5-8, or is there a better way?
Cheers man!
I’d do 25 lbs for 5 reps, then 10 lbs for 6 reps and bodyweight for 6-8 lbs. Try and add 2.5 lbs each workout. Good goal would be 60 lbs for 5, 40 lbs for 6 and 20 lbs for 8.
Hay Greg.
What do You think about doing strength training mixed with some enduracne and funcional workouat.
Logan Hood, who trained Jason Statham :”So it mainly involves interval work, weight lifting and circuit training. The hard core stuff!”
http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity_interviews/Logan+Hood+reveals+his+ultimate+workout+secrets-62283.html#ixzz3GxrSNWTI
Simon Waterson who trained Daniel Craig.
What are some of the movements that you rely on when you are training someone for an action film?
Right now it is almost like a variation of CrossFit. It is functional, dynamic, and not aesthetic. It is all about using as much natural body movement as possible.
I also use a lot of plyometrics into strength exercises, like squat thrusts into pull-ups. I use something like a metabolic deadlift—a deadlift into a squat thrust, into a press-up, back into a deadlift. Then you can adapt that. I always put a blend of exercises together and use two back-to-back, like a deadlift into a plyometric, or pull-up into a plyometric
Mayby strength and low bodyfat is not enougth to say ” I am fit”.
I think that some funcional, endurance workout is also nessesery. Mayby not to look good but to be helthy and more efficient.
Statham said: Muscle men grow on trees. They can tense their muscles and look good in a mirror. So what? I’m more interested in physical strength that’s going to help me run, jump, twist, punch.
What do You think?
I don’t really recommend it. Nutrition to get lean and heavy strength training to build muscle, strength and power. Throw some sprints and low rep jumps in there for all around athleticism and some mobility work and you’re set. For rest days walking is optimal.
I don’t recommend a big emphasis on conditioning. Conditioning can be kept high with very minimal work. Maybe 1 x 20 minute conditioning session per week + 1 x 5 minute jump rope session.
Hey greg, left my email on there but didn’t get the link to your workout.
It seems to be working for me, try again. You can also try this link here – https://kinobody.com/85
I want to build some muscle. This is my goal http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag216/obogdan23/1540482_388832764593715_1269408227_o_zps8d4079fc.jpg and this is a picture with me http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag216/obogdan23/aaa_zpscdb43009.jpg . What workout is the best for my goal? This workout is good http://www.schwarzenegger.com/fitness/post/how-to-use-mega-training-for-superhero-strength-muscle-gains ?
Sounds like you need to lean down! I would look into my warrior shredding program – http://shreddingprogram.com for the best overall approach.