For the kinobody physique, we are after well developed, proportionate and sleek looking legs. Legs that complement our upper bodies, without overpowering them. Legs that are athletic and agile, not bulky and cumbersome. And of course, we want to look fantastic.
If we build up our legs too much (this is actually quite easy to do), they will look shorter and stumpier. We’ll have the inevitable thigh chafe and an excessive feminine sweep along the outside of our quads. Worst of all, we’ll be forced to rock awful looking baggy pants.
So the question becomes, how can we develop legs that look outstanding, are highly versatile and downright explosive? The key is to focus hard on adding muscle in two key areas – the vastus medialis obliquus (the tear drop shaped muscle just above the inside of the knee) and the calves.
Why is this? Well most people have enough base muscle size on their legs and butt from squatting and deadlifting. The two areas that have lagged behind are their VMO and calves. Unfortunately, these two muscle groups give your legs a longer, sleeker and more proportionate look.
Big upper thigh’s and glutes with little muscle on the bottom of the thigh’s and calves causes your legs to look short and stumpy. This absolutely kills aesthetics. If you look at the picture of Henry Cavill above, you’ll notice he has very proportionate thigh’s, from his knees to his hips. His legs look sleek, athletic and long (this also makes him look taller than he actually is).
A Recipe for Sleek and Powerful Legs
The key to building sleek and powerful legs is to focus on maximum explosive power on squats and deadlifts with a submaximal weight. For example, if you were to do sumo deadlifts with a weight you can do for 6-8 reps, but instead just do sets of 2-3 with maximum power, you can get stronger and more explosive without triggering much muscle growth.
In fact, you would likely build the perfect amount of muscle mass for your frame while becoming an explosive beast in the process. This type of training is more effective for building sprint and leap prowess than taking a heavy weight to failure. This is because, sprinting and jumping requires you to display strength in a fraction of a second.
When you’re training with a heavy weight close to failure, you won’t be able to explode up. Instead you will be grinding the reps out. This will build strength and muscle mass, but won’t have as profound an effect on power.
What’s my obsession with sprinting and leaping? Well as far as functionality is concerned, that’s the main purpose of your wheels. Not to mention, sprinting and jumping will enhance your performance in sports, combat and will carryover to pretty much any endeavour.
By being a fast sprinter and great jumpier, you possess the ability to display strength very quickly. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how vital this is to physical capability.
Turning it Up a Notch
I like to do something known as complex drills. This is a strength-oriented movement followed by a plyometric movement. So for example, you’d do a few reps of explosive lowerbody lifts and then you’d go into some squat jumps.
The strength movement potentiates the nervous system so you can display greater force during the plyometric jump. This is an amazing drill to improve your speed and power without adding much muscle mass. Here’s how it looks:
The Next Step
The step for the lowerbody workout is to pick 1-2 lowerbody exercises to work the legs and finish off with some calves. I don’t do a lot of direct hamstring work because this quickly builds up my hamstrings and causes my legs to chafe.
That said, many people are quad dominant and do well with more emphasis on their hamstrings. In this case, I’d suggest doing some romanian deadlifts and leg curls or glute ham raises to balance out your physique. Here are my favorite lowerbody movements:
Final Thoughts
I finally believe that I have cracked the code to becoming stronger and more powerful without creating bulky legs. Moreover, I feel that I have developed a way to make your legs look downright spectacular so that it complements your upperbody.
After all, you don’t want to be that guy that has a super strong and ripped upperbody, but has average legs. The fact of the matter is that your legs are so crucial to excelling physically in life.
Whether you’re playing a game of football, going snowboarding with some buddies or in some life or death situation. The old adage holds true, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.
What Type of Power You Can Expect To Build
I’ve been following the Sleek & Powerful Leg Workout for a few months and have built my vertical up to 30″ and my standing box jump up to 51″. Funny enough, in the past, I always bought those vertical jump workout programs, with little to no results. Most of them are poorly designed with way too much volume.
Fortunately, I’ve been able to craft together quick, simple and massively effective lowerbody workouts that actually add inches to your vertical and boost your sprint power while creating great looking legs. Don’t believe me? Check out this instagram video I posted the other day.
