LEG PRESS
Mr. O says: “Leg presses
are all about moving as
much weight as possible for
relatively high rep counts.
Because you’re seated, you’re
really locked into the machine
and don’t have to worry about
balancing yourself or the
weight. Leg presses are a
major go-to move for building
size in the quads without
nearly as much glute
involvement as you get with
squats and lunges.”
SEATED CALF RAISE
PLATE-LOADED SQUAT
Mr. O says: “I definitely like the safety aspect of doing a machine squat
rather than free weights. Also, it’s a matter of being able to overload
the target muscles [quads, glutes] with heavy weight without a lot of
assistance muscles helping out, and having the freedom to alter my
foot position. With a barbell squat, you can’t move your feet forward
to target the glutes more; with a machine you can.”
88
FLEX | JANUARY ’18
Mr. O says: “The soleus
muscle is mostly hidden
behind the gastrocnemius,
but it’s definitely there and
needs to be isolated to
develop good thickness in
the calves. Bending the
knees is what isolates the
soleus, and there aren’t
many ways to do that other
than seated calf raises.”