Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

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Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby Squeeeez on Mon Apr 09, 2018 4:09 am

What are, in your opinion, the most efficient leg strengthening exercises?

Or in more details, the feet, the legs, and the connection between the legs and the back?
I'm a total noob, signed up for a 25h walking event in 2 months, and... it's going to be tight ::) your help and advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby willie on Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:18 am

Hi, the best leg strengthening exercises are squats and deadlift. However, that may not help you in a 25 hour marching event. just the other day, after focusing a little bit more on a Bulgarian method of powerlifting, I was able to squat 415 pounds. A new personal record, yahoo!
Last edited by willie on Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby johnwang on Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:25 am

You may try "low stance walking".

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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby RobP3 on Mon Apr 09, 2018 10:37 am

There's a whole range of Russian / systema squats, stretches, etc that you may find useful



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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby Ron Panunto on Mon Apr 09, 2018 1:10 pm

Without a doubt, squats are the best strength building exercise for the legs. However, they don't do much for endurance. For that you need to stand in zhang zhuan until you get the fire in the legs. You need both strength and endurance for CIMA. You should also do stretching exercises for your upper and lower leg muscles.
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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby everything on Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:06 pm

Yup squats from an overall pov. But efficiency in terms of time and equipment: check out Pavel on kb swings. Considering you are training for so much walking, I'm not sure squats are the main kind of strength (or strength endurance) you should go for. What are the details of such an intense walk?
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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby Squeeeez on Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:53 am

Thank you for the excellent ideas so far!

The details:
You get a map, and then you have 25h to complete 80km through the mountains. So squats and low walks are definitely going to be helpful.

Then during the training walks so far, the feet and ankle tendons started to say hello, so that seems to be a weak point, not sure how to strengthen them specifically though.
And it's interesting - it was never a problem during the training so far, but then again I've never trained for 7-8h straight :-\
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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby Bhassler on Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:26 am

https://www.otpbooks.com/?s=mike+prevost

Read the articles on ruck training. Posterior chain exercises (like deadlifts and kettlebell swings-- and rucking) are going to be far more relevant and effective than squats for this application.
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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby Ron Panunto on Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:26 am

Squeeeez wrote:Then during the training walks so far, the feet and ankle tendons started to say hello, so that seems to be a weak point, not sure how to strengthen them specifically though.
And it's interesting - it was never a problem during the training so far, but then again I've never trained for 7-8h straight :-\


Do toe raises to strengthen the ankles via the calf muscles and then stretch them.
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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby everything on Tue Apr 10, 2018 1:16 pm

probably jumping rope and skipping are better for this event if you can handle those methods.

will strengthen your ankles, calves, legs, improve balance, stamina, etc.

basically to handle running or jogging or walking, you have to be able to handle the repetitive stress. it's not so much about strength as strength endurance and handling the stress.
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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby Steve Rowe on Tue Apr 10, 2018 1:25 pm

You might also want to try spiral squats by spiralling in the feet to push up and to lower down. Spiral both inwards and outwards at different times - engages all of the muscle chains.

Works equally well with push ups.
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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby marvin8 on Tue Apr 10, 2018 1:52 pm

From Training plans, https://walkthewalk.org/training/training-plans/:
walkthewalk wrote:Plans

These plans have been put together by Nina who has had years of experience and has succeeded in helping over 450,000 walkers train for our challenges and cross the Finish Line - from 5K distances to the '4 marathons in 4 days' at the Nijmegen Marches and everything in between! So we would say that they are exactly what you need to help you attain the level of fitness you need to reach your chosen goal.

Ready to start training and looking for some Walking Kit, then look no further, take a look here!

When should I start training?

The plans linked below give just a taster of what you should be doing now and will also allow you to start training ahead of receiving your Training Guide!

The full plan is 12 weeks in length and is an ideal starting point for those who feel that they are of normal fitness levels. However, if you are just starting a fitness programme, we would suggest adding on a few weeks beforehand. Why not track your training and download a Training Log!

A guide

Training for The MoonWalk London should start for a normally fit person in mid February. If you are taking part in the Full Marathon and you are unfit, then start a few weeks before then following the starting weeks for the half marathon plan, to help you on your way. If you are doing the half marathon then repeat the first few weeks of the half marathon Training Plan. Official Training Plan starts on the 18th February.

Training for The MoonWalk Scotland should start for a normally fit person in mid March. If you are taking part in the Full Marathon and you are unfit, then start a few weeks before then following the starting weeks for the half marathon plan, to help you on your way. If you are doing the half marathon then repeat the first few weeks of the half marathon Training Plan. Official Training Plan starts on the 18th March. . . .

Half Marathon Plan

• To use this plan you must be able to walk 2 miles at a constant pace of 18-20 minutes per mile. If you are not able to do this yet, start with walking as far as you can until you are up to 2 miles and then repeat the first week as many times as necessary.
• The goal is to complete a Half Marathon in 3 hours - walking approximately 13-15 minute miles.
• The plan below is the first 5 weeks of the 12 week Training Plan
You can download this here

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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby Squeeeez on Tue Apr 10, 2018 2:16 pm

More good ideas :) Thank you all!
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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby Overlord on Tue Apr 10, 2018 2:17 pm

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Re: Most efficient leg strengthening exercises

Postby Greg J on Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:28 am

Hi Squeeze,

This sounds like a great mental and physical challenge. I've never done an endurance event of this sort. From what I've read, it is important to build up your base mileage through short and long walks and to have a strict plan for when (and what) to eat & drink and when to rest. This article has some interesting info on (among other things) the food aspect of a race such as this:

http://www.centurions.org.au/train.shtml

I have trained up for fights before, and while the training and timing might be a bit different, I think that the concept of peaking and tapering applies to what you are preparing for. Peaking will help you avoid overtraining before the event and tapering will help you go into the event fully rested.

As for your specific question re: exercises, three exercises that I think you might find helpful are:

1) Walking with a weight vest.
2) Low-weight/ high rep squats (i.e., air squats done with a weight vest or just bodyweight). You could try modifying a MURPH and do a 1 mile run/ 300 air squats/ 1 mile run for time.
3) Single leg medicine ball toss (this is a partner drill) and standing with one leg on a balance disc to strengthen your ankles.

This video has some exercises meant to strengthen feet and ankles:

https://www.runnersworld.com/training-v ... e-workouts

Good luck, and keep us posted on your event!

Best,
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