Remnember bodybuilder kevin Levrones 60m race against Dwain chambers? Whilst he was soundly beaten by Dwain, he still showed that he(kevin) was still considerably faster than the average man.
Some people describe the leg press as building non-functional strength (inc Charles Poliquin), but Kevin Levrones speed was built to a degree by the leg press. Kevin Levrone will hardly ever do sprint training, he sure as hell doesn’t do plyometrics and had never ran out of the blocks before his race with Dwain. Kevin Levrone does not do barbell squats (atleast not the previous few years), and his leg training consists of leg press, hack squats(machine style), and some leg curling movements.
Can the leg press therefor contribute atleast a bit, towards sprinting speed, especially if the back is allready getting work from bent over rows? Does anybody think Kevin Levrone would have been faster if he had done barbell squats this last year instead of the leg press?
Weight training is general. One could argue that the bench press is non-specific to sprinting, but that’s not the point. The point is overall stimulation to the organism. So even though the leg press many not be the best choice for a sprinter, it certainly can have positive carry over.
The reason why leg press is inferior to squats is because:
- Injuries are more likely with the leg press
- Training efficiency is compormised.
In other words, with squats, you are getting not only leg strength, but a good core workout, stabilizer stimulation and more overall muscle involvement. Given limited CNS resrves, it makes sense to do exercises that involve as many of these qualities as possible.
He would have been faster if he had spent more time sprinting.
Don’t start the who is fastest debate (Who is fastest- oly lifters who don’t sprint or sprinters who don’t lift) again Xlr8!
I am amazed KL didn’t pull a hammer!
Seriously.
I can understand him being fast etc. - but how did he not get an injury?
One thing I know…it’s not bodybuilders! As a matter of fact, they many be some of the most un-athletic ‘athletes’ around.
It might also have to do with the fact that the Mr. Olympia wasn’t even 2 months gone so he was probably on some heavy ass gear.
Why the snobbery agaisnt bodybuilders??
Is it becuase they cannot run fast compared to sprinters?
Bodybuilders don’t TRY to be fast at running, if they did, they would be called sprinters and they would have differant training routines.
Come to think of it, they would be called Ben Johnson, Muarice Green, Linford Christie and Dennis Mitchell and they would be very fast at running.
Still, if I could suddenly posses the leg strength of Kevin Levrone or Dwain Chambers, I’d have to think about it, but I think I’d go for Kevin’s leg strength.
Whether leg press is better than squat or vice-versa is pretty irrelative as long as each individual exercise targets the specific muscles used and contributes to producing faster speed.
What snobbery? It’s a matter of fact bodybuilders juice as do many elite level athletes. I never said that was bad. Take a paxil.
HAHAHAHA
Kevin did what?
He got WHOOPED. Dwain ran 6.67e whilst Big Kev ran a 7.8h. Faster than the average man? Jeez, he’d be luckey to be faster than the average woman.
Haha, yes, good point Dazed, that’s about 8.04FAT. I think he’d be pretty competitive in the B grade women’s 60 at the local Saturday morning allcomers. 
Gee ryan, this “juice” must be pretty good. Do you think he prefers Apple or Cranberry?