First person to film themselves attempting this (pass or fail) gets a free item of T Nation apparel (US48 only). Anything you want.
The Challenge
Do 100 reps on the leg press with a light weight using a controlled tempo. Do all 100 reps unbroken ā without having to rack the sled and rest. You can pause briefly at the top with locked legs for a couple of breaths, but donāt rack the sled.
What weight? Depends on you and the leg press machine youāre using. Use enough weight for this to be challenging. Most people will only need an empty sled with a standard machine, or a 10-pound plate on each side.
The Background
Christian Thibaudeau wrote about this method a while back. The idea is start every workout with it, even on non-leg days. It has to do (in part) with increasing the number of capillaries going to your legs, making it easier to shuttle nutrients and amino acids to muscles. That facilitates faster recovery and new growth. More vascularization also makes it easier to mobilize fat in the lower body.
All that said, we just think it makes for a fun, stand-alone mental and physical challenge since this takes a few focused minutes to complete.
Hereās T Nation editor @Dani_Shugart doing it, taking around 4 minutes. (Video sped up obviously.)
Note: This is a handy way to convert .mov to mp4 if anyone needs it: MOV to MP4 | CloudConvert You can also post your video on YouTube (unlisted if you want) and paste the link here.
Donāt make the mistake I made by thinking you need to use a slower rep speed or anything. I think I was controlling the negative a little too much. Hard habit to break.
So Iām now able to complete 100 unbroken reps at around 3 minutes. Whenever those 100 reps get too easy, I just slap a bit more weight on.
This 100-rep set is an amazing warm-up on leg days. It basically lubes up the knees and hips. Also, this sounds weird, but the appearance of my legs improves dramatically when I do this a couple times a week. They look a little harder and a little leaner, which is a win for us thick-thighed gals.
Damn, these challenges are tough! Full disclosure, I have no stamina or conditioning. I tried the farmers walk / push up ladder and bailed before finishing. I couldnāt hack it. Some of us just like lifting heavy weights, talking for 5 minutes, and repeat donāt ya know? Props to @Dani_Shugart for slaying it. I saw those facial expressions at the end!
I have attempted this 3 times randomly on my gymās Hoist Leg Press. The attempts all mysteriously seemed to follow the re-issue of the original article here on T-Nation. All three attempts were at the end of a workout (squat or deadlift) with one plate per side (not that symmetry matters, butā¦)
The first 2 times I was successful, and the third I bailed somewhere in the 60ās. All three times crippling DOMs followed in the days after.
Try it fresh and drop the weight. Thereās a state champ bodybuilder at my gym who wanted to give this a shot. Heās the only person Iāve ever seen do it with a 45 on each side (he is, as youād expect, a big juicing monster). So reps in the 60s is pretty darn good if youāre a mere mortal.
Is your Hoist leg press part of their Roc-It line? Personally, I hate that whole line of machines. The way it rocks your body is ridiculous. See if you can find a fixed machine and I bet youāll nail it.
Good deal. Yeah, I just donāt get that Roc-It line. I mean, I do get the premise and ROM idea, but the body-movement drives me nuts. Saw a guy on my gymās Hoist cable curl machine the other day. I thought, āDamn, that would make me dizzy!ā Like doing curls while riding those old-school, 25-cents-a-ride mechanical horses in front of the grocery store.
With no proof-of-performance due to my gymās new āno videos or photosā rule, I humbly ask that you take my word for itā¦
After deadlifts and chin-ups, I completed the challenge with a pair of 25#s on it. It started to suck after 40. Got to 50 in continuous motion, took 1 count pauses every 5 after that, and a 3-count pause at 75. After about a 3-minute break I continued with the rest of the leg press work (modest 3-to-5 pairs of plates).
My post post-workout meal evening walk was performed without the weight vest, and it took 45 minutes to complete a middling 2.25 mile walk. I dragged ass.
22 hours later my legs are starting to tighten up. Quads and adductors most notably. And that teardrop above the knee downright hurts. Iām also feeling the thigh bruise (from a DB incline press dismount mishap Tuesday) more acutely.
Chris was right about trying with minimal weight, and it still adequately sucked.
Not to rehash a 9 month old thread. But Iām happy to say I just finally was able to do this with 45s on each side. When I did this challenge, I had trouble with 10s on each side but made it. I felt such a good pump and I made it a goal to slowly build to the 45s. I added weight slowly every couple weeks for almost 9 months now. I appreciate the motivation this community challenge gave me to make a goal.
Props to 
Awesome! Weāll be in contact shortly.