If I were to do leg presses, with my feet up at the top of the platform, would it be a hamstring dominant exercise? Also, if this would work, what width should my feet be, and how should the back support be, to hit my hams most effectively? It seems like in the past, I used to do leg presses with a higher foot position, thinking I was hitting my quads, but my hamstrings got sore. Oh yeah, I would do this exercise after SLDLs. Thanks!
Yes, high and wide seems to hit my hams. Don’t let your legs go down so far that your butt comes up off the pad. That’s too low. Stop right when the butt begins to lift. This info was in the ‘Smart Training’ articles at T-mag. Works for me.
Thanks for the information. Should my feet be so high that only my heels are on the platform?
Damn that Tribex. Now I am having visions of Princess and those high and wide leg presses and…
Try some Russian Deadlifts. This movement blast the hamstrings, you can feel the soreness running from behind the knees all the way up to your ass. Set yourself up like you are going to do a str leg deadlift only the bar will be on your back(just like a squat). You keep the legs straight while slowly descending your chest towards the floor. You will get a great stretch of the hams. You want to stop when you have a 90-110 degree angle between you upper body and lower body. You must keep correct form with the butt sticking out and back straight or you could cause damage in the long run. I would also start out with light weights until you build up the strength. This may not have been the answer you were looking for but this exercise is a lot more effective and you can still retain your girly image(indeed if you are a girl).
Isn’t that just a good morning? I don’t think I see the difference between the two give your description of the russian dead.
Aikigreg, that confused me too… Turns out that Russian DL’s are just straight-backed GM’s. Whatever you want to call them, they will destroy your hamstrings. I like to do them with a wide stance, almost to parallel, inside a power cage.
Anybody correct me if I’m wrong. A good morning is pretty much the same only instead of stopping at a 90degree angle, you keep going(just like you are touching your toes). I thought the Russian deadlift was a good morning too, but I read somewhere(can’t remember which issue but within the past 5 issues) that told me a good morning is like bending down to touch your toes with the bar across your back. I haven’t done this yet and don’t plan to for some time. Again, if I am wrong please correct me.
I’ve seen GM’s done all sorts of ways. I remember seeing the GM you’re talking about in one of the articles on here. That’s just one type of GM. GM’s can also be done with a straight back or arched back, and just to parallel or even 45 degrees (depending on how heavy you go). A Russian Deadlift happens to be a straight back GM, the name is just different depending on who you talk to. Westsiders use a variety of GM’s (arched, straight, or bent back) with a variety of bars (buffalo, ss bar) and sometimes chains, but they go heavy and don’t use near the ROM that guy is using for the GM in that article. For that type of GM, I’d keep the weight light (8-12 reps/set) and/or use it for warming up.
I love to do Russian Deadlifts, I follow Ian Kings directions. I have pushed them onto my freinds, too. I am just taking a few weeks off from them, and hyperextensions, so thats why I asked about the leg press
The articles referred to are probably the Ian King limping series where he uses both GM and SLDL the difference being that SLDL is flat back etc as already described and the GM allowing the back to round, he gives them in the same w/o after each other but with more reps for GM indicating lower weight, a brutal combination esp after heaps of deads.