Lee Labrada’s Training Tips for Thicker Legs

April 22, 2024

lee labrada legs training — Image via Instagram @leelabradaofficial

Labrada suggests training your lagging muscle group first to help strengthen it.

Lee Labrada offers his profound and educational perspectives on maximizing workout efficiency. His induction into the IFBB Pro Bodybuilding Hall of Fame in 2004 is a testament to his expertise. In a recent YouTube video, Lee Labrada and his long-term training partner and friend, Craig, provide valuable and actionable advice on leg training. This video is packed with insights, explicitly targeting the quads, hamstrings, and calves, and underscores the importance of leg training in achieving overall balance, strength, and power. Explore the insightful tips shared by Lee Labrada in the content below.

Lee Labrada’s Leg Day

Exercises

Bodyweight Squat (Warm-up)

Bodyweight Squat (Warm-up)

Lee Labrada states he likes to start with bodyweight squats when doing leg exercises. Labrada emphasizes the importance of warmups and stretches before the major exercise. He has this to say:

“You know a lot of times people are in a rush, and they don’t do that properly. And you know the fact of the matter is that getting blood into the muscle is going to make the muscle tissue more elastic. It’s going to help to warm up the tendons and make them more elastic, and it’s going to make you less prone to injury. So a little bit of a warm up getting blood in there and then uh some stretching, and we’ll be ready to get into the meat of the program here.”

This study shows how warm-up exercises help boost athletic performance by up to 79% (1). During their warm-ups, they discuss how much weight they squat. Lee Labrada also points out how much he hated training his legs because he always fell sick but eventually got used to it. He says he trained his legs about three times a week then, but these days, he does it once a week as maintenance workouts.

Split Squat

Lee Labrada starts his leg training workout with an isolation exercise called the split squats. He gives the following essential tips:

“I want the knee to travel over the foot. That’s important to keep the joint aligned with the toe of the corresponding foot. I’m trying to keep the knee not so much going forward. I’m trying to keep it basically as perpendicular as I can and then just dropping my body. It throws more of the emphasis on the glute.”

Labrada shows that performing split squats with the right form targets the quads and glutes. He also had to get a chair to help Craig avoid falling over when trying to balance. Split squats are a type of unilateral exercise that can greatly improve your jump power (2).

Leg Press

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A post shared by Lee Labrada (@leelabradaofficial)

Labrada and Craig bonded over the old times when they did leg presses in the 90s, training their legs to failure. He also talks about how you can get the most out of your workouts with limited time.

“Even when you’re on limited time, you can get a great workout; it doesn’t take long. In fact, sometimes when you set a timeframe deadline to do it and I finished it in 15 minutes, or I got to finish it in 20 minutes, you’re a lot more focused. So less talking and more working out.”

Performing leg presses targets your glutes, hamstrings, and quad muscles.

Leg Extension

Performing the leg extensions constantly puts tension on your quads. Lee Labrada takes advantage of this, showing his impressive quads as you see Craig spotting him. Leg extensions are one of the few leg routines focusing on your quads without recruiting other muscles.

Hack Squat

The hack squats work the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. Lee Labrada explains that he can’t do them and draws a lesson for his fans.

“I’m going to be fully transparent with you guys because I think that it’s a learning lesson in not pushing something where you can set yourself up for an injury. When I came in here today, I have my right hip flexor slightly tweaked. That’s why I’m not doing these hack squats today. I want to be fully transparent with you guys and just use that to emphasize the point that if something is bothering you, work around it; pick another exercise that’s really important whether you’re training legs, your back, or your chest. Whatever it is, if a certain exercise hurts you or you have a tweaked muscle, work around it or avoid it because you want to live to fight another day.”

Labrada acts as Craig’s spotter during this exercise, explaining the importance of compound movements over isolated movements when building leg mass.

Lying Leg Curl

Labrada explains why using your hamstrings when doing lying leg curls is important. He also advises against cheating by swinging your legs. This exercise targets your calf muscles and puts constant tension on your hamstrings, stimulating hypertrophy. Swinging your legs generates momentum and limits muscle use.

Hyperextension

Lee Labrada gives tips on the proper way to perform the hyperextension. This is by placing your hips in front of the pad, pivoting the hips, and putting more emphasis on the hamstrings. You’ll get more tension in your hamstrings this way. Hyperextensions work on the glutes, lower back, and hamstrings.

Seated Calf Raise

The men move next to some calf exercises, and Lee Labrada and Craig reminisce about their time in the golden era of bodybuilding at Gold’s Gym and World Gym. They talk about how bodybuilding in those days was a community and how things seem different now.

Next, Labrada explains the seated calf raise exercise and how it works the soleus muscle and surrounding muscles. He had this to say:

“Seated position, you inactivate the gastrocnemius, which is what you see from the back of the calf. And it helps to train the soleus and all of the other muscles that you’ll find there in the calf.”

Standing Calf Raise

Labrada explains the secret to developing good calves is always to train them early and not at the end of your workouts when you’re too tired.

“Anytime you have a weak body part, train it early in your routine while you still have energy and focus.”

He points out that when doing this exercise, keep your knees slightly bent to get maximum tension in your gastrocnemius muscle. This position also minimizes the involvement of the soleus muscle.

References

Fradkin, A. J., Zazryn, T. R., & Smoliga, J. M. (2010). Effects of warming-up on physical performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(1), 140–148. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c643a0
Zhang, W., Chen, X., Xu, K., Xie, H., Li, D., Ding, S., & Sun, J. (2023). Effect of unilateral training and bilateral training on physical performance: A meta-analysis. Frontiers in physiology, 14, 1128250. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1128250