Pre-Exhaust Gone Awry: Leg Press and Glutes


The original Nautilus compound leg machine was one of my all-time favorite machines. Negative-accentuated leg extensions followed by leg presses to failure left me immediately hobbled and sore for days.

But the buttocks are the stronger muscles in a leg press. They should be pre-exhausted with the old Nautilus adduction/abduction machine.
Imagine a proper double leg machine, a adductor/abductor combined with a leg press.

The whole point of pre-exhausting with an extension before a press, is because the glutes are the stronger muscle in a lot of people. As such, the quads, as the usual target muscle, fail to receive adequate stimulation. So by making them even weaker with the extensions, you are able to fully fatigue them.

Heck, most physical therapists and science types Will tell you that a back squat, or most leg presses, are posterior chain exercises anyway.

S

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My ass would agree that they are posterior chain exercises, lol. It’s compounded on me being a long limbed, tall lifter with back squats. Took me twenty years to finally realize why it is so hard for me to get any quad development doing back squats.

I eventually realized that front squats, and pre-exhaust approaches were the only way I was going to have almost decent quads -lol

S

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That’s my current attack, front squats and rear elevated split squats and anything else I feel like throwing in after.

Funny, for me back squats are a quad dominant exercise, and I still get a solid quad pump after a set.
If I want to hit glutes, I have to hit specific exercise to hit them directly.

It’s all structure related imo. Yes performance technique can have a big effect, but I think with the wide spectrum we see in gyms, two people can religiously adhere to the exact same tips yet develope completely differently from the same movement.

S

Technique matters so much too. We can both say the phrase “back squat” and mean TOTALLY different things.

If you do back squats like Justin Harris, there’s a fair chance your quads will still get lit up

Do them like Jim Wendler and you’re gonna be hitting primarily PC

i thought the point of pre exhausting with extensions was because the quads don’t fail on the squat , it is the glutes that fail, even though quads grow from the squat they do not fail first- the glutes fail first then making the quads not having reached failure, so you would pre exhaust them so they fail with the other muscles in the squat.

The quads have great growth potential, even though the glutes are what fail on a back squat, the quads seem to grow the most from it

Many today target the glutes, not the quads. Sprinters should target glutes. Women want the glutes targeted.

BTW- the lower back is the weak link in squats, whereas in the leg press-the weak link is the quadriceps. Arthur Jones original compound leg machine had it manufactured right to target the quads. The quads are more sensitive than the buttocks and are felt during squats and leg presses even though 80 percent of the work is performed by the buttocks. A giant set with a rush factor - of lower back , hip abduction, to leg press can pre-exhaust the buttocks. This allow trainees to feel their buttocks work .

Yes the lower back is the weakest link in squats, Which is why the belt squat feels so much more natural. I wonder why arthur jones hadn’t considers a belt squat like system? or had he? is there a reason why arthur jones never incorporated a belt system? I personally added the belt squat into my routine to avoid any spinal compression whatsoever. Spinal load itself is a recovery problem.

He did,

Nautilus OME with a platform

It is great!

I have one!
image

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That looks like the only machine you would ever need! Can you do belt squats on it? only if it had a cam like the duo squat that compensates for the squat weak bottom and strong top position. Alternatively you can do as i do on my belt squat setup is chin myself out the sticking point if it arises

YES but as you said and what i was under the impression of from reading arthur’s and mike’s material- the most work is done and the failure of the exercise if from the glutes failing not the quads, therefor pre-exhausting the glutes does not make sense since they are stimulated sufficiently, it is the quads that require pre exhausting if at all any is required. In short if your quads are growing from squats well then your glutes are growing from squats.

This machine has a negative cam similar to the Nautilus Duo Squat

The weak link of the leg press is the quadriceps. By pre-exhausting the quadriceps with leg extensions first means the buttocks never go to failure. This also means the quadriceps go to failure twice (leg extension & leg press).

True pre-exhaustion targets the strongest link first to endeavor to approach failure of the strongest muscle group.

so why pre exhaust the weakest link?

Also I thought you pre exhaust the muscle that doesn’t fail on the exercise so that everything fails together for a better stimulus of growth?

So on chest press the failure happens not from the chest failing but from the triceps failing, which is why chest fly is done to pre exhaust for the incline chest press correct? pre exhausting the triceps before an incline press would be ridiculous right or am i missing something here?

No good reason?

Your last paragraph indicates you understand

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it’s such a shame that all these nautilus machines became out of fashion
I dont even know what this one does but I wish my gym had it

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