LEG STRENGTH
At the gym the other day a 73 year old man who attends the gym three times a week, mentioned to me that he was shocked by something that happened to him a few days ago when he climbed up a ladder to fix his roof. He went up and down the ladder once but needed to go up again. When he descended the second time one of his legs lost all power and he became stuck. “I must be getting old,” he said. “Do you do any machines to strengthen your legs?” I asked. “No,” he said, so I immediately introduced him to a number of leg press machines. Failure to strengthen the legs is a common story even with seasoned bodybuilders. At bodybuilding championships I’ve seen many male bodybuilders with great upper bodies perched on, what I call celery legs. I don’t think anyone enjoys the leg press. I certainly don’t. In fact it’s the one machine I dread the most. I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the leg press because, although it’s hard work, I value greatly what it does for my leg strength. The message is if you don’t work on strengthening your legs they will surely let you down.