The Legs Feed The Wolf
“The legs feed the wolf” is a phrase spoken by Herb Brooks (played by Kurt Russel) in the critically acclaimed film Miracle, during a grueling training camp montage as the USA national ice hockey team prepares for the 1980 Olympic Games (O’Connor, 2004) Miracle is one of my favorite movies. I enjoy watching ice hockey and covering it as an athletic trainer, but I don’t keep up with the sport as much as I should. My real inspiration from this movie and particular scene comes from the urgency to push limits and strive to constantly improve. To develop conditioning to burn past competitors and legs that last an entire game with many long, arduous shifts on the ice. “Build your legs up boys, build your legs” is another statement made by Brooks, emphasizing a need to develop exceptional stamina and strength at that moment (O’Connor, 2004). “We don’t have forever, let’s not act like it” is a quote from the motivational speaker, Eric Thomas, that sums up the idea that time is limited and we cannot expect opportunities to always be there (Thomas, 2021). Or that we’ll skate by, literally in this case, on raw talent. The point here is that these athletes are attempting to be so well-prepared, so they can defeat one of the most successful teams ever assembled in their sport. The montage includes a lot of specific hockey drills, but also conditioning in different planes of movement. Dry land training is also involved, which includes an isometric wall sit partner exercise that appears very uncomfortable. When you are striving to improve every day and push your limits, you don’t shy away from the uncomfortable work. Leg day is up and we are getting after it!
Growing up as a young gym bro and following the tutelage of other 15 year-olds, bench press and upper body aesthetics was often the focus. Instead of Tom Platz, my idolization was directed at Jake Long bench pressing 37 repetitions with 225 pounds at the NFL Combine (Schalter, 2017). Many will never uncover that Long also tied for top vertical jump among offensive tackles in the draft that year and posted the best time for the three cone drill (Schalter, 2017). Power, explosiveness, and athleticism starts with the legs. I really don’t feel there’s a sport that can avoid this need to build strength in the lower body. I know there will be a line of people in front of me, ready to disagree. Does a soccer player really need to resistance train? What about cross country? Well, I have worked with a lot of collegiate soccer players and the ones that last have a solid base acquired through training legs so they can play a ball hard, turn on the jets, and outlast their opponent in a match. Seeing talented women’s players boasting a defined set of quads and hamstrings is not uncommon. The ground reaction forces dealt with during running alone warrant precise and consistent execution of a lower extremity program. I would not expect a cross country athlete to look like a powerlifter, but they better have the muscular system necessary to flex and extend the hips and push off the ground with the lower leg. What about knee health? Aren’t squats and other leg movements bad for your knees? The evidence does not support injury risk with squats to proper depth with correct technique (Myer et al, 2014). There is often a need for an athlete to put themselves in positions where being proficient in the squat can be beneficial to motor control and mastery of movement (Myer et al, 2014). When these muscle groups such as the glutes, quads, and hamstrings are trained properly the shear and compressive forces on the knee joint are minimal in positions like a deep squat (Myer et al, 2014). So let’s go ahead and bend the knee.
It’s time to pursue those leg gains, but how does one go about carrying out a consistent program that lasts more than a couple sessions. There are many methods and a lot that can be done with different stances, types of implements/machines, tempo, pauses, range of motion, etc. What is really needed here, however, is regular performance of a quality squat movement with solid technique. That aspect encompasses a whole separate article, but the main points are ensuring that the individual can unhinge at the hip while bending the knees to keep load tracking over midfoot. The feet should remain flat, while precarious trunk positions like rounding, leaning, and twisting need to be avoided. A quality squat movement involves the hip creases descending to around parallel with the top of the knee. Emphasis on the word “around” because some will be higher, while others will have great mobility and bottom-out. As long as a powerlifting meet isn’t on the horizon, there’s room to be flexible.
I'm a traditionalist and love a good barbell back squat, but I came up in this industry reading Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell materials where the box squat is a staple in their training system (Simmons, 2007). I have done a lot with the box squat, especially with a wider stance as I believe this engages the hips in such a way that will truly enhance the power coming from the lower body. Even if that is not exactly our goal, there are a number of aspects of human movement and performance that are applicable here. A free squat involves one descending and ascending with a stopping point, followed by re-initiation of movement in the other direction. This is static overcome by dynamic movement. The box squat includes an amortization phase where there is a resting component on the box that has to be overcome by dynamic movement to return load to a standing position (Simmons, 2007) (Verkhoshansky, 2009). This is more applicable to the fluid and ever-changing state of an athlete in a competitive performance environment. We don’t generally see successful athletes flexed up and ready to perform a movement in the other direction. A soccer player will, however, need to go from a standing or slow jogging position to quick burst. A football player is in a stance, but if they are too tensed up they’re likely going to have problems. What is great about the box squat is that it involves these characteristics and the amortization can last as long as 0.8 seconds and the elastic energy from the eccentric phase of the movement will be retained (Defranco, 2011) (Simmons, 2007). This is a huge component for power sports, but we can also address the co-contraction component for sports that require more finesse. The glutes are key and will be emphasized more here than with a free squat. Training and activation of the glutes has been a hot topic in the fitness industry for some time now because apparently nobody can fire them correctly (insert Bret Contreas meme). While evaluating athletes and incorporating Reflexive Performance Reset in the athletic training room, I’ve found glute strength to be satisfactory in many cases, but psoas has been a major weak point. When squatting, as the glutes contract to drive up, there is a co-contraction of the hip flexors. The act of pulling one’s self off a box further hits on this point and the same action is taking place with adductor or groin muscles. Chris Korfist, one of the founders of RPR, states that many athletes and clientele he’s worked with have a non-active adductor magnus (Korfist et al, 2023). For longer distance running athletes this can be a dramatic component of training the hips and legs to withstand a vigorous workload over many weeks. This, of course, isn’t the only way to build the lower body and a lot more is involved in putting together a program.
Coordination and balance are crucial to athletic success. We aim to build neuromuscular coordination in the weight room. Some great methods to achieve this are single-leg exercises and isometric holds. Many athletes start to feel something brewing in the back of their throat when they see split-squats written in the program. It is true that a fair amount of brutality exists when this movement is included after a tough squat session. Besides being quite difficult, split-squats are also one of the best and most versatile ways to build leg strength, as well as incorporate coordination and balance in the resistance training program. They can be done rear-foot elevated and front-foot elevated with different forms of loading and tempo. Another very powerful iteration of this movement that is ubiquitous with programs from Cal Dietz and his athlete’s training is the floating heel split-squat (Dietz, 2012). This challenging variation demands strength and stability from the foot rooted to the floor, up through the kinetic chain. The ability to maneuver into this position and remain balanced under load is a game changer for the ankles, knees, and hips. Isometric holds are the basis of the initial phase of Cal’s training system, Triphasic, and they made a major impact on how I formulate strength and rehabilitation programs (Dietz, 2012). Patellafemoral pathologies and lateral ankle sprains are a couple of the common conditions that torment me in the sports medicine world. Holds for up to 60 seconds under load are of substantial benefit for increasing the patellar tendon’s capacity for stress (Defranco, 2011). The spring ankle iso-hold exercises from Cal and Chris are superior for building stability and strength in the foot and ankle (Dietz, 2012) (Korfist, 2023). This series of positions should be incorporated in any program aiming to enhance balance and coordination through the lower extremity. A strong foundation in single-leg and iso-hold movements will carry an athlete far in the weight room and on the competitive field.
So it’s leg day, right? This piece started off with some motivation. That’s exactly what everyone needed. Get pumped up and get under the bar. Oh, but you thought squats were enough and now there’s a whole other class of exercises. Then we dug a little deeper, but you may still be hung up on the bench press portion, so squatting felt adequate. Or did this just jump around too much? I have often observed professionals becoming too segregated to their one method, approach, and circle of people who practice that. What I laid out here was a thought process behind constructing something much more comprehensive. Complacency echoes through the gym where the day is concluded after a few sets of squats. The goal here was to push limits and that means the uncomfortable work must be performed. There were many methods that were not mentioned here at all. A few were selected and those should be carried out with conviction. Not left behind, squandered and broken. The wolf that keeps running eats and the athlete that improves succeeds. If the goal is to be either then keep pushing forward and let’s get after it!
References
Defranco & Smith. Power! [DVD] (2011) Wayne, NJ. USA. Pixel Mobb
Dietz, C. Peterson, B. (2012). Triphasic Training: A systematic approach to elite speed and explosive strength performance. Bye Dietz Sports Enterprise
Korfist, C. Dietz, C. Holdsworth, J. (2023). RPR Level 1 Attendee Manual. Reflexive Performance Reset.
Myer, G. Kushner, A. Brent, J. Schoenfeld, B. Hugentobler, J. Lloyd, R. Vermeil, A. Chu, D. Harbin, J. McGill, S. The Back Squat: A Proposed Assessment of Functional Deficits and Technical Factors That Limit Performance. Strength and Conditioning Journal 36(6):p 4-27, December 2014.
O’Connor, G. (2004, February 6). Miracle [Motion Picture]. United States: Walt Disney Pictures
Schalter, T (2017, September 13). Once-Elite Tackle Jake Long Faces Uphill Climb Back to All-Star Form. Bleacher Report.
Simmons, L. (2007). Westside Barbell Book of Methods. Westside Barbell.
Thomas, E (2021, October 11) Best of Eric Thomas (120 Series) | POWERFUL MOTIVATION (Video). Youtube.
Verkhoshansky, Y & Siff, M. (2009). Supertraining. Verkhoshansky