Hi,
My Gym history is an on off relationship so far. I re-started in September with a generic newbie plan provided by the gym, all machine work.
I have since exchanged some exercises for others and incorporated some barbell stuff, still learning basics I’d say.
Now the question - how come that with some exercises I see very good progress and others much less so despite equal programming?
Example - I was prescribed the kickback machine initially. I hated it, it felt uncomfortable, I felt weak. I stuck to it for 3 month and saw almost no progress in strength, which is really remarkable. Maybe didn’t fit my anatomy? I then ditched it and did RDL instead. Ok, not exactly the same, but still.
RDL work just fine and I feel some hamstring growth happening. I now added the lying leg curl and the leg extension. And while I progress well on the leg extension, adding weight almost weekly, I struggle with the leg curl plateau. Just for reference, currently at 60 kg leg extension (3x8) and 37-40 kg leg curl (3x8). I have done both exercises before in previous gym times, so comparable exposure I’d say. I attribute my good progress on the leg extension (and leg press) to the fact that I did a lot of road biking, even though it’s ca 15 yrs ago. I know it’s officially cardio. But uphill a lot of strength endurance is involved and some quad growth does happen. So is that a reasonable hypothesis? Or am I just genetically more a quad person?
Not that this is super important, it is just weird somehow and gets me curious.
I’m skeptical that muscle memory or genetics are really causal, though one could argue that genetics play a large role in training responsiveness. I wouldn’t fight that too much.
In any case, I think the programming is likely ineffective for strength gain using the kickback machine. I typically would program something like that for a rep range to allow for progress in both reps and weight, e.g. double progression. That said, as long as you’re getting somwhere close to failure on the kickback machine, it’s likely working just fine. I wouldn’t personally be concerned otherwise, as it’s not really an exercise I think has a lot of strength-development potential.
Regarding your leg extension vs leg curl weights, that weight differential is to be expected, as the quadriceps are much stronger than the hamstrings. Regarding why the leg extensions is progressing and the leg curl isn’t, I would also attribute that to programming.
Thanks Jordan!
I was not aware at all that the quad is supposed to be that much stronger than the hamstrings.
Cheers
Oh yea! The quad has a lot more muscle mass packed per unit volume than the hamstrings due to its pennation angle. Couple that with perhaps some positional differences relating to a mechanical advantage in those specific machines, I wouldn’t give it a second thought personally.
-Jordan