On the third day of February in the year 2022, former two-time Classic Physique Olympia champion Breon Ansley found himself in a gym, sitting on a leg extension machine under the watchful eye of his coach. Sporting a baseball cap, a tight t-shirt, and a frown across his face, he suffered for the art of bodybuilding.
Squirming, guys. These damn extensions. Squirming. I feel like a million today though. I feel like a million today.
It was the first exercise during his leg day in preparation for the 2022 Arnold Classic on March 3-6, 2022, where he will attempt to dethrone reigning champion Terrence Ruffin in Columbus, OH. Per the title of the YouTube video covering Ansley’s training session, Ansley’s “legs must be the most conditioned at the Arnold.” Check out the full video from Ansley’s YouTube channel below:
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To achieve the most conditioned legs of any Classic Physique athlete at the Arnold Classic, Ansley follows up his leg extensions with heavy leg presses. For his opening sets, he positioned his feet on the lower section of the panel to emphasize his quads.
At the 2:37 mark of the video, it appears Ansley has 810 pounds worth of 45-pound weight plates loaded onto the leg press machine.
My ass is feeling good today. When you feel fly…rock out.
Ansley pointed out that feeling good correlates to performing well, and it’s best to lean into that positive mindset. Doing so allows him to “endure that much more.” After a drop set, Ansley performed additional reps on the vertical leg press. He “earned his pancakes” with a higher foot placement this time around to put more focus on the glutes.
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Once Ansley was satisfied with the work done on his quads and glutes, he darted over to the hamstring curl machine, then to the seated hamstring curl machine. Although still in high spirits, the look of agony during his sets never left his face.
The beatdown of Ansley’s hamstrings continued with single-leg standing hamstring curls, followed by kickbacks. Ansley believes the combined work sculpting his legs will be displayed at the Arnold Classic. Although he never explicitly mentions whether or not that was an area of weakness for him in the judge’s eyes at previous shows, it is an area he thinks there are gains to be had — both on his physique and on the scorecards.
There is no such thing as second place. We’re working for the damn win.
One of the tricks Ansley incorporated into his prep for the Arnold Classic to ensure fuller legs is cutting down on his cardio and replacing it with additional leg days. We’ll see if his plan pays off in Columbus with an Arnold Classic title.
Featured image: @breonma_ on Instagram
