Speed Truth 4 of 5: LOWER LEGS

Do all 3 of these lower leg exercises for good measure!

Date: August 22, 2026

Part 1 covered your general force into the ground and at shin angle.

Part 2 covered your hamstrings.

Part 3 covered your hip flexors.

Now for Part 4, we want to make sure your lower legs can handle all that force!

Fortunately, we have some very simple historical examples to look at, starting with the fastest man ever, Usain Bolt.

He worked hard on the standing calf machine, as well as the seated tibialis (front of shin) machine. These happened to be the only lower leg machines in his gym, and his coach, Glen Mills, made good use of them!

Meanwhile, Su Bingtian, the fastest accelerator ever to the first 30 meters, worked hard on both standing and seated calf exercises. His coach, Randy Huntington, tested athletes on the seated calf machine and found that Su had a lot of untapped strength there. He then got much stronger, and it paid off as part of his plan!

As for me…

I’ve been doing all three for the last decade as part of my balanced but unusual regimen.

I’m no Bolt or Su, but in that time, I’ve become more athletic and resilient than I believed was possible for my genetics.

Thus, my main message is to find whatever lower leg methods you can genuinely enjoy and stick with.

When you put maximum force into the ground, your lower legs take a beating, so for pro athletes, I say: Do all three for good measure!

(Click here for a video which includes how to train all this stuff withoutmachines. It’s easier to understand these demonstrations in video form than pictures.)

Unfortunately, I got the idea growing up that lower legs were a waste of time because they’re not the main power producers. That’s true - but it’s also true that they have to handle your power, and they take a very small time commitment to train!

For example, I had no idea Usain Bolt was training calf and tibs! These sorts of things rarely make the highlight reels. Thus, today’s article is a boring but necessary part of this series.

Next week I’ll round out this article series by making sure you’re not missing any key ingredients not explicitly stated in Parts 1-4.

Yours in Solutions,

Ben

For further help with my ATG Basics and Pro Sports programs: atgonlinecoaching.com

To see if there’s an ATG coach or gym near you: map.atgforcoaches.com