How Mr Olympia Champion Samson Dauda, 40, Builds Massive Legs – Steal His 5-Move Workout

C1. Smith Machine Squat x 3 sets of 10 reps
C2. Leg Extension x 3 sets of 12 reps

D. Hip Abduction x 4 sets of 12 reps

Dauda’s workout doesn’t rely on fancy exercises. Instead, he focuses on proven movements performed with high intensity. We couldn’t agree more.

‘The emphasis on machines is refreshing. They may not give you the same “functional” bang for your buck as free-weight movements, but when it comes to raw muscle-building, the additional stability that machines provide helps you focus on simply using your quads and hamstrings to move as much weight as possible,’ explains MH fitness director Andrew Tracey.

‘It’s a pretty high-volume dose of leg work, so if you’ve been training full body – or just skipping leg day – for a while, you may want to approach with caution, starting with 1-2 fewer sets for each movement and working your way up, otherwise you’ll be avoiding stairs for the next week.’

The leg press, meanwhile, is a licence to move hundreds of kilos of weight. Ensure you keep your form sharp or you risk missing out on the muscle-building benefits. Use a full range of motion, even as the plates start to stack up, and control your tempo throughout.

Leg Press

• Sit down on a leg press machine with your glutes and lower back pressed firmly into the seat. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep your neck against the pad.
• Place your feet on the sled. Aim for a position where your knees are at least hip-width apart to start. The closer you place your feet to the bottom of the plate (nearest your body), the more knee-dominant and quad-focused the movement becomes. If you place your feet further away, the movement becomes more hinge-dominant, placing greater emphasis on your hamstrings and glutes.
• Press through the sled with your feet while maintaining tension through your torso. Release the sled from the safety lock, then lower the weight under control.
• Lower as far as you comfortably can while keeping your back flush against the pad. Don’t allow your hips to lift off the seat; if they do, you’ve gone too deep.
• Press through the platform with both feet to raise the weight back up, extending your knees.

Single-Leg Hamstring Curl

• Lie face down on the leg curl machine with your heels against the lower pad and the bench pressed against your thighs.
• Bend one knee to pull the pad towards your glutes as far as possible.
• Return to the start position and repeat on the opposite side.

Smith Machine Squat

• Adjust the bar in a Smith machine to just below shoulder height.
• Step underneath the bar and place it across your upper back and traps rather than your neck. Adopt a shoulder-width stance with your toes slightly turned out.
• From there, push the bar slightly upwards and rotate your wrists forwards to unhook it from the machine.
• Brace your core and squat down as low as you comfortably can, keeping your chest up throughout. Pause briefly at the bottom before driving back to the start.

Leg Extension

• Set up the leg extension machine with your knees at 90 degrees and the pad resting against your shins just above the ankles. Grip the handles at the side of the seat.
• With your core engaged, extend your legs until they are fully straight.
• Squeeze your quads and pause briefly.
• Lower the weight under control until the plates nearly touch.

Hip Abduction

• Sit down at a hip abduction machine with the pads resting against the outside of your thighs.
• Start with your legs together, your back firmly against the backrest and your feet on the footrests.
• Push your legs outwards as far as you comfortably can.
• Pause briefly at the widest point before returning under control to the starting position.

If there’s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it’s how to optimise your body composition for performance. To tap into his knowledge as an elite athlete and coach, we asked him to create a 4-week plan to help you move faster, recover quicker and keep pushing when the fatigue sets in – all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.

Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? Click here to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the Men’s Health app.

Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.

During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.

Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…

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