With less than 15 weeks until the 2026 Mr Olympia<\/a>, bodybuilder Samson Dauda is stepping up preparations to look his best. After winning the title in 2024, Dauda slipped to fourth place last year, meaning he’ll head to Las Vegas looking to reclaim the crown at the age of 40.<\/p>\n He recently shared a full leg<\/a> workout on his YouTube channel<\/a> that he’s hoping will help him stand out on stage. It’s a high-volume session built around relatively high reps, with every set performed at maximum intensity.<\/p>\n ‘Got to keep them legs nice and big for the Olympia stage,’ Dauda says. ‘The definition is already showing.’<\/p>\n Dauda’s workout doesn’t rely on fancy exercises. Instead, he focuses on proven movements performed with high intensity<\/a>. We couldn’t agree more.<\/p>\n ‘The emphasis on machines is refreshing. They may not give you the same “functional<\/a>” 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<\/a> and hamstrings<\/a> to move as much weight as possible,’ explains MH<\/em> fitness director Andrew Tracey.<\/p>\n ‘It’s a pretty high-volume dose of leg work, so if you’ve been training full body<\/a> \u2013 or just skipping leg day \u2013 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.’<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it\u2019s 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 \u2013 all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? Click here<\/a> to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the <\/strong>Men\u2019s Health <\/em><\/strong>app.<\/strong> Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men\u2019s Health<\/em> UK<\/em> 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<\/em>, Cycling Weekly<\/em> and Rugby World<\/em> before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo<\/em>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 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\u2026<\/p>\n You can follow Ryan on Instagram <\/a> or on X <\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Workout<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
A. Leg Press<\/a> x 5 sets of 12 reps<\/h2>\n
C1. Smith Machine Squat<\/strong> x 3 sets of 10 reps
C2. Leg Extension<\/a> x 3 sets of 12 reps<\/h2>\nD. Hip Abduction<\/strong> x 4 sets of 12 reps<\/h2>\n
Why High-Volume Leg Training Works<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
How to Do the Movements<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
Leg Press<\/h2>\n
![\"leg](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/leg-press-1675878554.jpg?resize=980:*\" "\\"leg")
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Single-Leg Hamstring Curl<\/h2>\n
![\"arm,](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/menshealth-uk\/main\/thumbs\/33450\/one-leg-hamstring-curl.jpg?resize=980:*\" "\\"Arm,")
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Smith Machine Squat<\/h2>\n
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Leg Extension<\/h2>\n
![\"leg](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/leg-extension-6408af2a97769.jpg?resize=980:*\" "\\"leg")
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Hip Abduction<\/h2>\n
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\n![\"fitness](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/a0458edc-7621-4ee9-b810-f61ea8e958c2.jpg?resize=980:*\" "\\"fitness")
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