The following details my primary leg workout from Saturday morning. I volunteered to drive my oldest daughter and three other cheerleaders to Tacoma for a cheer event which meant I had to leave Bothell at 6:30am. Not wanting to drive an hour back to Kirkland Gold’s Gym after dropping them off, Christina and I decided to train at The Gym Standard in Puyallup. It’s owned and operated by Gabe Moen, NPC National Super Heavyweight contender, and he was gracious enough to let us work out. We followed the program design of my coach, John Meadows, with a few modifications. Here is the workout…
Lying Leg Curl Dead-Stops
One thing I quickly noticed is that all the equipment is tailored to someone Gabe’s size (6’2”?) which made some things difficult for me (5’6”) and Christina (5’1”), lol. I had to set a wood block between plates to allow the machine to not hyper-extend my knee when doing dead-stops - FYI.
Set 1 x 10 reps with 50lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 60lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 70lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 80lbs
Set 5 x 10 reps with 90lbs
Set 6 x 10 reps with 100lbs
Set 7 x 10 reps with 110lbs
Set 8 x 7 reps (failure) with 120lbs
*The key here is to set the weight down at the bottom for a split second before flexing your hamstrings and curling the weight up forcefully. I simply went up in weight until I failed to get 10 reps and counted this as 3 working sets.
Here is a video of Set 7:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_ff53kanhQ]
V-Squats
John called for barbell squats, but as you know those are challenging for me due to lower back issues. The gym was equipped with a squat machine which I thought would be more back friendly.
Set 1 x 12 reps with 1 plate both sides
Set 2 x 10 reps with 1 plate one side and 2 on the other
Set 3 x 8 reps with 2 plates both sides
Set 4 x 8 reps with 2 and 3 plates
Set 5 x 8 reps with 3 plates both sides
Set 6 x 8 reps with 3 and 4 plates
Set 7 x 8 reps with 4 plates both sides
Set 8 x 8 reps with 4 and 5 plates
Set 9 x 8 reps with 5 plates both sides
*I worked up slowly adding a single plate each time until my last set of 8 reps with 5 plates/side. Any more and I felt I was risking putting my back out, but otherwise this was a great machine. I counted this as 4 working sets.
Here is a video:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIxYOm9WYqo]
Glute Machine
I used a Life Fitness Glute Machine whereby you stand upright with your chest against a pad and drive one leg back - FYI.
Set 1 x 10 reps with 110lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 130lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 150lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 170lbs
Set 5 x 10 reps with 190lbs -> drop to 160lbs x 10 reps -> drop to 130lbs x 10 reps -> drop to 100lbs x 10 reps
*Work your way up in weight doing sets of 10 and finish off with a massive drop set. I had to rest and catch my breath after performing the drop set before doing it with the other leg - FYI.
Leg Press
Set 1 x 35 reps with 4 plates/side
Set 2 x 30 reps with 5 plates/side
Set 3 x 30 reps with 5 plates/side
*The goal was 3 sets of 30 reps, but I went too light on my first set and did some extra reps. The key is to use a narrow foot placement to hammer the quads.
Dumbbell Stiff-Legged Deads
Set 1 x 10 reps with 60lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 60lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 60lbs
*I elevated my toes on 2.5lb plates and kept a very slight bend in my knees. I can’t go super heavy on this due to my lower back, so feel free to challenge yourself with whatever weight is right for your abilities.
That concluded this primary leg workout.
Train hard!
Mark