The following details my primary leg workout from this past Saturday morning at Kirkland Gold’s Gym.  My coach, John Meadows, programmed the workout although I did change a few things in order to work around my lower back issues.  I was joined by my bride.  Here is the workout…

 

Seated Leg Curls

 

As always I used the only seated leg curl machine available at Kirkland Gold’s Gym; a Life Fitness unilateral leg curls machine.  Weight listed is per each leg - FYI.  Be sure to perform 3-4 warm-ups before launching into working sets.

 

Set 1 x 15 reps with 60lbs

Set 2 x 12 reps with 70lbs

Set 3 x 10 reps with 80lbs

Set 4 x 7 reps with 90lbs -> drop to 60lbs x 30 partials

 

*Perform the prescribed reps going up in weight.  You should nearly hit failure at the end of each set.  The 4th set was 8 reps, but I failed at 7.  Finish by dropping the weight and performing 30 partials.  Go slow and deliberate with these so you don’t pull a hamstring and fight through the burn!

 

Cambered Bar HBT Squats

 

I used a bar similar to this: https://www.elitefts.com/shop/bars-weights/specialty-bars/rackable-cambered-squat-bar.html along with these bands: https://www.elitefts.com/shop/bars-weights/bands/pro-mini-resistance-band.html.  John programmed regular barbell squats so obviously I deviated.  If you have a good lower back feel free to squat with heavy weight for sets of 10 reps.  Here is exactly what I did:

 

Set 1 x 10 reps with 95lbs

Set 2 x 10 reps with 135lbs

Set 3 x 10 reps with 135lbs + 50lbs HBT

Set 4 x 10 reps with 135lbs + 50lbs HBT

Set 5 x 10 reps with 135lbs + 50lbs HBT

Set 6 x 10 reps with 135lbs + 50lbs HBT

 

*The key here for me was to perform squats with perfect form so I didn’t mess up my lower back.  I included hanging band technique (HBT) as it forces me to stay tighter. I literally haven’t had a bar on my back for squats in probably a year.  I went with a cambered bar because I was better able to center the weight.

 

Here is a video:

 

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWQYS0UAnaM]

 

Leg Extensions

 

Set 1 x 10 reps with 220lbs

Set 2 x 10 reps with 220lbs

Set 3 x 10 reps + 25 partials with 220lbs

Set 4 x 10 reps + 22 partials with 220lbs

 

*The key here is to hold the contraction for a split second in the flexed positions on each rep.  The final set you are to perform partial reps out of the bottom to failure.  I thought we were only doing 3 sets and ended up performing partials after set 3, so I had the added pleasure of doing 2 sets of partials to failure.  Needless to say my quads were trashed, lol.

 

Leg Press 1.5’s

 

Set 1 x 8 reps (1.5’s) with 6 plates/side

Set 2 x 8 reps (1.5’s) with 6 plates/side

Set 3 x 8 reps (1.5’s) with 6 plates/side

 

*Each reps is actually 1.5 reps, meaning you lower the weight, push about ½ way back up, come right back down and then push to full extension.  That counts as one rep.

 

Here is a video showing the technique:

 

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-pvgckonwo]

 

Cable Pull-Throughs

 

Set 1 x 20 reps with 130lbs

Set 2 x 15 reps with 160lbs

 

*Two sets of higher reps today.  Work the stretch and flex your glutes as you come up.

 

That concluded this primary leg workout.

 

Train hard!

Mark