The following details my leg workout from last Saturday morning at Kirkland Gold’s Gym. Last week I did some occlusion work that absolutely destroyed my quads so I included more today. Here is what I did…
Alternating: Lying Leg Curls & Banded Hip Thrusters
I used two of these bands in a Hammer Strength power rack for the hip thrusters: https://www.elitefts.com/pro-monster-mini-restistance-band.html.
Lying Leg Curls x 8 reps with 100lbs
Immediately followed by…
Hip Thrusters x 8 reps with band and bands only
Immediately repeat…
*The key on the leg curls is to not allow the weight to return to the stack when your legs are extended to keep tension on the hamstrings throughout the entire set. Move straight to hip thrusters and be sure to hold the contraction at the top for a 2 second count on every rep. If you have bands; use them. They made the contraction much more intense. Move back-and-forth between these two exercises until you’ve done each one 8 times.
Alternating: Occluded Leg Extensions & Cambered Bar Squats
You’ll need some knee wraps similar to these: https://www.elitefts.com/elitefts-normal-knee-wrap.html.
And a bar similar to this: https://www.elitefts.com/rackable-cambered-squat-bar.html.
Occluded Leg Extensions x 8 reps with 145lbs
Immediately followed by…
Occluded Cambered Bar Squats x 8 reps with 135lbs
Immediately repeat…
*Wrap your upper thigh to restrict blood flow to your quads. Don’t wrap as tight as you would a normal knee wrap - maybe 70%. Use perfect form on the extensions and then move immediately to squats. My lower back precludes me from using very much weight so adjust as needed, but keep in mind that the blood flow restriction makes this much more difficult. The goal is an insane pump more than moving an insane amount of weight. I did 3 rounds like this non-stop before I removed the wraps. I rested for about 3 minutes and then put the wraps back on and did another 3 rounds.
Alternating: Leg Press & Seated Leg Curls
The seated leg curl machine was unilateral - FYI.
Leg Press x 12 reps with 3 plates/side
Immediately followed by…
Seated Leg Curls x 12 reps with 60lbs/leg
Immediately repeat…
*The key on the leg press is to put your feet very low on the platform, heels together, toes pointing out and knees tracking to the outside of your body. Press with your toes as you lower and push the weight back up, but at the very top switch to your heels, lockout your legs and flex as hard as possible. Don’t try and use a bunch of weight or you’ll risk injuring your knees. Nothing special on the seated leg curls besides perfect form. I alternated back-and-forth until I did each exercise 4 times. I began to fail on the seated leg curls around 7-8 reps on the last 2 sets - FYI.
That concluded today's leg workout.
Train hard!
Mark