The following details my primary leg workout from this past Saturday at Kirkland Gold’s Gym. I trained alongside Christina and the workout was designed by my coach, John Meadows. Here is what it included…
Adductor Machine
Perform 2-3 warm-up sets before launching into the working sets.
Set 1 x 10 reps with 205lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 205lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 205lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 205lbs
*If you haven’t done these in a while don’t go crazy or you’ll hate walking the next 3 days, lol. I stopped a few reps short of failure with the above listed weight. We just want to get the blood flowing.
Glute Bridge/Hip Thruster
Set 1 x 15 reps with 95lbs
Set 2 x 15 reps with 145lbs
Set 3 x 14 reps with 165lbs
Set 4 x 12 reps with 185lbs
Set 5 x 12 reps with 185lbs
*The key here is to flex your glutes and hold in the contracted position at the top for a 1 second count on each rep. Remember not to hyperextend at the top.
Here is a video from an older workout:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z11SffcWTEM]
Cambered Bar Squats
John called for barbell, but the cambered bar feels better on my lower back. I used something similar to this: https://www.elitefts.com/shop/bars-weights/specialty-bars/rackable-cambered-squat-bar.html. Remember my lower back is bad so what I can’t do in weight I try to make up for in volume; meaning I did twice the prescribed sets – FYI.
Set 1 x 10 reps with 135lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 135lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 135lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 135lbs
Set 5 x 10 reps with 155lbs
Set 6 x 10 reps with 175lbs
*I focused on being explosive out of the bottom and took 45 second rest breaks between sets to make them more challenging.
Leg Press
Set 1 x 8 reps (deadstops) with 2 plates/side
Set 2 x 8 reps (deadstops) with 4 plates/side
Set 3 x 8 reps (deadstops) with 6 plates/side
Set 4 x 8 reps (deadstops) with 8 plates/side
Set 5 x 8 reps with 9 plates/side -> drop to 8 plates x 8 reps -> drop to 7 plates x 8 reps -> drop to 6 plates x 8 reps -> drop to 5 plates x 8 reps
*The key here is to set up the leg press in such a way that the weight bottoms out when your knees are at 90 degrees. Pause for a 2 second count at the bottom and then drive the weight up. I finished my last set without the deadstops, but did a massive 5 set drop set instead. Brutal!
Here is a video of Set 4 as Christina had to strip weight on the final drop set and couldn’t film:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf_QOWE-tVg]
Leg Extensions
Set 1 x 21 reps (failure) with 205lbs
Set 2 x 14 reps (failure) with 235lbs
Set 3 x 11 reps (failure) with 235lbs
*The key here is to sit up straight if not lean a little bit forward while keeping your back straight. Select a moderate weight and go to failure for 3 sets. I went too light on my first set so I increased it for sets 2 & 3. Stretch your quads between each set.
Seated Leg Curl
I used the only seated leg curl available at Gold’s Gym – a unilateral Life Fitness machine. Weight listed is per each leg.
Set 1 x 15 reps with 60lbs
Set 2 x 14 reps with 60lbs
Set 3 x 11 reps with 60lbs
Set 4 x 9 reps with 60lbs
Set 5 x 5 reps with 60lbs
*The key here is to select a weight in which you can get 15 reps and then do it for 5 sets to failure with only 30 second rest breaks between each set. I strained my hamstring years ago racing my daughter in a 100 meter sprint and I felt some pain on my 5th set in that exact area so I shut it down at 5 reps.
That concluded this primary leg workout.
Train hard!
Mark
I never see any direct calf or abs work, do you not train these muscle groups?
I don't post my abdominal or calve training because lately I go to the gym early Mon, Wed & Fri morning and perform them before going to do an hour of hot yoga. Abs consist of a superset of leg raises and cable crunches, while calves vary between seated and standing calve raises. You can check out some of my favorite calve training techniques by visiting my recent article - Calves to Cows.
Hope this helps!
Mark