The following details my primary leg workout from Saturday morning at Kirkland Gold’s Gym.  The workout was designed by my coach, John Meadows, with a few of my own modifications.  Christina joined me and we went in a little early as we were leaving for AZ that afternoon for our daughter's spring break from school.  Here is the workout…

 

Lying Leg Curls

 

Set 1 x 10 reps with 50lbs (warm-up)

Set 2 x 10 reps with 65lbs (warm-up)

Set 3 x 10 reps with 80lbs (warm-up)

Set 4 x 10 reps with 95lbs (warm-up)

Set 5 x 10 reps with 110lbs

Set 6 x 10 reps (failure) with 115lbs

Set 7 x 9 reps (failure) with 115lbs -> drop to 85lbs x 8 reps -> drop to 55lbs x 8 reps + 20 second isohold

 

*The key is to work up in weight doing sets of 10 reps with perfect form until you hit failure.  Once you hit failure, do the same weight for one more set, but include two drops and a final 20 second isohold about 3 inches from the fully extended position.  I counted this as 3 working sets.

 

Reverse Banded Hack Squats

 

John called for barbell squats, but the goal was to go heavy and I’m unable to do so on this exercise due to my lower back.  I opted for reverse banded hacks instead, but employed the same rep/set scheme - FYI.  I used these for the reverse band technique: https://www.elitefts.com/shop/bars-weights/bands/pro-light-resistance-band.html.

I used a Precor Hack Squat which has pegs for the bands as follows:

Screenshot_20160409-150331

Set 1 x 12 reps with 2 plates/side

Set 2 x 8 reps with 3 plates on one side and 2 plates on the other

Set 3 x 8 reps with 3 plates/side

Set 4 x 8 reps with 4 plates on one side and 3 plates on the other

Set 5 x 8 reps with 4 plates/side

Set 6 x 8 reps with 5 plates on one side and 4 plates on the other

Set 7 x 8 reps with 5 plates/side

Set 8 x 7 reps with 6 plates on one side and 5 plates on the other

Set 9 x 6 reps with 6 plates/side

Set 10 x 5 reps with 7 plates on one side and 6 plates on the other

 

*The key here is to work up in weight doing sets of 8 reps until you get to a really tough set of 8.  At that point continue to go up in weight, but drop the reps by one rep.  Continue in this manner until you get to a final tough set of 5 reps.

 

Here is a video of my last set:

 

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEvgnKz9xEM]

 

Leg Press

 

Set 1 x 12 reps with 3 plates/side (feeder set)

Set 2 x 12 reps with 4 plates/side (feeder set)

Set 3 x 15 reps with 5 plates/side

Rest 45 seconds

Set 4 x 15 reps with 5 plates/side

Rest 30 seconds

Set 5 x 25 reps with 5 plates/side

 

*Perform a couple feeder sets and then the goal is to do 3 sets of 15 reps with short rest breaks.  John called for the rest breaks to be 60 seconds, but I cut the time down as listed above and bumped the reps to 25 on my final set.  I guess I didn’t go heavy enough!

 

Superset: Leg Extensions to Walking Lunges

 

Set 1 x 10 reps with 100lbs (feeder set)

Set 2 x 1 rep (7 second isohold) + 8 pump reps with 130lbs -> drop to 100lbs x 1 rep (7 second isohold) + 8 pump reps -> drop to 70lbs x 1 rep (7 second isohold) + 8 pump reps

Immediately go straight to walking lunges for 30 yards with bodyweight only.

 

*You are basically going to do one drop set here after a feeder set.  On the first rep hold the contraction at the top and flex as hard as possible for 7 seconds before immediately pumping out another 8 reps, drop the weight and repeat the process two more times.  Finish this off with a single set of walking lunges taking long strides and pausing at the bottom on each rep.  

 

Cable Pull-Through

 

Set 1 x 12 reps with 160lbs

Set 2 x 12 reps with 160lbs

Set 3 x 12 reps with 160lbs

 

*Face away from the weight stack, grab a D handle between your legs, walk out a bit, hinge at the waist, work the stretch at the bottom and come up flexing your glutes and hamstrings.

 

Here is a video from last week’s workout if you’re unfamiliar with the form:

 

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBs5qrXOsxI]

 

That concluded this primary leg workout.

 

Train hard!

Mark