The following details my leg and abdominal workout from this past Saturday morning. I decide to seek out some different equipment, so Christina and I went and trained at Gold’s Gym in Bothell. We trained at this gym back when we got married nearly 20 years ago so it was cool to see some old friends.
If you recall from my last training log where I trained legs on Wednesday night, I’m moving my main leg workout back to Saturday. Yes, this was a little tough after only a couple days rest, lol. The workout was largely designed by my coach, John Meadows. Here is what we did…
Lying Leg Curls
We used a Matrix machine here, which had an awesome feel to it – FYI.
Set 1 x 10 reps with 60lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 70lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 80lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 90lbs
Set 5 x 10 reps with 100lbs
Set 6 x 10 reps with 110lbs
Set 7 x 10 reps with 120lbs
Set 8 x 10 reps with 130lbs -> drop to 90lbs x 8 reps -> drop to 60lbs x 8 reps + isohold
*I simply worked my way up in weight doing sets of 10 reps until I got to a weight in which I barely got all 10. At that point I did two drops with 8 reps on each and ended with a 30 second isohold near the fully extended position.
Leg Press
I used a newer Cybex Leg Press here – FYI.
Set 1 x 20 reps with 2 plates/side
Set 2 x 20 reps with 3 plates/side
Set 3 x 20 reps with 4 plates/side
Set 4 x 15 reps with 5 plates/side
Set 5 x 12 reps with 6 plates/side
Set 6 x 10 reps with 7 plates/side
Set 7 x 10 reps with 8 plates/side
Set 8 x 10 reps with 9 plates/side
*John called for sets of 10 reps going up in weight until you could barely get all 10. I kept my reps higher until I got into heavier weight as my knees need more time to get warm. I counted this as 3 working sets.
Hack Squat 1.5’s
I did these reverse banded. I also used this to force more glute activation: https://www.elitefts.com/sling-shot-hip-circle.html.
Set 1 x 10 reps with 2 plates/side (feeder set)
Set 2 x 10 reps (1.5’s) with 3 plates/side
Set 3 x 10 reps (1.5’s) with 3 plates/side
Set 4 x 10 reps (1.5’s) with 3 plates/side
Set 5 x 10 reps (1.5’s) with 3 plates/side
*The key here is to go down all the way, come up half way, go back down all the way, and then come all the way back up. That counts as one rep, which means performing ten 1.5 reps will put your quads under tension for a long time giving you a massive pump. Enjoy!
Here is a video from an old workout to show the technique:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqdjC2SV3qw]
Leg Extensions
Set 1 x 25 reps with 140lbs
Set 2 x 25 reps with 140lbs
Set 3 x 25 reps with 140lbs
*This was brutal after the 1.5’s on hacks. Towards the end these will likely become partial reps, but just keep pumping them out non-stop until you get to 25 total reps. Stretch each quad between sets.
Abdominal Superset: Hanging Leg Raises & Rope Crunches
Hanging Leg Raises x 12 reps
Immediately followed by…
Rope Crunches x 12 reps with 160lbs
*Pause in the contracted position on each rep of both exercises. Perform the superset for 3 rounds.
That concluded this leg and abdominal workout.
Train hard!
Mark