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
