The following details my primary leg workout from this past Saturday at Kirkland Gold’s Gym where Christina and I trained. The workout was designed by John Meadows, but as is typical with legs I modified a few things. Here is the workout…
Seated Leg Curl
John called for a few warm-up sets before performing rest-pause reps. I did 5-4-3-2’s on my warm-ups because they get a ton of blood into the hamstrings quickly. I typically complain about the seated leg curl machine at Kirkland Gold’s Gym, but for this training technique the machine is perfect. I took a video to show you as I’ve actually been doing these often on my secondary leg training days.
The key is to hold one leg in the contracted position while performing 5 full range reps on the other leg. Immediately switch and hold the other leg in the contracted position while performing 5 reps on the leg that was previous in an isometric hold. Then do 4 reps, 3 reps and finish with both legs for 2 full range reps.
I only used about 50lbs on each leg and did a couple rounds as warm-ups. Here is the video:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfwA8pFvf0c]
I then jumped into working sets as follows…
Set 1 x 14 reps with 65lbs
Set 2 x 12 reps with 70lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 75lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 80lbs
*The key on these to extend your legs until the weight rests on the stack for a split second and then fire your hamstrings and perform a fast rep with a split second hold in the contacted position.
Reverse Banded Hack Pause Squats
Set 1 x 10 reps with 2 plates each side
Set 2 x 10 reps with 3 plates each side
Set 3 x 10 reps with 3 plates on one side and 4 plates on the other
Set 4 x 10 reps with 4 plates each side
Set 5 x 10 reps with 4 plates on one side and 5 plates on the other
Set 6 x 5 pause reps with same weight as previous set
Set 7 x 5 pause reps with same weight as previous set
Set 8 x 5 pause reps with same weight as previous set
Set 9 x 5 pause reps with same weight as previous set
Set 10 x 5 pause reps + 5 full reps with same weight as previous set
*The idea here is to perform sets of 10 reps going up in weight until you get to a tough set of 10. At that point we start counting the sets and take the reps down to 5, but add a 3 second pause near the bottom of the rep. Don’t go so low that you’re resting at the bottom. 5 sets of 5 pause reps are what we are after. I challenged myself with some extra full range reps on the last set.
Here is the video of the last set:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHsCfnWf97k]
You may notice I’m using a Sling Shot band to force more glute minimus activation. I’ve found it super helpful in regards to knee stabilization. This is the exact one I’m using: https://www.elitefts.com/sling-shot-hip-circle.html.
Hip Flexor Cable Work
John is adding in some hip flexor/Sartorius work today.
Set 1 x 14 reps with 40lbs
Set 2 x 12 reps with 50lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 60lbs
*I prefer to stand away from the pulley so I get a longer range of motion.
Here is a video:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoPAAlpHGww]
Backwards Prowler Push
John called for Sissy Squats, but I don’t have a good piece of equipment in which I feel this exercise effectively. The goal was hammer the teardrop so I figured backwards Prowler pushes would accomplish that quite well. This is the type of Prowler I used: https://www.elitefts.com/front-load-prowler-with-drive-pad.html.
Set 1 x 30 yards with 205lbs added
Set 2 x 30 yards with 250lbs added
Set 3 x 30 yards with 295lbs added
*I progressively added weight to these to maximize the heart rate and quad pump.
Cable Pull Through
Set 1 x 10 reps with 190lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 190lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 190lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 190lbs
That concluded this primary leg workout.
Train hard!
Mark
