Legs Legs Legs
I did this workout a couple weeks ago and it left me sore for days!
It’s always good to change things up to continually challenge yourself. Our bodies are amazing machines that adapt quickly to their circumstances. If you’ve ever noticed that you had a much easier time doing the same exact workout the second time around, it’s likely because your body has adapted. Things as basic as switching the order of the exercises, increasing the weight, adding in dropsets or supersets are all simple ways to challenge yourself.
Choose a weight for your working sets that is challenging! If it calls for 10 reps and you can easily do that and more, the weight is too light. You should feel a burn in your muscle on those last few reps (never a pain in your joints!). Don’t quit when you feel that burn, those are the reps that count! The reps leading up to that were just to fatigue the muscle! For the follow sets, rest 1-2 minutes between each set. I personally use a timer, as it’s easy to overestimate the length of time between sets! *Always remember to use proper form….train smart and train safe. Have fun with it! =)
Leg Day Demolition
- 10 minute warm-up on cardio machine of choice. I usually start with something like the stair master, but just about anything will do.
- 2 Warm-up sets of squats – light weight, high reps (The goal here is simply to get the blood flowing to your legs, and your body nice and warmed up for your working sets).
- Wide Stance Barbell Squats – 4×10
- Narrow Stance Hack Squat – 3×15
- Leg Press – 3×12
- Walking Lunges w/Barbell – Length of the gym & back – Repeat 3x.. and hope that your gym isn’t huge 😉
- Stiff Leg Deadlifts 4×15
- Leg Extensions 3×15 with 1 drop set at the end (lessen the weight and rep until you burn out, then drop the weight down again and repeat until you’ve run the rack).
- Hamstring Curls 3×12 with 1 drop set at the end (lessen the weight and rep until you burn out, then drop the weight down again and repeat until you’ve run the rack).
This workout burns a lot of calories if you push yourself. So it’s important to refuel afterward to feed those muscles! Remember that the gym is where you break down muscle tissue, it is in the proper nutrition & sleep afterward that your body rebuilds itself stronger! That’s why it’s crucial to get enough protein, carbohydrates and other nutrients to help replenish your muscles and lost glycogen. After this particular leg day, I had a shake with Whey & Casein (half a scoop of each, although it’s fine to just have whey if that’s all you have!) and a couple of rice cakes in my car before I even left the gym. (I ALWAYS bring my shake and rice cakes to the gym with me). When I got home, I fixed myself some skinless chicken breast, yams & broccoli. A lot of girls choose to not eat after workouts, thinking they will burn more body fat that way. Unfortunately, after a workout like this, not eating simply burns off that hard-earned muscle! Feed your body RIGHT to get it TIGHT! 
(Follow the links below to learn more).
SAFETY TIPS/OTHER INFO:
Always warm up properly before each workout. Always use proper form to avoid injury. You should feel a burn in your muscle, but never a pain in your joints. Breathe properly and keep your core tight during all movements. When the muscle begins to burn, do an additional 2-3 reps. (if I say 15 reps, it should be burning by about rep 12). Go as heavy as you can while maintaining proper form (remember, you don’t want an injury).
If you do not know how to do a particular exercise, you can refer to this website for explanations and examples.
Move quickly from one exercise to the next:
- “Superset” – two exercises performed back to back with no rest in between
- “Dropset” – after the set, immediately drop the weight and perform another set with the same amount of reps (or more if you can.. the point is to burn-out the muscle)
- “Burn Out” – lifting the weight until the muscle is completely fatigued
- “Run the Rack” – a term referring to a dropset, where you do reps to failure of each weight along the length of the weight rack.
Read more about the importance of nutrition! Here are a few articles on my website you might find interesting:
Clean Eating 101
Not Seeing Results? Your Diet Could Be the Culprit!
7 Step Meal Prep to Save Time
Lose Weight with Whey
5 Diet Rules You SHOULD Break
7 Things That Can Wreck Fat Loss