You know what I think it’s time for.
A little food break…so we can get our exercise on! Woot woot!
I don’t know about you, but I HATE doing doing any kind of strength training on legs. WHY DOES IT HURT SO MUCH MORE THAN ARMS?! <— seriously though, if you know the answer, tell me!
HOWEVER, I found this set of exercises that I actually kind of enjoy. I don’t think I will ever look forward to a leg day or anything, but this one is bearable guys. SO, I thought I should share it.
This is what I do on Saturdays. I usually do 2 leg days a week and 2 upper body days. That’s it. No cardio. BUT, if you remember from my “Vulnerable” post, I am trying to GAIN a little weight, and cardio just prevents that from happening.
Anyway, that’s really beside the point.
So, here’s a little leg day. I have included links to videos of the exercises and a break down of what it all means underneath! 🙂
Exercises: (Click each to view a how-to video/article)
Conventional deadlifts – These are my FAV!
Bulgarian squat – The only exercise here I dislike! 🙂
Seated leg curls – not that toes are pointed. Not many people do leg curls with toes pointed, but it realllyyy keeps the focus on your hamstrings as opposed to cheating and using your calves to help! Try it!
Full squats – Note that there is only 1 set and rest is “as needed.” These are also called “widow maker squats” You want to pick a weight that you can get about 10 reps out of and then push out 10 more, taking as long as you need to rest between each rep (within reason peeps, no 2 minutes rests here. I usually take 5-10 seconds between each) You’ll know why they’re called “widow makers” 🙂
Standing Calf Raise – AKA: The exercise that I can do while simultaneously creeping Instagram.
Any Ab exercise – this is totally up to you what you do here! You’ll notice “max-2” for sets. This means that you stop when you think you could only do 2 more reps. You don’t go to failure like you typically do with strength training.
Sets: The number of times you do each of the exercises. You complete the number of sets of an exercise before moving onto the next exercise.
Reps: The number of times you perform each exercise per set.
Tempo: This refers to the speed that you execute each rep. The tempo for nearly any type of resistance-training exercise can be broken down into three phases. Using the example of a 301 tempo, the first number refers to the eccentric or yielding portion of the rep, the second number refers to the pause, if any, in the stretched position and the third number refers to the concentric portion of the rep (contraction). To simplify, you always want the exertion portion of a rep to be fast and powerful, without compromising form or involving momentum, etc. Even if it doesn’t appear to move fast, it’s the attempt to contract hard and move it fast that matters. Also, make sure all motions are slow and controlled.
Rest: How long you rest between each set of exercise.
Example : For conventional dead lifts: I would pick a weight that I can get out 5-6 reps of. I would exert my body upwards (pushing through my feet and keeping my back straight, as this is good deadlift form) for one second, I would hold the contraction at the top of the movement for 1 second and then release back down to the starting position for 1 second. Once 5-6 reps are completed, I would rest for 2 minutes. Then I would repeat this until I have done 5-6 reps a total of 4 times. Make sense?
I hope that you guys try this workout and enjoy it….as much as one can enjoy a leg day! 😉
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