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on 07 November, 2012

Workout of the week, focusing on legs - Thighs and Quads, Glutes and Hamstrings.

The (Upper) Legs are made up of, in the front, your thigh muscles and quadriceps, and at the back your glutes (your but) and hamstrings.  For this workout we will start with more exercises focusing on the front of the leg.  But don’t worry most of these exercises will still stimulate the hamstrings.

This workout can be done by pretty much anyone, male or female who has a bit of experience in the gym.  For the beginners, you can also do it, just maybe scale back on two or three of the exercises or decrease the amount of sets you do per exercise.  The rep ranges are all between 8 and 20, so nothing too heavy, but you need to choose a weight which will suit you.  Do not try to go too heavy too quickly.  Make sure to use proper form and FULL range of motion in all exercises.  If your range suffers then reduce the weight!  Try not to rest too long between sets, nothing more than 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Download a printable workout log of the Legs Blaster Workout here:

Leg Workout

5 minutes cycling to warm up.

Workout of the week - Thighs and Quads

Exercise 1:

  • Leg extensions

Sets: 5
Reps: 20, 15, 15, 12, 12
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 2:

  • Leg press

  • (Feet placed just under shoulder width apart and low on the apparatus.  To target more of the outer quads)

Sets: 6
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 6
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 3:

  • Hack Squats/Squats

  • (Feet placed shoulder width apart and in the middle of the apparatus)

Sets: 4
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 4:

  • One leg front squat on the smith machine.

  • (Take one leg, complete the reps and then switch to the other leg)

Sets: 4
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 5:

  • Walking Lunges with dumbbells

Sets: 2
Reps: 10, 10 (each leg)

Workout of the week - Glutes and Hamstrings

Exercise 1:

  • Stiff legged dead lifts

Sets: 5
Reps: 15, 15, 12, 10, 8
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 2:

  • Single leg, leg press

  • (With feet positioned as high as you can on the apparatus to really target the glutes.  Be sure to push with the heel of your foot)

Sets: 3
Reps: 15, 12, 10
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 3:

  • Lying leg curls (Last set is a drop set*)

Sets: 6
Reps: 20, 15, 15, 12, 12, *[8,10,15]
Increasing weight each set.

*A drop set is where you perform an exercise with a certain weight for a number of reps, and then drop the weight to a lighter weight and perform a few more reps to really exhaust the muscle.  You can drop the weight more than once if you want.

Now be prepared to Limp out of the gym after this workout and be ready to feel the pain tomorrow! Some pain is good, no pain no gain!

 

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