What am I talking about, you ask? Legs day – a seriously good leg workout. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love to challenge myself and push my body to the limits in the weights room… but I don’t enjoy legs. I never have. I might have flirted with the idea that I was starting to enjoy it, and perhaps some weeks, I really do. Doesn’t last long! But we’re not here to whine about what needs to be done. That’s right. NEVER skip legs day, no matter how much you talk yourself out of the pain. No pain no gain my friend! Doooooo it!!
So what is my go to? I try to remain as structured as possible with my workouts, legs is no different. During my improvement season thus far, I have focused on a strength based programme with a few hypertrophy days thrown in to shake things up. What does that even mean, you ask? Simply put, 2 days a week, I “power lift”, the rest of the week, I lift “traditionally”.
Lower body comes into play twice a week within my programme (with a cheeky glutes focused session on the weekends) You’ll find my favourites below. They vary week to week, I swap out exercises all of the time, but these are my go-to favourites!!
Strength exercises below (I always ensure I am working at my 85% maximum output, focusing on reaching 90% if I can):
- Hack squats – 4 sets, 3-8 reps
- Leg Press (wide) – 4 sets, 4-8 reps
- Leg extensions – 2 sets, 4-8 reps
- Lying leg curls – 2 sets, 10-15 reps
- Dead lifts – 2 sets, 3-6 reps
- Calf raises – 2 sets, 6-12 reps
- Less press calf raises – 2 sets, 6-12 reps
All of the above are explosive, with 1-2 seconds time under tension (how long the muscle is under strain during a set).
If I manage to pump out the maximum reps indicated, I’ll up my weight next time. The deal is, I always challenge myself. I am never complacent when it comes to a strength based legs day, ever. Regardless of how I feel about the muscle group (totally NOT my favourite), it never suffers. In fact, it is the hardest to build for me… and I probably work 110% harder because of that.
Hypertrophy exercises below (I always ensure I am working at my 75% maximum output if I can):
- Hack squats – 2 sets, 8-12 reps
- Stationary Lunges – 2 sets, 8-12 reps reps
- Leg extensions – 2 sets, 10-15 reps
- Seated leg curls – 3 sets, 12-15 reps
- Dead lifts – 3 sets, 6-10 reps
- Calf raises – 2 sets, 12-15 reps
All of the above are again, explosive, with 2 seconds time under tension.
Before you ask, I don’t do “one rep max” stuff too regularly – I don’t enjoy it really, and although I do aim to increase strength overall, I do not measure this weekly, even fortnightly. To be honest, it doesn’t cross my mind – I keep a record of what I lift each session, and I either increase those lifts, or I don’t… it’s that simple for me. If I am not making strength progress on a particular lift, I’ll try for a couple of weeks, but move on if I don’t improve. I’ll revisit the lift at a later date. Sometimes, you just have to cut your losses. But I won’t “one rep max” test all too often.
Okay, so that’s my leg workout most weeks! It doesn’t look like much, but it hurts. I guarantee I don’t walk in heels 2 days afterwards, and if I do, I pay through the calves when I take them off at the end of the day. Once I have recovered, it’s legs day again anyway!! Best way to be. I’m an athlete, I live and breath this – I eat like an athlete, train like an athlete. Legs day is never skipped at the best of times, but due to it being a weakness that I need to build on, I give it my all.
This combination twice a week works for me. If I find myself plateauing, or I no longer feels DOMS at all, I change it up again – simple. The formula stays the same, the exercise will be adjusted 🙂 Works a treat!
Now, to continue building that peach of mine! Let me know if you would like to see more of my workouts.
-Teegz xx
Teeghan Louise 