Yesterday was leg day for me. I’ve been breaking “leg day” up into 2 days: 1 day focused more on quads and the 2nd day on hamstrings and glutes (glutes pretty much get worked on both days..so do calfs).
I started the workout with a tabata on the treadmill that I found on The Petite Athleat’s blog:
- Incline 12, speed 6.5–sprint for 20 seconds, rest for 10, 8 rounds. Ew.
It’s a good one! Pretty brutal but thank God it’s short. Here’s the strength circuit I did:
- Squats at Smith Machine- 4 sets of 10 using 60 pounds. I placed weight plates underneath my heels, this puts even more of an emphasis on the quads.
- Lunges at Smith Machine- 4 sets of 8 using 50lbs.
I like the Smith Machine because I feel like I can add or subtract weight and not risk killing myself or others around me. I went over to the squat rack (just free bar) yesterday to play around with it but I felt a little nervous….like I needed a spotter. Maybe one of these days I’ll work up the courage to use it no problem!
Okay, this is when things got rough-each one of these is a superset:
- Leg Presses on machine- 3 sets of 10 using 135lbs.
- Squat jumps- 3 sets of 10
- Walking Lunges- short stride (more emphasis on quads) 3 sets of 10 on both legs holding 15lb. dumbbells
- Lunge Jumps- 3 sets of 10
- Side Lunges- 4 sets of 5 on each leg holding 15lb. dumbbells
- Skaters- 4 sets of 5
Skaters are tough!! Try to stay as low as possible. You’re basically hopping off one foot onto the other.
- Calf Raises on Leg Press Machine- 3 sets of 10 at 135lb.
I also threw in some abs at the end:
- Crunches on Bosu Ball-3 sets of 10
- Mountain Climbers on Bosu- 3 sets of 10
- Swiss Ball Pass- 3 sets of 5
My butt cheeks are so sore today. Like, getting through the day’s gonna be tough. I had big plans of running for 40 minutes…that’s gonna interesting.
What’s your favorite lower body exercise? Have you used the Smith Machine or Squat Rack?