Monday, December 05, 2005

Legs Workout

Here is the legs workout I've been doing. I've been able to do it a twice a week for the last few weeks. Not sure what I'm going to do when I start Air Alert, perhaps I can do Air Alert and legs on the same days, talk about tired legs!

I start out with a core workout (same whether I'm doing lower or upper body)
Incline crunches w/ med ball: 2 sets of 10 (10lbs)
Incline obliques w/ med ball: 1 set of 20 (6 lbs) - I haven't gotten up to 20 yet.
Hanging Leg Raises: 3 sets of 10
Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets of 10 (5lbs) - Today will be the first time I've added weight to these.

I'm not thrilled with the abs workout. The gym I go to has an oblique machine but I hate it. The incline obliques I do work my abs a lot too so I am limited to 3 sets of the two exercises total. Any suggestions for an exercise that isolates the obliques more?

On to the legs:
Leg Press: 3 sets of 8 (360lbs) - I recently maxed out the leg press machine at the gym (500lbs) so I had to switch to a different machine. It feels completely different, still getting used to it, hopefully I'll be able to up my load quickly.
Lying Leg Curl: 3 sets of 8 (110)
Lunges: 3 sets of 8 per leg (80) - Done with barbell on shoulders. I tried holding dumbells but my arms get incredibly fatigued doing 3 sets of 8 on each leg. I like these better than the leg extensions as they're easier on my knees.
One Legged Squats: 3 sets of 8 per leg (100) - Like regular squats, but you put a bench a foot or two behind you, and put one foot on the bench allowing you to isolate one leg.
Hip Adductor: 2 sets of 15 (135) - Maintaining the groin, pull it once and you never want to again.
Hip Abductor: 2 sets of 15 (140)
Seated Calf Raises: 3 sets of 8 (135) - These almost cramped me up last time.
Standing Calf Raises: 2 sets of 20 (100) - I can't go over 100 lbs on this thing without hurting my back. So I do these for endurance which I need 'cause my calves are always the first to cramp.

I have two different basic approaches to leg exercises. For most exercises I do 3 sets of 8. You don't want to do too many reps if you're trying to build power and explosiveness. I do this for most of the big muscle groups. For support muscles I try to go for more endurance, so I'll do more reps (15-20). I do leg press instead of squats simply because I've never learned proper squat form and squats scare me. Maybe if I continue to enjoy the one legged squats I'll try some regular squats. I should probably be doing both leg press and squats. Someday.

2 comments:

wood said...

Got up to 450 on the leg press.
Did the 5x60/50s on the stairmaster again. Still at lvl 15, 15, 13, 13, 13. Definitely getting to the point where I'm about to pass out at the end.

wood said...

Hamstrings were sore yesterday, still a little sore today. Gonna do this workout again today. I tend to do legs whenever I can (as long as I have an off day in between), because during the season I just can't seem to fit legs in, and have plenty of time for upper body (which I hate anyway).