[NOTE: Bear in mind that this post is from 2010 and my goals, coaching experience, and life circumstances have shifted considerably.]
Today I was in the mood to really challenge my legs. Legs are such a large muscle group, so by training them hard, you can really burn the calories. In order to get nice shapely quads and glutes, it is important to mix heavy training with single leg exercises and explosive movements.
Heavy training stimulates more muscle fibres thus increasing the density of the whole muscle. The single leg exercises will even out any strength difference between your legs. My right leg is dominant, so it tends to do most of the work when I’m performing standard squats etc, so I’ve been including a lot of single leg deadlifts and single leg squats (pistols) in my workouts to correct this. Single leg movements will also improve the shape of your vastus lateralis (outer sweep of the quad).
The squat jump is a basic example of an explosive or plyometric exercise. There are many benefits of including some plyometrics into your training; they improve muscle response, tone, improves balance, increases flexibility, therefore enhancing overall muscle performance and reducing risk of injuries. I will be going into this type of training in more detail at a later date.
As I mentioned I have been including more single leg training and in doing this I wanted to master the pistol. At the minute I can only do 2-3, but it is still a work in progress. You’ll see me really struggle with these in my video. But I’ll not give up.
The Workout
No time challenge today so I just worked though these 7 exercises twice.
- Front Squats with 12kg Kettlebell x 15
- Reverse Lunges with 12kg Kettlebell 15 x 15
- Single Leg Deadlifts with 12kg Kettlebell 15 x 15
- Single Leg Glute Raises with 8kg Kettlebell 15 x 15
- Squat Jumps x 30
- Stiff-leg Deadlfts with 12kg Kettlebell x 15
- Pistols 3×3 (adjust to suit)
This was a really good workout, so I’m going to have a nice hot bath to sooth my poor hamstrings 😉
See you next time
Marianne
PS – If you love home workouts but often feel overwhelmed by choice, or unsure of how best to tailor your workouts to your goals, inquire about my Outer Strength Coaching options.
PPS – If you buy a gymboss through text or banner links on my pages, I will earn a wee bit of money for that. I have been a gymboss affiliate since 2010 because I loved them then and I love them now. Especially because it one more thing I can operate that’s not on my phone.
