Squat Pyramid

Perform a 3 set pyramid of each of the following squat variations. The last weight of your 1st pyramid should be the starting weight for your second pyramid and your last weight of your second pyramid should be the first weight of your third. Don’t worry – we’ve provided an example sets, reps and weights…

1) Overhead Squats
12 x 25kg
10 x 30kg
8 x 35kg

2) Front Squats
12 x 35kg
10 x 40kg
8 x 45kg

3) Back Squats
12 x 45kg
10 x 50kg
8 x 55kg

Have a good stretch after you have finished this workout and expect some sore legs tomorrow!

For details onm how to perform these exercise, please visit http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ThighWt.html

 

 

Popularity: 4% [?]

You’ll need a treadmill for todays workout which we call Legs and Lungs…

After your warm up, perform the following sequence:

50 full bodyweight squats – knees to 90 degrees
Run 500 meters
40 full bodyweight squats – knees to 90 degrees
Run 400 meters
30 full bodyweight squats – knees to 90 degrees
Run 300 meters
20 full bodyweight squats – knees to 90 degrees
Run 200 meters
10 full bodyweight squats – knees to 90 degrees
Run 100 meters

You may feel this in your legs tomorrow…!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Today’s workout is called Legs, Legs, Legs! and is an effective and fun lower body circuit…

Duration: 15 minutes approximately
Equipment: Exercise step/box, stopwatch
Method: Set a sturdy step to knee-height. Make sure it won’t tip over or wobble as you will be giving the step some serious stick in this workout…

1. Two footed box jump – jump up onto your step using both legs, step down and immediately jump up again.
2. Squats – feet hip width apart, push your hips back, bend your knees and squat down to 90 degrees and the knee
3. Lunges – big step out, bend your knees so that your back leg is 1″ off the ground, push back up and repeat with the other leg
4. Step ups – alternate lead legs, making sure you stand tall on top of the step. Drive through your heels.

Perform 10/12/15/12/10 reps (5 sets) with 60 seconds rest between sets). Reps for lunges and step ups are per leg.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Yesterday we told you why lunges are such a great exercise. Today we’ve got 12 lunge variations to keep your workouts fresh and your legs in great shape!

Lunge variations – 12 of the best

Lunges come in varying degrees of difficulty from straight forward to very challenging. Whichever variation you choose to do make sure you always warm up thoroughly before exercising and get the OK from your doctor is you are new to working out. The exercises below are presented in approximate order of difficulty…

 

 

 

 

 

1)      Static lunge (also called a split squat)

• Stand next to a wall for balance
• Take a large step forward with your left leg
• Lower yourself down towards the floor by bending both knees simultaneously so that the rear knee almost touches the floor and the front knee is bent to 90 degrees
• Push back up into the starting position
• Repeat for the desired number of repetitions before changing lead legs

2)      Basic forward lunge

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, head up and looking forward
• Take a large step forward with the left leg and simultaneously lower yourself into the lunge position
• Immediately drive off the front leg and up to return to the starting position
• Repeat for the desired number of repetitions before changing legs

 

3)      Forward alternating lunge

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, head up and looking forward
• Take a large step forward with the left leg and simultaneously lower yourself into the lunge position
• Immediately drive up and return to the starting position
• Perform another rep but this time leading with the right leg
• Alternate leading legs for the desired number of repetitions

 

4)      Basic backward lunge

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, head up and looking forward
• Take a large step backwards with your left leg and simultaneously lower yourself into the lunge position
• Immediately drive off the back leg and return to the starting position
• Repeat for the desired number of reps before changing legs

 

5)      Backward alternating lunge

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, head up and looking forward
• Take a large step back with your left leg and simultaneously lower yourself into the lunge position
• Immediately drive off the back leg and return to the starting position
• Perform another rep but this time leading with the right leg
• Alternate leading legs for the desired number of repetitions

 

6)      Forward or backward reaching lunge

• This variation puts extra emphasis on the muscles of the glutes
• Perform your preferred lunge – forwards or backwards
• Simultaneously flex at the hips and reach down to touch your foot
• Stand up straight as you drive up  and back into the starting position and repeat for the desired number of repetitions

7)      Forward or rearward overhead lunge

• By holding a weight above the head, this variation is more challenging than the variations described earlier
• Using a barbell, dumbbells or medicine ball, extend your arms overhead
• Perform either forward or backward lunges for the desired number of repetitions
• Avoid hyper extending your lower back when performing this variation

 

8)      Single arm overhead lunge

• As above but holding a weight in one hand only which will challenge your balance and core strength to a greater degree

 

9)      Forward lunge onto a step

• Increasing the range of movement significantly increases the muscular demands of this exercise
• Facing a 4” step, perform a forward lunge onto the elevated surface to increase the range of movement at the lead leg
• Make sure you lower your rear knee as close to the floor as you can without actually touching the ground

 

10)   Rear foot elevated lunge (also called a Bulgarian split squat)

• This variation is very challenging both in terms of balance and increased range of movement
• Stand with feet shoulder width apart with an exercise bench approximately 24” behind you
• Bend your left leg to the rear and place your left foot on the bench – you should now be in a split stance
• Lower yourself straight down so that your rear knee is close to touching the floor (flexibility permitting)
• Push up into the start position and repeat for the desired number of repetitions before changing legs
• This exercise can also be performed with your rear foot suspended in a TRX or similar to challenge your balance further still

 

11)   Walking lunges

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, head up and looking forward
• Take a large step forward with your left leg and lower yourself down into the lunge position
• Instead of returning to the starting position, step through with your rear leg and immediately into another lunge
• Perform for repetitions or distance

 

12)   Jumping lunge (also called split jumps)

• This variation of the lunge develops explosive jumping power and is great for players of racquet sports, fencers and runners
• Stand in the split squat position with your left leg forward and knees bent so that the rear leg is almost touching the floor
• Powerfully jump vertically and change leading legs in the air
• Land and descend into the split squat position
• Repeat for the desired number of repetitions

 

With all lunge variations, try to make sure your front knee stays over your foot and never goes forward of your toes as this can put undue stress on the knee joint. To make any of the variations more challenging feel free to hold dumbbells, place a barbell across your shoulders or hold a medicine ball in front of your chest.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Lunges are one of the most versatile and beneficial exercises for the muscles of the lower body and, assuming you have good healthy knees, should be included in pretty much everyone’s workout from ladies looking to tone up their bums to athletes looking to increase leg power. No matter what your fitness goal, there is a lunge variation to suit you! In this article we’ll look at why lunges are so darn good and explore some of the variations you can use.

Why lunge?

One of the reasons lunges are such a good exercise is that they closely mimic natural locomotive patterns (walking and running) which means they transfer very well to everyday activities and sports. Unlike squats which utilize a bilateral (2 legged) movement, lunges are unilateral meaning that the legs work independently which ensures both legs work equally. Some 2 limbed exercises allow a strong limb can compensate for a weak limb e.g. leg presses, which can lead to muscular imbalances and possibly injury. With lunges, if you do discover an imbalance between one leg and the other, just make sure you lead with your weaker leg and only do as many reps with your strong leg as you did with the weaker one and you should find that your strength should soon even out.

Another benefit of lunges is the requirement for balance – the relatively narrow stance combined with the large stepping motion means that balance is challenged far more significantly than many other exercises. Balance is defined as “your ability to maintain your centre of mass over your base of support” and is a vital component of most sports and every day activities. Any exercise that promotes the improvement of balance is well worth doing!

Many exercises involve very little in terms of multi-limb movement but lunges require lots of simultaneous joint movements and as a result can enhance coordination.  Coordination refers to your ability to move 2 or more limbs in a controlled fashion and is a skill we need on a daily basis. Coordination is not improved by performing leg presses or leg curls where as lunges, especially some of the more advanced versions that will be discussed later, can have a profound effect on the development of coordination.

The large range of movement at the hips when performing lunges can have a beneficial effect on dynamic flexibility. Flexibility – defined as the range of movement at a joint or joints – can be reduced with some exercises. This “adaptive shortening” is one of the reasons weight training sometimes gets a bad rap in terms of flexibility. Lunges require a full range of movement so the muscles of the hips (the glutes, hip flexors and hamstrings) are unlikely to shorten significantly because of this exercise.

In part 2, well give you 12 lunge variations to keep your workouts fresh and your legs in great shape!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Todays workout is all about legs!

After a thorough warm up, perform a 3 set pyramid of the following exercise increasing the weights set by set. Ideally, your last weight on the first exercise should be your first weight on the second exercise and so on… (See example below)

1. Overhead barbell squats (e.g. 15 reps 20 kg, 12 reps 25kg, 10 reps 30kg)
2. Front Squats (e.g. 15 reps 30kg, 12 reps 35 kg, 10 reps 40kg)
3. Back squats (e.g. 15 reps 40kg, 12 reps 45kg, 10 reps 50kg)
4. Tabata body weight squats*

* Tabata squats: 8-10 sets of bodyweight squats 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds recovery. Rest 1 minute between sets and 2 minutes between exercises.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Todays workout is all about legs!

Warm up for 3-5 minutes before attempting this circuit.

Set a sturdy step to knee-height. Make sure it wont tip over or wobble as you will be giving the step some serious stick in this workout…

1. Two footed box jump – jump up onto your step using both legs, step down and immediately jump up again.
2. Squats – feet hip width apart, push your hips back, bend your knees and squat down to 90 degrees and the knee
3. Lunges – big step out, bend your knees so that your back leg is 1″ off the ground, push back up and repeat with the other leg
4. Step ups – alternate lead legs, making sure you stand tall on top of the step. Drive through your heels.

Perform 10/12/15/12/10 reps (5 sets) with 60 seconds rest between sets). Reps for lunges and step ups are per leg.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Lucy’s Leg Challenge

This workout is named after one of our personal training clients, Javelin thrower Lucy Rann. We hope you enjoy it as much as she did!

As a non-stop circuit perform:

5 squat jumps
5 speed squats*
10 seconds wall squat

* Squat jumps – squat to 90 degree knee flexion and then jump as high as you can. On landing, immediately transition into another repetition.

** Speed squats – perform body weight squats to 90 degrees of knee flexion as fast as possible.

*** Wall squats – squat down with your back against a wall and hold for prescribed duration.

Rest for 30 to 60 seconds

10 squat jumps
10 speed squats
20 seconds wall squat

Rest for 30 to 60 seconds

15 squat jumps
15 speed squats
30 seconds wall squat

Rest for 30 to 60 seconds

20 squat jumps
20 speed squats
40 seconds wall squat

Rest for 30 to 60 seconds

15 squat jumps
15 speed squats
30 seconds wall squat

Rest for 30 to 60 seconds

10 squat jumps
10 speed squats
20 seconds wall squat

Rest for 30 to 60 seconds

5 squat jumps
5 speed squats
10 seconds wall squat

Simple but leg shakingly effective!

Popularity: 6% [?]