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Fitness

Legnesday Wednesday-Training Legs

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From now I will be posting my daily fitness workouts on the Workout page, this will help people who are trying to follow a routine or get into one. Starting with training legs on Wednesdays, I will give you inside secrets of how I approach each workout differently. By getting inspired by these tips this you can develop your own strategy and approach.

Wednesdays are perfect for training legs, the biggest and the most ignored muscle on the body, Legs. The leg muscle mainly comprise of Adductors, Hamstrings, Quadriceps, Calves and Shin.

Dintip- If you are training legs properly you lose fat from your entire body. It also leads to overall muscle growth.

Training Legs

Usually leg muscles take 4 days to recover if you do your owkrouts properly. I follow a group of compound(more than one muscle) and isolated( directed to specific muscle) exercises during my workouts.

The Warm-up –  A simple jog, a few jump squats or jumping jacks to get the blood flowing.

Barbell Squats– This is the father of all exercises. This compound form hits all parts of your leg if done properly. I follow the following pattern:

  • 15 reps of light weight
  • 12 reps of slightly heavier weight
  • 7 Reps of Heavy weight
  • 4 reps of slightly heavier weight
  • 2 reps of as much weight as possible

Dintip- Ideally you have to push yourself beyond your comfort zone but remember to focus on form. If you are starting try to find the maximum weight you can life for one repetition of squats. The first set of 15 should be with 20% of this maximum, next set of 12 with 30% of max, the set of 7 by 60% of max, the set of 4 with 75 % of max and the last one at 90% of max. 

Barbell Walking lunges– Lunges also help you work on the complete leg muscle. I usually walk the entire length of gym twice with around 20-30 % of my one rep squat max.

Dintip-Try to balance out your legs by slightly going to the side with your leg as you move ahead. It will be hard to balance in an absolutely straight line. 

Leg Press– I do three sets starting from 10 to 8 to 6 repetitions.  The weight range increases by 20% for every new set.

Dintip- Try to hold the weight and work against gravity gently, the weight matters less than the form. The slower you come down the better it is. 

Lying Leg Curls– This is our first isolation exercises for the hamstrings. I generally follow a 12 to 10 to 8 rep pattern. With weights increasing by 20% for each set.

Dintip- Try to get the sole of your foot to as close to the back of your thigh as possible and be in control while releasing. Focus on being as slow against gravity as possible. 

Leg Extensions– Typically for the quadriceps. I tend to a superset of these after warming up.

Warm up with 20 reps of light weight

Pick a weight where you can do 5 repetitions only. reduce this weight by 25% and do five reps again, reduce the weight again by 25% and do 5 reps more. You don’t have to stop in between.

Do three sets of this and feel the burn.

Dintip- Extend your legs as much as you can and hold at the top position during the last 5 repetitions. 

Standing or seated Calf Raises– Just like the quadriceps this part requires a high number of repetitions. So a super set functions well on this too.

I usually drop two plates from the standing leg machine, after every 5 repetitions for a total of 5 times. I start with 12 plates and end up with 4, doing 5 repetitions at every alternate plate. Making it a total of 25 reps.

You can also start with a heavy weight and gradually reduce it and simultaneously increase the number of repetitions,

Dintip- Doing this thrice will take you to another planet of pain.

Stretch– The exercise isn’t over yet, you have to ensure that you stretch each and every muscle that you have worked out. Splits, heads to knee, toe touches will help you do these.

training legs

Food Advice for training legs 

Other than the workout I tend to eat extra carbs on my leg days. It ranges from rice for lunch, or oats or banas before the workout Carry some electrolyte  or amino intra workout drink and follow up with some good proteins at the end of it.

Training legs should be on top of the list of every person who wants to get fitter, may it be for aesthetic or general fitness purposes. Training legs appears to be the most arduous but is the most rewarding aspect of working out.

 

 

Fitness

Slimpossible- Some core workouts

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You might be at different levels of fitness, some of you might look at exercise as a remedial method to years of lethargy and bad eating habits, others would look at core workouts as another way to get popular, but then the few who are serious about fitness should understand that it is a way of life.

Some people exist in utter stagnancy without realizing it while others take every moment as an opportunity to learn, grow and get better at whatever they do. Some people need external idols and motivation while for others self improvement is enough motivation.

The approach matters

If you enter the gym with self improvement as your main agenda, you win against others who are looking at short cuts to look better.

You can always put on a show for the crowd but not the expense of your own improvement, don’t squander your talents in cheap exhibitionism.

It took me 6 years of core workout to put my first videos online, nowadays I see first timers focusing more on their smart phone cameras than the weights.

Here are a few core workouts that might help the ones who are serious about improving themselves:

 

You can perform most of these at home. Focus on form before getting too excited.

Dont be fooled by trainers trying to sell you their services. You can manage most workouts by yourself.

 

Try this without weights first before pushing yourself further.

Learn the rules of the game and then learn how to break them. You have to be patient at the onset and focus on repeating the same thing again and again till you become strong enough to try variations.

Ultimately you will learn to customize your core workout and make up your own exercises. Till then try doing these.