Shaping and strengthening the legs and glutes requires a few ingredients, including:
- Perseverence
- A clean diet with lean protein
- A healthy dose of lactic acid and second-day soreness
- Plenty of reps
- Squats, squats...and more squats
One of my bootcamp regulars (pictured at left, showing off his Badass Army T!) has rightfully earned the nickname "High Jump." When we do jump squats and frog jumps, he is typically a full foot higher or further ahead than the rest of us. This did not come from a workout of Couch Potato 101. His legs are like rockets, and they are the result of training.
So here's a leg workout, which you can do in under 45 minutes, that uses a few basic exercises on the Smith Machine plus the deadlift to wake up those quads, glutes and hamstrings.
Stronger Legs 101
Warmup: Do a combo of jacks, high knees, mountain climbers, etc. for a total of 5 minutes or warm up on the treadmill/bike/elliptical.
The Circuit:
Close-In Smith Machine Squats: With challenging weight, position yourself under the barbell so that your knees are close together, toes facing forward. Slowly lower into a squat, making sure your feet are under you at a place where your knees don't track past your toes when you squat. Slowly come back up, keeping a slight bend in the knees at the top. Do 8 reps and quickly transition into...
Regular Smith Machine Squats: Place your feet now at hip width apart, in the regular squat position. Come down slowly and back up with control. Do 8 reps and transition back to...
Close-in Smith Machine Squats: 8 reps like before, then...
Regular Smith Machine Squats: 8 reps like before.
Split-leg Smith Machine Lunge: Get up under the bar. Put your legs in a right lunge position, with the right foot out front far enough that when you go down into a lunge, the right leg ends at a 90-degree angle. Push the bar up out of the lock position and start lunging, slowly and with control, for 15 reps. Switch legs, lunging with the left leg out front.
Deadlifts: Stand tall with feet slightly wider than hip width, feet pointed forward. The knees are 'soft,' or bent slightly. The back should remain in a straight, flat line (see left). From standing position, with dumbbell or gripping a weighted bar put the chest out and slide the shoulder blades down to keep the shoulders from hunching or rounding forward. As soon as the bar or weight gets just below your knees, come back up and squeeze the glutes. Do 20 reps.
Repeat this entire circuit 2 more times, adding weight each time if you can.
Coming Up: Music Motiviation, and a gym etiquette refresher...