Workout: Leg Press + Bench

Just because your trainer is out of town for a week doesn’t mean your workouts can slack! Here’s a little leg day I wrote for my clients while I was out of town.

Perform each superset twice before moving on to the next group of exercises.

Description of exercises:

Leg Press – Use the linear leg press with a heavy weight. Feet should be hip width apart on the platform. Let legs come as low as you can while maintaining good knee posture (knees in line with feet and slightly opening, do not let knees come together and do not let knees lock out). Split Lunge – Use bench and smith machine. Bench should be back about four feet from bar, depending on how tall you are. Use the bar only for balance and don’t use it if you don’t need it. Watch your front knee, it should never go past your toe. Instead, it should stay directly above your ankle. Achieve this by bending the “back” knee. Wide Leg Press – Use the same weight as you do for the regular leg press. This time, feet are placed on platform as wide as they go, but BE SURE to open your hips so the knees are wide. Knees will never come towards each other. This will hit your inner thigh more. Bench Step Up to Kickback – Use the bench (or a step) and place it close to the bar. Think of this as two separate movements. Step up with good, upright posture, then slightly lean forward and extend leg back to get maximum glute engagement. Use bar for balance, but DO NOT use bar to pull yourself up. Alternate legs. One Leg Press – place one foot on platform directly in line with hip (not centered). Let leg come as close to chest as possible. One leg press really opens up your range of motion and allows the butt to work more! Do your reps on one leg and switch. It doesn’t matter what side you put the weight on, because the sleigh evenly distributes the weight. Bench Jump Overs – Center a bench in the smith machine. Just like body jump overs, jump back a forth. Use bar for balance. Leave enough room on bench for your feet to switch positions. Bench Leg Lifts – time for some abs! Start seated with your butt on the very end of the bench. Lay back and grip the wide part of the bench. Bring legs up and down, working your lower abs. Bench V-Ups – start on the very end of the bench. Use your arms to balance. Bring torso and quads toward each other to create a “v”