You don’t always need to lift heavy weights to produce a beneficial training stimulus. Going light, relatively speaking, can have advantages at times and is by no means an easy option from a more typical bodybuilding leg training session. Yesterday morning I had to train my legs and was just not in the mood to deal with the creaking knees and tight right hip of middle-age. Training legs in a lighter, in an almost freestyle fashion, allowed me to:
1. Burn more calories. Yes, everyone who reads this blog should know that you can employ low reps and shorter time under tension and still “train to get lean”, but the more work you do the more calories you burn. It really is that simple.
2. Focus on perfect form and range of motion, and therefore give my joints a bit of a break.
3. Flush as much blood as possible into my muscles, which in itself can have a hypertrophic effect because of potential sarcoplasmic growth. This especially applies with quadriceps training given the muscle’s range of slower twitch fibres.
4. Test myself in a different way than normal. Never ever underestimate the power of radically changing your program from time to time. If you are bored with what you have been doing you do need to change things up and regain your zest and buzz for training. This is something that is crucially important for me as a (gulp) senior trainer. I still love training, it is my version of meditation, and losing myself for an hour with the weights is something I remain firmly addicted to. If I did the same thing time after time I can assure you that this wouldn’t be the case and I would have got bored, and maybe even dropped out, years ago.
Here is the leg workout I cranked out. It’s not ideal for a naturally skinny guy looking to slap on some beef as the accumulated volume is just too much to properly deal with, but for everyone else with a couple of years training experience (who isn’t all about getting stronger exclusively, as this is not a workout for a strength athlete), including ladies looking to get leaner, it is certainly worth experimenting with.
An Unusual Leg Workout
A1: Leg Extensions, 3 x 50, 2010 tempo.
No rest.
A2: Leg Curls, 3 x 35, 2010 tempo.
30 seconds rest.
B: Seated Leg Press, 2×50-75, 2010 tempo, 2 x 15, 6040 tempo.
60-90 seconds rest.
C1: Sissy Squats, 3×15, 2110 tempo.
No rest.
C2: Dumbell Squats, 3×50, 2010 tempo only coming up to 80% of full extension.
90 seconds rest.
D: Isometric Holds in a Squat Position, 3 x 60seconds, static hold at just above parallel in a squat position and holding a pair of 15kg dumbells.
If you found this relatively unusual leg workout useful/interesting, then why not have a look at my most recent views on constructing a killer shoulder training program and advanced shoulder workouts. And as ever, if you have any question please drop me a line in the comments section below, and if you enjoyed this blog I am always grateful to those who SHARE/LIKE via the social media buttons on the left of this page.
