The Sunday News
Simon Gama
Expand your legs
I lead off my workout with leg extensions, not only to warm up my quads but also to pre-exhaust them before heavier, compound exercises like squats, legs presses and lunges. I can’t over emphasise the importance of warming up your knees, quads and heart rate, especially considering what’s follow. Start with four sets of leg extensions, 15-30 reps each. Every set should be with the same weight, but put enough plates on the stack so that by the fourth set, it becomes a working exercise in which you’re struggling to get your 30 reps. Range of motion is full and continuously tensed; get a hard, peak contraction squeeze at the top of each repetition.
Next up squats. Since I don’t like the controlled pulley action of a Smith machine, and dumbbells are just too light to really give me a challenge, I stick to barbells for all my squats. Although I’m pretty warm by now, I still do another warm-up set of 20 reps of the squat to ensure that my quads are ready for a pounding, then four pyramided sets, 10-15 reps each, the last one to failure. As for your stance on this exercise, don’t go so wide that your hips are stressed and not so close that you lose your stability.
On my third exercise, I choose between hack squats or leg presses. No further warm-up is needed, so start with enough weight to get a good burn with 15 reps on your first set, then keep pyramiding up on your second set and your third, this latter one all out to failure. Now, add even more weight and do another set for 10-20, again to absolute failure. Don’t cheat with partial reps, use a full range of motion and constant tension.
Lying leg curls to focus directly on my hamstrings come fourth, and I finish with walking lunges. I often hit the gym parking lot and lunge across it. Try this, and you will fry your thigh muscles but that sweet burn you are guaranteed to feel leads to some amazing results.
Leg Extension
Start: adjust a leg extension machine so your thighs are fully supported right up to your knees. The foot roller should rest on or just above your ankles.
Action: grasp the handles on either side of the seat and slowly contract through your squads to raise the weight stack. Pause a moment at the top before slowly lowering the stack back to the start, and go right into the next repetition.
Barbell Squat
Start: stand in the centre of a squat rack — preferably one with safety bars — with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width, your knees soft and your back flat. Contract your abs metrically and hold your shoulders down and back to keep your spine in alignment through out the exercise. Balance the barbell across your shoulders and upper back, grasping it tightly with both hands, keeping your elbows pointed down.
Action: lift bar off the rack and slowly lower your glutes toward the floor by bending through the knees and hips. Make sure your knees track directly over your toes and that you maintain a slight arch in your back through out. As you reach parallel or just below, explode back up, returning to the start without locking your knees at the top, then begin the next rep.
Leg presses
Start: sit in a leg press machine and press your lower back into the seat cushion. My feet are a little less than shoulder width apart for these so I really feel it in the upper and outer parts of my quads. Unhook the safety latches, then grasp the handles on the machine for stability.
Action: slowly lower the cart towards you while keeping your feet flat on the cart surface. As your knees approach your chest, reverse motions and press the weight explosively back up to the top. Go right into the next repetition. Don’t put your hands on your knees to help move the weight up. —Additional information from online sources. The writer is a fitness coach at Body Works Gym in Bulawayo.
