One thing that you’re going to learn while you’re following my 8-Week Fat-loss Figure Trainer is that I love to train legs. I think it’s one of the best ways to sculpt your lower-body muscles, and it’s also a great way to burn body fat. When you train large muscles, you expend more calories and that supports your fat-loss goals. That’s part of the strategy I used in putting together these workouts. I love to train legs, and I hope you do, too.
If you read my Training Overview, then you know I train legs three days a week. You’ll hit multiple lower-body muscles with these workouts, performed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as I’ve organized my program. I’m also especially targeting a particular aspect of lower-body training on each of these days. Today, we’re really going to emphasize quads. Keep in mind that we’ll target glutes and hamstrings later in the week.
Since our focus is quads today, we’ll begin with leg extensions to really warm up the knee joint. You want to choose a weight that provides medium intensity. Make sure to control the weight from start to finish—you don’t want to swing the weight. Notice that I perform this move unilaterally to really focus on the muscles of each leg. I complete all reps for one leg before the reps for the other. That means you can really cut your rest time, making the 4 sets, essentially, one long continuous set.
Next up is Smith machine box squats using a bench. I perform these with the weight held against my chest. You want to choose a weight that’s right for you, and you want to focus on the feeling in the quads. I use the bench or box to prevent recruiting glutes and hamstrings too much—they’re going to get plenty of work later in the week.
Sliding lunges is the third exercise I use—it’s a unique move. If you don’t have this machine available at your gym, then you can substitute split squats or stationary lunges (which are two different names for essentially the same move). Another option is to place your back foot on a floor slider or smooth piece of cloth on a polished wood floor—usually the floor of your cardio room at your gym will work.
You’ll finish up this workout with hack squats followed by leg presses. Watch my video to see the range of motion I use to emphasize quads without over recruiting other lower body muscles. Again, those other lower-body muscles are going to get plenty of attention later in the week!
Don’t forget to include cardio and abs training at least 5 days a week. I recommend that you perform cardio four of your weight-training days and again on the 6th day of each week. For cardio, I perform 20 minutes of steady-state cardio on an elliptical trainer or stationary bike. You can all use battle ropes or any other form of cardio that you like.
I’ll see you tomorrow for Day 2 on my 8-Week Fat-loss Figure Trainer, where we’ll be training upper body.
|
Leg Extensions
|
4 SETS / 15 REPS
|
|
|
|
|
Smith Machine Box Squats
|
4 SETS / 15 REPS
|
|
|
|
|
Sliding Lunges
Performed on a rowing machine—watch my video for specific tips on how to perform this move.
|
4 SETS / 15 REPS
|
|
|
|
|
Hack Squats
|
4 SETS / 15 REPS
|
 |
 |
|
Leg Presses
|
4 SETS / 16 REPS
|
|
|
|
| Ball Crunches |
3 SETS / 15 REPS |
| Bench leg raises |
3 SETS / 15 REPS |
| Cardio |
20 MINUTES |
CYDNEY SAYS
Since today is your first day on my 8-Week Fat-loss Figure Trainer you need to make sure that you’re eating clean and getting in all of your meals. Too many people cut calories too low at the beginning of a fat-loss program. Remember you have 8 full weeks of dieting. You need to fuel yourself properly from the start. Make sure you’re following all the suggestions in my Nutrition Opener.
 |
PRE-KAGED
This pre-workout product primes me for my workouts. I like to get in Pre-Kaged about 30 minutes before each weight-training workout. That’s because it helps heighten mental focus and provides ingredients that spur your body to better performance. The patented ingredients in this product include CarnoSyn beta-alanine, BetaPower® betaine, fermented BCAAs, fermented Glutamine, L-Citrulline, patented Creatine HCl, PurCaf Organic Caffeine, and SPECTRA antioxidant blend. Pre-Kaged helps enhance mental focus, improves performance during training, and increases energy to get you through your toughest workouts.
CYDNEY SAYS: Taking a pre-workout product is especially important when you’re on a bodyfat-reducing program. I make sure to emphasize Pre-Kaged when I’m dieting.
|
