Video: Watch Monica Go Heavy On The Legs
Fitness, Training, and Exercises Ohh My!
Welcome to the first of what I hope will be many motivating, useful and uniquely broad exchanges that will cover a broad spectrum of well-being fitness, training, and exercises.
Here you’ll be able to see and interact with me in two ways. First how I train to be fit for my purpose – relating to bodybuilding in the gym, a hectic, at times long distance work agenda and a relentless after school activities schedule. And second, I hope to encourage and challenge you with exercises and tips that will help you become fit for your purpose – whatever that may be.
Between my fitness and nutrition blogs along with our Aging Evolution Motivation blog, you can expect weekly updates and specific nuggets you can use to help you be healthy, fit, energetic and motivated in your own crazy world ☺
Monday has been my heavy leg day. It's a great way to get the week started especially after a day of rest over the weekend. Do I enjoy legs? If you would have asked even 4 months ago I would have said absolutely NOT, but with the right partner and/or trainer to push me, that's a different story! I now look forward to my heavy leg day because I can almost instantly see the gains, feel exactly which muscles I'm working and know that I will sleep very well that night!
Today’s workout included several sets of pre exhausting leg extensions along with front squats, leg press, then single leg press to isolate the quad sweep finishing with some hamstring leg curls, dead lifts and hip thrusts. It’s the first time I’ve done this particular workout which was challenging. The proof of results will be in how my glutes, hams and quads are feeling tomorrow; hopefully quite sore.
But my workout, intended to put on size is fit for my purpose, which does not mean it is the right approach for you.
One of the ways you could alter it for conditioning or toning is to use many of the same exercises but use less weight and do higher repetitions during each set.
Usually when I’m trying to build muscle – which is almost always except for the weeks leading up to a competition- I’ll do anywhere from 3- 6 sets of an exercise with 12-15 repetitions each set depending on the type of exercise. If I want to condition and tone I will keep the amount of sets the same but increase my repetitions sometimes to 20, 25, 30, 50 or on occasion even do a set of 100 repetitions. But of course, the weights I use for this will be much much lighter.
My recommendation with any new exercise that you do be it in the gym or at home is that you first go through the motion without any weight to get the feel and correct technique and then start adding weights.
Do you have a favorite leg exercise?
I’d love you to share it and tell me what you like about it!