Posts tagged fitness

Work your Legs for Maximum Hypertrophy

With all of the possible exercises and exercise combinations—squats, lunges, calf raises, leg presses, step-ups—leg workout days can be killer. Because the legs are made up of such large muscles, and because so many lower body exercises are compound exercises, it is not difficult to work the legs hard. The best leg workouts always involve 2-3 exercises that really pound the legs. They are also some of the toughest workouts that can be done.  If you’re interested in real weight lifting, then this article is for you. Here is a sample of what I would consider one of the best leg workouts possible.

For 5-10 minutes, warmup with a slow jog or 5 minutes on the exercise bike. Push it a bit at the end to really get your muscles warm and push your heart rate up.

Cable Squats

If you’re new to the cable/ weight stack apparatus, take a minute to find the right amount of counterbalance weight. If the machine is adjustable, move the pulleys and handle almost to the floor. During the squat, grip the handle or bar close to your chest, and allow the weight stack to counter balance as you flex your knees and push your hips back and down. As you lower your body, keep your weight evenly distributed between legs, and centered through your heels.

A narrower leg stance will work the gluts more than a wider stance. Stand with legs shoulder width apart. To really target your vastus medialis (inner quads muscle), do a set or two while squeezing a small, inflatable ball between your knees.

Try a one-legged squat by lowering your upper body with both legs, then transferring most or all of your body weight to one leg as you push back to your starting position.

Between barbell squats, calf raises, and plyometric lunges, and work with resistance bands, my legs felt like jelly as I left the gym.

Sidesteps with Resistance Band

If you do this one right, it should make your gluts and outer thighs burn. The middle and side quads are hit extremely hard and that’s what makes this effective. Step on the center, grasping a resistance band. Start with your feet about hip width apart. Slowly lower your hips under control, maintaining tension in the band. Pick up your right foot (the band should come with it) and take as large a step as possible to the side. Follow this with your other foot. For one set, take 10-15 steps to the right; then retrace your steps moving to the left. Try to keep your knees bent and move at a pace where you constantly feel resistance.

Plyometric Lunges

Any type of lunge is a great leg workout, as long as you focus on keeping your knee behind your foot and not letting your legs “wobble” back and forth. Plyometrics are included for their capacity to develop explosive power and general athleticism.  Granted, they aren’t up there with barbell back squats but they certainlly pack a punch. Begin in a standard lunge position. Jump up from the bottom and interchange your legs dynamically. Land in the opposite position to the one you started in, and lower yourself again into a squat. Concentrate on good form and upper body posture throughout the movement.

The best leg workout you’ve ever had should start off with a few sets of each of these exercises, for versatile, compound lower body movements. If you find yourself wanting more, try upping your squat weight, or using a band with more resistance for your side steps. Even if you won’t call it the best leg workout of your life, I’m betting that your legs will concede it’s a good one.

 

Body Envy Boot Camps – Keeping Your MoJo!

Not having the motivation to exercise and eat healthy is very disheartening to a lot of women today. Life always has some type of excuse, so it’s not hard to find a reason why you don’t workout and eat right.  The list of excuses could probably go on and on.

Many women start out with the best intentions but have no goal to work towards which makes them fizzle out.  Motivation can dissolve quickly when there is no plan of attack or no goal to keep you focused.  So why do women lose their mojo when it comes to their workout routine and overall healthy lifestyle?

Does this sound like you?  Here are a few explanations of how and why women experience set backs.

In the fitness world today there are too many distractions and choices to choose from.  No, you can’t take a pill and magically become fit however you can become physically fit by revamping your fitness routine by joining Body Envy Boot Camp for Women. A different approach to fitness that is designed for women to reach their full fitness potential.

Yawn…are you bored yet?

If your current workout is uneventful then you are less likely to even want to do it.  That in turn leads to not seeing results, and why would you want to keep doing that anyways? If you do the same thing each time it won’t challenge your muscles, so you won’t see any results.  At boot camp, results come at you fast when you improve muscle tone and drop the fat by combining strength training and cardio.

Why are you doing what you’re doing? Keep telling yourself why you started exercising in the first place.   Are you going on a trip, buying new skinny jeans, or attending your high school reunion?

When setting a goal it makes you work a little harder to achieve it.  What was that you just ate?  If you have poor eating habbits you are ruining your chances of losing weight and staying in shape.

If you want to see results and changes in your body appearance, then lets start with what you are putting into it. To jumpstart a new lifestyle change, try making healthier food choices.

Why are you doing nothing? If you miss too many sessions you might feel like, well what’s the point? Just get right back to it, even if it has been years since you last exercised. Pick up where you left off and just do it. It’s so important to be and stay consistent!

What can I do to stay motivated?  First thing is first, join Body Envy Boot Camp where all the prep work has been done for you.  That is a boredom buster for sure! Grab a friend, co-worker, or family member to keep you accountable…when you know you’ve committed yourself to workout with someone, it’s all the more reason to make sure you get there.

Set a goal and stick to it unitl you reach it.  Don’t forget to give yourself a little reward for all your hard work and effort you put in to reaching your goal.  Monitor your results, when you start to lose inches and body fat, that should be incentive enough to keep you going!

An essential key to your fitness program is staying motivated.  It’s the desire to keep your workouts on fire.  Chandler Boot Camp is unique in it’s out of the box approach to fitness where there is something fun and different at each session.  If you need to revamp your boring old fitness routine, then choose Body Envy Boot Camp!