This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 5:37 pm and is filed under The Experiment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Today is the legs’ day and I am feeling rather sore from yesterday’s chest and biceps day so there has been some difficulty in moving the weights round the gym.
I found the leg workout very difficult and have been wobbling around the place like a clown on a unicycle. You will notice from the program that there is an isometric squat exercise super set with the leg extension machine. I feel I should explain what these involve:
Super Sets
Super setting briefly means combining 2 exercises with no rest in between. Usually this involves using opposing muscle groups like the chest and back so that one gets a rest whilst you work the other. However, to be really cruel, you can combine similar muscles just to get that real muscle exhaustion. The exercises that are super set in this work out are the leg extension machine and the isometric squat. So when you do these exercises have the equipment ready to go straight into it and you are allowed to rest after the squat for a minute.
Isometric Exercise
Again briefly this means using the muscles without movement. So in the case of the squat you need to go down to the lowest point of the squat and hold it for one minute. Usually I wouldn’t recommend using a weight for this particular exercise however you can use a barbell across the shoulders or hold a dumbbell with both hands in front. Trust me it still works with no extra weight.
On your Bike
The exercise on the stationary bike uses interval training which in this case is 1 minute of standing up and cycling at a high level followed by sitting and peddling for a minute at an easier level. Remember to keep your rpm above 60 when standing and above 75 when seated.
The Workout
DB - Stands for dumbbells
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions | Time/Distance | Instructions |
| Leg Extensions Machine | 4 | 8 | n/a | click here |
| Isometric Squat | 4 | n/a | 1 minute | click here |
| Lunges DB | 4 | 8 | n/a | click here |
| Bike Interval | 10 minutes | click here | ||
| Hamstring Curl Machine | 4 | 8 | n/a | click here |
| Calf Raises | 4 | 8 | n/a | click here |
Please note that with the link for the calf raises they have quite a few different calf raise exercises. The one I am doing is refered to as the "Calf press on the leg press machine."
Summary
This is a tough workout and if I am honest on the isometric squat I was only able to hold it for 40 seconds before my legs gave way. So for me I have set a level that I will beat and I will get to that minute by next week (very confident – Beeble).
Good luck if you join in on this workout and remember choose a weight that you can maintain good technique throughout with.
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