This week was an excellent week for the gym! I am really starting to feel an “at home” at the gym. This week was tight budget wise. I had some work to get done on my car so I didn’t have enough to meal prep for this week. Although this isn’t ideal, I am also very self-awre that this can happen and this is just a challenge I may face again in the future. For this blog post, I will instead be walking you through a work-out from last Friday after our technology class.
I hit a nice glutes and hamstring workout but due to the gym being busy, I decided to include some quad workouts as well.
After a nice warm up and stretch, I started on the hip thrust machine. This by FAR is my favourite machine. I tried to take a photo without taking photos of others in the space so you are actually looking at the back on the machine. You strap in like a rollercoaster and use your hips to drive the weight up fast and down slowly. Over time, I have gradually been able to up the weigjht so currently, I am able to hipthrust one plate (45 lbs) and a 25 lbs plate on each side. In total, its 140 lbs. I do this workout for 4 sets of 10.
Next, I moved on to leg press. This is a more quad-based workout and its definitely a popular yet affecive workout. Your sitting back in a slanted chair and you place your feet on the platform and push the weight up and bring in back down. I have used this machine in my highschool mezzanine and have experience with it. As I have used it previously and have also played sports my whole life, I have strong muscles. On this machine, I am able to push 2 plates (45 lbs each) on either side plus the machine is 25 lbs. All together, it is 205 lbs. I do this workout for 4 sets of 12.
My next workout is probably my least favourite but it does create results. These are called RDLs (Romainian Deadlifts). It involves grabbing a dumbell in each hand (I used 30 lb dumbells) and standing approximately shoulder width appart, hinging at your hips forward while tucking your chin and keeping your back straight. You think about closing a door with your butt while letting the weights go down the front of your legs (closely touching with a slight bend in the knee if need be). Once you feel it in your hamstrings, you can come back up slowly. I do this workout for 4 sets of 8.
Following RDLs, I used the leg exstention machine. This as well is a quad based workout. By the time I got to this machine, I realized I could take a photo of the step-by-step instructions on how to use this. I also have used this machine before and enjoy it as it really makes the quads burn. I select the weight option at 100 lbs which is almost too tough for me but it is good motivation. I do this workout for 4 sets of 12.
My final workout was the hamstring curls. I unfortunately forgot to take a photo as, at this point, it was quite busy. It is very similar to the leg extension but reversed. Instead of kicking the weigh up wards for quads, you start up and push it down and under using your hamstrings. I use this workout for 4 sets of 10.
I found these workouts using this website. It is EXCELLENT! It has an easy-to-read description as well as a videos to show in-depth on how to perform it safely!