Good morning and happy hump day. It’s hard to believe that we’re already half way through the week – it’s been flying by for me. I guess that’s what happens when you’re staying busy. I hope that Friday is here in a blink of an eye for you too!
Before I get into the lower body workout that I’ve created for today, I wanted to share my cardio workout from yesterday.
I’m still taking it easy to give my knee a break. I’m very grateful that it’s feeling better. It’s still not 100% though, so I’ll continue to do shorter cardio workouts until it is. I definitely took my knees for granted until one of them started to give me trouble!
Tuesday morning I headed to the gym before work and got on the elliptical. I spent 20 minutes doing some steady state cardio followed by 10 minutes of walking the track for my cool down.
I always put a couple levels of tension on the elliptical to give me some resistance. It really helps to get my heart rate up a bit more and it feels good to work a little harder.
And now onto today’s workout!
This is a lower body workout that you’ll need a gym for because it includes a leg press. I haven’t met anyone who has a leg press machine at home. Of course you can take the leg press out and as long as you have dumbbells, you can do this workout at home. If you’re looking for additional workouts, be sure to check out my workout page. All the workouts I’ve shared here on GFF are categorized over there, so it’s really easy to find exactly what you want.
You’ll do 12 reps of 4 sets of each exercise, resting for 1 minute between sets. Once you’ve completed all 4 sets, move to the next exercise on the list. All the exercises are pretty straight forward, but I’ve added descriptions of all of them below the graphic just in case.
As usual with my workouts, I haven’t added any weights in because that’s such an individual thing. Choose a weight that you can complete every single rep (even the last rep of the last set) with good form. If your form starts to break down then that’s your sign to use a lighter dumbbell.
Dumbbell deadlift
With a dumbbell in each hand. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Slowly bend forward at the hips, letting your arms hang down and keeping your back straight. Using your glutes, lift your torso back up to the starting standing position.
Dumbbell squat
With feet hip width apart and dumbbells in your hands at your sides, use the glutes to lower your hips back and down while bending at the knees and ankles. Once you’ve reached the lowest position you can without leaning forward too much or letting the knees collapse in, return to a standing position, again using your glutes to propel yourself.
Leg press
Sit down in the leg press machine. Place your feet hip width’s apart so that your knees are over top of your toes. Release the safety and push your feet away from your body using your glutes and quads. Once your legs are fully extended, slowly bring your feet back towards yourself, once again using your leg muscles to stay in control of the speed. Repeat. At the end of the set rest the platform on the safety again.
Step ups
Find something that when you put your foot on it, your knee is at a 90 degree angle. This could be a chair or bench. Step up with your left foot, and pushing off that heel step your right foot off the floor and onto the bench. Immediately step back down with your left foot, followed by your right foot.
Dumbbell lunges
Stand with feet hip width apart and dumbbells in each hand. Step forward with one foot so that the forward leg’s thigh is parallel to the ground, and the back leg’s shin is parallel to the ground. The back knee shouldn’t touch the floor. Use your quads and glutes to step the front foot back towards your back foot and end by standing straight up with feet hip width apart again. For the second lunge step forward with the other foot. Continue alternating legs for the entire 30 seconds.
Clam shells
Lay on your side on the floor with your hips bent at a 45 degree angle and your knees bent at a 90 degree angle. With your legs stacked on top of one another, slowly lift your top knee up while keeping the top heal on the bottom heal. Then lower your knee back down. Make sure to use your glutes do the movement. Once one side is done flip over so the top leg is on the bottom and repeat with the second leg.
What’s your favorite gym exercise?
Mine are machine rows or the leg press.
As always, talk to your doctor before beginning to workout. Honor your bod and modify this workout as needed for you.