Today I kicked off my new workout plan!
As Ryan and I drove to the gym, I brainstormed a bunch of different leg exercises so I had some kind of a plan of attack when I entered the weight room after we warmed up with 20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical.
I decided to kick off my leg workout with my least favorite exercise in the world: Squats. Bleh!
In the end my leg workout lasted around 35 minutes and included three sets of 15 repetitions of the following exercises:
- Squats
- Superset One: Step ups, Deadlifts
- Superset Two: Lunges (15 each leg), 30 sec. wall sit
- Leg extensions
- Hamstring ball curls
(Note: If you’re confused by the names of some of these exercises, definitely look them up on YouTube. There are a lot of quality demo videos created by fitness professionals out there that serve as great tutorials.)
I kind of enjoyed focusing solely on my legs today rather than trying to cram in a total-body workout. My legs felt about 10 times more fatigued as we were leaving the gym than they have in weeks. Success!
Breakfast
Today’s breakfast tasted extra special thanks to the addition of turkey bacon.
Something about bacon of any kind (especially the smell!) reminds me of lazy weekend mornings. Sure it’s not the most motivational food to eat to begin the workweek, but it is delicious!
As is ooey, gooey muenster cheese!
Calling All Bradenton Residents
If you’re a reader or blogger living in Bradenton, Florida, I would be so grateful if you could email me at pbfingers@gmail.com.
I have some top secret business to discuss with you. 
Question of the Morning
- When it comes to strength training, what is your workout plan?
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Lately, all I’ve been doing re: strength has been Jillian’s infamous 30Day Shred.
Then again, I’ve also been lifting really heavy containers of pumpkin beer to/from my house.
Since I’m in training for my first half mary, I’ve been doing only circuit training twice a week. I love getting my cardio and weights outta the way at the same time!
Top secret business! What a tease!
ha! it’s not that cool – i just can’t say what it’s all about on the blog for safety reasons. 🙂
I don’t even eat bacon much anymore but I totally agree about the smell! Of course I always seem to smell bacon in the neighborhood when I’m running which is a tease in it’s own right 😛
Lately I’ve been doing 1 total body workout, then 1 day more of upper body and then a 3rd day of more lower body! I know it’s not strength training per say but I am going to swim tomorrow as my total body workout for this week- toning is toning right!
Just readign the title ‘leg work out’ makes me so ready to get back in shape!! I’ll be hitting up your workout section soon 🙂
Sounds like a good one Julie! My strength routine changes from week to week – I make a rough plan at the beginning of the week and write out the specifics the night before each workout – that way, if it’s written, it gets done!
I actually LOVE squats. I just love em’! Your workout looks quality!
I am off to teach BodyPUMP…..wish you could come too 😉
Glad to hear your new workout plan started out well! I love lower body workouts… the bigger muscles always make me work harder and feel more accomplished. Great job!
I try to strength train every other day. Usually I focus on two areas per session (biceps and triceps, chest and back, legs and shoulders), but lately I’ve been experimenting with total-body weights sessions—including the ones you’ve posted on here!
I LOVE a good leg workout…one that leaves your legs shaky and feeling like jelly. Of course, it always makes walking the next day an adventure! 🙂
I lived in Bradenton for 20 years! 🙂
My strength plans come from The Female Body Breakthrough book — each workout takes me 40-45 minutes and I do them 2x per week (3x if I have time). I like being able to just follow a plan that is already set up for me!
I’ve recently started helping a friend ‘get into’ going to the gym, and she’s a cardio queen, so my strength workouts have been lacking recently! I love using the gym dumbbells though, and am hopefully trying out BodyPump for the first time this week!
Yay for lower body weights! Do you use an olympic barbell for deadlifts and squats and, if so, how much weight do you use? Lately I’ve been following The New Rules of Lifting for Women and LOVE it!! It definitely pushes me and I can already see results. 🙂
I love leg workouts, but the best is when I target my bootay as well. Nothing like some sore butt muscles 😉
YEY TURKEY BACON!
I’ve been doing new rules of weight lifting for women and their “stages” of workouts seem to be a combo of both legs + arms in one workout. I notice my legs feeling way more fatigued than my arms though, although I hear this is going to change come stage 3 which I start this week.
That breakfast looks yummy! I made a pumpkin-protein smoothie that was outta this world!
When it comes to workouts and strength training, I am sort of working under a new plan as well…as of right now it’s not really involving directly lifting weights! I think I am so muscular that I could stand to lose quite a bit of muscle and still be content. Since I am doing TONS of running (for me anyways) I have decided to cut down on weights. I have to say…the results after 2 weeks of doing so are really good. I feel more flexible and less “bulk” already. I tend to gain muscle QUICK so I am sticking to bodyweight exercises, yoga, and rubberbands for my “strength” 🙂
Woah, great job on your workout!
Right now, I’m training for my second half-marathon, so I’m really only strength training once or twice a week. I wish I had the time to do a bit more, but maybe after this next race! How often do you like to strength train when training for a half?
I love squats! I probably do too many 😉
I really enjoy your workouts! They always give me direction when I’m unsure of what I want to lift when I get to the gym. Quick question about supersets – do you do all 15 of the step ups and then immediately move onto all 15 deadlifts? Or do you alternate one and one?
I’m definitely going to do the same as you, I need a plan to follow and am ready to get back into weightlifting. Thanks for the motivation 🙂
Yay for your new workout!!! I always use your circuits as my go to when I dont go to sculpt! My strength is usually in the form of Yoga Sculpt plus one day of weight circuits in the gym!
My strength training always varies as I get easily bored/distracted… I have a lot of go-to Jillian moves and will sometimes pop in one of her DVDs if I need a nice burn 🙂 Also, I just got an awesome Groupon for boxing classes! excited to try those out! They even supply you with pink gloves 😉
I definitely prefer to focus on one major and one minor muscle group when I do strength. That way I can work harder and focus more on each one!
When I was marathon training, about 2 months into training, I had to stop doing leg workouts because my legs would be sooo tired, and I it made my long runs miserable!! You are super worman 🙂
i once ordered turkey bacon at denny’s, and what came out looked more like a dog’s tongue. never again.
I really need to start incorporating more lifting into my workouts….I was doing the NROLFW but I got bored with it–maybe I’ll try to start back up this week!! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Oh, and my best friend and her fiance live in Bradenton (he was raised there) so if it’s info you need, I could possibly help!
I really like turkey bacon. My favorite kind is by Butterball. So good 🙂
This is where you make me feel lucky. Keith writes me a new program every M, W and F. It is so nice being married to a personal trainer sometimes! 🙂 And other times…like when he is actually training me…not so much! ha! 🙂
Now that I’m training for a half-marathon in November, my strength training plan is mostly arms. After running 4 days outof the week, there’s no way I’m doing squats or lunges 🙂
I think my butt might fall out of my pants after that workout. That would be very unfortunate.
I kicked off the week with a TON of backsquats. (I love squats, I think that makes me a freak)
30 reps @ 60% of your 1 rep max backsquat
3 reps @ 80%
20 reps @ 70%
2 reps @ 85%
10 reps @ 75%
1 rep @ 90%
As long as I don’t need to walk for the next couple days we should be good to go. : )
My current strength training plan is to do physique 57 dvd’s and pilates videos on youtube 🙂 Using a lot of my own body strength to build muscle!
Hi Julie! This has nothing to do with this morning’s post, but I have a story. I live in the country, so my cat Schmoo lives outside. I let her in the house this morning, and you’ll never guess what I saw. She had ass grass! I remembered when that happened to Sadie and I couldn’t stop laughing. 🙂
so what do you think of turkey bacon?? I have never liked bacon and then tried the turkey bacon and I thought it tasted like rubber!! I wish regular bacon was healthy!
i’m a machine lover. hate lunges!
LOVE the turkey bacon addition – but also that gooey muenster cheese! You can’t be it!
I usually do what you did today – focus on just my legs or just my upper body, and then I’ll add some ab stuff in. Although I like to break up the cardio to keep my heart rate up the whole time. I usually warm up with 10 min, do 10 min halfway through my weights, and then end with another 10. Lol, if it’s a leg day though that extra 10 at the end is rough!
Since I kind of lack direction when it comes to strength training, and am just starting out (Ive been a treadmill whore for a while now!), I bought a Jillian DVD that focuses on arms & core. It helps since I really have no clue what to do!
My “plan” is usually really random. Unless I’m working out with a trainer, it’s like whatever I Feel like!
Squats are one of my favorite exercises! I like them much more than lunges. My strength training plan lately is new rules of lifting for women. It’s nice having a workout plan to follow instead of making up my own.
Lately I’ve moved to 4 days per week, alternating between muscle groups and incorporating cardio. I’m totally into this Metabolic Training which is a similar idea to Body Pump but goes for a shorter amount of time.
I actually do strength training similar to your new routine, I take turns focusing on lower body or upper body (and do core/abs almost everytime alongside that).
I recently switched it up too because I used to always do cardio first and then my strength training but have been doing strength first and then finishing my workout with cardio. I remember you had a post about this a while ago about all the theories, etc and i think when it comes down to it it is ultiimately preference whichever you do first! 🙂
Great workout! I love doing squats! Feel the burn haha 🙂
I do strength training 3-4 times a week and focus on a specific area rather than overall. Today I’ll be doing legs and abs (I do abs or some kind of core exercises almost every day).
I LOVE turkey bacon!! The food part of running is what I am trying so hard to learn. Great workout today!!!
Is there a Trader Joe’s near you? If so, go there and get their turkey bacon. It is SO GOOD and not expensive. It’ll be the only turkey bacon you’ll eat again.
Sometimes I write down my plan of attack for the gym the night before, and research different workout moves that I get from magazines and blogs. But generally speaking, I take the lazy way out and brain storm my strength training while doing cardio!
My workout plan is usually involves free weights! 🙂 That’s so funny that you mention Bradenton because my best friend lives down there! 🙂
Classes, classes, classes!! I find that I half-a** my weight training workouts if I don’t utilize class and team influence!