Category Archives: Top 10
Top 10 Pieces of HOME Exercise Equipment
You don’t need a gym to get in a great workout. Actually you don’t even need any equipment at all – here is a list of 10 great exercises you can do anywhere!
BUT if you are going to invest in some home exercise equipment, these are the pieces to get! Some are definitely not essential but can add a lot of variety to your home routine. Also, most of the stuff you can tuck away in the closet!
- Pull up bar – If you only have a pull up bar and your own body weight, you have more than enough to get in a killer full body workout! You can do chin ups, pull ups, wide grip pull ups, towel pull ups…any variety of pull ups to work your back. You can then do a variety of push ups and plyometrics to kill the rest of your body. Pull up bars for your doorway also aren’t expensive, costing only about $30. You can also easily store them away in your closet!
- Bowflex Dumbbells – One of the best presents that I ever got for Ryan in my opinion. Weights can add intensity and variety to any workout routine. I find that they are great especially for leg workouts since body weight exercises are usually the least challenging for the legs. And dumbbells like the Bowflex ones, give you a range of weights to use (ours go up to 52lbs) without you having to purchase a trillion different pairs.
- TRX Suspension Trainer – One of the most expensive pieces on the list, but also one of the most versatile. You can hang it from a door OR even use it outside! You can get a full body workout just using the TRX system. To name just a few exercises you can do: 1 leg squats, balance lunge, inverted row, push up, back flyes, chest flyes, pike push ups, climbers, knee tucks, jackknives…
- Resistance bands – You can get these instead of weights but I recommend using them in addition to weights. Not as good for challenging the legs, resistance bands are great for the upper body because they make you work through the entire range of motion. Also, they are great if you aren’t yet able to do full pull ups. If you have a door strap, you can hook one of the bands up and do a modified pull up. These are also a great thing to have if you travel often since they are easy to take on trips!
Modified pull up...you can also kneel to perform this move.
- Foam Roller – While this can be used for making workout moves more challenging, you most definitely NEED to have one of these at home for rehab/prehab purposes. You should be foam rolling before and after every workout in my opinion. Since I have one at home, I sometimes foam roll two or three times a day if I’m super tight or sore!
- Yoga mat – Not a necessity to have, but if you plan to do any stretching, crunches or yoga, it can be very nice to have a mat instead of just using a towel. It is also nice to have one on the floor if you do plyometrics…nice for any neighbors you may have that is!
- Medballs – Again not a necessity since you can use weights for many of the moves you do with a medball. BUT these are great to use to make push ups more challenging…push ups say like the Impossible Push Up! These are also a great addition to any home exercise equipment collection especially if you are able to bounce them or throw them at walls as that opens up a whole new range of exercise options!
- Box step – It is much safer to use a box step than a chair or couch for many moves. Also, if you’ve already bought just about everything else on this list, this is one of the last few pieces you need to be able to do just about everything at home! It is a great piece to use for decline push ups, step ups, balance lunges, box jumps, box shuffle…and many other moves!
- Stability Ball – This piece is cheap, but it takes up some space. It is a great way to add in exercises that work your core even more. It is sort of one of those pieces that you add in when you need to spice up your routine or want to take on some of Tony Horton’s ridiculous push up challenges!
- Jump rope – A great piece of cardio equipment! Easy to carry and store. The only downside is you probably have to do it outside. But if you want to add some cardio intervals to your workout, definitely add in jump rope. If you want an extra challenge, do double jumps instead!
Runner’s up: Sliders and kettlebells. Sliders are the things you use to move furniture. They are great to use to make leg moves and abs moves more difficult. Kettlebells are just a fun addition to have for cleans, snatches and swings but you can simply use the Bowflex dumbbells.
Need motivation? Use one of my Top 10!
Ok so these are the things that motivate me to work out even when I’m not feeling at the top of my game. These aren’t necessarily in a specific order. Depending on how you feel that day, some things may work better than others!
- Goals – Having goals clearly laid out keeps me on track. I also make sure to hang my goals up so that I see them every day. I also share my goals with friends and family so that I have some pressure or commitment to succeed. Clearly defined goals are a great way to stay on track because you have something specific to work toward!
- Friends and family – Friends and family can be a great motivator to work out. Knowing that Ryan, Candy and Brian are working out hard makes me not want to slack. I also love working out with them! So why would I ever want to skip doing something fun with friends and family!?! I also find that sticking to Primal is way easier because I’m doing it with someone else. Ryan and I keep each other on track during days of weakness.
- Being Healthy – There is no greater motivation than knowing that working out (and eating right!) is making you healthier so that you can lead a long, active life! It isn’t the most attractive reason to workout or eat well (let’s face it…looking good is), but it probably is the most important reason to do those things! And the thing is that every day you eat well or every time you workout, you are improving your health even if you didn’t lose a pound that week!
- Feeling Good – I don’t know about you, but I feel so much better when I workout. My body feels strong from lifting heavy weights and pushing through intense workouts. I feel like I can leap tall buildings in a single bound…ok maybe not that good, but you get the point! When you workout and eat well, your body just feels so darn good! You have energy to power through long days and the strength to do any physical activity presented to you!
- Looking Good – This is probably the reason most used by people to motivate themselves to workout. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t have great staying power. I definitely remind myself that all of my working out and eating well is what keeps me looking fit, but you need to find some deeper motivation to really keep you committed to a program. So use this HUGE motivator to get you started and keep you committed on days when you’re lagging, but don’t let this be your only motivation!
- Stress relief – Too often people think of working out and eating right as chores. For me working out and eating well relieves stress. When I work out, I clear my head and I get the endorphins flowing. When I eat well, I’m not worried about whether or not I’m going to feel and look good because if I’m eating the right foods I know I will!
- Competition (with yourself) – What better motivator is there than competition? Not only competition with your workout buddies but also with yourself. I keep a workout log and each and every time I lift, I want to beat my numbers from the lifts before. It motivates me to constantly push myself so that I do better than last time!
- Seeing results – When you see results (or even maintain the great results you already have), you are going to stick with the program. Find different ways to measure “results.” Take body measurements. Keep a workout log. Track how well you did on your diet that week. When you see positive changes, you will be motivated to continue. Not seeing results can also be a motivator…to start a new program.
- Quality of life – Enjoying life to its fullest! This and “being healthy” are not the most glamorous motivators but they are the ones that truly keep you dedicated. When you eat well and workout intensely, you feel good. You feel empowered, which makes you really tackle all of the challenges of life. I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve had that have started working out and eating right and just feel so much happier and content with life. Plus, they are able to be more active and enjoy more time with their families doing activities they couldn’t do before!
- Photos of your role models – So when I need a burst of motivation, I turn to this one. There is nothing like seeing one of your role models, looking amazing and strong, to make you want to stick to your diet and hit the gym! (Candy did some searching yesterday for this type of motivation!)
Candy’s motivation: Lindsay Smith
The 10 Best Exercises you can do anywhere!
So our gym is closed until January 1st for reconstruction. Numerous members were upset because they wouldn’t be able to workout for an entire week.
This got me to thinking about workouts you could do at home.
If you are like me, you have dumbbells, resistance bands, pull up bars, push up stands, yoga mats and a foam roller.
If you are the average person, you probably have walls, chairs, floors, towels and other household furniture and supplies.
But the average person, who doesn’t own even a single piece of equipment, can get in a great home workout just by doing these 10 moves! (The following are in no particular order…they are all awesome…ok but Burpees are definitely the best!)
1. Burpee – If you doubt why this move is on the list, than you’ve never done a burpee. This cardiovascular move is sure to make you feel out of breath and work up a sweat.
2. Push Ups (handstand, decline, one foot off the ground) – Be it the basic push up or something as crazy as a handstand push up, this move is one of the best upper body exercises out there! It will also work your abs!
3. 1 leg squats (to bench) – If you don’t have weights, isolating one leg can make your lower body work harder than it would if you did a simple body weight squat. You can start with a squat to chair and then work up to a pistol squat.
4. Dips from chair (with feet up) – If you put your feet up, you will make a bench chair dip more difficult. This is a great way to work your triceps and can even be done right off of the couch!
5. Balance lunges – Again you are isolating one leg and forcing yourself to use your abs more to balance. Just find something to put your back leg up on and lunge, making sure your front knee doesn’t go beyond your front toe.
6. Climbers (decline or one foot off the ground) – Decline climbers in my opinion are like the best shoulder exercise if you don’t have weights. Your feet are up on a chair or couch and you start on your forearms. Then pushing up you climb up to your hands and then back down. Keep your abs tight and your butt down. Climbers is also a great exercise for your abs!
7. Plank crawl – On your forearms and toes, crawl forward keeping your butt down. Once you crawl across the room, move backwards. You will need to take small steps. Really this is a great exercise for your full body!!! And it definitely kills the shoulders and abs!
8. Jump Squats – Plyometrics of any kind are a great way to get in some cardio and really work the legs!! Plus they don’t require anything but your own body weight. Just make sure to land softly if you live in an apartment!
9. Wall sit – You can read a book or even freaking watch TV while you do this move. All you need is a wall so you can do this about anywhere. To make it more intense, do a 1 leg wall sit.
10. Mountain Climbers – Another great way to get in some cardio, work your abs and burn out your shoulders. When my legs are tired, I also really feel it in my quads.
Runners up: Cocktail lunges, sit ups, jumping jacks, split squat jumps, planks (front and side), glute bridge, supermans,
Fitness gifts…Good idea?
This product is not Man Bicep approved.
As long as you skip the Shake Weight and Sketchers Shape Ups, there are some great fitness gifts out there.
One year, I got Ryan Bowflex dumbbells, which were a great idea aside from the fact that I ended up with bruises trying to get the two 52lbs dumbbells up three flights of stairs (and hide them so they would be a surprise).
Here are 10 fitness gifts that I love:
1. TRX Suspension Training
2. Pull Up bar
3. Kettlebells
4. P90x DVDs
5. Personal Training Sessions
6. The Primal Blueprint
7. Bowflex Dumbbells
8. Resistance bands
9. Yoga mat
10. FOAM ROLLER!!!!!
Please just don’t get any of the products on this website!!
Top 10 Stupid Fitness Myths
A sexy, weight lifting woman! Jamie Eason ROCKS!
- Lifting heavy weights will make women bulk up. Uhm..if you’ve read one post on this site, I hope you don’t believe this any more. Weight lifting won’t make women look bulky unless they are taking steroids! Weight lifting will actually make women look more toned since muscle takes up less space than fat (so you can actually look smaller and trimmer if you have muscle!). Weight lifting also has a ton of health benefits such as stronger bones so don’t skip it!
- Cardio is better for weight loss. NOPE! I just posted a great article about this AND Brian is a great testament to the fact that you can lose more weight and look fitter if you just do weight lifting! Brian has lost 12 pounds over the last 3 1/2 weeks doing absolutely NO cardio! (P.S. Congrats Brian!)
- Taking in fewer calories than you expend (calories in vs. calories out) is all that matters when you are trying to lose weight. AH! If you eat a ton of peanut m&ms but don’t consume more than 1,500 calories, you will probably lose weight on the scale, but you won’t be healthy and you will probably not have great body composition (you will be “skinny fat.”). If you eat well, you don’t have to count calories, you will lose weight and you will have great body composition.
- Eating late at night can make you gain weight. It doesn’t matter when you consume the calories, if you need the calories. You won’t gain weight JUST because you ate late at night. With Intermittent Fasting, I only really ate before bed, and I lost weight. As long as you aren’t consuming extra calories during the day, it doesn’t matter when you eat the calories you need!
- I can “spot reduce” problem areas by doing exercises specific to those body parts. HA! I wish! It doesn’t work that way unfortunately. You can’t control where you lose fat from, but if you lift heavy and eat right you will get a healthy, lean body!
- If I can’t workout hard enough or long enough, I may as well just skip it that day. NOOOOO! Short workouts can be good for you! And pushing through a workout even when you don’t feel like you can give it your all can still produce results! Even a workout at 60% effort can help you achieve results in the long run!
- You will burn more fat if you exercise for longer at a lower intensity (within the “fat burning” zone). This should be a whole post on its own…the fat burning zone, unfortunately, doesn’t exist. While walking is good for you, lifting to build muscle is better for fat loss. More muscle equals more fat burning! So start lifting to lose fat!
- Exercising a lot is all you need to achieve your weight loss goals. As much as I would love to tell my clients that all they need to do to lose weight is exercise, it isn’t. Diet really is 80% of the weight loss battle! Working out can help you keep the weight off and burn extra calories during your weight loss battle, but it won’t melt the pounds away. You need a clean diet to really lose weight and make all the work you do when you are working out really pay off! 🙂
- All you need to do is cardiovascular training to be in shape. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! If you believe that, you are on the wrong blog!
- Women who have muscle and can lift more than men aren’t sexy. BS!!! We are so super sexy! AND don’t you forget it!
Top 10 Must Reads
1. Mark’s Daily Apple/Primal Blueprint/21 Day Total Body Transformation – I love just about anything and everything Mark writes. While I definitely don’t follow his workout plan, I think his diet is perfect. His website and books not only tell you what to do but they also explain why you should do it. If you follow the Primal Blueprint, you aren’t just blindly accepting something, you are being fully informed as to WHY it is the right thing to do! Bye Bye conventional wisdom, hello Mark’s Daily Apple!…My only question is…why Daily Apple? Mark doesn’t believe in eating fruit every day!;-)
2. Good Calories, Bad Calories – So people always cite their doctors as their source of information, but my question is…does your doctor really keep up with the latest studies or does your doctor just prescribe the medication that makes him or her the most money? I think I’d rather have Gary Taubes, a research journalist with no ulterior motives, telling me what is good and bad for me. Taubes looks at the facts, which makes for a very informative, if not sometimes dry, read. If you’ve read this book and Primal Blueprint and still think carbs are key and fat is bad…I think you have issues (no offense).
3. Be Heavy – I just found this blog through My Athletic Life (which is another great blog). Dana is AWESOME! Recently her posts have been spot on to what I’ve been thinking and feeling. I really loved her post yesterday about giving yourself permission to fail. I think this happens more often than we even realize!
4. Men’s Health – Yep…that’s right…a men’s magazine. No women’s magazine made the list, but Men’s Health did. Men’s Health has some great workouts as well as good nutritional advice (they promote Primal/Paleo/low carb!!). They really try to relay the most current information to their readers!
5. 4 Hour Body – Tim Ferriss is the definition of a human guinea pig. Talk about self-experimentation. I love this book because it SHOWS you what works. You know he isn’t just trying to sell you a fad diet, but something that he has tried and that has WORKED for him!
6. Strong Lifts – One of the best lifting sites out there (AND he really promotes women lifting!!!). His 5×5 program is something that I really want to try at some point! Great information if you are interested in gaining strength or even size!
7. The Great Fitness Experiment – I love the name of Charlotte’s blog! Personal fitness really is just one big experiment. AND Charlotte really has tried it all so she is a great source of information!
8. Fit and Feminist – I’ve recently added this blog to my daily reading list. While Caitlin definitely likes running more than I do, she is definitely a Man Biceper! She is a strong woman who doesn’t seem afraid to tell it like it is! I loved her post the other day about weight training as feminist resistance.
9. Leangains – A program to get super sexy that goes against conventional wisdom – of course I love this blog!!! Again another person that does more than just regurgitate information – Martin has actually experimented to find out what works! Check out Intermittent Fasting the Martin Berkhan way!
10. MAN BICEP – DUH! I mean come on… 🙂
By the way, I wrote an earlier post about how there weren’t any good women’s lifting blogs. While I’m still disappointed by most of what is out there, I have found a few great ones which are on this list (and I check every day!).
Top 6 Motivational Women – Soon to be Top 10!
Yesterday while I was standing in the check out line at Whole Foods with an array of delicious food in front of me (pork shoulder, pork belly, macadamia nuts, salami) I gave in to an impulse buy – Oxygen Magazine.
I can rarely ever resist buying Oxygen Magazine or Fitness Rx or Muscle and Fitness HERS for that matter. There is something about those beautiful muscular women on the cover that I just can’t resist even though most of the time I’m disappointed with the nutritional information that the magazines provide.
BUT the articles don’t bother me. I didn’t buy them for their nutrition or fitness tips.
I bought them for the motivation those awesome fitness models provide. They are beautiful, muscled and strong. They are everything I work everyday to be!
I know this sounds strange…most of the women I know hate looking at pictures of models because those perfect women make them feel inferior. But the pictures have the opposite effect on me. Seeing those beautiful women means that my goals are possible. They motivate me to keep working hard so that I can be as fit as them!
I’ve even hung pictures of fitness models on my refrigerator to remind me of my goals (Jamie Eason specifically!!!). Of course I’ve stopped doing this since I’ve realized that house guests find it a little strange….
Two years ago one of Ryan’s roommates from college came to visit Boston and stayed with us. He saw the pictures of skimpily clad fitness models up on the refrigerator and asked Ryan if he put those up there. He had seemed confused by the pictures of half-naked girls.
Ryan said no that I had put them up. I almost think that confused Ryan’s old roommate more…
Anyway, I loved seeing those girls every time I went to the refrigerator…They definitely kept me from grabbing bad food out of the fridge! 😉
But anyway, I haven’t put them back up since. BUT here is a list of the Top 6 Women that motivate me to lift heavy and eat clean!!! (They aren’t in any particular order) 🙂
1. Jamie Eason – She was the first fitness model that really motivated me to get super involved in heavy lifting and I have a huge girl crush on her (sorry Ryan). She is strong and beautiful.
2. Annie Thorisdottir – She is the fittest woman on the planet at the moment. DUH she’s motivational!
3. Angie Pye – She looks amazing and she’s one of the fittest women on the planet. What isn’t motivating about that!?!
4. Lindsey Smith – She’s a top crossfit competitor and a super sexy mother. Another bad-ass, motivational woman! (AND Candy’s favorite!)
5. Margaret Diubaldo – A fitness competitor who has been on like a bazillion fitness magazine covers. Obviously muscular and beautiful!
Plus I love the short haircut! 🙂
6. Natasha Peay – A fitness competitor and boxer, she is one super sexy strong woman who isn’t afraid to kick a little ass!
These 6 women don’t include the most motivational woman of all – the Man Bicep Mom. She inspired me to lift heavy and has always supported me (not to mention she is one super sexy muscular woman herself!!!)
What women motivate you?
Top 10 – Famous women who lift?
So this post today WAS going to be about the top 10 hot famous women that lift. But so far…Candy and I haven’t been very successful.
First we tried searching for hot muscled actresses. Most actresses don’t look very muscled (except when the train for a movie like Million Dollar Baby). The only actress I really found who looked halfway decent was Cameron Diaz. Of course she is getting all sorts of criticism for being too muscled. I personally think she looks pretty awesome and gnarly here!
We then decided to try searching for hot muscled singers. We found Madonna…no one else…but Madonna.
Of course, there is much debate about whether or not she is also too muscled. Of course the “too muscled” pictures of both Cameron Diaz and Madonna look more like “too skinny” than “too muscled” to me. But hey…whatever…
Yea I mean she looks pretty freaking anorexic to me...Not muscled.
I finally got so fed up trying to find actresses or singers or famous women in general that I just typed in “women with muscle.” I got bodybuilders and some links to inappropriate sites. No famous women with nice toned, muscled physiques.
I then asked Brian if he knew of any famous women with muscle. The only one he could come up with was Jillian Michaels. Candy and I decided that she didn’t really count since she is a famous fitness TRAINER! But then again at least she has muscle unlike half of the celebrity and famous trainers out there!
Anyway, if you can think of any famous, popular women with muscle (who aren’t involved in the fitness industry like trainers or fitness models), please let me know. We seem to be at a loss here.
Top 10 – Brian’s FAVORITE Upper Body Exercises
So Brian’s FAVORITE (and I mean FAVORITE) thing to work is his chest…and upper body in general. These are his 10 FAVORITE upper body exercises.
1. Bench – Ok who doesn’t love bench!?! Barbell Flat Bench is by far Brian’s favorite. It is a GREAT compound exercise. And as Lisa mentioned, “Strengthening your “man pecs” helps keep the twins perky!” The bench press works your pecs, triceps, shoulders and abs among other things! Here is an article about the flat bench press. You can also vary up your bench press by doing incline barbell or dumbbell variations. There are also other tortuous variations such as pause bench…but that is an exercise for another day.
2. Push ups – Brian thinks push ups are easy…I don’t exactly agree but I do think they are awesome for you! Push ups are one of those exercises that you need to actually DO to get better at. Doing bench and such will help, but to truly get good at push ups…you need to DO push ups. Girls don’t just do push ups from your knees because you are girls!!! Channel your inner man and bust them out from your toes or even attempt a decline push up or two (or 10).
3. Dips – You can do these off a bench or from a dip machine, but DO THEM. I find the ones off the bench much easier than full dips, but both can be good. I feel that the ones on the bench pretty much only tire out my triceps while the full dips from the bars work my chest, lower traps, triceps and my anterior deltoid (the front of your shoulder).
Full, off the bars dips.
4. Wide grip pull ups – I happen to agree with Brian about these….I LOVE PULL UPS! THEY ARE AWESOME! Wide grip are especially awesome because they are hard and they isolate your lats. Regular pull ups tend to use a lot of bicep so these are great to mix in to just work your back!
5. Dumbbell 1 arm row – Brian loves this one because as he said, “You can use heavy weight and it is a good way to build strength and size.” That’s what us Man Bicepers love! 🙂
6. Seated DB Military Press – If you want to improve your bench and push ups, you need to strengthen your shoulders. Military press is a great way to do that. Using dumbbells engages more stabilizer muscles in your core and shoulders. Doing the military press seated instead of standing can also be safer if you aren’t as sure of form – just make sure your back is fully pressed into the back of the seat.
7. Front to Side Raises – Shoulder murder. 1 rep is a front raise and then a side raise.
8. Posterior Deltoid Flyes (with a resistance band) – Brian loves this one because no one works on their posterior deltoids. He says, “They are neglected. People focus on the anterior and medial deltoid.” (Brian also mentioned the fact that Candy has what we jokingly call “monster anterior deltoids.”) Choose a resistance band that you can stretch all the way out while having your hands about shoulder width apart.
9. Straight Bar Bicep Curl – This hits every aspect of the bicep. Don’t cheat – go all the way down and all the way up and DON’T SWING! Stagger the feet if you need to. BUT DON’T CHEAT!
10. Skull Crushers – Please don’t crush your face when you do these. Grab dumbbells and lay flat on a bench or floor. Bending at the elbows and keeping your triceps perpendicular to your body, lower the weights down toward your head. Try to keep your elbows in. Stop before you hit your face and straighten the arms back up without any flexion of the shoulder.
Some others that Candy and I love that weren’t on Brian’s list: Dumbbell pullovers and Iron Cross. Iron cross is also shoulder murder and DB pullovers are a great exercise to work your chest, back and triceps all at the same time! If you do a pullover while holding a glute bridge, you get the added bonus of working your core, glutes and hamstrings.
Some that we hate:
Candy hates pull ups.
I hate Overhead Tricep Extensions…UGH!
We both hate manual tricep pushdowns (which almost made Brian’s list).
Top 10 Leg Exercises (that Candy and I now hate)
So yesterday Candy and I did a leg workout. The last two leg workouts we have done have absolutely murdered our leg muscles.
Here are the 10 best (most tortuous) leg exercises (in no particular order because all can be equally dreadful):
1. Heavy Back Squat (Candy’s least favorite)- There is something about putting a heavy barbell on your back and having to squat down and stand back up that is just fear inducing. I’m always afraid I won’t be able to stand back up…which has happened before.
The Back Squat is a full leg workout, primarily targeting your glutes, quads and hamstrings as well as your adductors, abductors and calf muscles. Your erect0r spinae as well as your transverse abdominus are also engaged so you are working your entire core too! A great first exercise to do! Yesterday we did 5 sets of 5, increasing weight with each set.
2. Cocktail Lunges – Cocktail lunges are a front and back lunge combined. You lunge forward and then backwards, trying to not tap your foot down in the middle. A forward and backwards lunge is one rep. The front lunge and back lunge do both work your entire leg and the stabilizer muscles in your hips, torso and spine. However, your quad is the primary mover in both so you really burn out the quad by combining the two lunges into one rep!
For an extra burn, complete all reps on one side before switching to the other leg. Candy and I did 10 reps on each side before switching (one rep is one forward and one rear lunge). We added some weights to make it even more of a challenge!
3. Slider Side Lunges – Let the adductor machine gather dust and pick up a slider instead! Place one foot on the slider and one on the ground parallel to your foot on the slider. Slide the slider away keeping that leg straight as you bend the standing leg and squat down. When you stand, drag the slider back in keeping the leg straight. As Brian says, “It feels like my groin is ripping!!!”
4. Step Ups – I don’t know why…but I absolutely hate these. Like cocktail lunges, they always make me out of breath. They are simple. Pick a tall box (a challenging height) and step up. If the box is higher, it will also isolate the hamstrings more (but don’t make the box too high…you want it to be about knee height). And if you start farther away from the box, you will work your glutes more. When you step up, tap the other foot on top and climb back down. Isolate one leg first. Add some weight and increase the challenge!!
5. One leg squats (to bench or with TRX) – So the goal here is a pistol squat…no bench…no TRX…just a one leg squat as low as you can go. Candy and I both need a little assistance especially since this isn’t usually the first exercise we do. This is a great full leg workout. It makes you work extra hard too because you have to maintain your balance. AND by isolating one leg, you can make sure that each leg is doing the full amount of work instead of one leg dominating!
6. Kettlebell Swing – KB swings are supposed to be the absolute BEST exercise for your back side. After doing one round yesterday, I wanted to take the kettlebell and let it fly out a window. I usually like KB Swings, but yesterday they were brutal and today my butt is very very sore. So if you want a nice butt…do kettlebell swings.
7. TRX Hamstring Curls – We love to hate these. They destroy your hamstrings and you just want to be done with them. Ten times better than the leg curl machine for you!
8. Split Squat Jumps – We did these today. You start in a lunge position then jump up and land in a lunge on the other side. If you do them quickly and get low, split squat jumps are cardiovascular and really burn your legs.
Want some lean legs? Then definitely do these plyos.
9. Preacher Squats (aka Pitcher Squats, Bulgarian split squats or Balance Lunges) – Brian always wants to skip these. He has weak quads and preacher squats really really work the quads. Enough said.
10. Jump Squats -Squating and jumping. A plyometric exercise that will help you develop lean and powerful legs. What could be better?!?
Runners Up: Wall sit, Box Jumps, Air Squats, Front Squats, Plie Squat (Sumo Squat) and box shuffle.
Deadlift didn’t make the list because it is so much more than just a leg exercise. It is the Man Bicep Move!!! You can torture your glutes, hamstrings, traps, back and core with the deadlift!!!
Man Bicep 