Name: Playbook - TrickStrong RX - Cannon Legs (Functional Strength & Mass)
Uploaded: 2023-11-29T19:22:50.746Z
Duration: 75 min
Description: Cannon Legs (Functional Strength & Mass)

Too good 😭 stairs are now my greatest opposition

Micah

I think its the best workout i have tried here
So goooood🔥🔥🔥

Scott

Dude thank you, these workouts are so awesome.

Ange

6 weeks doing this and I feel stronger than I have in a long time. Loved it

Casey

Awesome workout! I really doubted myself on the pistol squats but we made it 👍🏻

Josh

Parker

Wow just wow been a minute since I felt my legs like this 🔥🔥💥💥

Leon

Ready to take your lower body strength and power to new heights? 📈

Introducing 'Cannon Legs' - an awesome workout for movement athletes seeking explosive muscle mass and athletic performance gains 💣

This workout combines high-intensity strength training with functional exercises that seamlessly translate to your movement 🏃‍♂️

Cannon Legs is designed to target every muscle fiber in your legs, from glutes to calves and everything in between. Our workouts are intense, challenging, and guaranteed to push your limits, but trust, the results are worth it 🔥

While 'Cannon Legs' can be taken to the next level with barbells, dumbbells, and/or kettlebells, this workout can also be done using just your bodyweight. We've designed it to be versatile, so you can get started right away and make those gains 🦵📈

Hit this 1-2x per week for best results ✅

We are using a 5-8 rep range with focus on lifting heavy and leaving 1-2 reps on the table, max. Advanced lifters can go to 0 RIR (reps in reserve).  

As always, form over everything. 

Let’s go 💪

The reps are a guideline. The hallmark of a good warmup is that you feel prepared to move!

This mobility drill fits perfectly into a warmup as a line drill. You can also do this throughout the day to improve hamstring length and to reduce lower back tension. 

Lead with a straight leg and hinge from the hips while sitting your butt back. Arch your lower back when doing this. 

Another tip is to imagine that you are "scooping water" with your hands.

You should feel a stretch in your hamstring without feeling pain at the lower back, calf or feet.

Hamstring Walks

This mobility drill fits perfectly into a warmup as a line drill. You can also do this throughout the day to improve hip flexor and quad length.  

Grab your knee with the same side hand, and with core engagement, hinge forward. 

You should feel a stretch in the quad and hip flexors, without feeling compression at the lower back.

Dynamic Quad Pull

Piriformis walks are excellent for a dynamic warmup or mobility session. Support your ankle and knee joints as shown.

Piriformis Walks

Knee To Wall Taps are great for ankle mobility. They help us to create stability and control within our movement.

This is where flexibility and mobility differ. The former is just a position you can get to, while the latter is a movement you OWN. 

Notice the direction of the toes here. They are pointing forward, which encourages us to move through our ankle joint rather than our foot.

Shifting your weight to the front leg loads your foot and ankle more and enhances the benefits if you can tolerate it. If this is too much, you can start by shifting your weight more towards the back leg or by doing this same motion from a kneeling lunge position.

The wall gives us a goal to reach that can be measured over time and can guide us in going just far enough. We want to avoid letting the heel come up off of the ground.

Knee to Wall Taps

Lateral Band Walks are great for developing lower body strength - especially in the glutes! These are also awesome for building total body coordination, endurance and stability.

Lateral Band Walks

This drill is helpful in improving ankle joint mobility - especially in improving dorsiflexion ROM. 

The belt or band is placed at the ankle crease right at the top of your foot (not on your shin)! 

If your setup allows for it, try to have the band angle downwards by putting your foot on an elevated surface. If not, parallel to the floor will still have plenty of benefit.

The band helps mobilize the ankle joint by allowing your tibia (shin) to translate forward on your fixed talus (ankle bone). 

Notice the direction of the toes here. They are pointing forward, which encourages us to move through our ankle joint rather than our foot.

Shifting your weight to the front leg loads your foot and ankle more and enhances the benefits if you can tolerate it.

Be sure that your knee is tracking over your second toe and not going too far inwards or outwards. 

You should feel no pinching or pain during this!

Optional: Banded Ankle Mobilization

The goal of banded hip mobilizations is to improve joint mobility of the hip. 

In traditional stretching, although the hip is moving, the muscles are primarily targeted.

This drill is useful if: 

1)	there is pinch or block sensation (usually when you are in a squat or otherwise flexed and/or internally rotated hip position

2)	You are plateauing or unable to get more ROM no matter how much mobility work you do
3)	Pain relief

*If you have excessive hip mobility or instability, this exercise is not for you as it will likely make your issue worse. 

With banded hip mobilizations, we use the band to bring our hip into certain positions so the joint can be stretched. 

This banded child's pose drill helps improve hip flexion.

You should not go to the point where you feel your pinch or block sensation as we are running into a joint block. 

Sets, reps and frequency should be gradually increased as tolerated as you can get sore from these drills.

Optional: Banded Hip Mobilization - Child's Pose

Lower Body Warmup

KB swings are great for building explosiveness in our hinging pattern. This is important for any athletic activity, including jumping, landing, running, cutting and pivoting. 

The deadlift is very effective in strengthening the hip hinge, whereas the KB swing stresses power. Like the deadlift, we need to maintain a neutral spine when doing this. The core stability we need is much more dynamic as we move quickly through this exercise. 

Start with a KB between your legs. Bend at the hips and knees a bit, similar to the bottom of a deadlift. Swing that KB backwards between your legs. Use that momentum, combined with great timing of your glutes to thrust your hips forward. Maintain a neutral spine. 

Your arm should reach chest height just due to the momentum alone.

Once your form is solid, progress in weight to challenge yourself!

Modifications: Dumbbells, medicine ball, etc.

Primer A: KB Swings

The Bulgarian split squat is an excellent exercise for improving single leg strength, power and control. 

The 'high knees' variation takes it up several notches by adding power and coordination to the mix. 

To do it right:

Think of this as a single leg squat variation. 90% of your weight should be placed on the front leg. 

Depth should be determined by your form. Go as low as possible with great form to improve strength and stability in your full ROM.

Achieve triple extension (hips, knees and ankles) before driving that same side knee up to your chest. The arms work as in a run or sprint (or gainer switch??)

This is a great drill for improving swing power and endurance in tricking. For all athletes, it will improve power, speed and stability in landings. 

For the back leg, a standard chair/bench is too high to optimize mechanics. Try it using a step or stair height (or a few plates stacked), which is appropriate for most people.

Modifications: Bulgarian squat jump, Bulgarian split squat, lunge variations

Primer B: Bulgarian High Knees

The barbell squat is an awesome lower body exercise used to improve strength, power and vertical leap. Additionally, performing it through your full available range of motion will improve resilience and joint health, provided you progress weight properly. We are weaker at our end range of motion, but with training we can improve our strength and lower our risk for injury in these positions. 

1) To perform the barbell deep squat, rack the barbell on your upper traps as shown. Create core tension as you unrack the weight. 

2) Compress down through the hips, knees and ankles as if you are aiming to sit down. Track your hips and knees directly over the middle of your foot (second toe). Grip the bar forcefully during this process to increase stability. 

3) From your lowest position, push your feet straight through the ground to rise. 

It is also helpful in mobility training, as the weight helps push us into more ankle dorsiflexion and opens our hips.

Modifications: DB, KB, bodyweight

Barbell Deep Squat

The barbell lunge is an underutilized exercise for developing leg strength and power. People would rather barbell squat, but loading the lunge heavy will not only build muscle mass, it will teach you to stabilize and build power in an athletic position. 

To do it right: 
1) Stabilize yourself with your weight using both legs before stepping backwards into the lunge. These lunges are focused on maximizing strength, so they should be done stationary on a firm surface with relatively heavy weight (that you can control!)

2) Descend with even pressure through both legs. 

3) Pause with your knee at a hover and hold for 1-2 seconds before rising. 

4) Be sure to achieve full knee extension at the top of the rep, especially in the front leg. 

3) Focus on pushing through the big toes of both feet for increased stability. Your front foot should be fully grounded, while your back leg is on the ball of your foot.

Barbell Lunge

One of our favorite exercises for developing single leg strength, power and mobility! 

1) For the pistol, squat on one leg with compression through your hips and knees. Your free leg should be raised in front of you as a counter balance. Make sure your heel is grounded and that your hip and knee track straight over your foot.

2) Once you're at your lowest range of motion with good form, explode to a standing position as quickly as possible. Don't go so fast that you lose balance. 

Remember, as long as we are training movement patterns to a degree where it is challenging (while good form is maintained) then we are golden! 

Modifications (reduced range of motion, pistol box squat, bulgarian split squat, hand assistance, etc) are all welcome here.

Pistol Squat (DB, Barbell OR Bodyweight)

The 3D Kickstand RDL is AWESOME for developing the hamstrings in multiple planes. If you haven't tried this, I promise you will feel the difference. 

The cones are simply a visual for you to see the different angles you are aiming to achieve. Each rep is counted as all 3 points (as shown). For example, a set of 3 would be 9 repetitions (3 at each angle). 

To do it right: 
1. Assume a 'kickstand' stance, which is a narrower split stance with 90% of your weight on the front leg. The back leg heel is elevated with pressure on the ball of the foot.  

2. Engage core to lift weight using the hand opposite the front leg.

3. You can try the same order of reps as shown: Front, Outside 45 deg and Inside 45 deg

4. At the bottom of each rep, feel the stretch in your glutes. Use this stretch sensation as a "trampoline" to pull you up. This challenges the fibers in a lengthened position while building a stronger mind-muscle connection and encouraging muscle growth. 

Modifications: 3D Single leg deadlift, Single leg deadlift, conventional deadlift

3D Kickstand RDL

If you haven't been doing single leg calf raises, you will feel the difference not only in your calf, but in your foot and hip muscles as well. This is excellent for functional carryover to athletics as we are often pushing off on one leg.

Tips: 

1) Stress the negative by lowering slowly and past neutral by using a step, stair or slant board. Aim for a 3-5 second descent. Research shows exercises stressing the eccentric, or lowering phase increase muscle size and joint range of motion. 

2) Emphasize time under tension versus total repetitions in this exercise. 

3) Push through the big toe.

This is great for injury prevention because it begins to mimic controlling landings and decelerating from cuts and pivots. 

Research shows eccentric exercises are extremely beneficial for tendon issues. This can be a great exercise for those with achilles tendon pain provided it is progressed appropriately.

Using hand support for balance is OK, but try to stabilize as much as possible using your leg.

Cannon Legs (Functional Strength & Mass)

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