Name: Playbook - Samantha Skolkin - Week 2 Day 4 LEGS (quad focused/glutes)
Uploaded: 2022-03-07T15:24:38.808Z
Duration: 90 min
Description: Week 2 Day 4 LEGS (quad focused/glutes)

Set the bar in a rack slightly below shoulder level so that when under it, your knees are slightly bent. 

Rest the bar on top of the deltoids, pushing into the clavicles, and lightly touching the throat.

Once the correct height is chosen and the bar is loaded, bring your arms up under the bar while keeping the elbows high and the upper arm parallel to the floor.

Step away from the rack and position your legs using a shoulder-width medium stance with the toes slightly pointed out. 

Keep your head and elbows up at all times. Keep a neutral neck and flat back. This will be your starting position.

Inhale deeply, brace your core and descend into a squat by pushing your hips and butt backwards. Continue down until the upper legs are at or below parallel to the floor. 

Drive up through your heels, pushing your feet and knees out. Continue upward, maintaining tightness head to toe, until you have returned to the starting position. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Barbell Front Squats

First, do 10 reps of goblet squats with your heels elevated then immediately go right into walking lunges for 20 reps. No rest between those two exercises. 

Rest 50 seconds to 1 min between sets. 

3 total sets.

Stand in a narrow stance with your heels elevated (the higher the elevation the harder it is)

Perform a goblet squat using a kettlebell or dumbbell 

Repeat for prescribed amount of reps!!

Heel Elevated Narrow Stance Goblet Squat

Stand tall in front of a long and clear walkway.

Your feet should be hip-width apart, your chest up, and your core and glutes engaged. 

Take a big step forwards with your left foot, lowering until both your knees are bent at 90° and your front thigh is parallel to the floor.

Push off of your back (right) foot, bring it forwards and step straight into another forward lunge. 

Tip: You can come back to a standing position in between, and that’s a good place to start with the walking lunge, but it’s all the harder on your core if you try and stay as low as possible while moving forwards. 

Make sure you keep your torso upright and core braced as you move.

Body weight walking lunges

Superset! Heel elevated goblets with walking lunges 🔥

In order to target more of the quads on the front of the leg while doing Bulgarian split squats, start by taking a shorter stance. That means keep your front foot closer to the bench.

When you perform the squat movement, your knee should pass over your toe. This increases knee flexion and activates more quads as you push back up to the starting position.

Lift your right or left leg (whichever leg you prefer to start on first. I start with my weaker leg first) and place it on the bench behind you. 

Your feet should still be about shoulder width apart and the forward foot should be closer to the bench than the glute version (further from the bench) so you can work your quads. It may take a few foot movements to find where the perfect spot is.. that’s completely fine. You’ll get it down.

Keep those abs tight, lunge down on your forward leg while keeping your back foot stable to the bench. 

Stop lunging when your leg is parallel to the ground or below. 

Hold it there for a second then drive through your heel to stand back up in starting position. 

Repeat for prescribed amount of reps!!

Close Stance Bulgarian Split Squats

For this exercise you will need to use a leg extension machine.

First choose your weight and sit on the machine with one legs under the pad (feet pointed forward) the other leg will be tucked away from the pad underneath the machine. Place your hands on the handles on each side of the machine. This will be your starting position.

Tip: You will need to adjust the pad so that it falls on top of your lower leg (just above your feet). Also, make sure that your leg form a 90-degree angle between the lower and upper leg. If the angle is less than 90-degrees then that means the knee is over the toes which in turn creates undue stress at the knee joint. If the machine is designed that way, either look for another machine or just make sure that when you start executing the exercise you stop going down once you hit the 90-degree angle.

Using your quadriceps, extend your leg to the maximum and squeeze. Ensure that the rest of the body remains stationary on the seat. Pause a second on the contracted position.

Slowly lower the weight back to the original position. Repeat for the recommended amount of reps and don’t forget to switch legs!!

Unilateral Leg Ext

Sit on the floor facing the padded roller with your back against the edge of the thigh pad. 

Position the back of your shoulders on the thigh pad and your hips under the padded roller. 

Position your feet on the floor about shoulder width apart and your knees bent. 

Once you’re in position, keep your lower back and knees stable, push through your heels and raise the padded roller by extending your hips, making sure to use the force of your glutes rather than your back!! 

IMPORTANT to tuck that chin and keep it tucked throughout entire lift! This will prevent you from overextending your back while thrusting and allows you to completely push through the use of your glutes. 

If you ever feel your lower back on these, really try tucking your chin into your chest throughout the entire movement and dropping the weight. 

Rise until your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees (full hip extension), and then slowly descend back to the ground. REPEAT!

Machine Hip Thrusts

This awesome exercise works the top shelf of the glutes. These are a great isolation exercise and there’s tons of ways you can do this. You can do these with ankle weights, bands or cables. 

It’s really important to have your core completely engaged and tight during the entire exercise to avoid your lower back taking over. 

Whether you are doing kickbacks with ankle weights or cables, etc.. it is very easy to use your lower back to try and lift the weight at the top of the movement. This can lead to upsetting or even injuring your lower back. Instead of arching and using your back, keep your core tight, spine neutral and use ONLY your glutes to move the weight up. 

If you start to feel it in your back, drop the weight. You can do these standing and also kneeling as well.

Hook an ankle cuff to a low cable pulley and then attach the cuff to your ankle. Face the weight stack from a distance of about two feet, grasping the steel frame for support.

While keeping your knees and hips bent slightly and your abs tight, contract your glutes to slowly "kick" the working leg back in a semicircular arc as high as it will comfortably go. 

Tip: At full extension, squeeze your glutes for a second in order to achieve a peak contraction.

Now slowly bring your working leg forward, resisting the pull of the cable until you reach the starting position.

Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.Switch legs and repeat the movement for the other

Week 2 Day 4 LEGS (quad focused/glutes)

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