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Hey Guys!!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!! I took this time over the weekend to do some serious thinking, so I'm going to set this post up with a little story. (haha).

I came home Friday and felt dejected. There was something about my workout that didn't make me feel happy, I was actually really upset about it. I have been on my fitness journey for about 2.5 years now and I don't feel like I am where I want to be. If you would have asked me way back when I would never have dreamt that I would be in this position. I am able to manage my weight, I still go to the gym 4-6 days a week, and I am healthier than I would ever dream possible. Now a lot of this is due to the fact that I have amazing people around me, who constantly help me stay focused (you know who you are and you rock!). But after my workout I was down and I really couldn't put my finger on it. I am sure all (or at least most) of you have been in this position. Without a goal to push us it can feel like we are lost on a road with no directions. So the question is how to we find a "map"?

So Friday night I sat down and talked about what I really wanted. I don't want to lose weight (never thought I'd say that!!) but I do want to be stronger. I don't want to be a power lifter or a bodybuilder. I just want to increase strength. So with some help I have a plan. Remember...whenever you feel stuck think about what it is that you really want...really ask yourself "WHAT DO I WANT". And then go from there!

Now this goal to get stronger might change. And in a month I might want to change it and do another goal, but as of right now this is what I am going to do. I am going to work on increasing strength. So I hope this post helps, if you feel dejected or low right now. Everyone feels that way. All you have to do is re-evaluate and get back up and start moving!!

Monday is a great way to do this (that's why I saved this post until today!). Take time today to think about what it is you really want. Set your goal and go for it!!!! So I am going to share mine, and I hope you share yours with me, your best friend, your family, or the world!!

GOAL 1: Increase Smith Machine Squat: 2-3 reps at 100 lbs on each side
GOAL 2: Increase Shoulder Press: 2-3 reps at 40 lbs (dumbbells)
GOAL 3: Increase Deadlift: 2-3 reps at 50 lbs on each side
GOAL 4: Increase Cable Row: 2-3 reps at 125 lbs
GOAL 5: Increase Chest Press: 2-3 reps at 35 lbs on each side

-Also I am going to try and stay focused on my nutrition. At times I indulge a little to much and I want to learn to use food as fuel more than something to make me feel better in the short term!

So here is how my schedule will work:

So this week I am going to write down the weight that I do in each slot. 3-5 sets everyday. This is to help me on the way to my goals that I wrote about above. I do a bootcamp and cardio class at my gym but I suggest 2-3 other cardio days.

It is also important to think about nutrition, so make sure that you are always trying to have a healthy diet with the correct macros for you and your active level!

Well I hope this helps, and I hope that you set goals this week and we can motivate each other!!!

Weekly Workouts

Hey guys!!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!! I have been super busy since coming back from vacation and being sick, so I apologize for the lack of posts :-(

But have no fear, I am in the process of writing multiple posts that I can post over the next couple of weeks. But while you are anticipating those releases, here are some of my workouts from this week!


Monday:

(Right Click to save to Phone/Computer)

Tuesday:

(Right Click to save to Phone/Computer)

Thursday:

(Right Click to save to Phone/Computer)

Friday:

(Right Click to save to Phone/Computer)

Hope you enjoy the workouts! If you do any tag me on Instagram, I love to connect with you guys!!! :-)

FitCassie Workout and Nutrtion Plan

 Hey Guys!

Happy Monday. So I have been working on a workout and nutrition plan that I would like to share with you all. So before I start I want to say a couple things,

1. What works for one person might not work for you, always do your research and find out what methods work for you.
2. The workout is my split. I have things that I want to focus on, you may wish to focus on different things, therefore feel free to change things up!
3. I don't do calories. I try to stick to whole, natural, foods. I worry more about getting all my nutrients. I have also been doing this for good amount of time so I know about how many grams of each nutrient I need. I would also suggest doing research to figure out exactly how much you need.
4. If you do calories, do calories. I won't judge!
5. I put on the nutrition low carb, this doesn't mean no carb or really even low carb. It's a way to make me mindful on days that I don't work out.
6. Also I am doing a program called HIITMAX. In place of this I would suggest doing another HIIT workout. I have some on here that I have posted that you could look at, or you could do sprints!



Ok so here it all is!

 Ok below are the workouts and nutrition broken down a little more. I like to be able to write the weight that I am using during workouts. For nutrition, to keep myself on track I am giving myself a percentage of how I did at each meal. This will help me be more accountable to getting all my meals in and staying on track!

Below I have a link to the PDF file of the above workout and nutrition. This is my first time inserting a PDF into a blog, so please let me know if you can't get it. Or something went wrong. I am not super amazing at getting all this in, so I'm praying this works!!


FitCassie Workout and Nutrition      (<----this is the link for the PDF) :-)

Monday Post - Whoops this is late :-0

Hey Guys!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I'm sure you celebrated with delicious BBQ's and fabulous desserts, so lets get back at it.

One thing to remember is that one day is not going to throw you off. If you have a bad day, recognize it and move on. One of my big things is that if I had a bad day I try to drink a lot of water. I force myself to start the "detox" process. I want all that junk out! So here is the scoop for the rest of the week.

Exercise:
Monday - off (duh!)
Tuesday - HIIT and Abs (see #workout below)
Wednesday - Squats (HIIT if possible)
Thursday - Upper Body (back/chest focus) and HIIT
Friday - Active Rest (see below for details)
Saturday - Lower Body (hamstring focus)
Sunday - Upper Body (shoulder focus) HIIT

HIIT and ABS

• Warm up on machine (bike, elliptical, treadmill) 3 minutes
• Increase resistance (speed) and sprint for 30 seconds
• Decrease resistance (speed) and recover for 1:30
• Repeat x10
• Cool down on machine for 5 minutes
• ABS: Leg Raises (15), Heel Touches (20 each side), Bicycle Crunches (30), Plank (1 min)
• Repeat circuit x4

ACTIVE REST
-There are two types of rest days, active and inactive. Inactive days are ones when you do little to no exercise (little = taking dog for walk). Active rest is when you are helping your body recover from workouts the previous days. I like to do foam rolling and stretching on those days. So on Friday I may ride my bike for 10-15 minutes, then do some light stretching and foam rolling. Both foam rolling and stretching release lactic acid which can build up and cause muscle pain. Decreasing lactic acid cannot only help decrease muscle pain but also helps the muscle recover and get stronger.

So I hope this is all helpful. Remember to continue to eat a healthy balance diet! Fruits and veggies are your friend!! Pick one eating habit you want to decrease this week and have that be your goal. Mine is to decrease junk food snacks and drink more water!

Have a great week guys :-)

Let's Get Ready!!

Hey!! Hope you had a great weekend!

With the holiday coming up this week it is important to set yourself up for success NOT failure. This starts with a realistic plan for the week.

For this week I am going to set up a meal plan (based on Jim Stoppani's Shortcut to Shred diet) and then follow the same workout regimen that I did last week. Here are some helpful tips to start your week.

Meal Plan - .75-1 gram of protein, .5 gram of fat, .5-1 gram of carbohydrate.

Workout Regimen - pick 1-2 main body parts, create 2-3 exercises per body part. Instead of rest do a cardio exercise in between sets. It doesn't have to be anything crazy like sprints but just something to keep your heart rate up, like jumping jacks.

This is going to be my week:

Breakfast - 2 egg muffins (see previous post), 1/4 cup of oatmeal, 1/2 apple

Snack 1 - 1/4 cup of nonfat greek yogurt, 1 tbs of peanut butter, a couple chocolate chips (taste like cookie dough :-) )

Lunch - 4 oz of steak tips, asparagus, a small salad

Snack 2 - 1/4 cup of meat sauce (turkey ground meat), spaghetti squash, cabbage

Dinner - 4 oz of lean protein, 1 small sweet potato, broccoli


Workout - 5-6 days

1. Remember Christmas is this week. You will have to plan around this, there are a couple things you can do, (1) this can be one of your rest days. (2) you can do a body weight workout at home. (3) you could go for a run...if thats your thing (yikes :-P).

2. Plan your workouts. Most people do not want to workout to hard around the holidays but this is the time that you need to push yourself. Do those extra 10-15 minutes, push yourself on weight, etc. This will help you feel better when you are eating a little more this week :-)

Here is my week:

Monday - Chest, Triceps, Abs

Tuesday - Shoulders, Legs

Wednesday - Back, Biceps

Thursday - rest

Friday - Chest, Triceps, Abs

Saturday - Shoulders, Legs

Sunday - Back, Biceps

For the exact workout that i will be doing this week check out the shortcut to shred on bodybuilding.com...its an amazing workout.

I will try to be better this week with posting workouts and videos. So check back :-)

New Week...New Goals

Good Monday Everyone!!

I hope you guys have been doing well! I know I didn't get to post a lot last week (crazy busy week at work :-/). But I wanted to start this week on a good note. So today I am going to write about how I am working on getting ready for my next competition prep.

Now, first thing is to set a goal. I am about 130 pounds. I want to be 126-127ish by the end of the year. This is not a vanity thing. For a competition most people are between 122-105 for my height group. Last year I was about 120-121 the day of. I want to start at 127 because I believe that is a good healthy weight to build muscle and lose fat.

Second, last time I prepped for a competition I was green...I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. I was moody on low carb days, tired, and at times uninterested and unfocused. I believe that I can combat this by learning how to focus and center and I am going to do this by learning mediation and yoga.

Lastly, how does this apply to my life right now you ask?!? Well this week I am going to focus on getting my diet straight, do yoga every morning, and kick a$$ in the gym!

-So here is the workout for the week. You can print this out and use it in the gym. I will explain the exercise when I do a post. If I don't do a post and you have a question about an exercise email me, @ thefitcassie@gmail.com.

-Pyramid: Start light, work your way up to the heaviest weight that you can go to for 8 reps. I typically will do 1 set - 15 reps, 2 set - 12 reps, 3 set - 10 reps, 4 set - 8 reps.

-Hold: For these exercises hold the exercise for 20-30 secs. For example - pushdowns are on the schedule today, at the bottom hold it there to challenge the muscle. Make sure you have good form!

WOD:
1. Bench Press - you can do this with barbell or on Smith Machine/Free Weights.
2. Bent Tricep Extension - for this move get the lightest barbell you can find. Put the weight behind you legs, bend at the waist, weight should be below your butt. Lift weight up until your arms are parallel to the floor.
3. Close Grip Press - take barbell and put your hands close together. I usually like to make it where my thumbs touch.
4. Pushup - you can do regular pushups or tricep pushups.
5. Cable Reverse Grip Raise - Take straight bar at the cables. Put the pulley at the bottom. Place hands with palms up. Raise hands up while keeping arms straight. You want to feel it in the space between your chest and armpit.

Hopefully I will be able to post a video on Instagram. Have a great week guys!!

Lean Legs WOD

Hey Guys!!

Hope everyone has been having a great week. This week has been crazy so I haven't been able to post yet. But...like I promised I am going to try to post at least 3 times! So today is going to be short and to the point.

So today is a leg workout. Now, everyone wants nice lean sculpted legs (and of course a big booty :-P ). But remember you want to make sure you work all leg muscles. You want to make sure to hit your quads, hamstrings, and glutes.

So here is your WOD...

1. Sumo Squats - with dumbbell (5x15)
2. Leg Extensions superset Leg Curls (4x15/12)
3. Donkey Kicks superset Fire Hydrants (4x15)
4. Lunges (5x10) - with dumbbells or barbell

--Cardio-- Elliptical Sprints. Do an easy level for two minutes, then increase to a higher level for two minutes, repeat until you can't go anymore!


This is sure to get those glutes a burnin!!!!! If you do the workout tag my on Instagram (@fitcassie_88) and make sure to check the Instagram for info on how to do exercise and special little features ;-)

Hey Everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend! With the holidays coming up I want to focus on staying focused during this time. Remember we all want to have a good time, and no one wants you to not enjoy the holidays. Having cake, pie, stuffing, etc is ok in portions, but its important to stay focused on health and goals. During this time I try to enjoy the things that I like to eat (sweets, sweets, sweets) but I also continue to go to the gym and eat my normal food 90% of the time. Don't let all your hard work go to waste!!

So this is what I am purposing..."No Fat November". This is a plan that is relatively simple and will help us all stay focused. I will be the first to admit that since I got back from vacation it has been hard to stay focused. I want this to be the time of year that I complete my goals and get focused for my future fitness goals.

What I also think is important is that we set goals that are not directly related to the gym. Maybe its eating better, maybe its focusing more at work. I think that it is important to focus on health and wellness, but that does not just incorporate the gym and nutrition. It also includes your mental health and physical well being. So think about something that would help your overall health. This month I am going to try (please bare with me on this) to let you know about the workouts I am doing, as well as food. If ever in doubt, check out my Instagram page, I definitley get more stuff going there.

Here is my workout for today:

-Back and Biceps

1. Seated Row superset Dumbbell Curls (4 sets, 15-10 reps)

2. Dumbbell Row superset 21's (see description below) (3 sets, 15-10 reps)

3. Lat Pulldown superset Hammer Curl (dumbbells or cables) (3 sets, 15-10 reps)

4. Push-up superset Burpee Curl (5 sets, 10 reps)

-Cardio: 30-45 Minutes - Interval Training.

--Descriptions:

1. Dumbbell curls can be done in a variety of different ways. I like to start with my palms facing my outer thighs, and while bring the weight up I turn my wrists to face the ceiling. You can also start with your wrists facing away from you and bring them straight up with no pivot.

2. 21's - using a barbell, 7 full curls, 7 curls where you stop at 90 degrees, 7 curls from 90 degrees to 45 degrees. See my Instagram for a video example.

3. Lat Pulldown's can use a variety of different bars. Make sure which ever bar you are using that you pull with your lats. At times when the weight gets heavier people tend to want to use their arms to help...don't do that. You also want to make sure that your back stays straight during the motion, don't use momentum to bring the weight down either.

4. Burpee Curl - do a modified burpee, when you come up to standing position, instead of jumping you are going to curl. Make sure the weight is relatively light this exercise is very challenging.

Happy Lifting guys! :-)

Fasted Cardio: To Do or Not To Do, That is the Question?!

Fasted Cardio

 

So lately I have been seeing a lot of articles on fasted cardio. I am not one to jump into a program lightly so I have been doing some research. I was surprised to find so many articles contradicting the other. So I want to discuss the reason people do fasted cardio and my opinion on cardio.

 

First, the definition. Fasted cardio = cardio on an empty stomach. Second, the purpose. The purpose of fasted cardio is so that your body will be at a glycogen (fuel) deficient state that your body will have to pull fat to burn for energy. So is fasted cardio better than "normal" fed cardio? To the best of my knowledge...no it is not. For people looking to put on lean muscle mass, fasted cardio can acutally be detrimental to your progress. During fasted cardio your body is breaking down fat and fatty acid are released into the bloodstream, but there are too many and the body isn't able to process and therefore they are reabsorbed back into fat cells. It has been shown that low intensity fasted cardio does burn fat, but you have to do cardio for longer than 90 minutes...thats 3 episodes of The Big Bang Theory! I don't have that kind of time lying around in the morning! Fasted cardio may burn more calories upfront but you stop burning calories the minutes you stop doing cardio. To burn fat you want your body to go into "excess post-exercise oxygen consumptions" (EPOC) this is called afterburn, these are calories you burn hours after you have stopped exercising...this doesn't happen with fasted cardio.

 

My suggestion? HIIT cardio. It has been proved over and over that high intensity interval training is the best cardio for your body. First, it is quick (average 15-45 minute sessions). Second, it can be done anywhere (outside, home, gym). Third, intervals keep the person guessing so time goes faster. I LOVE HIIT. This is the only way I do cardio anymore. Usually I do cardio right after weight lifting so 15-45 minutes is the perfect amount of time. I also like it because it's not boring...I am not one of those people that can run on a treadmill or ride a bike for hours...I would DIE. My suggestion is to get a heart rate monitor, doing this you will be able to monitor your heart rate and adjust intervals to your necessity. I have posted a couple of HIIT workouts...some of my favorites are on the treadmill but I have recently started going outside to do cardio. Cardio outside is also great because I can do it with the dog...two birds with one stone anyone?!?!

 

HIIT is also super awesome because it help your hormones. When you have a good diet, sleep 7-8 hours a night, lift weights, your hormones will be super helpful in building lean muscle. Always remember...

 

lean muscle = more fat burning = awesome sauce

 

Cassie's Tips for Cardio: (kinda sorta stolen from Men's Health)

1. Always Always Always warm up - at least 5 minutes before cardio AND weight lifting

2. SPRINT - do max for 30 secs and then recovery for 90ish secs

3. Good posture - when on any cardio machine it is easy to have bad posture, you want to make sure that you have good posture in order to decrease possible injury.

4. Recovery - when doing interval you want to go to 90% of your effort, with this being said you need to give your body time to recover. When sprinting you should find it hard to breath at the end of the 30 secs, and then 90 sec recover to normal breathing.

5. Take your cardio outdoors - I mean hello...vitamin D!! :-)

This is one of my treadmill HIIT workouts. 

1. Warm up - 5 minutes (spd 3.0, inc 7)

2. Lunges - 1 minute (spd 1.8, inc 1.5)

3. Walking plank - 1 minute (spd 2.0, inc 1.5)

4. Push-ups - 10-15 reps

5. Jump squats - 10-15 reps 

6. Walk- 1 minute (spd 2.0, inc 1.5)

Repeat x4

6. Cool down - 5 minutes (spd 3.0, inc 7)

***like what you see?! Check out my Instagram page for workouts, recipes, and motivation!!!  @fitcassie_88***

HIIT Workout - Outside Addition :-)

Workout Of The Day - 

So yesterday I posted on Instagram that I would be posting an outside workout. I want to do this for a couple of reasons.

 1. Sometimes people do not have access to the gym and want things that they can do at home. I have bought a pair of weights that were inexpensive to use at home.

 2. The weather is so beautiful it sucks to be stuck inside a stuffy…smelly...dim gym. 

 3. Vitamin D is AMAZING for you to get regularly! Being outside in the sun has been shown to increase neurotransmitter release, therefore making the correlation in your brain that exercise is fun! :-) 

So yesterday I went to the gym for a quick arm sesh and then decided to go outside for some sun and cardio! :-) So here is a little workout. (I used bleachers but they are not a necessity) 

Circuit 1 - 

Up and down the stairs (or high knees) for 1 min 

Lunges up bleachers (or lunges on track) for 1 min 

Step up and kickback on bench or elevate surface – 10 each side 

Break for 1-2 minutes (If you have a heart rate monitor, wait until your heart rate has returned to a normal level. If you don’t use your breathing as a monitoring tool. You should be able to breathe “normally” with only slight impairment.) 

Circuit 2 - 

Toe taps on stairs (or fast feet) for 1 min 

      Moving feet one at a time forwards and backwards as fast as you can go 

Up and down the stairs (or high knees) 1 min 

Sprint one length of bleacher x 4 (or spring for 15 secs x4) 

Circuit 3 - 

Run one lap 

Sprint for 35-45 secs 

Walk one lap

This little workout took me about 20 minutes. Remember to rest and get your heart rate back to normal. This is going to help later on with your hormone level, which at night will help with muscle repair. Hope you like this workout. I am going to be posting more I promise!! Life has been so crazy, but I am getting back to my roots ;-)

Music and Exercise

One of the things that I love most about going to the gym is getting to rock out with my music! A good song can do a lot for you in the gym, it can help push you through a set or help you get through that last 5 minutes of cardio. I would say that I have an eclectic taste in music so when I am lifting I like to listen to a hip hop mix and for cardio I LOVE the Ke$ha station:-) But music has actually been show to do more than just give you something to listen to while at the gym.

There have been studies that show that music can increase endorphins which help you push yourself during your workout. It has also been shown that listening to music can help mental processing after your workout. Have you ever been tired and then heard your new favorite song and push out that last set no problem? Well…its because music signals endorphins to release in your brain that make you happy! A good song can also increase your heart rate which will help burn calories and create cardio endurance...AWESOME right?!?

It doesn’t matter what kind of music you listen to, hey if you want to rock out to Disney classics or Beethoven that is up to you! But listen to whatever is going to help motivate you in the gym!! I like to make playlists every now and then so that I can add new music and get rid of the older songs. I also like to randomly go through all of my songs and make playlists out of music that I haven’t heard in a long time!

Here are a couple songs from my playlist that you can (and should!!!) add to yours to help get your gym groove on!!

Bass Down Low – The Cataracs

Bootylicious – Destiny’s Child

Crazy Beautiful Life – Ke$ha

Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira

In the Dark – Dev

The Edge of Glory – Lady Gaga

Pump it – Black Eyed Peas

Turn Down for What – DJ Snake & Lil John

Gas Petal – Sage the Gemini

E.T. – Katy Perry

Happy Lifting Y’all!

The Dreaded "C" Word...Cardio

Let’s talk about the dreaded cardio…dun dun dunnnn. I have said it many times and I will say it many more, I am sure, I AM NOT A CARDIO BUNNY. If I could get away with doing no cardio at all that would be the life! Unfortunately I understand the benefits of cardio and why it is needed in a well rounded fitness routine. Some people will tell you that you don’t need to cardio that strength training is all you need. I don’t believe in “cutting” anything out of my fitness routine. This goes for food, cardio, different workouts, etc.

This week my coach increased my cardio to an hour 6 times a week in order to continue to cut body fat. Once your body gets to a point it starts to retain water, fat, etc. in order to stay “healthy”. I am trying to cut fat in order to get ready for a show which means ill have to get down to 12-14% body fat, which is not an everyday body fat percentage. With that being said I had to increase cardio in order to help my body along with this process.

In an effort to make cardio more fun and interesting I have started to do HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts 2-4 times a week. Personally interval training makes cardio more fun and it goes by faster. So why is cardio important?

1. Cardio helps burn calories which will aid in fat loss.

2. Cardio helps build the most important muscle in your body, your heart.

3. Increase in cardio exercise releases endorphins (serotonin, dopamine, etc.) which improve your mood.

4. Cardio decrease stress, mentally and physically.

5. Cardio increases your endurance which will help in strength training.

6. Cardio will help you sleep better; getting a full night sleep will allow your body to repair after intense strength training sessions.

Sounds great doesn’t it?! Well all these things don’t mean cardio still doesn’t suck! I have recent done research on HIIT workouts and sprints. Take some time and look at pictures of sprinters, they are built! HIIT has become my new form of go to cardio so I will share some of the workouts that I do.

-HIIT can be done in many different ways. The way that I like to do it is by setting up an exercise for each muscle group and doing that exercise for 30 seconds and then a rest period. Some people do exercises that will increase heart rate but not use weighted exercises. This is totally up to you. Look up some HIIT example workouts, try a few and see which ones you like best.

HIIT Workout (Full body workout)

Shoulders

-Squat Press

-Bicycle Crunches

-Jumping Jacks

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Chest

-Steering wheels with plate

-Reverse crunches on BOSU or bench

-High Knees

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Back

-Bent Over Row with Barbell

-Plank

-Mountain Climbers

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Hamstrings

-Deadlifts

-Situps

-Side to Side on BOSU ball

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Quads

-Squat with Barbell

-Glute Bridges

-Box Jumps

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Calves

-Calf Raise with Barbell

-Oblique Plank Twists

-Jump Squats

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Biceps

-Bicep curls

-Leg Lifts

-Jumping Jacks

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

Triceps

-Triceps Extension

-Russian Twists

-Box Taps

(each exercise 30 secs back to back, 1 min rest)

My workout partner and I did this last week and it was killer!! Takes about an hour but it flies!

-I put up a treadmill sprint workout in my leg day post so be sure to check that out if you want to give sprints a try. I’ll be putting up more cardio workouts as I go into this week as well in order to help you guys along!

(Me after my hour cardio day yesterday)

WOD: Leg Day :-)

So Monday was leg day, one of my favorite days! Leg day has always been a favorite of mine because I have naturally strong legs. I want to share my leg day workout so that all of you can have fabulous legs and booty :-)

When doing a leg day one must first understand muscle usage. You will get a much better workout if you are thinking about the muscle you are supposed to be using when doing an exercise. For example, I have very strong quads so when I would do a leg curl I would pull with my quads totally defeating the purpose of the exercise. So I found a diagram of the leg muscles that you can look at to make sure that you are using the right muscle. I will also put on the workout what the primary muscle is from the exercise.

(Picture from make-me-strong.com)

I hope this helps, if at any point you have questions feel free to ask!

WOD:

1. Leg Curl Machine (focus - hamstrings)
Sets - 5
Reps - 15, 12, 10, 8, 15 (last set return to lighter weight)

2. Seated Leg Press (focus - quads and glutes)
Sets - 5
Reps - 15, 12, 10, 8, 15 (last set return to lighter weight)

3. Seated Leg Press, Calf Raises (focus - calves)
Sets - 4
Reps - 30, 25, 20, 15

4. Smith Machine Squats (focus - complete leg)
Sets - 4
Reps - 15, 15, 15, 15
**to make this more difficult I use a BOSU ball. I put the ball on the dome part and balance myself. I like this because it forces me to engage my core during the exercise, which is what a lot of people forget to do during squats**

5. Inverted Leg Press (focus - quads, hams, glutes)
Sets - 5
Reps - 15, 12, 10, 8, 15
**towards the end of this workout you may be getting tired, but if you're not I would pulse for as long as you can on the last set to help start the "burnout" process.**

6. Reverse Lunge into Step Up on Bench (focus - hamstrings and glutes)
Sets - 3
Reps - 20, 20, 20 (ten each leg)
**to see an example of this check out my Instagram, I put a video up**

7. Barbell Calf Raises
Sets - 3
Reps - 30, 30, 30

30 minutes of cardio
- For cardio on leg day it depends on how I feel which kind of cardio that I do, steady state or interval. On this leg day I chose to do interval because I didn't feel to terribly bad and wanted to push myself. I change up machines (treadmill, elliptical, bike, stair climber, etc.) that I use and the interval routine. I don't have a specific routine that I like to do, I just mix a bunch of different types of intervals together. So here is a little routine you can try.

3 min warm up (incline 5.0, speed 2.0-2.8)
1 min jog (incline 1.5, speed 5.0-6.0)
1 min walk (incline 1.5, speed 3.5)
30 sec sprint (incline 1.5, speed 8.0+)
30 complete rest
Repeat sprints 5 times total
1 min jog (incline 1.5, speed 5.0-6.0)
1 min walk (incline 1.5, speed 3.5)
1 min walk (incline 10, speed 2.8)
1 min walk (incline 11, speed 2.9)
1 min walk (incline 12, speed 3.0)
1 min walk (incline 13, speed 3.1)
1 min walk (incline 14, speed 3.2)
1 min walk (incline 15, speed 3.3)
2 min cool down (incline 1.5, speed 2.0-2.8)

Total time - 20 minutes

Happy Lifting!!