There was a big moment last night between Donny & Kevin. Kevin is still pretty terrified of Donny, but we are working on it. Donny will pull him up onto his lap and pet him, but Kevin never willingly jumps up there. Yet.
Last night Doug and Kevin were playing (as in Doug was chasing Kevin around the house). Kevin wanted to get away so he jumped onto the bed with Donny & I. Donny started talking to him and Kevin walked up and licked Donny’s hand! It may not seem like much, but this is a big deal! Kevin will barely even LOOK at Donny, let alone acknowledge him like that.
Today’s Workout Wednesday is all about that bass. And by bass, I mean your leg humps. By your leg humps, I mean your hammies and some glute action!
I posted a workout that was quad focused a while back and now it is time to focus on the back side of your legs. I love training hamstring and I love deadlifts! I do them all. the. time. I am pretty sure they are my favorite move. Very challenging!
The first exercise you’ll do is Romanian deadlifts and I did them from a dead stop. Use an Olympic bar and lift heavy! Go big or go home! Make sure you place the bar on the ground between each lift. I like to set the bar down, release my hands quickly and then perform another lift. It helps my grip and makes sure I take that half-a-second between lifts.
If you are having trouble lifting heavier because your grip fails, then try this trick. Jodi taught me to grip the bar with one hand overhand, one underhand. It seriously helps! I’ll sometimes switch which hand is over and which is under from set to set, but I typically have it so my left hand grip is underhand and my right stays overhand. Try it next time!
I did a few warm-up reps with the bar only and then started stacking weight. I started with 95 pounds for 12 reps the first set. I added 10 lbs each side (115 total) for the next two sets of 10. Then the final set I added another 10 lbs per side (135 total) and did 8 reps. I’ve lifted a little heavier doing regular deadlifts, but my form gets wild (I arch my back too much) when I use too much weight with Romanian deadlifts. Which do you prefer, regular or Romanian deadlifts?
The second exercise is the one that kills me the most in terms of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Glute-ham raises gets me unbelievably sore two to three days after doing them. They are sneaky little things I’m tellin’ you! They don’t burn or anything while you are doing them, but they WILL get you sore if performed correctly. Yowza.
The third single exercise is single-leg kettlebell deadlifts. I did mine on a small step (from step aerobics, not on a staircase). I have pretty good flexibility in my hamstrings so if I do deadlifts with a kettlebell then the kettlebell hits the floor before I get fully extended. If I stand on a step, I have a few more inches to drop down. You could also use a dumbbell for this exercise and then you wouldn’t need the step.
Other than that it is pretty self explanatory. The two supersets at the end should be done with minimal rest between exercises. Pump those babies out! It’ll get you a nice burn in the back of the legs.
One final note, below are links to the exercise guides from Bodybuilding.com. The single leg glute bridge is done a bosu ball, however the video is shown on the floor. Take the foot that you would normally have placed on the floor and instead balance it on the ball-side of the Bosu (not the flat side). These are pretty tough when superset with lying leg curls!
Single-Leg Kettlebell Deadlift
Single Leg Glute Raise (this is shown on the floor – instead place the foot on the floor on a bosu ball, ball side up)
Hyperextensions (toes pointed out)
