Pyramid Workout: Legs

Pyramid Workout: Legs

Pyramid Workout: Legs

We started with a pyramid workout for chest and back, and now we are graduating to the legs.

Just like with the chest and back exercises, with each exercise below, you will start with 10 reps and then decrease to nine reps, followed by eight, seven, six, all the way to one. Once you get to one rep, you’ll increase all the way back to ten, stacking the reps on top of one another.

As you decrease your reps, you’ll increase your weight. You should be at the heaviest weight, truly challenging yourself on reps 1-4.

  • Focus: Hamstrings, Quads, and Glutes
  • Time: 1 hour
  • Warm Up: Five minutes of cardio

Here are the three exercises to focus on for the legs:

Dead Lifts

  • Equipment: Dumbbells
  • Reps: Pyramid (10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)
  • Weight: Females: up to 35 lbs.; Males: up to 50 lbs.
  • Tips & Tricks: Keep a slight bend in the knees as you lower the weights just below the shins.

Hamstring Curls

  • Equipment: Leg Machine
  • Reps: Pyramid (10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)
  • Weight: Females: up to 35 lbs.; Males: up to 50 lbs.
  • Tips & Tricks: Keep your back straight and focus on one leg at a time

Step Ups

  • Equipment: Bench (or stair)
  • Reps: (10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)
  • Weight: Females: up to 35 lbs.; Males: up to 50 lbs.
  • Tips & Tricks: Focus on the glute muscle; do not lock the knees as you step up one leg at a time

 

A Bench & Ball Kind of Day: Arms & Glutes

A Bench & Ball Kind of Day: Arms & Glutes

The medicine ball, the exercise ball, and the bench are widely used pieces of equipment because there is a variety of exercises you can do with them to work any part of the body.  Whether you consider yourself a workout beginner, or if you’ve been hitting the gym for decades, these items are must haves in your “workout closet.”

Today we’re focusing on a laundry list of exercises that work different parts of the body, while keeping you on your toes – literally.  This workout only includes one set of exercises that you’ll perform two times through.

Note that many of these exercises involve sitting on an exercise ball. Sit on this type of ball with both feet firmly placed on the floor, hip-width apart or wider. Keep your back straight and your head aligned with your spine. Maintain this position on the ball throughout each exercise.]

 

Focus: Biceps, Triceps, Shoulders, Glutes, Core

Time: 45 minutes

Warm Up: Five minutes of cardio

Set (repeated two times)

Toe Taps

  • Equipment: Medicine Ball
  • Reps: 50 per set
  • Tips & Tricks: Focus on tapping the top of the ball with the bottom of the foot to keep the ball in place

Bicep Curls

  • Equipment: Exercise Ball; Dumbbells
  • Reps: 25 per set
  • Weight: Start with 15 lbs. or more; increase weight by 10 lbs. one the second set
  • Tips & Tricks: Keep the back straight, bend the arms to meet the shoulders and straighten completely with each repetition

Shoulder Press

  • Equipment: Exercise Ball; Dumbbells
  • Reps: 25 per set
  • Weight: Start with 15 lbs. or more; increase weight by 10 lbs. one the second set
  • Tips & Tricks: Keep the back straight; on each repetition, bring arms perpendicular to shoulders (but not lower) before pressing up                                                               

Overhead Tricep Extensions

  • Equipment: Exercise Ball; Dumbbells
  • Reps: 25 per set
  • Weight: Start with 15 lbs. or more; increase weight by 10 lbs. one the second set
  • Tips & Tricks: Hold a dumbbell with both hands wrapped around the dumbbell handle; keep elbows pointing forward and straight, but not locked

Shoulder Raises

  • Equipment: Exercise Ball; Dumbbells
  • Reps: 20 per set
  • Weight: Start with a manageable weight for the first set; increase weight by 5 lbs. on the second set
  • Tips & Tricks: Keep the arms straight out to your sides as you slowly lift and lower the weights (do not lift more than a foot up)

Full Sit Ups With Ball

  • Equipment: Exercise Ball
  • Reps: 20 per set
  • Tips & Tricks: Lie flat on your back; bend the knees and place the legs over the ball; extend arms to touch the toes as you roll up

Fire Hydrants

  • Equipment: Bench
  • Reps: 20 per side
  • Tips & Tricks: Position yourself on your hands and knees on the bench; lift one leg straight out to the side and back down, keeping the knee bent; do not allow the leg to extend past the hip

Side Leg Kicks

  • Equipment: Bench
  • Reps: 20 per side
  • Tips & Tricks: Position yourself on your hands and knees on the bench; lift on leg straight out to the side and kick forward, keeping the leg straight

Back Leg Kicks

  • Equipment: Bench
  • Reps: 20 per side
  • Tips & Tricks: Position yourself on your hands and knees on the bench; kick one leg straight out behind you and slowly bring forward

Backwards Lunges with Press

  • Equipment: Dumbbells
  • Reps: 25 per set
  • Tips & Tricks: Lunge backwards while simultaneously pressing upwards; be sure to keep the back knee two inches off the floor as you lunge

This is a great workout to focus on your arms and the glutes, and finish with an exercise that puts focus on both.

Looking for more? Want to get access to over 6,000 workouts like this? Book an appointment with Body By Fadi today and discover what all the program has to offer.

 

 

World Cup 2014 Soccer Series Part 2: Physical Training

World Cup 2014 Soccer Series Part 2: Physical Training

soccer training

  This is our second installment of our World Cup Series. You may recall World Cup Series Part 1 dealt with History.  Here we like to focus on training your body.  

How to Train Like A Soccer Player

Soccer players are always moving up and down the field, so they need to be fast on their feet, able to endure long periods of time without any rest, and physically strong. Instead of focusing purely on size, they need to focus on areas such as full body strength, improving balance and overall endurance conditioning. For soccer players, they need to focus on exercises which will help them increase their speed, power and build up their core muscles. Our program is designed to cover every facet necessary to help you become a world class World Cup champion.

Getting Warmed Up

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Before you start truly working out, it is important that you warm up. Warming up the body gets your muscles loose and relaxed while making sure that your blood is really pumping. Warming up the body is like stretching before a long run … you just need to do it; otherwise, you could really hurt yourself.

Our dynamic warm-up routine is designed to maximize your blood flow, increase your heart rate, increase your range of motion and prepare the body for a strenuous workout.

  Plyometrics

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For soccer players, having explosive power and speed is an absolute must have. One of the best ways to increase your EXPLOSIVE power and speed is through Plyometrics. Plyometric exercises do not rely on heavy, bulky weights; rather, they are built off of bodyweight exercises and possible some static equipment. Plyometric exercises focus on quick, explosive movements such as lunging, jumping and stopping. These exercises can be dangerous if performed improperly, which is why it is important to have an experienced personal trainer working one-on-one with you. Our Plyometric program will help you develop plenty of EXPLOSIVE power and speed quickly, and safely, without wasting time in other less effective workout sets.

Strength Training

 There are four types of strength training programs for soccer players; they are:

  1. Off-Season Training: Focuses on building up your functional strength.
  2. Off-Season / Pre-Season Training: Focuses on maximizing your functional strength.
  3. Strength Training and Endurance: Focuses on building up your muscular endurance.
  4. In-Season Maintenance: Focuses on keeping your body in full working order.

 soccer1

Our soccer conditioning program will help you develop speed, strength, endurance and agility; all of these factors play a big part in becoming a World Cup champion. Schedule an appointment  with one of our trainers like Fadi Malouf, or Scott Black, and David Baldovin .

 Stay tuned for part 3 as we look  into Nutritional Training 

World Class Athletes Celebrities Who Can Relate

 With intense training, drive and determination, it is possible to be a fantastic soccer player like David Beckham, Ronaldo,  Lionel Messi,  Zinedine Zidane,  Mamadona, Mia Hamm, Abby Wmbach, Marta, Christine Sinclair, Kristine Lilly.  Along with those famous players, some celebrities have been known to kick around a ball, Gilles Marini, Anthony La Paglia, Chris Harrison, Maksim Cherkovski, Tony Hawk, Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanner, Britney Spears, and Brandon Roth.

 

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