Day 50:Legs
Here’s the good news: You’ve completed your last leg workout on Operation Aesthetic. You should have a clear sense of the progress you’ve made on my fat-loss Trainer series.
At the end of this workout, you should pose in front of a mirror, getting a sense of how your legs look when they’re full of blood and stripped of fat. You may be excited about the progress you’ve made, but I don’t recommend posting these photos to social media yet. Save them for when you complete Operation Aesthetic, when you can provide the full picture of your improvements.
Still, you should be keeping track of everything you’re doing every day. Write down all of your sets and reps, keep track of every food you consume, and note all the supplements you take, including the dosing and timing.
OPERATION AESTHETIC NOTES
*I use even more burnout sets for isolation moves such as leg extensions and leg curls. That means that I’m just going for as many reps as I can perform. Sometimes I still go up in weight from one set to another, but I drop the weight as soon as my form gets sloppy. This is an important note as you reach the end of a fat-loss program where you’re trying to create as much detail as possible.
*As you get to this point in Operation Aesthetic, you can also use intensity techniques such as rest-pause that help you complete sets when you don’t have much gas in the tank. For rest-pause, just take a very short break—up to about 3–4 seconds—and then complete a few more until you get all your reps. You can rest-pause more than once in a set. Drop weight significantly for the next set after including rest-pause.
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Early morning cardio |
1 |
25 minutes |
This session will help jumpstart your body for leg training. Keep it easy and light. |
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EXERCISE |
COMMENT |
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Barbell squats Make sure you lower slowly until your upper legs are parallel to the ground for every rep. |
6 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15, 20 REPS |
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Hack squat Keep your form solid with your back pressed against the pad and no choppy movement in your legs. |
4 SETS / 12, 8, 5, 15 |
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Leg extensions I like a faster, deeper contraction, and then a slow descent with a quad stretch for every rep.
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5 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15 REPS |
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Lying leg curls Shift the weights and reps as needed, going with higher-rep burnouts, keeping rest to about 45 seconds between sets. |
5 SETS / 12, 10, 7, 3, 15 REPS |
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Walking lunge Notice that I allow my trailing knee to touch the ground, but only go through the range of motion that’s comfortable for you. |
3 SETS / Burnout* |
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Post-Workout cardio |
1 |
25 minutes |
You can also perform this later in the day rather than after your weight-training workout. |
TIP: In addition to getting in whole foods and supps as soon as possible after workouts, you can also roll out the muscle you just worked. Foam rollers and other intense self-massage techniques help you recover more quickly, reducing soreness the next day.
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