Leg Day Madness and the Keys to Success

Leg Day rolls around again, and as always is my favourite workout of the week, due to it being (by far) the most taxing, challenging and therefore effective workout of the week.

Here is our leg day odyssey for you to enjoy....and perhaps have a go at.

You know you want to really.
You do.
Honestly!

The session:
Warm-up
 Co-ordination drills, dynamic stretching, animal crawls, agility ladder and footwork, quasi-plyometrics (low intensity) 10-20 mins

Main Session*
*I'm only including the working sets in this article- on every single exercise we always perform a number of warm-up sets just to get the movement 'locked in' before our working sets designed to make our bodies adapt.

Front Squats 3x20 reps (maximum you can do hopefully, but this can be subject to change between each set, there are no strict rules here)
Back Squat 3x6 reps (heavy as possible/heavy as you dare!)
Glute/Ham raise to failure- 1- Attempt at a 1-rep max 2. Half the weight of the first set until failure is reached 3. Bodyweight failure 4. Band ASSISTED to technique failure
Barbell Split-squat 3x20 reps each leg

Cardio
As little rest as possible

800m Run
30 Seconds of all-out Press-ups
600m Run
30 seconds all-out V-ins
400m Run
30 seconds all-out on Press-ups
200m Run
30 seconds all-out V-ins

You are done!

We just about lived on to fight another day!

So why did I choose to structure the workout like this?

Basically because it sounded really really hard, yet was low enough in overall volume not to completely smash my central nervous system and not leave me completely ruined for a number of days, subsequently ruining workouts in the following weeks, especially with me dieting for the show in May.

Something Jen said to me today got me inspired; it was along the lines of "Do something every day that either makes you more money or makes you more successful" These weren't her exact words, but importantly, that is what I took from whatever it was she was saying!

This reminded me of a video that I watched recently:

So, how to apply this to exercise?
Well, if we just concentrate on the first so-called 'secret' in the above video, if you are going to be successful (however you want to define the term) you must love or learn to love what you are doing.

What if you don't love working hard in the gym, or exercising in your home?

For me, the way I overcame thins was actively TELLING MYSELF THAT I LOVE THE PAIN OF IT.

Every day I train (pretty much) I repeat over and over in my head that I absolutely love it, that I love setting an example to everyone else and showing them how I think they should be training.

In my head it goes something like this:
I LOVE THIS PAIN!
I LOVE THIS PAIN!
I LOVE THIS PAIN!

At some stage it stopped being me trying to convince myself that I loved the pain of training, now I am addicted to training hard and absolutely nothing is going to get in my way. Rest is important and knowing when to rest is a very important skill if you are trying to achieve anything, but remember guys, there are no excuses to be lazy, and I hope everyone out there eventually will learn to love training hard if indeed you haven't already been bitten by THE IRON BUG (the kettlebell bug took a large bite out of my forearm this week...more on that in future sessions, videos and articles you lucky devils!)

Remember....everyone has a different version of training hard. Everyone has weaknesses, everyone has strengths, try not to get frustrated and focus on what you want to achieve and you will get there if you persevere!

By Chris Kershaw- Now an Advanced Kettlebell Instructor no less!

P.S. I'm doing free Personal Training consultations every Monday out of 'The Works Fitness' in Wakefield, message me for more details and we will discuss things further :)