12 Week Lean Muscle Trainer - Day 50

Today’s workout begins with a circuit of 4 moves. You’ll perform these without rest, and then you’ll immediately go into your next circuit without resting, as well. At this point in the program you should have developed the conditioning that allows for this.

You’ll note that the first 3 moves of the circuit—leg extensions, lying hamstrings curls and glutes/hams raises directly target your legs. But then bear crawls rely more on upper-body strength. You’ll perform 20 reps of the first 2 moves, and then you’ll go to failure with the 3^rd exercise. While bear crawls elevate your heart rate, they allow the muscle in your legs to recover so you can begin the next circuit immediately.

Glutes/hams raises are a new move on this program. This exercise is likely familiar to you, and it’s known by many other names including hyperextensions. It not only works the backs of your legs and your glutes, but it also works the small stabilizer muscles of your lower back. For our purposes, I want you to emphasize the work performed by your hamstrings and glutes. Emphasize a stretch in these muscles as you lower and force a contraction into these muscle groups at the top. You’ll take this move to failure throughout this circuit—check out the video to remind yourself how this move is performed. Then finish your circuit with bear crawls—about 10 steps per side forward and 10 steps per side back.

For the second circuit, you’ll perform squats, walking lunges, standing calves raises, and abs rollers. You’ll rest for 2 minutes after each of these circuits. With squats you can opt for Smith machine or regular barbell squats—the choice is up to you. I have Kai and Danielle performing different versions so that we can keep the circuit moving without rest. For walking lunges you can choose the rhythm you prefer today—the version where you rise before stepping forward or where you rise and immediately pull your trailing foot through.

Check out the video to see how to perform abs rollers if you haven’t performed them before. Note how I emphasize rolling to the right, left and middle. If you don’t have a roller available in your gym, then you can substitute a move such as kneeling cable crunches, or lying crunches with obliques crunches.

You’ll finish off today’s weight-training workout with a giant set that consists of calves raises on a leg press machine. Follow that with goblet squats—you can use a plate or a dumbbell, but hold the weight at chest height. Then finish up this giant set with medicine ball sit-ups, holding the weight as high as possible, and bring the ball overhead as you lower your upper body back to the floor.

And don’t forget about your cardio! Today you’ll perform 2 sessions of steady-state cardio that last 60 minutes each. And you’ll do that every day throughout Week 8. However, I want you to split up these 60-minute sessions by performing 45 minutes on one type of cardio equipment and the last 15 minutes on another. For instance, a good choice is to perform 45 minutes on an elliptical trainer followed by 15 minutes on a Stepmill® or other type of stair machine. You can also include treadmill, jump rope or any other type of steady-state cardio you choose.

Cardio

60 minutes

Perform 45 minutes of steady-state cardio on one machine and 15 more minutes on another. Do not rest between.

Workout

Leg Extensions 3 Sets - 20 Reps CIRCUIT 1: Perform leg extensions, lying hamstrings curls, glutes/hams raises and bear crawls with no rest. Then go immediately into the next circuit without resting
Lying Hamstrings Curls 3 Sets - 20 Reps
Glutes/Hams Raises 3 Sets - Failure
Bear Crawls 3 Sets - 10 per side forward and 10 per side back
Squats 3 Sets - 15-20 Reps CIRCUIT 2: For this circuit, you’ll perform squats, followed immediately by walking lunges, and then standing calves raises and abs rollers. You’ll rest for 2 minutes between each of these circuits
Walking Lunges 3 Sets - 20 per leg
Standing Calves Raises 3 Sets - 30 Reps
Abs Rollers 3 Sets - 1 Minute
Leg Press Calves Raises 3 Sets - 30 Reps GIANT SET: You’ll perform leg extension calves raises, followed immediately by goblet squats, and conclude with medicine ball sit-ups. No rest until you’ve completed the entire giant set
Goblet Squats 3 Sets - 30 Reps
Medicine Ball Sit-Ups 3 Sets - 20 Reps

Cardio

60 minutes

Perform 45 minutes of steady-state cardio on one machine and 15 more minutes on another. Do not rest between.

GETHIN’S GO-TO:
While Danielle and Kai are dropping weight overall, they’re also increasing muscle mass. That’s the ideal scenario because muscle mass is desirable in its own right, but it’s also metabolically active, which means that it burns calories to sustain itself. And having more of it means that you naturally burn more calories, making it harder to maintain bodyfat levels. By taking frequent InBody tests, I’m learning about the shifts in Kai’s and Danielle’s muscle and fat levels, which provides additional guidance on how to adjust their diets.

WHAT SUPP?

RE-KAGED®

After workouts you need to get in supplements and nutrition to support recovery and muscle growth. RE-KAGED contains 28 grams of fast-digesting whey protein isolate and ProHydrolase®, a digestive enzyme matrix that supports faster breakdown of protein molecules for even better absorption. RE-KAGED also contains fermented glutamine, Creatine HCl and BetaPower®.

DOSE AND TIMING: For best results, get in 1 scoop of RE-KAGED immediately after weight-training workouts to complete your PIP stack. Follow that shortly thereafter with a whole-food meal.