Getting a Leg Up

I've already shown you the differences between the two squats. You've seen the differences between a regular deadlift and a stiff-legged deadlift, and you've seen my 20-minute killer leg workout.

Now there's lots to show you for lower body but we're going to start with these four demonstrations. The next video will be focused on putting certain things together in supersets.

We're going to get to slider board work - patience!

The two single-joint movements for hamstrings are shown with the bands and the chains. The key with the chains is to keep your butt up, don't let your butt sag because it changes the angle and therefore alters the entire exercise.

Remember changing your body position (in relation to where the chains hang down) will alter the difficulty of the exercise - experiment with this. Don't be too aggressive the first few times. See how you feel the day after the workout. This exercise puts a lot of strain on your knees, calves and hamstrings, so please be careful.

The band exercise is simple but so effective. It's the greatest leg curl 'machine' you'll ever use. Again, the colour of the band and how far you stretch it, will have to be determined by you with some experimentation. Remember we don't have a quantitative weight, so you want to make sure you're hitting muscular failure in 45-70 seconds.

The third exercise shown is the lying hamstring pullover (with bands). This can be done many ways, but just start by getting a feel for this position. The main thing to remember, straighten that leg only 85% of the way and lock it that angle - have somebody watch your leg the first few times to give you feedback on whether you're maintaining the angle throughout the range of motion. As soon as you lose that angle, you'll be altering the exercise and it may no longer be a hamstring exercise. Remember as always with the bands, there will be a learning curve. Try to control the bands and don't let the bands control you. This is easier said than done, especially as you start to tire.

The last exercise is single-joint toe raises. No bouncing at the bottom, make sure you get a nice full range of motion. The video speaks for itself on this one. Let me know if you have questions.