No one likes being shoulder to shoulder with sweaty, heavy-breathing humans, all angling for the same benches, machines and weights. In an ideal world, we’d all walk in and blissfully have the health club to ourselves.
Unfortunately, though, most of us live in the real world, where we have few options other than trying to squeeze in our weight session right before or after our 9-to-5 — meaning we’re left to navigate the rabble while still trying to get the best workout we can.
Michelle Basta Speers, NSCA-CPT, endurance athlete and personal trainer based in Wrightwood, California, has the solution when it comes to leg day. You just need to corral a Smith machine for the front end, and then a bench or step and a set of two matching kettlebells (or dumbbells will work in a pinch) for the finish — that’s just three stations for one killer workout.
Crush Your Legs
In this lower-body routine, you’ll begin with higher-intensity compound movements on the Smith machine and then follow it up with kettlebell-oriented exercises — still tough but not as heavy as far as weight selection.
“If you can, try to follow the workout in the order it’s presented,” Speers says. “But if you find yourself waiting for the Smith machine, just flip-flop the front and back of the workout and adjust the weight as necessary for your more fatigued state when the Smith opens up.”
Most exercises are three sets of eight to 12 reps, other than the hip thrust — four sets of eight to 12 reps — and the optional standing calf raise, in which three sets of 15 to 20 reps is the goal. Be sure to select resistance that will bring the muscles to failure (or close to it) within the recommended rep range. If you feel you could keep repping when you reach the targeted count, you’ve gone too light. Rest 45 to 90 seconds between sets, giving yourself enough time to catch your breath and allow your strength levels to bounce back for the next round.
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