All Around Strength and Conditioning

This will be an ongoing post, that will get bigger over time. Note: that there will not be pictures for every exercise, just the ones, that are less popular, and are not as easy to find on the internet.

Dragon Twisting- a move made popular by Steve Cotter, this one develops a unique kind of strength in the legs, that's a bit different than what most of us are used to. It combines a spiraling up and down movement, with the end position making your legs look like a pretzel. The only way I can describe this is to think of yourself as pivoting on the balls of one foot, and the heel of another turning to a full 180, so that your legs cross, and the tension goes into your hips, glutes, IT band, and the lateral portion of your front thighs.

Stability Ball Supine Hip Extension- a good way to work extension in the hamstrings using nothing more than a ball. The higher you bridge, the harder it gets, keeping your feet close to your body, as well as the ball, you press through your heels forcing your hips up in the air, lowering in a straight line down as opposed to out will hit the upper gastrocs very quickly. If this is too easy, then go for one leg at a time.

Front Squat (Elbows forward version, not elbows crossed) much more difficult in terms of balance, coordination, core strength, and overall body composure.

The next one is called the Grasso Lunge (I think) this one is excellent for explosive starting strength. MMA fighters will love this one to practice their speed, explosiveness, and power for takedowns. With a lot of resistance, this one can be brutal, and keep the legs full of blood. Choke a couple of resistance bands around a sturdy object. I like the power rack, because I can use my rear leg to push off the step.

I have no idea what this next exercise is called, so I call them straddle squats. Basically you get the weight on just one shoulder. I'm using the smith machine for balance, but in about a month or so I'll start doing it free standing. The weight seems to be emphasized much more on the outside leg. Then you just squat down, and drive yourself back up through your heels.

Glute-Ham Raises or Ham-Gastroc Raises- depending on which direction you point your toes, is next on the list. This is one of my all-time favorite exercises. It's taken me about 3 months of continuous practice to get this one down. We don't have a machine for this, so I use the adjustable ab bench. This is much more difficult then leg curls, and a bit more functional too. It works the posterior chain muscles, namely the lower back, glutes, hamstrings, and to some extend the gastrocnemius.

This is the first leg workout outdoors with my buddy John.
The first picture is our tools of the trade. A wobble board, a power wheel, two jump stretch bands (purple) a 75 lb. weighted vest, and 100 lb. sandbag.

The Y-Band squat is pretty much an overhead squat, a great warm up for dynamic stretching, and a great trick for tabatas.

The descent

The sandbag is a formidable enemy, even with a 100 lbs, it sloshes all around and the canvas is difficult to grip, sandbag squats have great carryover for wrestlers and MMA fighters, and firefighters as well. It's like hauling a person over your shoulder, very uneven.

The descent

The one shoulder at a time variation.

The front squat version (this one is a killer, especially in the abs)

The descent

Partner based Grasso lunges- basically we took two jump stretch bands and choked then together, John wore one end around his waist, and I pulled him. The goal is to keep max tension in the bands, and the partner only moves enough with you to keep the tension taut. Otherwise it becomes ineffective. A cheap alternative to a sled (I guess). You can do forward lunges, reverse lunges, and karaokes. This should be done for speed, and distance, if you're the tower, then pull with all your might, if you're the weight, then just give them enough freedom so they are not moving very far. These pictures are taken from the P.O.V. of the weight.

Walking Y-Band lunges (With weighted vest).

These ones are rough, you feel a lot of tension in your core, your shoulders, and especially in your legs. Doing these for time, distance, or speed is a great addition to any leg routine.

The Power Wheel is awesome for hamstrings. It activates the hamstring from the back of your knee, and point of insertion (glutes). You basically bridge yourself off the ground, and then curl your heel to your butt. If you point your toes downward you will target more of the gastocnemius, if you point them down, then you'll feel it a bit more in the hams.

Sandbag RDL's- these one's are pretty straightforward. Retract your shoulder blades back (and I mean pull them back, and keep them back) then stick your butt out, and bend down with the weight, drive your hips forward to bring the weight back up. Note: this is not a stiff-legged deadlift, keep your shoulder blades together, if you do it right, even the really flexible people do not go far beyond their knees.

Fulcrum Leg Extension- This one is extremely tricky to do, but it works the same way a leg extension does. I haven't quite mastered this one yet, the idea is to get on one of these funky looking staircase benches, with your feet locked under the pads. Then extend your legs as you would in a leg extension. When you're really tough you can keep your entire body straight and inline with your toes, like a board. I haven't quite gotten that far with it. If you don't have access to a bench like this, then you can use a regular bench with your feet on the ends, then use some webbing or someone's rear end on your feet.

The lumberjack squat is an excellent way to learn how to do the squat if you've never done it. It allows you to learn the proper lower body movement and technique and relieves an awful lot of spinal compression. Just stand a barbell against a wall (or a corner) and load a plate or few on one end. Grasp the end and rest your hands against the lower part of your chest or sternum, and then squat down. It's a bit awkward at first but it allows you to drive your legs forward.

This morning I decided to go run Squaw Peak in Phoenix, and by about 8:00 am it's 80 something degrees. So my legs were pretty trashed already, but I decided to do a quick workout using interval conditioning. I wanted to take some pictures to illustrate that it is very possible to get an excellent workout with minimal equipment. The tools of the trade were my weight vest at 40 lbs. 2 30lb. dumbbells, 2 purple jump stretch bands, and a staff. Now the workout was mainly some core stability versions of normal leg exercises, excluding calves, and a combination of tabatas and isometrics.

Ok so here are the pictures of some of the exercises.

Note: to get descriptions head over to the Unique Workout Pictures section on this site, and click on leg workouts.