Hail to the Dumbbell, Part 2 - Meat Sticks Edition

Hope you enjoyed the first workout in our dumbbell-only PPL series, covered in last week’s post. Today we’re going to dive right into part two, legs. Most folks just getting started in fitness will ignore legs and focus only on vanity muscles like chest & arms. Short list why you shouldn’t do this:

• You put yourself at risk of lower body injury
• You’ll look physically imbalanced
• Huge legs are the sign of a true man
• Your core will be weak

And one more thing before we dive in...

CARDIO

IS

NOT

A

REPLACEMENT

FOR

WEIGHT

TRAINING

LEGS

Would you go to the gym and do 1000 reps of curls with a 2lb pink dumbbell?

No. Thus, running = awesome for endurance, cardiovascular health, a hobby… bad for strength.

Now that we got that out of the way. Let’s build some wheels, dumbbell-only style.

Rest periods 60-90 seconds, strict.

Exercise 1 - Squat

2 high-rep warmup sets (15-20 reps)

5 sets 8-12 reps

1 AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) Aim for 20-30

To kick things off we are going to do the granddaddy of all leg movements, the squat. Out of all 4 of my readers, precisely 0 will sit through this entire 23 minute video but I HIGHLY suggest checking out Mark Rippetoe’s squat primer:

Again, it’s barbell-focused but many of the cues & guidance will apply over to dumbbell squats.

Here’s a good, short video guide for how to modify the movement to be done with dumbbells.

Your focus should be placed on getting the form right. Getting a full range of motion or “ass to grass” as it’s called. At this point your ROM is going to be far more important than the poundage. If you’re trying to figure out a good ROM, start by doing what’s called a “third world squat” like this chump:

 It’ll help you stretch and figure out how deep you can really go before loading up the weight.

Exercise 2 - Goblet Squat

5 Sets 8-12

Here’s a good video. Similar to a regular squat but by putting the weight in front of you and high up on your body, you will activate your core (abs and lower back) and put a bit more focus on your quads. My tips are:

• Keep your weight on your heels, just like Rippetoe said in the video
• Don’t let the weight pull you forward
• Actively think about bracing your abs and lumbar when doing the movement. Like this: Up, big breath inhale, flex abs, down & exhale, Up, repeat.

Exercise 3 - Dumbbell Glute Bridge

4 Sets 8-10

These are kind of the red headed stepchild of leg workouts because no one wants to be the guy air-humping in the gym. Here’s the deal. I avoided these for years and finally sucked it up and started doing them early in 2017.  Since then, my squat is up, my deadlift is up, my glutes are firmer & stronger, my hams are bigger.

TL;DR - Don’t be a pussy. Air-fuck the shit out of these.

Put the dumbbell across your pelvis where the Scott puts the bar in the video. If it’s uncomfortable for you, no shame in using a yoga mat or a pillow underneath. Make sure you really give yourself a SOLID 1 second squeeze at the top of these, I usually squeeze the last one of each set until failure (10 seconds or more).

Exercise 4 - Romanian Deadlifts (RDL)

4 Sets 8-10

In my last post I talked about “regular” deadlifts which put more focus on the lower back. RDL’s are a slight variation which will shift the tension to your hams & glutes. These are also called “stiff leg” or “straight leg” deadlifts. But let me be clear: DO NOT LOCK YOUR KNEES!

You can put the dumbbells in front of you to mimic the barbell in the video. I like a narrow grip for this, probably to the point where the dumbbells are touching one another. Keep in mind that when you deadlift with a barbell, it’s typically at your shoelaces. So I recommend putting the dumbbells at your sides, lifting up, and then doing the exercise keeping the weights close to your body (vs. starting with the dumbbells in front of your toes which is a weird angle).

I like to do these with a slightly larger ROM than the guy in the video- going all the way down until the weights on the barbell are ALMOST touching the floor (in the case of dumbbells, ALMOST crushing your feet), and then popping back up.

Exercise 5 - Lunges

4 Sets of 10 for each leg (20 “steps”)

Do you have a driveway or other area where you can safely walk 10 steps up and back? If so, I highly recommend doing lunges that way vs. walking in place. The movement is pretty self explanatory, here's a video if you aren't familiar.

One thing I like to do is experiment with HOW far I step out in front of myself. Sometimes I will start with doing huge steps, opening my hips way up and really feeling that stretch everywhere (watch out for putting a big shock on that front knee). Other times I’ll go heavier and do pretty normal sized steps. These are an absolute killer.

Exercise 6 - Step Ups

2-4 sets of 10 for each leg  

At this point, if you’ve been doing things right, your legs are going to be GASSED. This is an excellent way to finish up your workout. Note that in the form video, Scott is only using 30 lb weights as a highly trained athlete. So start with bodyweight for these and maybe add in some light weights.

I have 2-4 sets listed because I’ve been known to almost fall off the stool and leave the gym after 2 of these because my legs are so dead.

Exercise 7 - Calf Raises

5 Sets of 20-25

This is kind of a bonus exercise because even if your legs are dead, you should still be able to bang this out. It’s shorts season, boys! Calves can’t be ignored. Here's a video:

I would recommend something higher than a single 2x4, probably double that to allow greater ROM. The way I like to program these is to do 10 with absolutely perfect form, all the way down until my heels almost touch the floor and then back up on the balls of my feet with a 1-2 second squeeze. Then when my calves are about to explode, I do 10-15 more really fast.

Congrats! You made it through a GRUELING leg workout. Go have a big shake and eat some carbs. Flex your quads in a mirror when no one is looking. Do you have quad vascularity yet? Better hit 'em again next week.

Catch you next week for part 3 - PUSH!