Bulgarian Bag and Barbell Leg Workout

Yesterday was Thursday!! Which for me meant legs, (it doesn’t always mean that I work legs on a Thursday, it’s just how it worked out this week!).

Since completing the Bulgarian Bag course, I have been bringing my bag to the gym pretty much most days for training. On Tuesday the bag was used for tricep work, along with some body-weight exercises such as dips and push-ups. On Wednesday I used it for my bicep workout….I am still VERY sore in the triceps and a bit nippy in the biceps, which is a good sign for me! They were tough workouts, but today’s had to be even better.

Legs can take a lot. They’re a much bigger set of muscles for one thing. That and every time I train them I seem to recover extremely quickly – one of the MANY benefits of regular training is that your body finds ways of becoming more efficient at getting rid of lactic acid from your muscles post-workout. Which means the more you do, the easier and better it will feel, even on the days after training.

So, here’s what I got up to….

I performed a superset with the following three exercises, placing the main emphasis on my quads, which are the muscles located in the front of the thighs. Any exercise where the bulgarian bag was used can be performed with either a barbell or dumbbells, depending what you feel comfortable doing.

Jump squats – variation no: 1 (bulgarian bag around the back of the neck with the feet just outside shoulder width apart. You perform a squat and rather than simply straightening up out of the move, you jump upwards and land in the squat position. This is repeated until all sets are completed.)

Jump squats – variation no: 2 (feet are together, you then jump up and land with the feet out into a squat position. You then use the upward phase of the squat to jump the feet in together to the start position, again the bulgarian bag remains on the back of the shoulders).

Squats – just the regular style with the bag still in position.

I completed 10 repetitions of each exercise, for a total of 5 sets, with a 15-30 second rest period between each set.

Next came the Lunges…

Lunges on a step with the bulgarian bag on the back of the neck. (Placing the leading foot on a step and the back foot remaining on the ground, perform a normal lunge, aiming to get the knee down low enough to the ground, without actually touching the ground).

Skater Lunges – these are trickier to explain… imagine standing with the feet just under the hips and taking a diagonal step backwards, so that you are almost in a curtsy position and the upper part of the torso feels like it’s twisting. You hold this position and simply bend and straighten the back leg to perform each lunge.

Again I performed both of these exercises as a superset taking as few breaks as possible. I completed 10 repetitions of each for 4 sets.

Now I know there is much debate about whether or not deadlifts should be done on a back day instead of a leg day because they use much of the muscles in the back as well as working the hamstrings. I reckon that as long as your back and glutes are strong, then deadlifts can easily be done on a leg day. That, and hamstrings are a large muscle group by themselves, so why not?

So, this is what I did next…

Deadlifts – performed with a 10kg barbell with an extra 20kgs added.

Calf Raises – performed with the bulgarian bag around my shoulders and off the end of a step.

Again the above was performed as a superset, with 10 repetitions being performed for 5 sets, with little to no rest in between.

To finish I went for the leg press, but I went a little lighter than I normally would as my legs were quite shaky at this point. These were supersetted with Dog Raises…. I am sure there is a fancier name, but my Pilates instructor always called them Dog Raises and it’s a fairly accurate description!

Leg Press – 110 kgs (either the seated version or the incline seat position is fine for this exercise. I personally prefer the incline one because I really feel it in my glutes and hamstrings depending on which foot position I opt for).

Dog Raises – Bodyweight (assume a 4 point position on the floor with hands under the shoulders and the knees underneath the hips. Bring one knee off the floor and move it up until it’s in line with the hip. Then slowly close the leg down towards the floor, without setting the knee down in between repetitions. Think of how a male dog will go for a piddle and you have it!

Perform 10 repetitions of each for 5 sets. Now if those don’t manage to finish you off, I don’t know what will!

Let me know if you get a chance to try it out.