BBcom Featuring: How the Strongest Female Powerlifter in History Trains Legs | Laura Phelps

Veteran powerlifter and Team Bodybuilding.com athlete Laura Phelps shows us exactly what that means with a max-effort lower-body day. 

► BBcom Workout Clothing: http://bit.ly/2YSe5Tm 
► Shop Bodybuilding Signature Supplements: https://bbcom.me/2lsBDzF 
► All Access 7-Day Free Trial: https://bbcom.me/2lgXwSN 


 | Laura Phelp's Max-Effort Lower-body 
Day | 1. Squat with Chains: 5 sets, 3 reps (at 80% of today's max, keeping chains on) 
2. Glute Ham Raise: 3 sets, 8 reps (weight if possible) 
3. Barbell Lunge: 3 sets, 8 reps (Perform with safety squat bar and chains) 
4. Reverse Hyperextension: 3 sets, 15 reps (per leg) 5. Leg Extensions: 1 set, 100 reps (in as few sets as possible 

| Squat With Chains and Down Sets | The Conjugate Method will have you using multiple types of bars if you have access to them, such as the safety squat bar, bamboo bar, and football bar, among others. Today we worked with just the straight bar and one chain on each side. If you've never squatted with chains, it can be a bit of a weird sensation at first. It involves "accommodating resistance," a means of increasing the resistance of the load throughout the entire range of motion of the lift. | Glute-Ham Raise | These are easy to cheat, as I found out. Start with your torso perpendicular to the floor. Before descending, squeeze your glutes and flex your hamstrings and abs. Lower yourself in a controlled manner until your body is parallel to the floor. As you come up, you should still be squeezing your glutes and hamstrings as you actively press your feet into the plate. 

 | Safety Squat Bar Stationary Lunge with Chains | Safety squat bars are one of the more awkward pieces of equipment in the gym if you haven't used them before. To make things more fun, our program actually called for walking lunges with this bar and chains, but we didn't have room in our gym for that. Instead, we opted for stationary alternating lunges, and I was little wobbly on those to say the least. 

| Single-Leg Reverse Hyperextension | The reverse hyper is a rare find in a sea of machines in most gyms, which is a shame because it's probably more effective for posterior chain health and strength than many others you typically see. Phelps often programs these for sets of 10-15 on the low end (strength day) or 20-30 on the high end (recovery day), with the load adjusted accordingly. Let me tell you, sets of 30 with 70 percent of your deadlift max is a fun time for those who enjoy struggling to breathe. 

 | Leg Extension with Rep Limit | Not much explanation needed here—100 reps, as many as you can in a row with a moderately heavy weight. The goal is to complete them all in as few sets as possible. So, no, they shouldn't be so light that you're breezing through 80-100 reps on the first try. As a workout cap for today, these aren't supposed to feel amazing, but they also shouldn't be sloppy for the sake of getting them done faster.