20 Minute Workouts

Post-Holiday Leg Day Workout {Don’t Get On the Treadmill, Do This Instead}

Three reasons you should skip the treadmill and head straight for the weights after the holidays! Plus, four lower body exercises you need to include in your next gym workout.

We are in the heart of the holidays, and if you’re anything like me, you’ve had your fill of wine, trail mix cookie balls, and brownie bites.

That said, I already have a gym date on my calendar for December 26th or shortly thereafter, to get right back on track. I mean, I’ve already seen posts all over social media of a fit girl with a plate of holiday cookies and a post that reads, ‘Definitely hitting the treadmill hard tomorrow.’

This makes me want to scream — ‘NO, NO, NO!

Spare yourself the pain of watching seconds tick by on the treadmill as you trudge one foot in front of the other into a steady-state cardio coma.’ Unless you love to run, then by all means run your little heart out if that’s your preferred form of exercise. I’d personally recommend throwing a couple sprints into your run {1 minute sprint + 1 minute walking/jogging recovery, repeat}.

But if you’re just hitting the treadmill to burn off the extra holiday calories, then I have a much more efficient workout for you — hit the weights!

3 reasons you should skip the treadmill and head straight for the weights after the holidays. 

1. Loading up your plate with grandma’s extra cheesy potatoes and Uncle Doug’s super soft sugar cookies increases your body’s insulin and cortisol levels, and puts a lot of stress on the body’s digestive system. 30 minutes plus of aerobic training {aka ‘cardio’} can actually increase stress/cortisol levels, while providing the least amount of benefits to balancing out the body’s insulin.
2. While the calorie burn during a workout might look the same between a cardio and a weight-lifting session, women who lift weights burn more calories in the 24-hours following a lifting session than women who just perform cardio. Why? Lifting weights is proven to boost your basal metabolic rate, or the rate at which your body burns calories!
3. Resistance training is the best way to improve insulin sensitivity. If you want to offset the sweet carbohydrates you consumed, hit the weights. Exercises like squats, lunges, pull ups and bench presses are much more likely to get your body back on track than jumping the treadmill or elliptical. In other words, lift heavy weights targeting your major metabolic muscles {legs, chest, back}. 

The truth is, weight lifting is effective for both building muscles and burning fat.

So the moral of the story is — enjoy the holiday cookies and then lift heavy!

**This workout is designed to be performed with gym machines, however you can still reap the benefits of strength training at home! If you’re looking for an at-home strength workout, check out these 8 At-Home Strength Training Workouts or this full-length, follow-along style 30-Minute Leg Workout

The Workout: Post Holiday Leg Workout for Women

It’s Leg Day in the gym! Complete 8-10 reps of each exercise x 3-4 sets before moving onto the next exercise. 

1. Back Squat  {8-10 reps x 3-4 sets}
2. Weighted Curtsy Lunge or Power Curtsy Lunge {8-10 reps per leg x 3-4 sets}. I highly recommend doing the power curtsy lunge in the Smith Machine Squat Rack, especially if it’s your first time giving it a try. 
3. Sumo Leg Press {8-10 reps x 3-4 sets}
4. Single Leg Side-Lying Leg Press {8-10 reps per leg x 3-4 sets}

Back Squat

Power Curtsy Lunge

Sumo Leg Press

Single Leg Side-Lying Leg Press

Pin this Workout: Gym-Based Leg Workout For Women

Looking for more strength workouts? Click here to see the rest of my Strength Training Workouts or Strength + HIIT Workouts.