Former Women’s Physique Olympia champion Dana Linn Bailey met with bodybuilder and Flag Nor Fail sponsored athlete Kristen Nun at their new private location in Montana for a heavy, high-volume leg workout. Bailey and Nun routinely train together to push each other’s limits and this workout was no exception.
Today’s going to be a full leg day — quads, hamstrings, glutes — we are gonna hit them all.
Bailey does not shy away from challenging leg workouts, often pushing immense weight that built her Olympia-level physique. Check out their workout in the video below published on Bailey’s YouTube Channel on Sept. 5, 2022:
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Front Squats Into Back Squats
Bailey and Nun started with the basics. They couldn’t decide on front or back squats, so Bailey opted to alternate between them. Each athlete performed six to eight reps on both movements, working up in weight across four total sets.
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They performed each set with a squat wedge to bias their quads. It also allowed for a bit more depth as they focused on form, keeping their heels on the ground.
Leg Extensions
The next quad-centric movement was leg extensions. Each athlete performed 10 reps followed by 10 partial reps to pre-exhaust the quads for the rest of the workout. They performed four sets to near or total failure.
We already have some blood in the legs, so now we are going to focus on quads.
Bailey prefers training to failure and enjoys supersets to sustain more time under tension to spark hypertrophy.
Pendulum Squats
Next up for Bailey and Nun is a personal favorite of Bailey for quad focus and a full range of motion — pendulum squats. Bailey recently performed this movement with Wellness bodybuilder Yarishna Ayala. For those without access to a pendulum squat, there are suggested alternatives:
Pick like a leg press, keep your feet low — you could do a dumbbell squat, you could do a hack sled.
Both athletes performed four sets with descending reps as the sets got heavier and harder, aiming for 12, 10, eight, and eight repetitions.
Lying Hamstring Curls
Having finished off with their quads, Bailey and Nun switched to hamstring-biased movements. Starting with lying hamstring curls for four sets of 12 reps, they burned out their hamstrings with added manual resistance on the final set.
I slow it down — a lot of people use momentum — I pause at the bottom, pause at the top.
Bailey suggested that just moving weight is likely to be inefficient for building muscle. One should feel the muscle working through the full range of motion while maintaining control at all times — move the weight, don’t let the weight move you.
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Pit Shark Belt Squat
Next up was the supported belt squat. Bailey pointed out that if your gym does not have one, a good alternative is a dumbbell goblet squat or a barbell deadlift. The belt squat helps the inner thigh, glute, and hamstring development. Bailey and Nun performed the exercise with a sumo stance for four total sets in the 10-12 rep range.
Superset: Hip Thrusts & Thigh Abductors
Next up was a hip thrust and thigh abductor superset. Supersets fit Bailey’s favored training style of high intensity and high volume. Bailey and Nun performed the hip thrusts on a brand new piece of equipment as Bailey dislikes performing hip thrusts with a barbell.
Each athlete performed the superset in the 12-15 rep range for both movements. They closed with four sets on the thigh abduction machine for four sets.
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Dana Linn Bailey and Kristen Nun’s Leg Workout
Below are the exercises performed by Nun and Bailey:
- Front Squats into Back Squats
- Leg Extensions
- Pendulum Squats
- Lying Hamstring Curls
- Pit Shark Belted Squats
- Hip Thrusts superset Thigh Abduction
Bailey is currently on a hiatus from competitive bodybuilding and did not state in this video if there were any current plans for her return. She could return to the Olympia stage at any time in the Women’s Physique division as she holds a lifetime invite as a former Olympia champion. The video wrapped up right as attendees began to show up for Bailey’s first Flag Nor Fail Open gym pop-up shop event at their new location in Montana.
Featured image: @kristen_nun on Instagram