Legs · Load — Rauta

Eat something 2-3 hours before this session — training under-fuelled costs 10-15% on every lift (§G). If you didn't and energy is under 5/10 today, cap this session at RPE 6 regardless of the week.

General Warm-up8 min

row

5 min steady · zone2 conversational

Easy pace, ~130 bpm for 5 min.

treadmill (backward, incline)

3 min steady · zone2 conversational

15% incline, 3 km/h, walking backward.

Mobility Primer8 min

90/90 Hip Switches (dynamic flow)

Video thumbnail: 90/90 Hip Switch (Improve Hip Health & Mobility)

External video — 90/90 Hip Switch (Improve Hip Health & Mobility) by Simone Sports Performance.

How to do it

Setup: Sit on the floor. Front leg bent 90° at hip and knee, shin angled across your body toward the far hip — this hip is now in external rotation. Back leg bent 90°, shin angled out behind you, away from your body — this hip is in internal rotation. Spine tall, hands off the floor.
Execution: Lift both knees slightly off the floor and rotate through the hips — not the hands — to swap which leg is in front. Flow side to side for the prescribed time, each bout under 20 seconds.
Common error: Pushing or dragging yourself around with your hands instead of rotating from the hip — if you need your hands to move, you're not doing the drill.
Feel: Smooth rotation through both hips, no catching. Dull ache anywhere is fine, keep going. A sharp pinch in the right hip crease means stop that rep and shorten the range.

Dynamic flow through internal/external rotation, both sides — 10 reps each side, every bout under 20s.

2 × 10/side · bout <20s · rest 0:15

Hip-flexor PAILs/RAILs (couch-stretch position)

Video thumbnail: Couch Stretch PAIL RAILS TUTORIAL

External video — Couch Stretch PAIL RAILS TUTORIAL by SJC Physiotherapy.

How to do it

Setup: Kneeling lunge: rear knee down, rear foot up against a wall or bench behind you. Front foot flat on the floor, well out in front. Torso tall, ribs stacked directly over your pelvis — not leaning back.
Execution: PAIL: squeeze the rear glute and drive that knee down into the pad, ramping the effort up over 5-10s, hold at peak, release over 5s. RAIL: immediately try to drag the same knee forward off the pad against your own resistance, hold 5-10s. That's one rep. Repeat for the prescribed reps, then switch sides.
Common error: Arching the lower back to lean the hips forward and fake extra range — the stretch has to come from the front of the rear hip, not from your spine. Keep the ribs stacked down over the pelvis the whole time.
Feel: A building stretch through the front of the rear hip/quad during the PAIL, real muscular effort during the RAIL. Dull ache is fine. A sharp pinch in the right hip means back off the depth now, don't push through it.

Couch-stretch position. Ramp to 60-70% effort over 5-10s, hold peak 5-10s, release 5s (PAIL); immediately RAIL, draw the knee forward against resistance, hold 5-10s. 3 reps/side. Less assistance.

3 reps/side · ramp 20s, hold 8s · effort RPE 6-7 · rest 0:30-1:00

Banded Hip Distraction

External video — Banded Hip Distraction by The Active Life.

How to do it

Setup: Loop a heavy band around a low, sturdy anchor (a rack post works well). Step into the band so it sits high in the hip crease of the working leg, facing the anchor, then walk backward away from it until there is strong, obvious tension pulling that hip straight back toward the anchor.
Execution: Sink into a shallow squat or split-stance lunge on the banded side, letting the band's pull gently distract — open a small gap in — the hip joint. Rock or shift gently through a few positions for the prescribed time, breathing normally throughout.
Common error: Standing too close to the anchor so there is little or no real band tension — the whole point is the joint distraction, not just standing near a band. If you can't feel a clear backward pull on the hip, step further away.
Feel: A gentle "opening" sensation deep in the hip joint, not a muscular stretch — this is a joint-capsule mobilization, different from the muscle stretches elsewhere in the primer. No sharp pinch; if the right hip sharpens, step closer to the anchor to reduce the pull rather than stopping outright.

Thick band around the hip crease, anchored behind you, step into a lunge — pulls the femoral head back into the socket. No band? Substitute a deep lunge hold of the same duration, rear knee down, pushing the hips forward. Monitor the right hip: dull ache is fine, sharp pinch means stop.

2 × 20s/side hold · rest 0:15

Cossack Squat (bodyweight, dynamic mover)

Cossack Squat (bodyweight, dynamic mover)~200-400KB demo

Showing: Weighted Cossack Squats Male — closest verified demo. Shows the loaded (single-dumbbell, goblet-style) Weighted Cossack Squat — the primer's dynamic-mover version is performed bodyweight-only, as a groove/warm-up rehearsal, not for load.

Deeper than Week 2 — 8 reps each side.

2 × 8/side · rest 0:15

Bodyweight Squat to full depth

Final pattern groove before loading — full depth, no weight.

15s hold · rest 0:10

Benchmark

hip 90 90 external rating

Log now, before loading: 90/90 external rotation rating, 1-10, each side. Compare to last week.

Benchmark

hip 90 90 internal rating

Log now, before loading: 90/90 internal rotation rating, 1-10, each side. Compare to last week.

Accessories — Opening Activation8 min

Toes-to-Bar

External video — Strict Toes To Bar by Marcus Filly.

How to do it

Setup: Hang from a pull-up bar with a full overhand grip, hands shoulder-width, arms straight, body hanging still with no swing before you start.
Execution: Brace the core and drive both feet up in an arc toward the bar, aiming to touch your toes to it, keeping the legs as straight as you can manage. Lower back to a still dead hang under control before the next rep. That is one rep.
Common error: Kipping — using a swinging, whipping motion from the shoulders and hips to throw the feet up, then riding the swing back down. Control the swing at both the top and the bottom; this is a strict core movement, not a CrossFit-style kip.
Feel: A hard, building ab/hip-flexor burn and a real grip challenge. If you can't yet touch the bar with straight legs, bent-knee "knees-to-chest" reps are the honest regression — still dead still at the bottom, still no kipping.

Still the opener.

3 × 12-15 @ RPE 7 · rest 1:00

Single-leg Hyperextension

Video thumbnail: Hyperextension (Single Leg)

External video — Hyperextension (Single Leg) by Operation Badass.

How to do it

Setup: Hips against the pad of a 45-degree (or horizontal) hyperextension bench, ankles secured under the rollers. One leg's foot stays flat on the footplate and does all the work; the other leg trails behind, unweighted, touching nothing, for balance only.
Execution: Lower under control by hinging at the hip — not the lower back — until you feel a stretch in the working-leg hamstring/glute, torso and legs roughly in line with the bench. Drive back up through the working-leg heel to a flat-back finish. Stop level with your legs at the top — do not keep arching past that into a lower-back extension.
Common error: Letting the trailing leg push off the floor or bench to help (defeats the unilateral point), or continuing to arch the lower back past flat at the top instead of stopping there.
Feel: A building stretch through the working-leg hamstring/glute at the bottom, a firm glute squeeze at the top — the top position should feel like a strong contraction, not a backward bend. No pinching or strain in the lower back itself.

Still the wake-up.

3 × 12-16/side @ RPE 7 · tempo 2-0-2-0 · rest 1:00

Main Lift — Back Squat18 min

Back Squat

Back Squat~200-400KB demo

Pause 2 counts at the bottom, then drive up with maximal intent — the weight may not move fast, the intent must.

4 × 5-8 @ RPE 7 · tempo 2-2-X-0 · rest 2:00 → 8 @ RPE 6 · tempo 2-0-1-0 · rest 1:30

If pain flares

Sharp pinch in the right hip crease at depth: regress first to a box squat at the height just above the pinch point; if still sharp, drop to a heel-elevated goblet squat at a shallower depth (this slot). Dull ache is fine — sharp, sudden, or pinching pain is the stop signal (§D.7).
If regressing depth/load still sharpens it: swap the day's main lift to Romanian Deadlift (hip-hinge pattern) entirely and flag it for review — the final rung of the regression ladder (§D.7).

Accessories — Leg Volume22 min

Leg Press

Same as Weeks 1-2.

4 × 10-15 @ RPE 7 · tempo 2-0-2-0 · rest 1:30

DB Lunges

DB Lunges~200-400KB demo

Same as Week 1.

3 × 8-12/side @ RPE 7 · tempo 2-0-2-0 · rest 1:30

Leg Extensions

Squeeze at the top.

3 × 10-14 @ RPE 7 · tempo 2-0-2-0 · rest 1:00

Leg Curls (machine)

Leg Curls (machine)~200-400KB demo

Controlled negative.

3 × 10-14 @ RPE 7 · tempo 2-0-2-0 · rest 1:00

Single-leg Calf Raise

Single-leg Calf Raise~200-400KB demo

Add a light DB if bodyweight has been easy for 2 weeks straight.

4 × 15-20/side @ RPE 7 · tempo 2-0-2-0 · rest 0:45

Optional Finisher — Explosive6 min

Jump Squats

Jump Squats~200-400KB demo

Moderate height, not max yet — reset your feet every rep, land soft. Quality over quantity: 5 crisp reps beat 15 tired ones.

3 × 5-8 @ RPE 6-7 · tempo X-0-X-0 · rest 1:30-2:00

Mobility Finisher9 min

90/90 shin-box PAILs/RAILs

Video thumbnail: Hip Mobility Drill: The Shin Box

External video — Hip Mobility Drill: The Shin Box by Balance In Motion.

How to do it

Setup: Same 90/90 shin-box seat as the primer drill — front shin across your body, back shin behind you. Settle onto one side and stay there; this is a hold, not the switching flow.
Execution: PAIL: press the front shin/knee down into the floor, ramping the effort over 5-10s, hold the peak, release over 5s. RAIL: immediately lift that same shin/knee back up off the floor against your own resistance, hold 5-10s. That's one rep. Repeat for the prescribed reps, then switch which leg is in front and repeat on the other side.
Common error: Rushing the ramp instead of building it over the full 5-10 seconds, or letting the torso collapse forward to fake extra depth — sit tall throughout.
Feel: A deep, controllable stretch through the front hip during the PAIL, real muscular effort during the RAIL. Dull ache is fine and expected. A sharp pinch in the right hip crease means back off the depth immediately.

60-70% effort, 3 reps/side.

3 reps/side · ramp 20s, hold 8s · effort RPE 6-7 · rest 0:30-1:00

Couch Stretch

External video — Couch Stretch by Functional Bodybuilding.

How to do it

Setup: Kneeling lunge, rear shin up against a wall or couch/bench behind you, rear foot pointing up. Front foot flat on the floor, well out in front. Torso tall, ribs stacked over the pelvis.
Execution: Squeeze the rear glute to sink the hip forward and deepen the stretch. Hold completely still for the full prescribed time. This is a finisher drill only — never do it before lifting.
Common error: Arching the lower back to bring the torso closer to vertical instead of actually moving the hip forward — this fakes depth without touching the hip flexor. Keep the ribs pulled down and let the glute squeeze do the work.
Feel: A steady, building stretch through the front of the rear hip and thigh that should ease slightly the longer you hold it. Dull ache is normal. A sharp pinch in the right hip means come out of the position, don't fight it.

Passive hold, 90s each side.

90s/side hold · rest 0:15

Pigeon Stretch

External video — PIGEON STRETCH by Atomic Athlete.

How to do it

Setup: Front leg bent, shin angled across your body with the front foot pointing toward the opposite hip. Back leg extended long behind you. Hips square to the floor, not twisted or hiked to one side.
Execution: Fold your torso forward over the front shin, letting your weight sink down. Hold still, breathing, for the full prescribed time.
Common error: Letting the hips rotate or hike up to force the front knee flatter — this fakes extra rotation from the hip instead of finding it honestly. Keep the hips square first, and accept whatever depth that leaves you with.
Feel: A deep stretch on the outside of the front hip and glute. A sharp pinch in the front of the hip crease means the angle is too aggressive — back the front shin off toward a less rotated position.

Passive hold, 60s each side.

60s/side hold · rest 0:15

Frog Stretch

External video — Frog Stretch by Atomic Athlete.

How to do it

Setup: Hands and knees. Spread the knees out to the sides, feet roughly in line with the knees, ankles relaxed.
Execution: Calibrate the width before you settle in: spread the knees until you feel real tension in the inner thighs, then check your feet and ankles. If either ankle rolls onto its side or a foot lifts off the floor, you've gone one notch too wide — narrow the stance until both feet sit flat and both ankles stay relaxed. That checked width is your position for the whole hold. Sink the hips straight back and down from there and hold completely still — this is a static hold, not a rocking movement.
Common error: Copying someone else's knee width instead of calibrating your own — going wider than your hips actually allow just rolls the ankles and pulls tension out of the inner thigh, the opposite of the point. Rocking back and forth to chase depth is the second error — hold still instead.
Feel: A steady stretch through the inner thighs and groin that builds the longer you hold it, both feet flat and both ankles relaxed the whole time. If the ankles are working harder than the inner thighs, you're too wide — narrow it next time. No pinching in either hip joint.

Passive hold, 45s.

45s hold · rest 0:15

Legs · Load

row

treadmill (backward, incline)

hip 90 90 external rating

hip 90 90 internal rating

RPE — lifting sets

Effort — mobility & primer sets