I am back! I am really, honestly not a whiner, but I am sick so infrequently that it just blows me away to wake up feeling...well, sick! I usually bound out of bed like an obnoxious energizer bunny, and it was a week of no bounding, but believe me, I still got up and tried my best.
There was no hop in this bunny's step.
Saturday I finally felt like my ol' self again. I hadn't missed any training, but the intensity just wasn't there before. I was at the gym at opening as usual.
Warm up by walking a few minutes then lots of stretching, I had all the time in the world and it was leg day, so I needed to warm up a lot. My adductors were still quite sore from Wednesdays quad workout with Roy.
I hit the hams first, low reps, heavy weight. They need to be trained with as much weight as possible, which means that I cannot possibly do many reps each set. Charles Poliquin once said something like "Show me someone who has huge hams and their training consists of light weight with high reps and I will show you someone who is on steroids".
Hamstrings don't respond with lots of high reps, they need heavy weights.
Seated leg curls
Kneeling leg curls ( I do more reps and sets on the left)
Romanian Deadlifts
I get very excited near the end of the kneeling leg curls, my left is incredibly weaker than the right. So much that it is almost laughable. But I do 8 reps on the left and 6 on the right to help catch it up. The 4th set my left all of a sudden has strength! It is not a struggle! Could it have all of a sudden wised up? I cannot wait until Monday to test it with Roy.
Then the Quads, high reps, lighter weight. (Quads, on the other hand, require high reps).
Back squats (lots of them, I mean like 60)
Front foot elevated split squats
Tom walks in and says "I see you are killin' it as usual!", yes I am back in the game! We chat a bit and he is telling me about a Saturday Night Live repeat episode he and his wife saw the night before, I need to Google it. Something about "a box" (I did, and it was hilarious). I told Cooper, David and Lauren about it at lunch and Cooper almost spit his food out, he had already seen it.
If you want to see it, feel free to take a look at this link. It's potty humor, I must warn you, but pretty darn funny! How did we get there talking by the squat rack? I have no idea....
I finished with 3 sets of 10 on the Glute Ham Raise. I have to do this at the end, it is just too brutal to do any other time. But I LOVE it!
If you want to see it, feel free to take a look at this link. It's potty humor, I must warn you, but pretty darn funny! How did we get there talking by the squat rack? I have no idea....
I finished with 3 sets of 10 on the Glute Ham Raise. I have to do this at the end, it is just too brutal to do any other time. But I LOVE it!
20 minutes on the stairmill
Boxing in the gym. I walk in and there are many men playing basketball, and several sitting on the bleachers. I count, there are 21 men. 6 have no shirt on, and I can periodically see the bodies of those with shirts on too. Oh I am off topic.
I will go 5 rounds of boxing, 2 minutes on and 1 off. I am practicing more with my left as this is my weaker side, I need to develop the strength. I am sweating, and although I have a headband on to keep my hair out of my face, it's useless, I am a mess. I am wailing on that bag like my life depended on it.
One of the guys stops by as he walks to the water fountain "Good workout huh?" "Yes" I respond, "It's a great workout!"
5 is enough, that is a total of 10 minutes, I will go one more round on Sunday, soon I will be able to go a half hour.
Love your blog, Kristy! Been following you for a few weeks now and am so glad to have found you. Thanks for the info on building hammies. This is the one area of my body (well, and my butt I guess) that I try so hard to build but without much success. I will try using heavier weight ;) They are seem so weak STILL after years of weightlifting that I am almost at a loss as to what to do. You are so inspiring and beautiful, one day I hope to look as good as you! Keep up the awesome work =)
ReplyDeleteHi Charlotte, Tanks for taking the time to comment, i love to hear that people are enjoying my blog! Definitely use heavy weight and "out your head in your hams" meaning, think about the area of the hamstring/glute area the entire time and make sure that is where the efforts are put. If the weight is heavy enough, you cannot do many reps..6 to 8 is good. Of course, you can do many sets, like 4 or 5! And you will achieve your goals as long as you keep trying!
ReplyDeleteKristy
That's helpful, thanks! Sometimes when I'm doing lying leg curls, it almost feels like I'm using my glutes too. Does that mean the weight is too heavy? Or is it common to get a little help from the glutes on that exercise? Thanks again! I am going to try your technique =)
ReplyDeleteHi Charlotte, Yes you will feel the glutes as they are very closely connected to the hamstrings, and you want a nice tight look - the "tie in" running between the two; however, it is easy to break form and use the glutes so concentrate on pressing the hips into the bench, and not lifting the glutes up to "help". If you have to lift your hips up (so you butt goes up in the air), then the weight is too heavy. Keep the feet relaxed so you are not using the calves either.
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