Mondays Hamstrings

Monday is hamstrings and it was time to change the training. There are several exercises that can be done, but there are a few that prove over and over to be the most effective, so we do those. Just changing the reps, sets, rest periods and/or weights can be enough to prevent adaptation.

I think we have learned that my body responds best to volume, so lots and lots of reps seem to be what I need to do. Now that doesn't mean that I am doing light weight, on the contrary, I am doing at much as I can, but realistically, when performing 10 to 20 reps the weight won't be as heavy as if I were doing only 4 to 8 reps.

We start with the Glute Ham Raise and Roy has it elevated in the back, high up on a bench. This puts the emphasis on a different area of the hamstring and its quite a bit more difficult to do. We tried it like this several weeks ago and I could only perform 3 reps, I failed miserably.

Monday I not only did 10 reps, but I did three sets with body weight and another two sets holding a weight plate. I think it was only 5 pounds, but it made a difference, believe me. My hamstrings have gotten stronger! We will celebrate by doing the Tootsee Roll! (Email readers will need to navigate directly to the blog to view this video, turn up the speakers!)





Yes, I do have this on my iPod...ha ha I love it!


So the GHR took quite some time, then we moved onto the second exercise, Single Leg Deadlift with a barbell.

I have never done this with a barbell, I have always used dumbbells, so I was excited, I love trying new things.

I warmed up and after the second set of 10 I think we were up to 75 pounds. All the way down until a good stretch is felt in the hamstring, maintain a slight curve in the back, keep looking up, then pull up with the hamstring and the glutes, not the back!

Its easy to round the back and start pulling up that way, and its wrong. It is less effective as you won't hit the hamstrings and its also a good way to cause back pain or tweaks.  I cannot emphasize how important it is to "lift with your head". You must put your mind into the task at hand and concentrate. It's serious business.

Many people think that weight lifters are a daft bunch, and I agree that there are plenty out there, but no more than in any other sport. A successful lifter is serious and quite knowledgeable. Find someone in your gym who looks really good, and watch them. See how they train. Do they chit chat while lifting? Do they read in between sets? I doubt it.


Are they concentrating and almost oblivious to those around them? Perhaps they time their sets and rest periods? I bet they do.

You can learn a lot just by observing. Heck, you can probably even do the "Tootsee Roll" after watching the video a couple times!

Back to the hams. Since they are so connected to the glutes, they will obviously get a good workout too. When we started this one Roy looked at me and said "Sorry, but I think this is going to make your glutes bigger" (or something like that). I laughed and said "Great! I love a good set of glutes!"

Wednesday when we met for Quads, my glutes were still sore. Today, Thursday when I write this? Still feeling it! Maybe I need to stretch them out a bit by cranking up the music in the gymnasium tomorrow and dancing. 

to left. to the left. to the right. to the right.

Kickboxing Day 2

Thursday Cooper came home from training with Jerome. They have been kickboxing together almost three years now, Cooper is good, really good.

"Mom! Jerome said he is gonna teach you to kick on Saturday." "Cooper," I said, "How can he teach me to kick when I don't even know how to punch yet?!"

"You do- he said you were really good, he said you are a natural athlete and caught on fast. You just need to loosen up, it's not precise like weight lifting, it's more like a dance."

I smiled, I have always considered myself an athlete, and outside of my competitions where they refer to all of us as "athletes", no one has ever called me that. I felt good, accomplished.

He then told me Jerome asked him to come to Friday's "Fighter's Nights", a coaches invite only of full contact boxing and kickboxing for aspiring fighters, Cooper is to start training on a more serious level.

My heart skips a beat, but I am the one who pushed him into this, so I cannot stop him now. Thank goodness he is into kickboxing and not boxing. Not as dangerous.

Saturday I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and got to the gym at 6:00 for legs. I felt good, strong and excited. There would be no need for cardio since I was taking Jerome's class at 10:00.

I trained hams and quads. I did kneeling leg curl, RDL's, squats (100), split squats and GHR. I was there 2 hours, longer than I had planned, but I did sit around quite a bit waiting for the GHR, seemed everyone wanted to use it today, although not one person used it right. One women even came up to me and said "I am so glad I saw you doing this, I have never known how to use it properly!" She asked me how to adjust it, I asked her height and then adjusted it and showed her what to do. I then sat and waited while she readjusted it and used it completely wrong, doing sit ups like most people do on the darn thing!

I got home and ate, 1 cup egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 slice of my favorite spelt and rye bread from Acme, with peanut butter and jelly. Coffee, but not too much as I remember last week having to pee the whole time during kickboxing, not fun.

9:50 I arrive and take off my shoes, pad across the mat and say hi to Jerome. There are only about 6 guys there and then he tells us to "run!" so we start. Now I learn not to arrive early. 

The class started with me and 10 guys (no Cheddar) and then a few more guys and one wicked looking gal joined in later.

We go through a half hour of conditioning, it's not the same as last week although very similar. We do the same routine of running around the facility with four stops to perform an exercise, starting with one push up, run, one high knee jump, run, one jump sprawl, run, one squat. We do 2 of each, then 3, then 4, and on and on till we have done 10 of each.

It was much easier this week. Then jumping jacks, jumping jacks with one kick, with two kicks, mountain climbers in between, jogging in place and jabbing, jogging and cross, jogging and jab cross, jogging and drop sprawl, jogging and block kick, down on the ground and crunches, side crunches, frog crunches.

30 minutes later done! I survived.

Jerome shouted to everyone to get a partner and he gave instructions, I didn't understand what it was. He grabbed a guy  by the name of Jay and told him that he would be working with me on kicks. 

Crap! 

Last week I was in front of  a mirror practicing punches, this week I guess I am one of the guys. But I didn't have my gear, only my gloves, I wasn't expecting this. No wraps, no shin guards, no mouthpiece, no headgear. 

This too I shall survive.

Jerome told us what kicks to practice, demonstrated with Jay and then left us. Jay kicked me and I kicked him. I could tell immediately that I would have a very bruised left shin the next day.

Jerome would come watch and critique, then show us combos. Jab, cross, midkick, jab, block. High kick, cross, hook, low kick, block.

On and on for a half hour, Jay was good, he really helped me improve my hook.

11:00 and the class was done, I was dripping in sweat, my hair was plastered to my head and face, sweat everywhere, I felt high. Everyone shook Jerome's hand or got a slap on the back. I talked with a few of the guys, they are all very friendly. 

I left walking out in only my tank top, shorts and flip flops although it was probably 40 degrees out at most. With the top down and Citizen Cope blasting on the stereo, I drove home. My hands were shaking, my wrists hurt, my left shin was throbbing and I started crying. I wasn't crying from pain or sadness, it was just a wave of emotion that overcame me.

I have been wanting to do this for years, and last week I finally started, but last week was easy; it was play. This week was hard, I was the attacker, I was attacked. I learned to kick with all my body force, it was hard to do at first, I was afraid of hurting him. I learned my leg can kick up to someones chest, soon up to their head. I learned to block with my legs (my poor, poor unprotected legs), with my forearms.

If I was ever to be attacked, lord have mercy on the poor slob who makes that mistake.

Home, all I want is a long hot shower and a big glass of ice water. I take off my shirt, it was soaked, here it is.

I told Cooper about it, about my surprise at the difference between last week and this week. "Why are you surprised mom? You assimilated fast, just like I thought you would."

Nice.

Hamstrings On Monday

Hams…Bulging, full, round hamstrings. It’s one of my goals.


From Wikipedia:


The word ham originally referred to the fat and muscle behind the knee. String refers to tendons, and thus, the hamstrings are the string-like tendons felt on either side of the back of the knee. Another commonly accepted origin is that legs of ham used to be hung by a hook through the space between the thighbone and the tendons behind the knee.


The three muscles of the posterior thigh (semitendinosus, semimembranosus, biceps femoris long & short head) flex (bend) the knee, while all but the short head of biceps femoris extend (straighten) the hip. The three 'true' hamstrings cross both the hip and the knee joint and are therefore involved in knee flexion and hip extension. The short head of the biceps femoris crosses only one joint (knee) and is therefore not involved in hip extension. With its divergent origin and innervation it is sometimes excluded from the 'hamstring' characterization. 


Lots of people will concentrate on the quads and forget the hamstrings, but you really need to train them equally. This is important not only for aesthetics, but for function. If your quadriceps are stronger than the hamstrings, you may suffer an injury.

Working the hamstrings also ensures great glutes, you know they are very closely related!


Monday evenings I train hamstrings with Roy, and just as with the rest of my training it changes regularly. This is week two of this particular workout. I was a little tight from Saturday when I trained legs on my own, but I quickly forgot as I got into the evening.


I arrived at 5:30 and changed and stretched. We started with Glute Ham Raise, and the equipment is elevated in the back, Roy stands in back to ensure it remains stable. I have a 5 pound weight plate grasped to my chest and he said to aim for at least 8 reps. I do real GHR, my body is lowered to the point of being straight out, parallel to the ground,  not all the way down (where the top of my head is pointing to the ground).


I then pull up with my glutes and hamstrings, pulling as far back as possible, squeezing at the top, I am now upright on my knees. The effort should come from the tie-in, you gotta put your head in your hams! I do 10 reps, drop the weight and rest. We do 4 sets, maybe it was 5. We talk little in between, Issac is there training his wife.


Next we will superset hip thrusts and laying leg curl. We start with the leg curl, the weight is heavy enough to allow me complete 8 reps with proper form, but I still struggle, the left leg is weaker, it is catching up but this has always been difficult for me. I tend to stick my glutes up to allow the glutes to help more, and this is not what I should be doing, I tell Roy I need a seat belt….He tells me pull with the hamstring, concentrate on the tie in where it meets the glutes, bring the knees off the pad.


I do 10 reps then immediately over to the Olympic bar on the ground for the hip thrusts, it is at 95 pounds and on the floor in front of the end of a bench. I sit on the ground, upper back against the edge of the bench and bring my feet as close to my glutes as possible. I roll the bar up over my legs and into the fold of my legs/hips.


Push off from the heels, hips up in the air, try not to feel anything in my quads, it needs to be glutes and hamstrings, pushing from the heels, keeping my toes up in the air helps. I hold it for a second at the top squeezing, then back down. I do 12 reps.


A nice long rest and we continue supersetting for 5 sets. 


Just below is a long but extremely good video from Bret Contreras. He explains step by step and shows you had to perform this great exercise. If you are not familiar with Bret, he is one of the most well respected Strength and Conditioning Specialist in the nation. He also dubs himself "The Glute Guy". And good looking to boot!  I can watch him perform these all day long! (Email subscribers will need to navigate directly to my blog to view this).






It’s time; we have actually gone over an hour. I am sitting on the ground, oblivious to my surroundings. Roy said “Sorry we didn’t box Friday, we can do it tonight”. Hmm…can he read my mind? I didn’t tell him I missed it and he couldn’t have read it in my blog, it hadn’t posted yet. I was happy, I would get to box!


He dons the pads, I slip on the gloves and we go at it. 3 minutes on, 1 minute rest. I feel I am stronger but still not strong enough. At one point I punched myself…Roy started laughing and said that was the first time he had seen that, but I don’t mind, I can laugh at myself, it often provides the only comic relief of the day!


7:00, we have gone way over, and I feel like the time flew.


I mix up my drink and we look at some pictures of the most recent competition photos of some friends, we compare them to the previous photos. It’s so interesting how a body can change in only a few short months.


Dinner? Extra lean beef patty (4 ounces), 1 1/5 cups steamed green beans (frenched) and 1 cup of sautéed bell peppers.

Saturday's Leg Workout

Some days when I get to the gym I feel so alive it's really hard to contain myself. This past Saturday was one of those mornings. I had slept well, I was awake before the alarm sounded.

I watch people in the gym, and I know most of them are not lifting right. They may be swinging their weights around, using weights that are too light or too heavy, not performing the move correctly, you name it. Most people just go through the motions to get it over with. It is supposed to be difficult you know!


I am making an effort to time my sets, it's easy when I train with Roy because he can stand there with the stopwatch, it's harder by myself, but I did a good job this Saturday.


Roy said for hypertrophy I need to aim for sets with a time under tension of 40 to 70 seconds, and to do that I need to lift explosively and lower very, very slowly. It's exactly opposite of what most people do.


Try it. Take whatever exercise you are doing and do 8 to 10 reps, but make each set last a minimum of 40 seconds. It's freaking hard!


You do that with squats, with bench press, with military press, you name it. You may find that you have to lower the weight you are using. My weights went down when I started training with Roy, but I look a hell of a lot better!


Here's my morning:


Stretching
Seated leg Curl 5 sets of 8 @ 100 pounds (time under tension ~36 (I was trying) (60 second rest in between sets)
Unilateral Kneeling Leg Curl 5 sets of 8 @ 20 pounds (time under tension ~32) (60 second rest)
RDL's 4 sets of 6 @ 195 pounds (time under tension 32, 31, 32, 32) (90 second rest)
Front Squats 5 sets of 8 @ 95 pounds (time under tension 48,47,48,51,51) YAHOO! (90 second rest)
Walking Lunges with 20 pound dumbbells 3 sets on each leg (10 per leg) (30 second rest)
Glute Ham Raise 4 sets of 10 body weight (60 second rest)
20 minutes on the stairmill


Protein and carb shake afterward and coffee, coffee, coffee.

Living and Loving Legs!

Saturday morning and I am ready to kill the legs! I am feeling lean and mean, and bursting with power.


Today I will be doing Back Squats, Glute Ham Raise and Lunges. I talked a woman into taking my picture, she hadn't started her workout yet so I didn't think it was too much of an interruption.


She snapped it before I could really get set up, but I have my heels on two 10 pound plates, I needed to get the foot placement correct, I am squatting with a narrow stance, feet straight out, I am targeting the quads. 

I warmed up with the bar only (45 pounds), 10 reps. Then 1 set of 10 at 65, 1 set at 85 and then moved into 115 for 5 sets. So this was 8 sets.

I rested 90 seconds in between each set.

Something clicked! It was like water, a fluid motion, it was perfect, like I was a machine. Roy keeps telling me "knees out front" and somehow my head told me to only move my knees, where in the past my powerful glutes always started the motion, I moved silently down, keeping a straight back, and then up with a thrust of the hips. I wish I was filming it! 

I found myself in my own world as I rested, waiting for my timer to vibrate and set me in motion again. I was floating on a cloud!

Then on to my friend, the GHR. We have a love hate relationship. This majestic piece of equipment is one of the most coveted by everyone and one of the most hated.

Why? If you do it right it's hard as hell! Most people break at the hips, and I know when I am getting fatigued I do the same. You should be pulling your body up with your glutes, and the upper part of the hamstring, imagining they are one solid mass (at least that's how I envision it in my head). If you bend at the hips and stick your butt out, anyone can do it, and it's basically useless.

I did 10 sets of 10, only bodyweight. Try it. 10 sets, slowly, no momentum, no swinging, slow on the eccentric and as explosive as I could get on the concentric, but that wasn't much! I started to waver at the end, I didn't break at the hips, but the  movements got oh so slow. I was quite vocal, I could tell as the guys looked over their shoulder, wondering if I was going to make it. I did.

Lunges. I grabbed the 20 pound dumbbells and walked. Left leg first, it's the weak one. Slowly, all the way down, stretching back at the lowest point, maintaining a straight back, pushing off with the heel. 10 on the left, then 10 on the right, rest. 5 sets on each leg. I should have done more, I was toast though.

I still had cardio to do. It was Saturday, when all the weekend warriors come in, the cardio room would be crowded. All the pretty women in their fancy yoga outfits, I wonder what they think of me in my Underarmour underwear and bra top, not that I really care.

The stairmills were all taken, and there are 8 of them! Damn, I had to use the stair stepper. 20 minutes was enough. I kept myself entertained, sometimes laughing out loud by listening to Big Nation Radio , a rather silly but entertaining podcast which bills itself as "talk of Bodybuilding, Steroids and Porn". I was finishing up the episode about Johnny Montanta, legendary pickup artist from New York.

When you see me laughing out loud on my stairmill, you will know why!