Acknowledging Injuries

Injuries, frustration, disappointment, acknowledgement, commitment , change, excitement, growth, renewal.

A circle

It’s a process I just went through and I am sure anyone who is actually devoted to their training has experienced it, but did they realize they even went through this process?

Since June I have been working through some injuries, it has taken me three months to get where I am. Most of that time has been spent convincing myself I wasn’t injured. It took me that long to work through the process of admitting what I need to do so I heal and can start to move forward.

Training is a very big part of my life, I am not really complete unless I have done my training for the day, and it is the best part of my day. It is a rare occasion where I do not look forward to going to the gym, to the track, to train with Roy.

I strained my hamstring back in June and just kept pushing through it. That’s the “tough” thing to do right? But that really wasn’t my mentality, it was actually the fact that I feel fairly invincible, I couldn’t be hurt, it must all be in my mind, it’s just a muscle that’s a bit sore.

It took a few visits to the Chiropractor and my physician to convince me that it was more than what I had actually thought it was. And there was the hip flexor pain, sitting was unbearable, I would wake at night due to the aching in my hips, especially my left side (where the hamstring strain was).

Then I started physical therapy. The first session was nothing strenuous, he put me through several stretches that did not really feel like much, but it turned out he was assessing me more than anything.  I figured it was being paid for by insurance; I should go through with all sessions and see how it turns out, any stretching will be helpful to regain my range of motion right?  

The second session was different though, it seemed better, or maybe my head thought it was. Sid started by foam rolling my leg as I lay on a massage table, I said “good luck- I use a lacrosse ball!” Smart ass I was, he was good. Then he used his hands. This was even better. Next came assisted stretching, better still.  I asked him not to stop so he continued a while longer.

As we moved to another room I went through other stretches and exercises.  Brian shouts over “Be sure she uses what she calls the kettlebell jewelry”, which was what I said the itty bitty bells looked like since they weighed only 2 pounds.

I explained how my hip flexors hurt so much, and what my training has been like. I have been trying to grow the legs; I have been hitting them hard, really hard. Heavy and volume. He suggested that they may also be strained or just need a break.

I told him David had said the same thing, and so had Roy, we actually had already decided to cut squats to one day a week instead of two.

Since PT was mainly dealing with the hamstring strain, I had decided to see Dr. Leahy immediately afterward about the hip flexors.  He could at least do some Active Release to loosen up the tight muscles; the tightness was what was causing so much discomfort.

In his office I go through the whole story again, he works on both hip flexors and the hamstring.  He asks when my “event” is and I tell him not until May. He says I am progressing right along. “What does that mean?” I ask “It’s a compliment, take it!” he replies. 

I tell him I know, but I need to know what he “sees”. I see myself everyday and want to know what he sees. “Well, it looks like you have been adding mass, in fact, quite a bit. That’s what you are trying to do isn’t it?”

“Yes!” I tell him it’s the peanut butter sandwiches (I am joking) and I laugh.

Dr. Leahy suggests that I stop squatting all together- at least for a week or even two if I can manage the downtime. If I cannot take the downtime he suggests some light therapy.  He said I should just avoid anything that hurts my hip flexors, and when it no longer hurts, I am ready to train again. Insurance does not cover Dr. Leahy, doctors can be expensive when you pay on your own.

Sounds simple doesn’t it? It might be for some people, but it hasn’t been a simple process for me.

How many people would even have an issue with this? It has taken me a lot of time to actually confirm in my own mind that I am OK not training my legs for a couple weeks.  I sent a message to Roy and explained.

We had decided that I would be replacing my Saturday squat day with a biceps and triceps day, and move some of the the other splits around, so we just axed the squats all together and started the arm training then, the following day, on Wednesday when we would usually do squats. 

I really don’t train arms much; I train the shoulders but not the rest.

Wednesday was fun; we went through barbell triceps lockouts superset with scott curls. Then on to skull crushers and reverse barbell curls. I felt like a wimp, it was a lot of new stuff for me.

Thursday I did my hamstring training, but modified it slightly so that my hip flexors felt no pressure, I concentrated on the glutes so that’s where I felt it. I tried some kettlebell snatches at the end, but the hip flexors immediately felt the strain and I stopped after one set.

I will switch my Back training to Saturday (instead of squats) and repeat my arm training on Sunday, adding in some pullovers too. My upper body will be fried by Monday.

I’m excited again and looking forward to the changes! I already have some impressive arms, so imagine what they will look like after all this training in a few weeks! 

Hurt Hams, Grateful Glutes

Yes the hams are still causing me a problem, but I start physical therapy in a week. At this point it's more mental than physical I think, at least it's hard for me to push myself, I have this horrible fear of tearing something and causing even more damage. I can feel the hamstring "pull" when I try to train, and it's bound to pull for a while, I just need to get past the fear and realize that.

Below is the standing work station I have for my office now, it is sitting outside my door, waiting to be assembled and moved in, my desk is way too heavy for me to move it on my own.

My doctor believes that sitting for long periods of time is causing me to have tight hip flexors and it is shortening my psoas. That, and then the contracted glute muscle seemed to have contributed to the hamstring strain I am now dealing with. 

Here is a very interesting article that was in the San Francisco Chronicle called "Firms take stand against sitting" describing the exact situation I am up against and how other Bay Area Companies are moving away from traditional desks and incorporating these standing work stations. You may want to consider one for your office or home!

I have been walking my stairs at lunch, taking them two at a time and this seems to be working my quads more than my hamstrings and glutes. When I would run them, I would need explosive posterior power, it's funny how the same exercise is changed so much by walking instead of running.

As you can see, the glutes, hamstrings and quads have come up, they have all increased in size and I have been able to maintain a reasonable bodyfat level. This area (hamstrings and quads) is one I have been working on for quite some time, I have naturally lean legs, this is considered by some a blessing, and by others a curse - just depends on how you look at it (I say it's a curse).

Before I hurt my left hamstring I was training them twice a week - heavy. I have to do that to make them grow, and as soon as I get clearance and can psych myself up, I will start back in. In fact, today I actually jogged to the Event Center to walk my stairs, and I had no pain. Of course, anything can change tomorrow, so I will need to assess how I feel when I wake up. 

Roy and I have been hitting the glutes since we need to avoid the hamstrings! Now, they are connected, so the hamstrings will be trained when training the glutes, but we can target specific areas and avoid specific areas. 

We are doing single leg hip thrusts,  and back extensions on the roman chair, both with weight. The hip thrusts were hard at first, in fact we started with only bodyweight as it pulled on my leg and my hip flexors were so tight, but on Monday we were up to 12 reps with 60 pounds, I have an Olympic bar across my hips with weight added. Thursday we add more weight, he said it all looked way too easy for me.

The back extensions are 12 reps again and I am holding a 35 pound plate, squeezing the glutes at the top of the movement. This hits the very top of the glutes.

I was a bit worried that my glutes would just "deflate" if I couldn't train hamstrings,  I really do prize my high round glutes and at the age of 51 have to fight tooth and nail to keep them where they are, so not only just maintaining status quo is difficult, but even more so is improving them!

But thank goodness I was wrong, we are progressing right along, glutes are fine and the hamstrings are getting some training, and that is what is needed to allow them to heal, there is nothing more that I can do except be patient, go easy and keep working them gently but consistently.

I think we are doing a fine job, what do you think?

The Beat Goes On (Hamstring Injury)

Drums keep pounding rhythm to the brain. La dee da de dee, Le dee da dee dah

I have an injury. This may not be news to you (I have been writing about it for a long time) but I am coming to terms with it. Maybe you noticed my Monday Morning Motivation was about injuries? It helps me to put it all into perspective.

After my chiropractor released my contracted glute muscle, it, and muscles all down my hamstring were inflamed, and I started hitting them hard again, I have been doing everything within my power to grow my legs, twice a week I hit the quads and twice a week the hams. I may have overdone it. 

Wednesday night, a week ago, I trained with Roy, heavy squats and was fine. We tried to see if it was my “magic pants” that made my squats so easy on Saturday and it wasn’t just the pants, I really could knock out some heavy squats; he decided we were going too light when I was able to do 12 reps my last set.

Lunges were next and they also engage the hamstring, the left was painful, the power wasn’t there I stopped early as it hurt and then I become afraid that I am doing harm to myself.

I got home and strapped on my ice pack, once I took it off I could see a large, hard bulge on my left hamstring.

Good looking hamstrings do bulge, but it’s a smooth transition, you should not notice a “lump”. I asked David if he could see anything and he pretty much flipped, it was big. He starts to search on the Internet for what it could be. I don’t bother as I know there is a whole lot of garbage and opinion on the Internet; I will just go see my doctor as I had been told by Dr. Leahy to do.

I texted Roy and told him I would skip my training in the morning, after all, it was hamstring day and it didn’t sound like a very good idea at this point. I slept in and it felt amazing!

I saw my doctor the next morning and described the last two months and my various treatments. He examined me, moved me all which way and checked out the hamstring. I was wearing my shirt and a thong (pants had been removed to see the hamstrings), he asked me to face away from him and bend over. Hmmm…he was sitting butt height, facing my butt, this is rather awkward! Oh well, over I go and he pushes and prods my hamstring and asks questions. The whole time I am thinking "bikini gals do this all the time, what's the big deal?"

On the table on one side, the other, more pushing and prodding. On my stomach and back, again over and over.

The decision? I have a hamstring strain, which is minute tears in the muscle. He said because I never felt a pop or acute pain, it was most likely due to the contracted glute muscle, then all of the muscles became inflamed. The bulge I see is where the muscle attaches to the tendon, and tendons don’t swell and become inflamed, they just tear.  He also found that my left IT band is inflamed and tender.

He asked what I would say if he told me to stop training and I replied “I would say no.” “I thought so” he said.  He has been my doctor since I was 23 years old, so that means 28 years we have been together, he knows me all too well.

He asked if we could then perhaps agree on physical therapy? "Yes, I will do that, no problem!" I replied. I have to continue to take anti-inflammatories  and I also need to get a standing work station for my computer at work.  I can continue to train, but go light on the hammies and stop when I feel any pain. It will heal over time.

I was angry when I left his office, and I sat in the car for a bit just thinking about it all. Then I put it into perspective. Its not like I am an Olympic athlete who has been training all her life for this one moment only to become injured. Not like Walter Dix, who injured his hamstring at the Olympic Trials this June.

I will keep training but need to go easy on my hamstrings, so what will it mean? The worst case scenario is I cannot do my sprints and stairs and am relegated to walking on my treadmill. Glute Ham Raise is out and Roy and I need to find other ways to train hamstrings without causing pain and more damage.

Before I left the doctor's office parking lot, a song came to me and I ended up putting it on my iPod. I am a child of the 60's, the era of free love. This song was on the Billboard top 10 in 1967, and was one of my favorites for years. Sonny and Cher- before Cher underwent so many cosmetic surgeries. The audio isn't the best, but the recording is great. It brings back good memories and will help me to remember that no matter what happens to me:

"The Beat Goes On"

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A Perfect Light Therapy

After my Active Release Technique treatment (A.R.T.), Dr. Leahy suggested one session of A Perfect Light Therapy, he uses these in conjunction with each other and it wasn’t a big expense so I took his advice and scheduled the appointment. Dr. Leahy wasn’t going to be there but Sophia could place the pad where it needed to go.

Above is the machine that the light pad is connected to, I took these laying on the table so lighting and actual image may be a bit off.

I changed into thin, comfortable sweats before I went in, if I was going to lay there for 20 minutes I might just want to doze off. I climbed up onto the massage table and Sophia showed me the large pad, it would be placed over the offending glute.  She said it worked best directly on the skin so I undid the drawstring, dropped trou and she placed it there.

Apparently it can get quite warm, so I was given a small doorbell, just like one you see on your front door, without a door attached. She said to ring it if the pad gets too hot.

She set a timer and left, closing the door behind me. I laid there; it felt great as it warned up, like a nice cozy heating pad. I wanted it over the rest of my body actually.

I looked at my phone, browsed Facebook a bit then put it and my head down and closed my eyes.

Next thing I knew a timer was going off, the door opened and it was Sophia. “I’m not done yet!” I exclaimed. “Are you sure that was 20 minutes?” She assured me it was time and I had to leave. I actually enjoyed the quiet and the warmth.

She asked if I wanted to schedule more sessions and I explained that Dr. Leahy said if this didn’t do it, then I should have an MRI, so no, no further sessions were needed.

I haven’t read enough to understand how the light therapy works, and what exactly it does, but it’s been almost two weeks and my contracted glute has not been bothering me. My hamstring has, and I may just schedule some visits to have this done on my hamstring and not the glute, but that’s a whole other post in the next couple days!

Active Release Technique (A.R.T.)

I finally went into Chase Chiropractic and saw Dr. Joseph Leahy for the muscle pain I have been experiencing in my glute and hamstring. It was Tuesday and I would be there for a seminar afterward, so I spent a couple hours at his office, this actually gave me a great chance to assess how the Active Release Technique worked for this situation.

Dr. Leahy has worked on me before and I was happy with the results. The first time it was more for an athletic performance issue, now I was seeing him due to pain, not only was the pain becoming unbearable, but it was also hindering my athletic performance.

I was led to the exam room and I explained my situation to him.  I told him about the chiropractor at the expo, about the massage and how the therapist said I had a contracted muscle, I told him about my pain and how I am working on my knees at my desk because I cannot sit for long periods of time.


Although it has felt like a hamstring issue, it was discovered that it really was my glute, the muscle originates in the glute and attaches at the hamstring, so it all just feels like one big, tight mass; and since the muscle was contracted, I was fine as I stood, but sitting would cause a lot of pain in my hip, hamstring and glute, and then this of course caused me to favor one side when training quads and hams, not a good thing for someone who is trying to grow the size of their legs. 

 He had me lie on my side and pushed and probed until he found the tender spot. “Yes, it’s your gemellus and your piriformis, the massage therapist must have studied A.R.T or he never would have known about these very small but important muscles.”

A.R.T. is similar to massage, where the soft tissue is manipulated, but the body is moved around in conjunction with pressure on the muscle and the idea is break up adhesion's and offer relief.  Dr. Leahy gave me directions on what he wanted me to do, this is interactive. He would manipulate the glute muscle as I lay on my side on the table, and I would pull my knee up to my chin, with the help of my hand and arm, pulling as far as possible and it would hurt. It was a good pain though, I could feel relief afterward.

He explained that when the muscle gets overworked it can remain in a contracted state, and if it isn’t released it can cut off the blood supply and cause damage. This worried me as it has been going on for a couple months now. I told him after my massage it felt better, but as soon as I tried to run stadium stairs it started back in. “That’s exactly when you would feel it.” He replied. “That’s when those muscles are engaged.”

He said he would be doing the same treatment for 80 football players the following day, he is the team chiropractor for the San Francisco 49ers, training camp is opening and he said many of them have this same issue.

I left and went outside to hangout waiting for the seminar to begin. For entertainment, many people go out to bars or the movies; I go to things like this. I would be having my PH tested (urine sample) and my antioxidant levels tested via laser scan. Then we would listen to a discussion on DNA, aging, supplements, various treatments….boring to you, interesting to me.

At one point just as the seminar was starting I told him it was still tight, he said “Come on” and back we went to the room. Again he worked the muscle, a bit differently and we talked more about the pain. I then did lunges up and down his hallway as he watched, I was able to sink all the way down and not feel the pulling sensation I had been, it felt better!


He commented on my bright pink shoes. I told him he says the same thing every time I see him.

I was able to sit for an hour at the seminar before my quad, glute and hip started aching. I got up and stood. I then talked to Dr. Leahy again and he said it was most likely inflamed and that was causing the pain.  My injury does not require multiple sessions; he said the next step is A Perfect Light therapy, which takes one session and lasts 20 minutes. If the pain was not gone after that, he said I must have an MRI to see if I have nerve damage.

I scheduled the therapy for Thursday; I couldn’t do it Wednesday as I was meeting Roy after work to train quads (and you know I won’t miss training, ever!)

It’s unfortunate that my insurance will not cover this, they don’t cover chiropractic medicine.  A.R.T. is not even chiropractic, it is practiced by other health professionals, but is considered "alternative". I imagine that if I went to my physician I would be given a cortisone shot and then an MRI, and of course if I need to MRI I will go to him to see if I can get it covered by insurance, those are quite costly. I prefer to solve the problem though instead of treat the pain.

As I write this on Wednesday, I have been able to sit all day, but I have felt some slight discomfort. I am taking Aleve and will continue to for a few days. David says “Ice it!” but honestly, my glute muscle is so big, that I don’t see how I could sit on ice long enough to really help the inflammation, but I will in the evening for a bit anyway.

Getting in and out of the car was not difficult as usual, and walking up stairs seemed normal. My hamstrings are sore, but both are sore and equally sore, so I believe that is from the new hamstring workout Roy and I did on Monday evening.

I seem to be on the right track, but only time will tell for sure.

Previous posts on my sessions:


A.R.T. (2nd)


A.R.T. (1st)

Hamstring Pain

Over a month now, I have been dealing with a nagging hamstring. I cannot really classify it as "pain" but I have a very high pain threshold, in fact my family jokes about it. They call me "asbestos mouth", "asbestos hands" and various other things that indicate I feel no pain when others would cry out loud.


I even had natural childbirth because I was afraid of the epidural causing me to become paralyzed. I lived through it. But I only did it once! LOL!


So if you recall, I was told by a chiropractor (at a fit-expo) that I was way out of alignment. I happened to have a massage scheduled a couple days later and he said I had a muscle that was contracted and wouldn't release, it was tensed up and wouldn't let go.


After my massage on Monday I trained with Roy (hamstrings) and hit them hard as usual. My hamstrings were sore for a few days then I trained quads on Wednesday and hamstrings again on Thursday. Walking lunges were difficult, the hamstring was not where it should be.


This morning (Saturday) was quad day, and typically I would be still sore from Thursdays hamstrings. I didn't have a lot of time, I had to get in and out and back home within 1 1/2 hours, I had to get my son to the airport. 


I warmed up and noticed that my left hamstring did not feel more sore than the right, this was a really good sign!


I did my front squats, 4 sets at 135 pounds, 6 reps each set.


On to walking lunges. I was supposed to use a 75 pound bar, but there are two that can have weight added, they were being used and I couldn't wait. I grabbed the 70 pound fixed weight bar.


I was able to do my lunges and didn't feel pain! It was the first time in several weeks. It's funny how when you have an injury, it sort of consumes your life, and it becomes part of your life. You don't notice what it's like to be pain free until all of a sudden you are! It was amazing, my training all of a sudden took on a whole new feeling.


I wanted to stay, I wanted to do more, I felt so good, but I couldn't, I had to go. I did a few sets of kettlebell snatches to get in more posterior work and cardio. I will talk more about the wonder of kettlebells later. 


At home I made a shake and drank it on the way to the airport. Some shopping at the farmers market and laundry, typical Saturday chores (for people who work during the week) and then at noon decided to see how I could so with sprints and stairs, my preferred form of cardio. 


I jogged across the street and hit the stadium stairs, the first set felt fine then the second brought back the same feeling, like the muscle tightened up again and wouldn't let go. I ended up running several sets of stairs but decided to forgo the sprints, I didn't think it would help heal this any faster.


I have an apportionment scheduled on Tuesday with Dr. Joseph Leahy for A.R.T. (Active Release Technique), it will surely fix the issue, I do not have a torn muscle or ligament, the massage definitely helped, I just have a wayward muscle with a mind of it's own, its needs to learn who's boss. 

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.

Quad Day

Wednesday nights with Roy is quads. Monday is Hams with Roy, and on Saturdays I hit both quads and hams myself. 


That's quite a bit of work for the glutes too, and you can tell. My body responds quite well to volume and frequency, my butt has gotten big.


Not big in a bad way, it never gets big sideways, it gets big from front to back. And it has gotten quite round and is sitting even higher than before.


Wednesday Roy looked at me and was almost shaking his head. "I am amazed at how your glutes respond" (What he meant was dayam your butt has gotten big!) ha ha


I laughed and told him that my glutes do respond quite well, my butt gets big and round, but it shrinks when I diet down. But maybe it won't this time! I have added quite a bit of muscle in the last month and a half. Oh I have my share of fat; however, the lean mass is definitely winning this race.


Then he made a comment about Nicki Minaj. Well, just check this butt out. Fast forward to 1:00 on the video, it says it all. (Email readers must navigate directly to the blog to see this video below.)


 


Entertaining no?


I really noticed my butt today, I was afraid my shorts might split as I squatted....


Back to Wednesday- what did we do?


Poliquin Dips for the VMO (I really don't care for these) 3 sets of 20 on each leg, holding a 20 pound dumbbell


Bulgarian Split Squats, I cannot recall if I did 4 or 5 sets, but I started with 25 pound dumbbells and ended with 30, I did 12 on each leg, slowly as possible, it was really burning.


1 1/4 back squats. That's a regular back squat, weight is a bit lighter than usual due to the nature of the exercise, lower all the way down, very slowly, then up only 1/4 of the way, back down all the way and then stand all the way up, immediately down again. 10 reps, 4 sets. Burning, burning, burning

So if you are trying to work the glutes, the best way is really to work the quads and the hamstrings, then you will be functionally training the glutes and they will look great!

German Volume Training (Hams)

Are there things in life that you have a "love hate" relationship with? One of mine is German Volume Training. The technical term would be "butt loads of reps" I think.

You cannot train like this all the time, you can for a few weeks then you need to lay off and come back to it again, it's way too much volume to do on a regular basis, and it's one of those things that makes you consider carrying your own puke bucket at times.

Monday we started, and since Mondays are hamstrings that's all we did. An hour of hamstrings. First we did a little mobility test for an Active Release Technique appointment I had the following day, I will write about it later.

Then we did laying hamstring curls. For about 40 minutes I think. That's it, nothing else. To get the proper weight Roy had me do 10 reps so he could determine the correct weight for 6 reps. I don't recall how much, it wasn't much but I would be doing them over and over and over, and it was unilateral so that means only one leg is working at a time.

6 reps on the left, 6 reps on the right. Rest 90 seconds. But Roy is really strict about them, keep the hips glued to the bench, don't use the calves at all, it needs to be an isolated contraction of the hamstring only. It's hard.

Again

Again

Again

Again

Again

Again

Again

Again

Again

My hamstrings were hard and pumped. I stumbled when I got off the bench, Roy chuckled a little. I had to get my legs working again.  A long rest then over to the Glute Ham Raise.

I could not do much after that, so we did three sets of 10 but first he wrapped a heavy band over my shoulders so that when I reached the top contraction it was a lot tougher.

I was glad to be finished with that!

Home to a big plate of food. 5 ounce Vittellone patty, 3 ounces sweet potato and about 10 asparagus spears. Water, water, water.

Two days later we would be doing something similar with quads. I suspect it is squats.

Read more about German Volume Training to better understand the protocol.

Leg Day

Saturday, Legs. I used to love training shoulders most, and now I am starting to really love training legs, maybe even more than shoulders.


I trained with Roy on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, hamstrings on Wednesday and shoulders on Thursday. Saturday I would hit the legs on my own, quads and hams.


Lately I have been sleeping better, I am not up as much as I had been previously so I feel more rested when I wake. In fact, I have been getting up before the alarm everyday. Today, I turned it off so the alarm wouldn't wake up David later and I got up early.  I get excited when I get to go to the gym, and luckily that is everyday!


I walked a few minutes on the treadmill, stretched then started in on my squats. I warmed up with 10 reps @ 45 pounds; then 10 @ 65; 10 @ 85; then I used 115 for the rest. I did 4 sets of 115 with a 60 second rest in between. Except when Mike came up to tell me a joke, then I rested several minutes. Oh well.


Lunges, unilateral with 20 pound dumbbells, 4 sets on each leg.


Kneeling leg curl (hamstrings), 3 sets on each leg at35 pounds.


Seated leg curl (hamstrings) 4 sets at 70 pounds.


Leg extensions, unilateral 10 @ 30 pounds each, then bilateral 10 @ 70 pounds. 3 sets of each.


I finished with 5 sets of 10 on the Glute Ham Raise.


I felt GOOD! I still had energy. It was too much, I really shouldn't have done it all as the session lasted an hour and a half. Everything tells me not to train that long but sometimes when I am in the "zone" I cannot stop, I am on a high that feels so good I just keep going, today was one of those days.


I climbed up on a stairmill and walked (intervals) for 30 minutes, sweat didn't start dripping on the machine until 20 minutes into it. Cardio, still gotta do it!


I practiced posing for about 10 minutes, I should be doing more but that's all I felt like doing today. Into the meditation room to stretch my hamstrings and roll my quads, I have some very sore spots on my legs.


8:45am I am done. I got there at 6:00am. I sat in the cafe and drank my post training drink and took supplements. Grabbed a cup of coffee and home for a good muscle building breakfast.  1 cup egg whites scrambled with 1 whole egg (fried) on top, and a bowl of steel cut oats.

Reverse Hyper

I am forever working on the posterior chain, this is the missing link for most people.

It is vital not only esthetically, but for your health to ensure a strong lower back, glutes, hamstrings and calves. 

A strong posterior chain will allow you to run faster, squat more, deadlift more, and make sure you fill out your jeans a lot better than most people!

There is a piece of equipment called the Reverse Hyper, and like the wonderful Glute-Ham Raise, most gyms don't have one, they are tough and not for sissies, so gyms choose to have a biceps curl machine instead....

The Reverse Hyper was invented by Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell after breaking his back.

My gym doesn't have one, so I have to make do with what I have. You can perform a very effective Reverse Hyper with a flat bench and a firm stability ball.

I was doing this last week and a trainer stopped and watched. I finished and he asked where I learned to do it and I explained I used to use a Reverse Hyper when I trained with SC, and I hated every minute of it, but knew it was a great exercise. 

The trainer said he was impressed, he never saw it done like this and he thanked me, said he learned something from me.

When Maria was taping this today, another trainer and her client were watching. As I finished the client said "that is physically impossible!" and the trainer said "Wow! Amazing!"

I told them, "No, it isn't physically impossible, in fact, it is quite easy and if you did it, you would have a butt like me!"

I am demonstrating a reverse hyper in the video below. I caution you, unless you have a very strong lower back, do not hyper extend your legs up as far as I do, I can do this as I have well developed muscles in this area- beginners should try to maintain a more neutral position (don't bring your legs up so high, I wouldn't be going so high with weights on my ankles).

Once you have become accustomed to this, add weights strapped to your ankles. Make sure you perform the movement slowly and deliberately, do not swing or use momentum!

Turn up your speakers! There is a great clip by Dragonfly to accompany this short 22 second video. Email subscribers will need to navigate to the blog to see the video.