Inspiration, Motivation and Leg Day Training

Saturday was leg day, I lift weights 7 days a week (twice on Wednesdays) and I train most body parts twice a week, once with Roy and then once on my own. Weekends I spend a long time at the gym, I take my time stretching and warming up, I would like to be able to do this on weekdays but I have a thing I have to get to called a "job". 

One of the stretches I have found very useful is this stretch for my hip flexors. If you have been reading my blog you know that I have been having hip issues since June of 2012, so I have learned to do an awful lot of stretches and roll a lot. I do have to laugh about why it took so long to shut the video recorder off, I kept getting messages from several people at once on Facebook and they just popped up over and over as soon as I could dismiss them! (email readers will need to navigate to the blog to see this and another video below.)

 

I had gone out the night before and had three glasses of wine, I am not yet in full blown competition prep yet, and I tend to get way too lean, so I could afford to do this once in a while. I was in bed by 9:00 pm and could feel the affect the alcohol had on my body the next day anyway. That's why I rarely drink, I am not as vibrant and alive the following day, even with just one glass. I think because I expect so much of my body, I just need to learn to treat it well all the time.

I started to get the squat rack ready, adjusting the hooks for the Olympic bar when a guy walks up to talk to me. I don't know his name, I have never spoken with him, but I see him there all the time, he is a regular morning lifter and trains with another guy, they are both in their late 20s or early 30s, they carry big waters and training books, recording their reps and sets as any dedicated lifter does.

He walked up close to me and this is the conversation:

Guy: "I don't want to interrupt you when you were lifting, but I wanted to talk to you. Everyone has heard about those people who inspire others, who push them to keep going when they don't want to. You inspire me and you have for a long time."

Kristy: "I do?! Really?! Wow! I'm not sure what to say.....Thank you for telling me!"

Guy: "There are so many days I don't feel like coming in here, I want to skip it, then I think how I see you everyday, your workouts are all so intense, you train harder each day than the day before, you never stop, you are so focused and never give up, ever. I wanted to tell you this yesterday, but I didn't, then I knew I would see you here today."

I was floored. He wasn't trying to pick up on me, he wasn't being rude, he was sincere. A big, strong alpha male, who is serious about his training said I inspire him.

It motivated me to push on, I didn't have as much energy as usual, but I would never dream of skipping the gym, ever.

Roy had just changed my program, I was doing a different type of squat, one where there is no rest at the top, it's easy to shoot up and stand there "resting", but these are a lighter load, a very long "time under tension" on the eccentric portion, and then as soon as I straighten up, right back down again. They become almost aerobic. I warm up with 95 pounds, lighter than I will use for the squats.

I have my phone attached to the mirror and I set it on the timer. I am to aim for 44 seconds time under tension for 10 reps. It's much harder than it sounds. I am using 115 pounds, my legs are under tension the entire time. I finished my sets, and rested before going on to step ups. My left hamstring is still weaker than the right after my injury, it's taking a long time to rebuild that strength.

For the step ups I have to have a box 25 inches high, so I have stacked two here and they are perfect! I will hold a 25 pound bar in front, on my clavicle, front squat style and slowly push up, re-setting at the bottom with each rep. 10 on each leg, three sets. I carry this little tape measure in my gym sack with my training log, lifting straps and fingernail file! I cannot stand having a nail with a snag....

I use the leg press on Saturdays, I don't when I train with Roy but I have extra time on Saturdays so I do just to totally exhaust my legs. I don't use a lot of weight, as it starts to hurt my knees, so I keep it light. Here I have 450 pounds added to the machine. 

That's Aaron in the background, to put things into perspective the day before he was pushing 1,500 pounds on this same machine. He's a beast! He also has some added advantages, he's male (lots of testosterone), he's very young (I have been married longer than he has been alive and....still more testosterone) and he used to be a Power Lifter and wrestler. He's still a beast though!

We met because I went up to him one day and told him that he looked just like my previous trainer (SC), it's uncanny how much they look alike!

Aaron stops to help me and advises how to place my feet for quad development, he lifts his long shorts and displays some very impressive quads! Nothing worse than skinny legs on a big guy....(think most Male Physique Competitors). 

Aaron asks if I have ever competed in a National level show and I tell him, "No, although I have qualified several times". "Why??!!" He asks. "You look great- you could get your Pro-Card!" He went on to say that I look as good as several others he knows, I would be successful if I did it. 

I explain that I have no desire to, what would I do with a Pro-Card? I do this because I love to lift, I love the training.  He walks away, saying "You would win, but if you do it just cause you like it, that's really cool!"

I love to lift. I cannot say the same thing about competing.

His comments floored me again. He was genuine in them, he thinks I have developed a physique worthy of Pro status! 

Two males, motivating me now.

I do my sets, it take time as I do 5 sets of 20 reps. So a total of 100 reps. I have my timer for rest periods, and the same funny guy from the previous week interrupts me and asks to work in. He did the same thing last week, There are four machines, the only one being used is the one I am on and he taps me on the shoulder and asks if he can "work in". I wasn't  sure if he he was trying to hit on me, or just was lazy and didn't want to load plates on the machine or what. This week I found out, I was finished so turned it over to him and he was asking all sorts of questions about weight training. I think it's odd he would be asking me when guys like Aaron are right there, but maybe I am less intimidating.

I have inspired and I am motivated. And I am lifting, it's a great day at the gym.

Think about your days in the gym. Try to inspire others. Try to motivate others. And please, please...help the world stamp out "chicken legs", train your legs!

Quads

Saturday is quads again, I have been "over training" for several weeks, hitting hamstrings twice a week and quads twice a week. Soon, I will change that and go back to one quad day, one hamstring day and then a combo leg day (both quads and hams).


This over training has resulted in my legs being sore in one place or another constantly, and I mean all the time. Seems I get a moment when they start to feel OK, then I hit them all over again.


Saturday I arrived at 6:00 a.m. opening and warmed up on the treadmill, then stretched. I walked down towards my favorite power rack and as I got there Alan stuck his face in mine and says "Are ya deaf!!?" He had been following me trying to get my attention, but my music was way too loud. He was going to San Francisco and wanted to know the name of a restaurant we had talked about.


I then started in on my squats. I noticed that both of my quads were bruised, odd. They both had bruises in just about the same location. I couldn't figure out why.


I warmed up quite a bit, 45 pounds, 65 pounds, 85, 95, 115 and finally started in with 135 pounds, 10 reps. I am concentrating on maintaining the same strength in each leg as I rise up from the squat, I have been "shimmying" as one leg is stronger than the other, and I get partially up then veer to the left and then up, an odd movement and not desirable.


I actually think I may have conquered it today! But we won't find out till Roy watches me from behind on Wednesday.


I finished 3 sets and moved to the Leg Press. Again, several warm ups and then 4 sets of 10 reps at 450 pounds (plus the weight of the machine).  I know I should be able to do more on this, but it is only the second week I have used it, and haven't used it in ages since before this. 


Then up to the Leg Extension. Again, not something I typically use, and I may start using it before squats, I haven't decided yet. Warm up then 5 sets of 10 reps at 110 pounds. I am actually seeing more muscle and definition in my quads, I am super excited!


I have a busy day with my brother planned, so need to get some cardio or conditioning done now, I will not be able to do anything later. Saturdays the entire Basketball Court is taken over by men playing.....basketball! Can you imagine? So I really cannot go use the facility, I decide to hit the stairstepper for 20 minutes.  I forgot how boring it can be, at least on the stairmill my feet move! But they were all full so this is all I could do.


8:05 and I am done! Home for coffee and breakfast of 1 cup egg whites scrambled, 1 whole fried egg on top and a small serving of steel cut oats with peanut butter....


In the shower I figure out why I have bruised quads, it's the Donkey Calf Raises. The 3 plates hanging down between my legs. The chains from the dip belt hit right where the bruises are. I have got to change my calf training on Monday.

My Baby Got Back (squats)

Yes, I am talking "Back Squats"...Roy has changed the quad training and we are doing Back Squats now, and the thing is, my glutes thrive on Back Squats, they get huge, even bigger than they already are!


So while Back Squats, especially "duck foot" will target the outer sweep of my quads, my glutes will also grow, and grow and grow!


It's OK, and actually it's great- I like a big, firm, round butt. It is necessary for women to do exercises like this, especally women who have the "pear shape" syndrome (which I don't), as so many of them carry so much excess baggage here.


Back to the squats though- he has me with a wide stance, but not as wide as I used to use, and the feet are flared out "duck foot", so that when I squat down, the knees will follow the feet and flare out instead of straight in front.


Wednesday we started and he had me barefoot, another "challenge" I did my squats then lunges, lots of lunges.


On my own, on Saturday he said to do the Back Squats then the Leg Press, with a low foot position, all the way down, bringing my knees as close to my chest as possible.


I started warming up with squats, I need lots of warm ups to succeed. 1 x 4 @45 pounds; 1 x 4 @65 pounds; 1 x 4 @85 pounds; 1 x 5 @95 pounds; 1 x 5 @115 pounds, 1 x 8 @ 135 pounds; then 4 x 10 at 135 pounds. I realize this is not a huge amount of weight, but remember I am going low, as far down as I can can physically go.


Then onto the Leg Press : 2 x 4 @90 pounds; 2 x 10 @270 pounds; then 4 x 10 @360 pounds.


I ended with lunges, I did three sets of 10 on each leg, with 25 pound dumbbells. Slow, all the way down, knee reaching out front over the toes, pushing off with the toe, propelling myself forward.


I always love it when my training changes, I start out with a struggle, and the second time I am much more comfortable, I adapt quite easily. I am looking forward to the Back Squats!

Training while traveling

I am visiting my father; my sister, Karen, and brother, Derek are with me. Friday I went into work, left at 11:30 to meet Roy to train shoulders, then off we go on a three and a half hour drive south. It would only take three hours but we stopped in King City for taco's.


The top was down, and poor sis got the back seat, although she was a trooper and didn't ask to put up the top for quite some time. She missed all the music and the conversation. (Email readers will need to navigate directly to the blog to view the video below).

Before heading off to bed Friday my dad says "Are you training in the morning?" and I think this is significant, I mean how many people use the word "training" besides people like me? Ha ha! dad knows me well, he doesn't say "working out" cause that's not what I do.

"Yes indeed I am!" Off I go to sleep on the floor in the office. There are two couches in the living room and I can have one, but I go to bed much earlier than everyone else so this seems like the best idea.

I sleep fine but wake up with a headache, very unusual for me, but I have set my alarm and am up at 6:00, the gym there opens at 7:00 and is 13 miles away.

It's quad day, it will be tough since I have a headache but I am hoping I will forget about it soon.

I walk in, the guy at the desk greets me like he knows me and says "Hey how's it going? Have a good workout!" so I walk past and don't bother to pay or fill out a waiver. Either he recognizes me or I just look like I belong here.

I warm up on the treadmill and think about what I shall do. They have some equipment here that my gym does not so I want to use it. I like this gym, I imagine that this is what a prison gym would be like. 

I have actually been in the yard of San Quentin before, this is a high security prison in California. I was subpoenaed to show and testify against an inmate and since he was so dangerous they made me come to him instead of letting him come to me.  They told me "don't wear blue and don't run under any circumstances." I remember, after I was told to take off my shoes, and received a full body pat down that I had to walk across the prison yard, unescorted while the men walked all around me. Now I know why I couldn't wear blue, they all had on faded blue shirts. I was frightened and just looked straight ahead, walking slowly, looking at the door across the yard which only seemed to get farther away even though I walked closer and closer.

This gym reminds me of that, although I am not frightened or uncomfortable, because it's all men and they all wear wife beaters, white or black. Many wear hoodies, it's cold in here and big, there is no heat as it would cost way too much to heat the place. The men move slowly through the huge gym, almost in a trance. Most only train upper body, they are concerned with how they look in their tank tops, they have big puffed out chests, muscular arms, and thin, skinny legs.

I started with front squats, every quad day will have squats. The headache made it difficult, I couldn't go real heavy. I warmed up then did 5 sets of 10 with 95 pounds. I then used the hack squat, I love this and wish we had one but we don't. Since I have only used a hack squat a few times I have no basis for comparison, but I threw 2 big plates on each side and went as low as I could. 5 sets of 10. Then the leg press, again, I knew I could do more but the head got in the way. I had only 3 plates on each side, let's see...that is only 270 pounds, but add the actual machine and it's a bit more. Finally a leg extension machine with weight stacks for each leg, this is hard to master and I like it. I had 50 pounds on each side, so it's like uni-lateral raises with 50 pounds I suppose.

One hour, 15 minutes and the headache has prevented me from going as heavy as I would like, but it was still good. There was no space for me to do my conditioning as a "body pump" class was starting, and now in were coming the women. I used the step mill for my cardio. 

I showered, dressed and drove back in search of coffee. 

When I got home at about 9:15, everyone was up waiting for me, they were hungry. They all offered their solutions for my headache. K.K. (Karen) offered Advil, Dude (Derek) showed me an acupressure technique to relieve the pain. He took my left hand and gently squeezed the fleshy area between my thumb and first finger, I yelped in pain. "Yes he says, you have a bad headache." And we start laughing, "Um, that's my hand, not my head you squeezed." 

He explains that if you have a headache, you squeeze this area and gently massage until the headache goes away. I start massaging.

Dad tells me to sit back and relax and tell him about the headache, where is it, what color is it, how does it feel. I describe it as a pomello, red and encompassing the entire back of my head. 

More coffee, breakfast and soon my headache is gone. I don't know what made it go away though, time; Advil; massage; or imagery.

Keep this in mind when embarking on a training program. If you do too much, or switch programs too soon or often, you may never know what exactly was effective. Stick to a program long enough to be able to determine if it is successful. 

Oh Happy Day....Glute Ham Raise

Oh Happy day! Oh Happy Day! When Jesus washed, oh when he washed, he washed my sins away....

Don't worry, this post is exercise related.


Do you remember that song by the Edwin Hawkins Singers? This song makes me feel oh, so alive! Here is a fantastic version:

(Email readers- there are two videos so you must navigate directly to the blog to view them.)



So what am I so excited about?

A Glute Ham Raise also known as  GHR.

My gym got one on Friday night, I have been asking for it for three years now. I came in Saturday and something was different in the weight room. A new leg press, looked nice, but not the hack squat I had asked for (it's all about me, see?). I looked further, and there it was, in all it's glory taking up a huge footprint in the very back room.

Most commercial gyms don't have one of these, they are found in professional athletic facilities, colleges and hard core gyms, ones that allow chalk and grunting!

But Courtside just got one and it is all mine....(because I doubt anyone else knows what to do with the thing).

So what the heck is GHR? What is it for?

It helped developed this wonderful butt of mine, it is the best piece of equipment available for your posterior chain: lower back, glutes, hamstrings, calves.

It's also one of the toughest workouts you will ever mess with. I am a little scared about what I shall feel like tomorrow, I haven't been on one of these in about 9 months, since I was training with SC, and we had quite a long session Saturday morning.

Here is a short video that shows a few variations of exercises that can be done on the GHR.






My training has just taken on a whole new life....I am so excited, I cannot wait to use the GHR every week, the bands are killer, I have done those, and SC taught me several variations, sometimes my entire body would be shaking as I stepped out of the machine.

He used to laugh and laugh and laugh, it was always a great source of entertainment.

If your gym doesn't have one, ask for it!

205 Squat

On my mission to get as big as I can, I had a conversation with SC and told him all about the last four weeks. I had been doing a huge volume of work, many, many reps and it was getting easy, even though I kept upping the weights.

He said it was time to cut back on the volume and bump up the intensity. That means really heavy, heavy weights, but not as many reps, it just isn't possible to push huge amounts of weight many times.

Saturday morning and I had my plan written out. A modified version of what I have been doing, just less reps but a lot more weight. Here is the workout:

Front Squat 5x5 155 pounds
 
Back Squat 6x4 205 pounds
 
RDL's 5x8 185 pounds
 
Leg Press 4x10 495 pounds
 
Leg Extensions 4x10 110 pounds
 
Pistol Squats 3x5 12 kilo bell
 
Walking lunges 30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest 5 sets
 
stair mill 20 minutes

I started feeling nauseous right in the middle of the leg extensions, that shows me I was really pushing hard. I just sat and rested a bit longer in between sets, then sat for about 5 minutes before I started the pistol squats.

In the picture above I am squatting 205 pounds, and next week it goes up, I can do more.  I am aiming for two big wheels next Saturday, that's 225 pounds.

I had to sit a bit in the cafe before going home, this wiped me out! 2 1/5 hours of training hard is difficult! Grabbed my coffee, sped home and fueled up with the perfect after training meal:

1/2 a bagel, peanut butter and no sugar jam
1/2 cup non fat cottage cheese and 1/2 a mango

Sugar, quick acting carbs (lots) and a little protein.

Getting Bigger

Yes my goal right now is to get big, really big. That doesn't mean I want to get fat, although a certain percentage of my gain will certainly be fat.

I can see a big difference from the picture I took only a week ago, under the  post "off season eating right". I realize it was posted a couple days ago, but the picture was a week before this one.

Arms are looking ripped, I like that!  My weight is slightly down too, which is even better. I am at 126. I went back on creatine the day after my competition on October 2, so a good amount is water that I will hold on to.

Back is getting wide, in fact you can see in the picture below that I am about busting out of my favorite Lululemon Hot Class Bra!

I am not sure when I will stop, I like this. I felt so strong this morning (Saturday), and the turn excites me. Even though I moved up on most everything, it was easy, no struggle at all! That means that my next leg workout, I go up again!

I respond well to the basic moves, the hard ones that most people don't like to do:

Front Squats

Back Squats

RDL's

Lunges

Chin Ups

Pull Ups

Swings

I have been moving up on my weights for the large muscles every session, SC taught me that I need to charge, I need to increase weights and/or volume and doing the same weights every time is not doing me any good.

Saturday I did:

Front Squats 5 x 8 135
Back Squats 5 x 10 165
RDL's 4 x 10 155
Leg Press Drop Sets 20@405/ 30@315/ 50@225

Leg Extensions 5 x 10 97.5

Pistol Squats 3 x 5 each w/ 12 kilo bell

Walking Lunges 5 sets 30 seconds on/ 30 seconds rest with 2 25 lb dumbbells

20 minutes walking on the Nordic Track climber at 30% incline.

2 hours and I was done. Then home for a big breakfast.

I will be training with someone again soon, if all goes according to plan. BN is a big guy, really big. He trains football players, is RKC certified and a beast. I believe he is something like 6' 3", 265 and 5% bodyfat...a beast like I said.

I told him I want to get big, I do not want to do all that silly jumping around that I see all the trainers at my gym do with their clients. They spend a great deal of time jumping around, or engaging in cardio workouts, that's fine if they like that and cardio is their goal, it is not mine.

I don't need a "perceived" tough workout, I need a "real" tough workout. I know that I have trained hard enough when I sweat even though my feet are not moving. That's heavy squats and deadlifts, you go nowhere yet everywhere.

I want weights, and heavy weights. Basic moves. Squats. Deadlifts.  Kettlebells. And a program that is guaranteed to get me big. Some cardio will be thrown in of course, but not too much or it defeats the entire goal of adding mass right now.

He has planned a program with only four days a week lifting. That means it will be hard and heavy requiring lots of rest. I can do my cardio on the other days, and a few ab exercises too I guess.

Not sure when we start, you will certainly hear all about it though, I guarantee it!

The Rebound

The weeks following a competition can be really rough for some people. It's called the "rebound"  it hits some hard, and it hits others even harder.

I guess it can be similar to postpartum blues, you may feel depressed, unmotivated, you over eat, or eat things you wouldn't normally even consider putting on your plate. Some find that getting back to the gym is difficult.

The worst for me has been the psychological effects of gaining weight. Now, at competition time you weigh less than is healthy, bodyfat is abnormally low, and it is virtually impossible to maintain this for long.  You have to gain weight, just to get to where a normal, healthy person should be.

It's tough to see yourself as a sleek, svelte, beautiful human specimen one day then several pounds heavier only a couple weeks later. I gained 9 pounds in 2 weeks, then I lost 3 for a net gain of 6.

I think I do a fairly good job by allowing myself to eat almost whatever I like for a few weeks, but I maintain my schedule of eating and don't gorge all day long (I actually did two of those days).

I only took two days off from the gym afterward, then launched right back with a new program which gave me something to look forward to, changing things up helps.

Although I am now only 6 pounds heavier, I still put myself through torture thinking that I have gained too much, when in reality I still look fantastic. I can't help it, it's part of the "dark side" of competing in a body conscious sport. Your mind plays really stupid tricks on you. Sometimes, it's hard to get a grasp on what is real and what is all in your mind.
 
You can see this in all competitors, just look at our Facebook posts, we all talk about enjoying a simple treat like the world will come to an end, and luckily, we all try to keep each other in check.

David tells me all the time that I look great, in fact, I even know I look better with more weight on, it's just when that belly is soft, I get kinda freaked out for a while. It usually takes me about 5 weeks, then I get it all back into perspective.

Yesterday (Saturday) I looked forward to the gym as I could spend as much time as I wanted to and not worry about being late for work, or cutting my training short. It was leg day, "Quadzilla Lite #3" and I was looking forward to a really hard workout. Here is what I did:

Front Squat 5x8 @ 135 pounds (40 reps)

Back Squat 5x10 @ 155  pounds (50 reps)

RDL's (Romanian Deadlifts) 5x10 @ 135 pounds (50 reps)

Leg Press 3 Drop Sets 20 reps @ 405 pounds, 30 reps @ 315 pounds, 50 reps @ 225 pounds.
 

Leg Extension 5x10 @ 90 pounds (50 reps)

Pistol Squats 3x5 each leg with a 12 kilo kettlebell (15 reps)

Walking Lunges 5 sets of 30 seconds walking, 30 seconds resting holding a 20 pound dumbbell in each hand.

This was my hardest "Quadzilla Lite", I saved it for Saturday so I would have enough time. I put the reps down to emphasize how many times I moved my legs in this workout, and if you add it up, not counting the lunges, that was 320 repetitions. With weight. At 6 am. Actually it took me an hour and a half so 6am to 7:30am. That's a lot of reps.

I then had to get my cardio in. I don't do much cardio typically; however, as I have gained so much and am still not in a frame of mind to accept it, I have been trying to lose a bit before I level off.

I headed over to the stair mill for a 20 minute interval session.

There was a woman on the stairmill next to me when I climbed up, she appeared to have been there a while. About 10 minutes later, she climbed down and went to an elliptical in front and started on that. She wasn't in bad shape at all, but nothing striking about her came to mind.

As I ended and went to toss my towel into the bin, she leaned over to speak to me:

Woman: "Are you a trainer here?"

Me: "No, I am not"

Woman: "I have been looking at you thinking to myself 'that is the body I want!'"

Me: "thanks, that's great to hear, but I am just coming off a competition, I compete in Figure, so I am looking almost as good as I get, and it won't last that long" (we then talk about the difference in Bodybuilding and Figure).

Woman: "Really?! You compete?! I can see that, you look fantastic, I would love to look like you."

Me: "Well, I will tell you what, start lifting weights. What I don't do much of is cardio."

Woman: "Yes, that's what a trainer here told me too."

Me: "Look around you, look at the people you see doing cardio all the time, they don't look very good do they?"

Woman: "No, they don't that's for sure."

Me: "I started lifting weights when I was 40, I am now 49, you can do it too."

Woman: "I am 44! I can do that. I woke up this morning and said to myself 'you are awake, start your program now!', so I am here."

Me: "You know, a good cardio workout is running up and down bleachers if you can, you don't need to do it long, it hits your whole body, great for the butt, it is a great workout."

Woman: "I will try that, thanks!"

We then chatted a bit about training and frequency and I then excused myself.

Encounters like this happen frequently, although this one was really needed. It came at a time when I was not yet recovered, I hadn't emotionally "rebounded" fully. I am still trying to see myself accurately, as others do. I needed this stranger to help me, I needed the assurance, the boost to my self esteem, I needed another woman to ask me how to look as good as I do.

I will get there, it won't be long, but it is still a struggle for me everyday.

Fortunately, I don't suffer through the binge eating and massive weight gains that many others do. I think that most competitors who do struggle with this are those who had eating disorders at one time, or have struggled with weight and perhaps were extremely overweight at one point in their lives. For those women, the "rebound effect" may be all too familiar and all too haunting.

If you see yourself here, think about this, give yourself a break, shoot me an email if you want to talk. You know you still have a physique more stunning than 90% of the world's population, don't forget it!

Quadzilla (lite)

I was reading Natural Muscle Magazine and ran across an article by Steve Shaw called "the Quadzilla, 60 Minutes of Leg Destruction" he said it was named after the King of Quads, Tom Platz.

I am forever attempting to get bigger quads, so this caught my eye. Now the only problem with this workout was it was designed to do only once a month.   Not sure about you, but I pretty much detest anything that comes around once a month, so I decided I would alter it to fit my needs.

 This is designed where you will perform your squats at 60% to 70% of your one rep max. You will be doing a lot of squats, so don't try to load the plates on too much!

I did this on Thursday, and could already feel them that afternoon. Friday, I was sore. Saturday I was popping Advil. Not only were my quads in pain, my glutes hurt too, I was a pathetic sight. Sunday, today as I write this, I am sore still, but it is fading. Good thing cause I gotta hit them again on Monday morning.

Mondays are always "Bench Press Mondays' for the guys, they all come in swaggering after the weekend and want to prove how tough they are again. This is good, because it keeps them out of my squat rack. They can lay on their bench grunting and I have the squat rack all to myself!

Here is Quadzilla Lite (1)

Front Squat 5x8 125 pounds
Back Squat 5x10 135 pounds

Hamstring curls 8x10 20 pounds added to machine

Leg Extension 5x10 90 pounds

Lunge Walking 30 seconds walk, 30 seconds rest holding 20 pound dumbbells in each hand. Repeat 5 times.

I plan to incorporate Quadzilla Lite (2) and Quadzilla Lite (3). My changes will be adding RDL's one day and leg press in the other in instead of the hamstring curl. It may prove to be way too much and I might have to go back down to two times a week, but I will never know unless I try right?

He advises to "eat like a monster" post workout, I do like that advise, in fact, I have been doing quite a bit of that, I have gained 7 pounds since the 2nd. I will soon have to stop eating like that, I am looking a little sloppy, but I can clean up fairly fast, in just a couple weeks actually.

But I am still giving myself some leeway, at least for another week or so. Then it's back to the same 'ol, same 'ol!
 

I know that pain does not mean a good workout, nor is it always desirable, but it really did hurt so good, I had this in my head all weekend long!  (Email subscribers may need to navigate directly to the blog to see the embedded video)