Justin Harris
Legs
I’m deep in the heart of softball season and really struggling to get to the gym. There really isn’t any chance I can get there on game days, unless I go at 4:30 am….but so far I haven’t made that jump yet. I’ve been able to get there 3-4x a week every week so far, so I’ve stuck to just getting in done in that time frame.
With so much other things going on, that doesn’t mean those 3-4x a week are optimal at all. There are still soccer games to watch, band concerts to sit through, and other normal parent responsibilities–but since those are typically no more than an hour or so, I’m still able to get to the gym on those days.
I always struggle with motivation at this time of the year. I know my training won’t be optimal, my training time is usually decided at the last minute (I keep clothes in my car so I can hit the gym whenever there’s the opportunity), and to keep from getting fat with the decreased workload, my calories are low enough that it only adds to the de-motivation in the gym.
With all that being said, I had a pretty decent workout this day. My wife had a work function, so it was me and the kids–but luckily there is a gym in town with daycare, so I took the 2 year old to that and left the older kids to fend for themselves while I did my best to get a solid leg session in.
Legs
5/21/18
Stepmill warm up:
6 min
45° angled calf:
3 x failure
Standing single leg calf:
2x failure
Seated calf:
3 x failure
Leg extensions:
8 x 20
*The last 2 were pretty much to failure, but I took a loooong time warming up on these. Even with no weight my tendonitis will flair up if I’m not careful, so I try to start as light as possible (literally no weight the first set) and slowly build up from there. By the last two sets my legs are really warmed up and while the knee pain is still there, it’s bearable enough to push to failure.
Seated leg curls:
3 x 10
1 x8
*Got to 3 plates and a 25lb on the hammer seated leg curl. I can usually hit that for a good 10 reps, but I was pushing the pace….I forgot the diaper bag and the ticking time bomb in daycare could have unloaded at any moment….meaning a sprint home, and hopefully to new diapers before teh car seat was ruined lol
Walking lunges:
3 x 30
*These are pretty much a permanent placement in my training these days. It’s one of the movements that are relatively pain free for my knees and hips.
Lying Leg curls:
3 x 10
Squats:
4 x 10
Bulgarian split squats:
Drop set:
3 x 10 x 10
*10 reps holding 60lbs and then 10 reps with no weight
dumbell stiff leg deadlifts:
3 x 15
single leg extensions:
2 x 12 right leg
4 x 12 left leg
*My left knee is the one really hurting right now. Regardless of whether I’m able to push through the pain, I find that my “better leg” ends up taking some of the slack on dual-leg movements no matter how hard I try not to let it. If I don’t do a couple of sets to focus on my injured leg I end up with one leg more sore than the other in the days following….so the extra left leg sets here are to help offset that.
That’s it….40 sets in not much more than an hour. I’m not generally a fan of high volume training, but I have to admit that my legs have seemed to respond better to it than anything else. If I could go back and do it all over again I would have definitely focused on more volume for legs. They were always a weak body part for me when I was coming up and competing regularly (even though I was a MUCH MUCH stronger squatter back then), and now they’re probably my strongest body part.
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