Back into the gym again early this afternoon with a legs workout. Sticking to my usual 5-6 exercises (five today as I didn’t do calves), I decided to crank things up a notch by adding some quite considerable weight to the existing high rep sets plus doing some extra sets to the usual single sets. Going quite heavy on some exercises, I’m definitely regaining the strength I lost whilst, importantly, not affecting the knees. As long as I keep myself strictly symmetrical as I lift.
As these sets didn’t take very long to complete, I decided to add a few exercises solely for the biceps, which I didn’t manage to fulfil yesterday in my upper body session. On those, it was purely to harden and build the muscles with heavier sets, which worked very well after so long just performing lighter weights. Deliberately, I left all work using tricep and chest muscles for tomorrow’s session, where I will be focusing on just three or four exercises containing multiple sets.
Thursday 28/12/17
LEGS
Incline press:
30x180kg, 30x200, 20x220
*Heavier than I’ve gone for a long time, I was cautious to only lower my legs about half way to my chest in order to push with my thighs rather than put too much pressure on the knees. Very pleased with this.
Horizontal ‘sled’ press:
25x150, 20x180, 18x190
Ham curls, seated:
20x45, 10x60, 6x65, 6x70, 25x40
Good girls:
25x60, 15x60
Bad girls:
20x60, 15x60
All in all a very satisfying legs workout. The strength is still easily there in the quads and I’m capable of lifting a whole lot more but I just have to remind myself not to overdo things on the knees, so it’s best to take things slowly for the time being.
BICEPS
Concentration curls, alt. (each arm):
5x16, 5x18
Seated hammer curls, alt.:
6x16, 6x18
E-Z preacher curl, low pull, close grip:
6x28, 6x38, 6x43, 5x48, 30x18
*Going very heavy on the bar with almost 50kg loaded onto the biceps, it felt great to pull this sort of weight again. The final high rep set of 18kgs felt like lifting a feather afterwards!
Double DB curls, preacher bench:
6x32, 6x32, 6x32
*Something I haven’t done for ages. Two dumbbells held end to end and curling together seated on the preacher bench. You must ensure that the ends stay together as you lift. It’s a great exercise for training the ‘belly’ of the bicep (i.e. front rather than the peak), and is a great alternative to merely lifting a weighted bar.
Finished off with ab crunches: 40x40
Time: 1hr. 05mins.
Very pleased with that little lot. I’m happy that I can now be safe knowing I can go heavier with the legs without the weight damaging the knees – quite honestly it hurts them more walking up a flight of stairs than doing these weight training exercises. Everything in moderation though it’s hard to resist going heavier.
Nice also to isolate the biceps for a change. Came away from those exercises feeling a good, solid pump in my upper arms with size to match:shock:
Training: It’s what I do and it’s hard to change the habit of a lifetime I guess!
NB. If anyone needs to know more about the terminology
I use, or an explanation of what a particular exercise involves, please do not hesitate to ask. I’ll try to explain and perhaps add a picture of the exercise involved.
Thanks for reading:)
Same here…
…Although I hung about the house until it got light this morning, at eight I braved the elements and stumbled round an eight mile extravaganza…
Good luck with all things porridge and DVD player, OGF.
, but it’s a welcome option on arctic days like this. There is always a good vibe and motivating music…
