Leg Workouts
December 12, 2011 | 
Author A moment ago, as I lay in bed writing this, I yawned and stretched my legs; I immediately recoiled in pain.
2 hours ago, as I stepped out of my car to get lunch, I nearly fell to the ground. Why? My damned legs keep knotting up in charlie horses as a result of the 2-Mile Strongmarathon.
What is this event, you ask? An act of stupidity, at least on my part. One of my interns, Steve, asked for a challenging workout that could test his resolve and give him feedback on his mental toughness. Steve has possible aspirations of enrolling in Air Force Pararescue Jumper school, one of the toughest Special Forces schools in the military. Here’s how the conversation went a few weeks ago:
Steve: Hey Dan, can you give me a workout one day that will push me to my limits, to show if I’m PJ material? I need to know how much pain I could tolerate.
Me: Sure. In fact, a 3-Mile partner tire drag is a great one – you CAN do it, it’s just a matter if you want to keep going or not. One more step is the difference between quitting and continuing. I’ve done a 1/2 mile solo before; I’ll do it with you – I could use a challenge.
Steve: Okay. How’s next Sunday?
Me: Uh, sure. (cue immediate internal remorse) Read the rest of this entry »
The deadlift is awesome. If you’re not using it in your strength training routine, well, then shame on you.
If you want to challenge yourself to the most torturous leg workout around, then the following metabolic leg circuit is for you! Read the rest of this entry »
These are one of my favorites. Not only are they a great posterior chain (glutes, hamstring and lower back) exercise, but they really work the core as well. These are a great excuse to hold heavy things in your hands, which will develop excellent grip strength. Lifting the heavy weight on only one side of the body really recruits the obliques to hold your torso upright. If you go heavy you will feel that pull on your core immediately. Keep your chest and eyes up, your lower back flat and use your legs to lift. If you don’t regularly train your grip, it’s almost surely going to be the limiting factor, as your legs can most likely lift more than just one hand can hold. Good Luck!
Today at the Athletic Edge we had a nice little workout. Our day consisted of deadlifting, flexibility and mobility, weighted push up and rotator cuff work. We capped it all off with a Tabata Interval set of Front Squats @ 65 pounds. What is a Tabata Interval, you ask?
20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated for 4 straight minutes. In other words, hard work with virtually no rest for way too long. You won’t see any of us high level athletes lose our composure in battle, but believe me, when the camera turned off Steve, my workout partner for the day, and I were both hurting.
Our spotting method worked flawlessly – instead of racking and re-racking (which takes precious seconds) we had two spotters (trainers Steve Evans and Matt Acevedo) take the weight for the 10 second rest periods. This interval was brutal, even with only 65 pounds on the bar. The fact that we did a lot of high-rep deadlifting beforehand probably didn’t help either. Enjoy!
Support can be loosely defined as artificial reinforcement designed to lessen the strain placed on a structure. For the human foot, support comes in the form of shoes, and all the orthotics that inhabit and compose them.
Foot support is a good thing in many situations, yet there is a growing movement to bring bare feet back to exercise. Why? Because allowing the foot to work under the natural stress strengthens it in a way not possible when supported by shoes and orthotics. When the arch, for instance, is supported, it doesn’t have to be strong to perform its anatomical function. Yet, when the foot is bare, the arch must do its job at full capacity, which will cause it to strengthen to handle increasing loads, just like any other part of the body.
Wolf’s Law states that a tissue’s matrix will be directly proportional to the stresses placed upon it during its development. What does this mean for your body, and in particular, your feet? Let them go au naturale so that they can be stimulated to grow stronger.
In the weight room you will want to choose a shoe that is flat and provides as little support as possible. Again, this is so your foot does the work and not the shoe. Where does one turn for such a podiatric failure of form and function? The 1950s, for starters…
The Very First Basketball Shoe
GOOD - My esteemed and proven pair of Chuck's
If you’ve ever played basketball in Chuck Taylor’s, you painfully realized what it’s like to wear shoes with zero support. But damned if they won’t make those tootsies stronger! Read the rest of this entry »
Unilateral leg training is great for you. Plain and simple.
For the athletic population, and especially one-side dominant athletes like baseball players, a big differential can develop between legs. Pitchers will often have increased tightness in their stride leg, especially in the hip joint (from rotating on it with each pitch), yet higher strength in their balance leg (chiefly from balancing, loading, and pushing off with it 100 times per game).
The disparity can be in flexibility, mobility, or strength, but no matter the symptom, unilateral training is always a big part of the cure. And, if you have a weak leg your regular bilateral lifts (squats, deadlifts, etc.) are needlessly suffering. Big strength gains can happen in those regular lifts from strengthening the weak link.
The two most prevalent uni-leg squats are the Pistol Squat and the Peterson Step-Down, but I’m also going to throw the rear-reaching uni-leg squat into the mix, which is a better variation of the pistol squat for a few reasons.
Pistol Squat
Take a close look at the above video. It’s important to notice two things about the pistol squat:
1. The back is very rounded, which might not cause problems if done with bodyweight, but would be a serious injury risk if additional weight is used.
2. Weight shifts way back on the heels, which puts more force on the knee than if the weight was more centered.
For the above reasons, I am not a fan of pistol squats. If the off-knee is bent it allows better weight distribution, but even then I think there are better options. Read the rest of this entry »