Sunday, November 27, 2011

Wednesdays Quads


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I was off work, it was the day prior to Thanksgiving and I was meeting Roy earlier than usual, 4:30 pm. It felt odd, like the day went by very, very slowly. Roy changes our training every few weeks, and today would be something new. It was very difficult and I am not sure if it was me that day, or it really was hard, but it was only the second time I can recall that I actually felt like quitting in the middle, it was that hard.

But I was sick, I had a cold and it was the first one I had had in a year I think. I was pissed off because I rarely get sick and here I was with a rotten cold that hit me Saturday and on Wednesday I was still feeling the effects of it. I hate taking medication but the evening before I had to, David and Cooper were mad as I had been coughing all night and I couldn't breathe. I succumbed to sudafed and I know it is why I had such a hard time training.

We started out with squats with chains. I love squats. These were fairly light, I think when you add the chains to the weight it was maybe 95 pounds. I might be off, it could have been slightly more. I really wasn't thinking clearly. But Roy said he would tell me when to stop, and he didn't say stop until 20 reps. That was intentional too. We would do set after set after set of 20 reps, all the way down to the ground and a very short rest period in between. I was breathing hard. We did 4  sets, which is 80 squats. And halfway through he doubled up the chains, which means the weight increased by 20 pounds.

Then we went into the killer- front foot elevated split squats. But by now you know Roy and it wasn't just any split squat. I had to make sure that the front knee extended way out front to his hand, but he kept pulling his hand farther and farther away. The back leg had to have a strong stretch, and I had to feel this all in my front quad while holding 20 pound dumbbells. My right adductor was tight, it pulled.

20 reps on the left leg and 20 on the right. I actually dropped the weights after the first 20 and begged for a break. I am not a whiner, these made me whine, I was angry at myself.

I had to find a place my head could be so I could get through this, I did, but it's not a place I want to visit again. 

4 sets on each leg, that's another 80 reps per leg. My legs were shaking, my quads were pumped and hard. Roy said he could see them swell from across the room, and I am sure he could, I could feel the blood gorging in my legs.

Roy said he wanted to see me collapse on the ground, I told him I would not. I refuse to lose the battle, I did all the reps as required. 

I joked about my upcoming night out- I had clothes set out to go straight out to dinner - I would need to get pants with bigger legs tonight, surely my regular jeans would not fit.

Rest...and I thought that I won't be looking forward to Wednesdays for the next three weeks. It only means heavier weights or more reps, either one would surely kill me.

Time for the sled, it would be 135 pounds added and I was to push it across the room and back, driving the knees up, powering as fast as possible. How many sets? Take a guess..4

The next day was Thanksgiving, my legs were tight and squatting down hurt, so each time I basted the turkey I hauled it out of the oven and onto the cooktop, it was easier. The following day both adductors were tight and sore and now for some reason bending over caused my hamstrings to talk back, everything was a bit sore.

At least when I woke up on Friday, my cold seemed to be almost gone, it lasted a week, and if all goes according to history, it should be another year or even longer before I get another. I started thinking about Saturday, it's leg day. I wonder if I can make myself do those split squats?

Next Wednesday is actually looking a little more interesting to me now!




3 comments:

  1. Aloha Kristy, I know of that place in your head you had to visit during your workout Kristy.. It really is not a place that is very fun to visit, but sometimes we need to go there to be able get through the pain and torture we are experiencing when we are pushing ourselves to the point of no return. I have visited this place many time myself..

    Tomorrow is Wednesday so hopefully now that you are feeling better you will have a better experience with Quad day =) I will be sending good thoughts your way girl!

    Debra
    http://islandgurl1.blogspot.com/

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  2. Debra- I did it! And I was right- he increased the weights.It was still a really, really tough workout, I mean just starting with 100 squats when some people never even do 20 squats is bad enough! ha ha

    Kristy

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  3. Aloha Kristy,

    Good girl =) I do a workout that is called 100's, I am sure you have heard of this workout or something similar? I would do 100's mainly when I was at the final weeks of my training before competing, but still do them as a way to shock my muscles every few weeks or so. What you do is one week of 100 training each body part 2x each on a 4 day on, 1 day off schedule. Each exercise I do for the body part will be 100 straight reps.

    Example: You would do your normal one or two muscle group combo, and 3-4 exercises per body part. There are no 3-4x sets. Instead it would be 100 straight reps each exercises. You may have to place a few different weight amounts to get through the total 100, but you do them straight without rest.

    So if I was doing standing barbell curls I would start at my normal weight of 60lbs for as many reps as I can do. Then go to next lower weight 55lbs doing as many reps as possible. This goes on till I reach 100 reps. The only break would be to grab the lighter weight. Then I take a 120 sec. break between the next 100 exercise.

    I think it's time to do some 100's this coming week too =) I do love them! Love the pump and shock they give my muscles.. "Growth" & "Definition"

    Have a amazing Thursday workout girl!


    Debra
    http://islandgurl1.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete