Tags
Adapting your workout to your environment, Augmentation equipment, bio-mechanics, Cardio, Elbow Wraps, Knee Wraps, Leg day, Lifting Straps, Wrist Wraps
Hello all!
It’s early Saturday morning in Michigan!
Just wanted to drop my workout in and discuss a few more things.
One of the things I was thinking about is the use of various wraps and other devices that can assist you with your workouts. We are all individuals and some of you may have injured yourself, have weak knees, elbows, or wrists. I would imagine even a few of you have had back surgery (like me a few years back).
I’m not a big fan of using workout gloves, but these are an option if you don’t like getting calluses or have really sensitive hands. I’m not a spring chicken anymore and use knee wraps and wrist wraps. My elbows are ok, so I don’t need those yet. I use knee wraps on leg days and wrist wraps on those days I’m doing a lot of pushing, like on a shoulder, chest, or triceps workouts that require a lot of work by the wrists. I also use lifting straps.
Lifting Straps are used when your forearm strength is affecting your ability to lift heavy. My forearms are very skinny, but getting bigger because I work them. That being said, when I’m doing heavy shrug exercises or heavy row or pull-down exercises my forearms will tire before I’ve exhausted my Back or Shoulder muscles (Latisimus Dorsi and the Trapezius muscles). This is where lifting straps come into play. Over time your forearms will get stronger, but for the time being, you have to use what will assist you in building the muscle you want to build. In my case, I use straps when I am doing some heavy pulling motion to compensate for my weak forearms and wrists.
Another thing you need to think about is a term called biomechanics. Biomechanics in laymen’s terms is the range of motion or type of motion you can achieve with your individual physiology. Because of my back surgery, deep squats are no longer possible. This exercise puts too much strain on the discs closest to my hip and puts me at risk of damaging my back again, so I go down as far as my body will let me and stop. You may find certain exercises in the weight room just aren’t effective because of your personal biomechanics. Remember: It is your workout. You don’t need to follow a routine you find perfectly.
While I’m on this topic, you may also have a gym with limited weight lifting equipment. That’s ok. The key here is to adapt to what you have. There is nothing wrong with exchanging exercises or using a machine that is “like” the machine they describe. The point I’m making is to work the muscles in a given day, regardless of what you have available. If you don’t have a Smith rack, use something else. I hope this is clear.
Anyways, that’s it for today folks! Here’s my leg workout for today (see below). Tomorrow is a rest day, so I’ll only be doing two sessions of 20-minutes on the treadmill.
Today’s Workout
Leg extensions 130×10; 130×10; drop sets 100 reps no rest
Leg press 208×10; 208×30; 298×30; 378×30 (all rest pause sets)
Standing one leg curl 20×10; 20×20; 20×20; 20×20
Hack squat 2x90x10; 90×30; 110×30; 130×30;
20 minutes cardio;
Torso rotation 30×12; 50×12; 70×12
20 minutes cardio
Torso rotation 50×12; 70×12; 90×12
See you later today!
Dave
