A-Jock - Your current lower body set?

K

karri

Active Member
A-Jock,

I just read (and printed) your current upper body set posted in the "Videos Limiting You?" thread. It looks great and was hoping you'd be willing to also share your current lower body set. Also, I think I remember you posting about using a weighted vest for lower body work. Was that you? That's something I'm interested in to enable me to squat additional weight without having to lift it over my shoulders. I'd appreciate your educated opinion regarding the vest.

I'm on the board quite a bit, usually just lurking but I've got to tell you that I really enjoy reading your always entertatining and enlightening posts. Thanks!

Karri:D
 
Hi, Karri! Thanks for your kind words!

My current lower body set, which I do 1-2 times per week, is probably even more boring than my upper body set.

10 minutes of sustained, limited-rest squats, plie squats and lunges to music at no greater than 110 beats per minute, with 45-lb barbell and 25-lb weight vest (more on that in a minute). These are performed in varying tempos with increasing holds at the bottom.

15 minutes of long-leg, single joint work with 9-lb ankle weights: standing and kneeling rear long leg lifts, standing and side-lying side leg lifts (for the abductors), side-lying inner-thigh leg lifts (for the abductors) and HFL decline hamstring bridges for the hams, with one heel on a chair and working leg 90 degrees, and an additional 30-lb dumbbell on pelvic area for added resistance. The long-leg work again is conducted at varying tempos with some holds at the top of the lift. I'll admit I'm lazy about targeted quad work AND targeted calf work.

For slow barbell squats and lunges, yes I absolutely swear by my weight vest. Because I can increase the weight load very incrementally (because the rods are 1/2-lb each) I can up it each time I want so that it's just over the threshold of just noticeable difference, and build strength comfortably.

Please note that in other land workouts I do, I love love LOVE leg-circuit-style routines such as Body Max power circuit segment, the CTX Power Circuit circuit segment, the Boot Camp cardio/lower-body only premix, the KPC extended 82-minute circuit routine, the Step Jump Pump hi/lo circuit routine (doing leg circuits only; I get more of a cardio push with leg circuits only), Circuit Max with leg circuits using moderate (45-lb) barbell rather than compound lower/upper body stuff with dumbbells, AND (last night's sweat factory) Gauntlet with leg circuits only. Thus I get additional leg barbell squat/plie/lunge work in, albeit with a lighter weight load.

One of my limitations is my reluctance to experiment with new lifting protocols. I buy ALL of Cathe's productions, cardio AND strength, and am trying to be a bit more adventuresome in terms of, like, USING some of the lifting workouts!

Don't know if this helps, but there it is, in all it's boring glory.

a-jock
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A-Jock,

Thanks for responding so quickly. Your workout sounds great and I will definitely be printing this one out as well. You sure are inspiring. The weighted vest is on the top of my Want list, and after reading your post, it's going to be the next exercise equipment purchase.

When the weather gets warmer and my pool warms up, don't be surprised to see a question from me to you asking about aqua workouts:7

I gotta tell you, the post you wrote about Squirrel Fitness magazine or some such thing had me laughing out loud! Thanks again for the entertaining posts!}(

Karri
 
Hi, Karri! Thanks again! A week after you've gotten your weight vest you won't be able to remember life without it (kind of like cell phones and kids). Please let me know if you need any info re aqua workouts - on that subject I'm kind of arrogantly confident of the quality of my comments.

Since you brought up the subject, I submitted an article to Squirrel Fitness entitled "SquirrelPool: An Idea Whose Time Has Come". To date I've gotten no response from the editors. Hopefully Soosan can tell me if they ever published it.

A-Jock
 
A-Jock, did you write that article under a pseudonym? It was in last month's issue and I read it voraciously but I didn't realize you were the author! It was brilliant! I've actually taken my pet, Rocky, to try out some of the exercises at our local Y. (I live in the boonies and they have a rodent section in the pool.)

You mentioned in the other thread that you stopped subscribing because they were recommending the Atkins Diet to various rodentia. I was skeptical, too at first (after all, Rocky is an herbivore), but he had gotten a little overweight, so we gave it a shot. I was amazed! He lost 1.5 ounces in one week! (The ketosis did give him some awful breath, though. Yuk.)

You should reconsider your subscription.
 
A-jock, I just have to say that you are amazing.I guess you have proved the theroy wrong.The theroy that the more we lift the heavier we get.I have always thought that if I gave up weight lifting I would go down on the scale.Not that it would matter b/c it would be muscle I would be losing ,while my body got bigger and less compact.I am truely impressed and I am thinking that I may have to put some heavy weight training days into my routine.But I do gain muscle fast,I hope that doesn't work against me!
Lori
 
Ok, you guys and your sense of humor lost me here.... I read it and read it and read it and STILL don't get it....Oh well.......:)



Janice
 
RE: To Soosan . . .

(if that IS your real name . . .)

As a matter of fact, I wrote that article under my professional pseudonym "Bald-Two-Oh". Thanks for the follow-up re Rocky. I'm sure you realize that the 1.5 oz. he lost was a combination of the energy expenditure of the brilliant exercises I listed, AND the fur that is commonly lost when squirrels go on Rodenti-Atkins (usually through the tail).

Rather than re-subscribe, I may start my own newsletter. There are too many rodents out there getting misinformation.

A-Jock
 
Hi, LoriHart! Thanks for your kind words! One thing to keep in mind about The A-Jock's Brain is this: I don't give one royal rat's @$$ about scale weight. I, like you, fortunately build muscle mass relatively quickly and easily as long as I'm lifting weight loads that challenge me and as long as I'm consistent on a weekly basis.

One thing I've noticed is that people who start lifting heavier, especially heavy leg training, fail to exploit their increased power potential that they gain through muscle development in their cardio routines. Stronger muscles CAN translate into increased cardio intensity by enabling you to do more intense workouts. There's no way I could do the hi-octane cardio stuff I do, both on land and in the water, if I didn't lift heavy. By the same token, if I didn't go as intensely as I do in my cardio stuff, I'm sure I'd have even greater mass.

Finding the appropriate balance is unique to each exerciser. It's worth the time to experiment to find what works for you!

A-Jock
 
RE: To Soosan . . .

A-Jock, your empathy toward our rodent friends brings a tear to my eye. So many others are out to exploit them, even SF, it seems. Please put Rocky and me on your mailing list.

Oh, and your hunch about my name was right. It's really Sooooooooooooosan.
 
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