Leg Day...

Happy MLK day friends,

One week closer to goal...13 weeks and counting! My nutrition ratios are the same as last week but I suspect they will change next week. Mondays are always the hardest day in terms of working out since I'm technically still "on weekend" mode. Compared to everything else to consider when training, gym sessions are the easiest part of the pie! Cardio is a different story for me but I'll get to that later.

One of the most important things for strength training is a great work out buddy. People simply think a good work out buddy is a person that can lift close to the same weight as you and be present in case you need help. In my experience, there is sooo much more involved in finding the perfect work out partner for efficiency and maximum gains....it's harder than you think!! Aside from holding each other accountable to sessions and "spotting," they need to push you to your threshold physically but, more importantly, there HAS to be a psychological trust involved. A trust and understanding of how far and precisely how much the other person can endure...especially on weak days. I've found that person in Greg...he has been the absolute best work out partner! With his personal training experience and medical background, he has taken me to a whole different training level during the off season. I'd like to think I've pushed him just as hard and chuckle every time we get comments from any of his former clients. "It's good to actually see someone else making you work so hard," one of them said as he was struggling on his last reps of rear delt flyes and red in the face....ya gotta love it! haha. Even though we lift different amounts of weight, we do exactly the same routine and exercises. I personally don't believe in "girl exercises" (let's-try-to-balance-this-while-pushing-that-while-standing-on-your-head kind of thing) and laugh when I see those movements featured in an article or magazine. Men and women aren't very different so why try to complicate it?

We work out six days a week (Monday to Saturday) focusing on a specific body part each day starting with legs. I incorporate a cardio session immediately after my strength training three days a week generally Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I also add an abdominal routine after my non cardio days. This is week three (of six) of the hypertrophy (the phase of actual muscle building lifting heavy enough weight to do three-four sets between six and ten reps) cycle. This was my leg work out routine today:

Hack Squat machine
--90x10, 115x8, 115x8, 115x8

Hamstring movement on Calf raise machine
--10,10,10

Leg Press on machine
--450x10, 540x8, 630x8

Box Squat with barbell
--45x10, 95x10, 135x8, 185x8

Calf Raises on machine
--70x15, 90x15, 110x15
----raises on leg press machine
------270x10, 270x10, 270x10

Til tomorrow!!
LM