Thanks for reading.
Here is the resistance training program I am currently doing for my lower body.
Warm up 10 minutes (random cardio machine or boxing circuit)
Body weight Lunges 1 x 20 (Leg specific warmup)
Dumbbell Squats 3 x 10-12
Barbell Deadlifts 3 x 8-12
Single Leg Dumbbell Calf Raise 3 x 10-12
Hamstring Pulldown 2-3 x 10-20 (first set light x 20 reps)
Adductor Pulldown 2-3 x 10-20 (as above)
Leg Raises 3 x 10-20
Why Dumbell Squats?, Firstly its either dumbell or smith machine squats. Secondly regardless I find when I do barbell squats the focus (for me anyway) becomes always going heavier (and I have to admit, sometimes at the expense of the deeper ROM). So I find that I focus on better technique and the full ROM with dumbell squats. 20kg in each hand is fine for the time being anyway.
Deadlift - Standard Olympic type lift
Standing Single Leg Dumbell Calf Raise - One leg at a time and a good trick I learned a long time ago was to add a small random pendulum like swing to the dumbell which adds more challenge to the calf as it not only raises you up and down but also has to stabilize your body.
Hamstring and Adductor Pulldowns.
Thanks to Patrick Smith from the MAP Forum that has allowed me to use this great picture which explains what they look like.
I perform these 2 days a week on a standard lat pulldown machine, 1 time per week I get to do them on a adjustable height cable pulldown machine.
Basically it is Extended Length Conditioning just using weights for the resistance rather than elastic resistance bands. I am finding this works much better for me than using resistance bands.
Will keep you updated on the progress.
The range of motion in the adductor pulldowns here looks a bit limited. It looks like it's done with the intent of keeping the pelvis stable so that the motion only occurs in the hip joint of the leg attached to the pulley cable.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fine movement on itself and does make the leverage increasingly challenging the higher you go... but as an alternate movement, people could allow the leg to go higher via allowing the pelvis to tilt up onto the base leg so that the hip joint of the cable-leg rises, allowing the foot to rise higher.
I think people are going to do this anyway, and it is probably a more specific stretch for the standing splits. Plus people are probably not going to be able to keep stiff pelvises anyway. This also allows us to stretch the adductors of he base leg. They will be working regardless of our position, may as well work them stretched out too rather than forcing them to stay shortened to keep the cable-side of the pelvis down.