As you know by now, I do enjoy getting up and working out, but Fridays are the day where I consider throwing everything out the window. I literally have to drag myself out of bed and go. Leg day is seriously the most dreaded day of the week. Why? Because I know how sore I'm going to be for the next few days. My trainer last year, Sandra, is a crazy woman. She believes in working legs once a week and completely killing them in the process. Now, her leg workouts work, but my gosh they're tough. It doesn't feel that bad while you're working them, but right when you stop is when the soreness starts. I'm really bad about being consistent with working my legs, just because the pain is so bad, but once I get them done and start to see results, it's completely worth it. This is the biggest physical challenge I face on a weekly basis. I absolutely hate it, but I know it must be done in order to benefit the rest of my body. (Plus, leg exercises keep your heart rate up, so you don't have to stress cardio exercise as much that day)! I challenge you to try it out for yourself! It is beneficial once you get through the first few weeks or so. Keep pushing through! Just think, if you stick with it, you'll never be as sore as the first day you started.
Start out with a 2-3 minute warmup. Just get your body moving
**Remember to rest 30-45 seconds in between each set (besides squats, lunges, dead lifts and side sumo squats)
-Leg Curls: 3 sets; 30 pounds (12 times each)
--leg curl machine is the one where you lay on your stomach and bend legs at the knee to where your feet almost touch your butt.
-Squats: 3 sets; 20 pounds (12 times each)
--There's many ways to do a squat, but this is the easiest one to start out with. Take a 20 pound dumbbell, turn it vertically and hold the top, hold it with your arms straight in the center of your body while keeping your back straight. Then squat as deep as you can.
-Lunges: 3 sets (12 times each)
--while resting in between squat repetitions, perform 10 lunges on each leg (keep switching back and forth between lunges and squats until you've done 3 sets of each)
-Dead Lifts: 3 sets; 20 pounds (12 times each)
--this can be done with a small weighted bar or dumbbells. Keep good posture, slight knee bend. Bend over as far as you can (don't let weights touch floor) and pull them back up to where you're standing straight.
-Side Sumo Lunge: 3 sets (12 times each)
--while resting in between dead lift sets, do side sumo lunges 12 times on each leg (24 total per set). Start standing straight up with feet together. Move on leg to the side and squat, stand back up straight then do the same thing with opposite leg.
-Leg Extension: 3 sets; 25 pounds (12 times each)
--Leg extension machine sits up like a chair, your ankles go under a bar and you lift up.
-Glute/Ham: 3 sets; 10 pounds (10 times each)
--this machine is hard to find sometimes. You sit on one knee support yourself with your elbows and kick back with the opposite leg that your knee is supporting. This can easily be done on the floor. Get on your elbows and knees and kick on leg back slowly.
**Make sure you stretch out really good after the workout is over**
If anyone tries this, let me know what you think. I think it's pretty darn tough.
Anyway, every day we have to face challenges and perform task that we aren't necessarily fond of. There are many unexpected things that are thrown at us also. In James it says for us to rejoice whenever we face hard trials. They develop perserverance, maturity and discipline so that we become better people. God wants us to trust Him with no matter what we're going through. He knows exactly what's going on, but He wants more than anything for us to talk to Him about it. He calls us His friend! God wants to be our very best friend. We can talk to Him about anything, just like you would any other friend. It took me a while to get my mind wrapped around that at first, but I enjoy telling God what's going on now. Just remember, whatever it thrown at you, whether it be evil leg workouts or something else, if you keep pushing through and trusting God, you'll come out stronger!
"...for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
No comments:
Post a Comment