Leg Workout For October 24th 2022

While M was having his breakfast I worked on my legs using the Escalating Density Training protocol. 

Equipment Required:

  • One Kettlebell 
  • One chair
  • One homemade slant board / lifting platform
  • About 5 square feet of space

Exercise Selection:

Superset one consisted of:

  • Slant board single leg  step up with bodyweight
  • Single Leg Romanian Deadlift with 35lb Kettlebell
  • 5 reps each x as many sets as possible in 15minutes
  • Completed 8 sets for 40 reps each exercise

3 minutes rest followed by the second superset.

Superset two consisted of:

  • Kettlebell suitcase single leg step up on chair
  • Kettlebell corkscrew or “twister” swings
  • 5 reps each x as many sets as possible in 15 minutes
  • Completed 8 sets for 40 reps total each exercise

Notes:

Starting with a bodyweight only exercise is a great way to warm up before upping the intensity with added resistance.  Goals for this workout were to work the VMO (vastus medialis oblong AKA the quad “teardrop” muscle that runs along the inside of the leg above the knee).  The slant board is great for working that muscle with just your bodyweight and really helps to bulletproof the knees and make it stronger across all movements.  Chasing the boys and picking them up is greatly improved with this because it increases stability and lessens the chance of falling and / or injuring yourself.  

Single leg Romanian deadlifts are fantastic for balance work.  Getting your feet to open up and using your toes to grip the floor strengthens them and builds a stronger foundation.  Key points are  to really feel the stretch in the back of the leg at the bottom of the lift to insure you’re working the posterior muscles ( glutes and hamstrings ).  Taking it slow, finding, and keeping your balance is super challenging to not only the prime movers but also the stabilizer muscles.  Keeping your non lifting foot / leg off the floor through the whole repetition is another added challenge.  If not able to keep your balance you can use your hand on the wall and / or your non lifting foot on the floor at the top of the rep.  

Superset two’s first exercise involved more range of motion to work the whole leg after the limited range of motion of the slant board step up.  Added the 35lb kettlebell to challenge the core stabilization and work the muscles of the leg a bit more.  Changed which hand was holding the kettlebell to different sides of which leg was working to challenge balance.

Final exercise was a dynamic, ballistic kettlebell swing with a twist.  David Weck calls it the “coil swing”.  I call it the kettlebell twist swing.  Tomato , potato.  Besides working the posterior chain ( glutes, hamstrings, low back, etc.) the twist at the top of the swing involves more of the obliques and serratus.  Anything that gives me a little more overall system challenge in my limited workout time is a win / win in my book.  

Got super sweaty from this workout and my legs were getting that jelly-like feeling that is a personal indicator that it was a good training session.  After the training session total time of 33 minutes I cleaned up quickly and gave M his mid-morning bottle and he promptly fell asleep in my lap which allowed me to write this up.  

Summary:

Short but intense workouts seem to be working well for me in terms of challenge, intensity, and not interfering too much with taking care of the boys.  Well under 45 minutes total for the workout.  M didn’t get upset as he was having breakfast in his high chair and watching me train was entertaining enough for him.