Exerbabble for 10-11-6

Today’s Workout:

DB Front Squat: 5 @ 25 lbs, 5×5 @ 40 lbs

BB Hack Squat:
5 @ 45 lbs
5 @ 135 lbs
5 @ 185 lbs
3 @ 205 lbs
5, 4 @ 185 lbs

Single-legged Calf Raise: 5×5 @ 100 lbs

Leg Curl:
5 @ 96 lbs
5 @ 108 lbs
5 @ 120 lbs
5 @ 132 lbs
5 @ 120 lbs

current bodyweight: 156.2 (+2 lbs, weekly average of 155.25 lbs)

This was one of the oddest workouts I’ve ever had. I didn’t really like it. Not so much for difficulty, but due to lack of intensity. Hardest part with DB front squats is just keep your upper body stable, as well as ensuring the dumbbells don’t fall off your shoulder. They left some nice red marks afterwards, as they obviously shifted a little bit. I’m amused at how I have to deadlift them up from the floor, then hang clean them to get them up on my shoulders. I lowered myself until I felt my hamstrings touch my calves, then went back up.

I’ll have to start watching some Hack Squat videos, because I seriously did not like what that did to me. I’m used to keeping my spine safe, but I felt like it was all over the place. While deadlifting, I’ve never had the bar hit my shines. But hack squatting, the bar was rubbing right against my calves. Then mid-way up, it hits my hamstrings. Are you supposed to shift your body so you can get it all the way up? That shifting is what threw my spine out of the protected position. And! For a supposedly quad-dominant exercise, I felt it mostly in my glutes and hamstrings.

Leg curls were supposed to come first, but someone was using the good machine. I was surprised at how little I could calf raise unilaterally. It was also painfully clear that my right calf is MUCH stronger than my left. My left would struggle to finish the set, then my right would just pop them right out.

As for leg curls themselves, I made sure to explode on the concentric, and control the eccentric down. I made sure the machine was adjusted so I wasn’t hyperextending my knee. For a supposedly evil exercise, I felt just fine.

Adjustments: Should be able to clean 45 lb dumbbells to my shoulders. I’ll keep my hack squats at an easy 185 lbs and research proper form in the mean time. Leg curls should be right at 120 lbs. Adding weight to calf raises is dependent on my left leg. I’ll do as much as it can, and have my right match it.

Man, I’m glad Phase III is only four weeks. I’m underwhelmed.