Workouts - Strength-based leg workout & battleropes!

Hey everyone,

As Tannys wrote earlier, we are both feeling a bit under the weather (admittedly, her more than me).  Perhaps it was the travelling, with exposure to more people, altered routines and diets, etc.?  In any case, I wanted to do a workout this evening but didn't want to put my body under too much stress and risk developing a full-blown cold.


Lately, I have started to incorporate more deadlifts into our fitness routine.  It is a very fundamental move - picking up something heavy off the ground.  However, for some reason, I have a lot of difficulty with this move - I can't lift nearly as much (proportionately) as some of my other lifts.  For example, I can bench press more than I can deadlift, which is very unusual and may even represent a strength imbalance...

Thus, I decided to start this workout with deadlifts.  I did a few warmup sets, then loaded the bar up to a challenging weight and managed about 6-7 reps, for 5 sets.  I consciously took a good rest in between the sets to ensure that I wasn't overly tired (i.e. risking injury).  One of the toughest parts of this move was grip, as I started to lose my grasp on the bar by the final reps.

When I had finished deadlifting, I moved onto front squats.  These are not traditionally seen as a strength move (where you lift heavy weights).  Personally, I prefer them to traditional squats, where the bar rests across the back of your neck.  I feel that they are safer for my lower back (as you are forced to maintain a tight core and fully upright posture in a front squat).

Front squats (not demonstrated by me)

For the front squats, I did five sets, using increasing weight.  I managed to only decrease my reps by one each set (i.e. 10, 9, 8, 7, and 6 for the final and heaviest set).  In the final set, I set a personal record of lifting 265lbs.  I should note that I don't squat as low as the picture above, instead taking my legs to parallel to the ground (as if sitting back into a chair).  Some choose to go lower, but I am concerned with the safety of a really deep knee bend with that much weight.

Since I still had some energy at the end of the workout (probably due to the rest breaks), I decided to have some fun with our battleropes.  For those that aren't familiar with them, battleropes are a thick, heavy piece of rope that you loop around a fixed object to perform exercises.  We first saw them online (check them out on youtube) and ordered them from the States (they aren't something you'll find in your local fitness store - unless you have a really awesome fitness store with cutting edge gear!).

Tannys helped take some photos of the three moves I did - making waves, slams, and side-to-side slams.  Although this may not look very challenging, these ropes are 2 inches thick and the 50 feet of rope weighs close to 50lbs in total.  It's a great cardio challenge and is also helping me work on my grip strength.

Waves

Slams

Side-to-side slams

That was just the right amount of challenge for the workout.  I left with a sense of accomplishment and have felt energized the whole evening since I finished.

By getting back into our fitness and tightening up our diet (post-travel), we'll soon be back to feeling 100%!

- Alex