Excercise Blog!

[Gliondrach]

I last did single leg squats on the 23rd. There was no knee pain the next day. I should have done them again on the 26th or 27th but I didn't. I will do some this evening.

[Gliondrach]

Yes, I did do the single leg squats two days ago. That time and the last time I reduced the rest period between sets to 35 seconds. No pain in my knees the next day. I must have strained the tendons on the occasions when I had knee pain the next day.

I did some single arm press ups this evening. I don't think I've done any for years - except when I tried to do them last year. But they caused too much pain in my back then. No pain today. Just a slight ache after the second set. Did four sets. Felt all right. I'll have to see what tomorrow brings.

I did them with my elbow out to the side. This is easier. The harder way to do them is with the elbow by the side of the body. I'll have to work my way up to that.

[Gliondrach]

Bird dogs and squat thrusts. Then single leg squats. I reduced the rest time between sets in the SLS to 30 seconds. I'll do them again at that rest time and then add weight and increase the rest time the next time I do them.

As my back was all right after doing single arm press ups, I think I will introduce some single leg Romanian dead lifts. These are good for strengthening the hamstrings and glutes. Single leg squats also target those muscles but are more for the quadriceps.

The Romanians require quite a bit of balance, especially when you are holdng a dumbbell.

[Gliondrach]

Did upper body weight training today including single arm press ups. Just a bit of a niggling twinge in the left sacro-iliac joint during the first couple of sets. I think my back is ready to do the Romanian wotsits.

[Gliondrach]

I've been doing single leg squats recently with just body weight. The last 2 times I did them with 30 second rests between sets. Yesterday I did them with extra weight. Rested for 45 seconds between sets. I would normally go back to 60 second rests after reducing to 30 seconds but there wasn't enough weight for me to need such long rest periods.

I'll have to be careful because the last time I used weights in this exercise I re-strained my back.

[Gliondrach]

When doing the single leg squats I usually feel an ache in my lower back. When I was doing single arm press ups yesterday I felt a slight pain in my left sacro-iliac joint when doing them with my right arm. My lower back felt a bit stiff earlier today but feels a lot better now. I think I need to do the bird dog exercise more often. I used to do it regularly and it helped to heal my back. But it is rather boring. Now, I probably only do it about once every 6 or 7 days. The muscles along my spine - the multifidus - probably need improving. And the bird dog can do it.

[Gliondrach]

During the single leg squats my lower back was aching. Not at the spine but at each side. I think it might be the quadratus lumborum muscles. As I go into the full squat, the QL muscle on the side opposite to the leg I'm using has to stabilise my torso as that side has no support. There is also quite a lot of forwards bend from the hips. My back feels all right now. I'll have to wait to see what tomorrow brings.

[Gliondrach]

I hadn't done any upper body training since the 14th and no single leg squats since the 17th. My lower back felt stiff. And I felt very lethargic on the 21st. Too hot. It always takes me a few weeks to get used to the hot weather. As used to it as I can. Which isn't much.

I exercised yesterday. Because I've missed so many sessions, I did single arm press ups, some chin ups and single leg squats. I did more squats than usual - almost to failure in each set - but just with bodyweight. I felt really tired later in the evening. The hot weather again.

Very slight delayed onset muscle soreness in my legs today. Hardly noticeable, though.

[Gliondrach]

For the last few weeks I've been doing all my training on one day, instead of doing lower body one day and upper body the next. My elbows were hurting when I did weighted chin ups so I went back to doing just bodyweight ones. Since doing all the exercises on the same day, I've changed the method. I now do as many repetitions as I can without going to failure. I stop when I feel that I could only manage to do one more. But I don't do one more. In the last set of any particular exercise I might strain to do the last one that I possibly can. Or I might not. I rest for 60 seconds between sets.

I still do bodyweight chin ups. My elbows feel all right now so I will go back to weighted ones. Another reason I stopped doing weighted ones was for safety. My chinning bar is the type you put in a doorway and then twist one end to extend it until it's tight. This is not very secure. It has collapsed a few times. I have put some nails in the doorway at the place where I put the bar. About six on each side. The bar goes on top of these and they give extra support. But even these aren't secure. I won't use extra weight in the chin ups until I can make the bar more secure.

I'll be going back to doing the strength-endurance method soon for all but the chin ups. I'll have to wait for a more secure bar position before I do that.

I'm currently doing single arm press ups, chin ups, bent over dumbbell rowing, and single leg squats.

I used more weight than normal in the single leg squats on Monday, the 5th. My lower back was a bit sore. But when I went out on Tuesday I was hardly limping at all. It was the best day's walking I've had in more than 2 years.

I have also been practising standing on one leg at odd moments of the day - such as when I'm watching telly. I swing the other leg backwards and forwards or side to side. I think this is helping my back. The hamstrings and glutes have to do a lot of work to keep the balance and counteract the movement of the other leg.

[Gliondrach]

I'll be doing my weight training soon. I've been doing single arm press ups, off and on, since I was a teenager. I started doing them again after my recent back trouble. But I've always done the type with the arm out. I saw on beastskills that there is another version - with the elbow in and the arm pressing agaist the body. I tried it a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't do it! Obviously, my triceps aren't as strong as I thought they were. I can knock out quite a few of the 'arm out' style. I used to do them with my feet raised 30 inches off the ground. But I can't do even one 'arm in'. So I've started practising them. I use my other hand to take a bit of the weight and I do as much as I can with the working arm. I will master it. I am, after all, a vegan.

You can see the two versions here:
ht---tp://ww---w.beastskills.com/OneArmPushup.htm

[Gliondrach]

Didn't do any exercises. My sister rang and we chatted for about an hour. Then something about Mussolini was on telly. I had been looking forward to watching it. So I did. Then it was too late to exercise.