Here’s my home gym:
I’ve trained at home for about 20 years. It was a great way to ensure I’d get my workouts in even when my babies were, well, babies….I had a whack of custom equipment in not a ton of floor space. Well, as it turns out, babies grow, my oldest just returned from Africa and has plans on returning and then wants to go to university out of my city. My youngest is 15 and I can see him growing up just as fast. I joined a commercial gym for fun and variety and decided that I’d like to train there full time.
So this past weekend, I parted with most of my home gym. A super cool tuff guy named Dawson (with a heart of gold), drove 10 hours to pack up all he could fit into his truck and trailer. He thought I was selling my equipment at such a reduced cost (I practically gave it away), to ‘get back at someone’. No, I just wanted to pay it forward to someone that would make good use of it all.
I love the fact that this dude had a past that he is making up for now by helping a ton of people. My gym would go towards not only helping this man and his young family get ahead, it would help others get fit and feel good about themselves. Win-win….even if I didn’t make a ton of money on the sale, I feel very rich from the experience of paying it forward. And as it turned out, there wasn’t enough room in the truck and trailer for everything, so I have opportunity to sell three more pieces.
As an aside, prior to Dawson coming to my door, a few Mormons showed up asking about my faith. I feel very good about my faith and didn’t want to discuss it further with them. They weren’t eager to leave and I’m not one to slam a door. They asked if they could provide any ‘service’ to me…hmmm…I thought about asking them to loosen their ties and start hauling plate weight into Dawson’s trailer in a few minutes, but I didn’t have the heart. Honestly, I think the thought and sight of moving all that equipment (and Dawson himself) may have tested their faith a little too much that day….
I digress!
This blog post is about an old love.
I love to squat.
I missed squatting when my knee was super sore, swollen and not talking to me. (Well, I completely ignored the whining it was doing…)
I feel like somehow I’ve been miraculously healed. I’ve done some cycling, icing and I basically gave it some rest (advice I freely dispense but don’t take myself as much 😉 ) and my knee feels pretty good. I”m not ready to take on a marathon, I’d just as soon poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick even if I had healthy knees, but I’m back to training legs hard again. I’m going easy on the impact but I’ve incorporated some jump rope (another favorite) and burpees. I haven’t been doing burpee pull ups while the elbow heals and I”m not up for box jumps or anything too plyometric until I get the knee scoped and fixed up…
Turns out there’s something to be said about taking my own advice about rest, ice and rehab 😉
Here’s my workout today. (I know my weights aren’t overly impressive. Remember I”m a 40 something 120 lb women with a torn meniscus. For me, it doesn’t matter what your weights are, as long as they’re a ‘challenge’ for you.)
I suggest picking a weight for your first set (I did 135 and 145) as one that you can do for 10-15 reps without too much difficulty. Drop the weight an equal amount each set, take no rest at anytime until you get to the minute rest.
Down the rack squat set one:
135 x 8
115 x 8
95 x 8
Barbell stiff legged deads 85 x 10
Calf raises 135 x 30
40 push ups
Rest 1 min
Down the rack squat set two:
145 x 8
125 x 8
105 x 8
Barbell stiff legged deads 85 x 10
Calf raises 135 x 30
30 push ups
Rest 1 min
Down the rack squat set three:
145 x 8
125 x 8
105 x 8
Barbell stiff legged deads 85 x 10
Calf raises 135 x 30
20 push ups
Rest 1 min
Foam roll to cool down
Have a fun time with this one. Let me know what you think of ‘drop sets’ and what your numbers are.