I had a personal training session w/ Ian Kay yesterday in Boston. Ian is super nice and spent a ton of time with me. Thanks Ian!!
Here's what we went over (not necessarily in this order, but to be done in this order for my workouts):
Foam rollers, for my quads (front and side). 20-30 seconds on each part, to loosen it up since I'm (predictably) very quad dominant. Painful, but in a good way. Ian said it was to break up the fascia, "like the saran wrap on meat". Yum.
Hip Flexor Stretch (one knee on ground, foot on a bench; other foot on the ground in front like a lunge. sit up, squeeze butt to stretch out my quads) and Neck Stretches (tilt to side, arm behind back; chin tucked 2nd time). The first for my hips - when we were doing squats, I was having trouble getting really low because I felt it in my left hip (not painful, just tight). The second because I have REALLY tight traps and neck. Felt REALLY good.
Toe Touch Progression - for really tight hamstrings, etc. I can't come close to touching my toes! Elevate toes on something, feet together, knees locked. Towel between knees and squeeze it when it gets to the hurting point when I'm trying to touch my toes. He said to do ~10 reps between my other warmup exercises. These hurt - my legs are SO tight.
He also gave me tips on my deads and squats and pushups. Tucking my elbows in closer on the pushups = owww.
Quote:
Deadlift:
Feet closer together than on a squat.
You tilt forward at the waist, rather than squatting back.
Keep your chin tucked, but your chest up.
Your arms should be like hooks: firm and unbending.
Push hard through yoiur heels, squeeze your butt hard at the top.
Squat:
Feet should be shoulder width apart, toes turned out about 30 degrees.
The bar should be flat against your upper back, rather than your neck.
Keep your thumb close to your fingers, rather than wrapped around the bar.
Your wrists should be straight, not bent under the weight of the bar.
Begin by pushing your butt/hips backwards, then bend your knees.
Just like the dealdlift, keep your chin tucked.
From the bottom, squeeze your butt and push through your heels.
Push-Ups:
Keep your shoulder blades in your back pocket... so that your neck doesn't scrunch.
Elbows close to your body.
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I was also having trouble with my Step-ups, because my knee would fall inward pretty badly. He had me use a band around my knee (attached to a pole or something) so that it pulls me knee in and activates the opposite muscles. Worked GREAT. I was working really hard to keep it straight. I can get about half a full ROM here; I have to push off a little and at a certain point going down it just fails, but I know I can improve on these fairly quickly.
He also made the prone jackknives harder for me, haha. Toes on the ball, butt higher (more like a pike). "Like a plank and a crunch at the same time!"
We also did Wall Slides and YTWLs, again for my back/neck. I should definitely incorporate these in at bodyweight even though they don't come up in Stage 1, just because I really need to work my back and focus on that area. I have terrible posture and these helped me think about that area a lot.
We did the practice deadlifts with the bar+25s, which is more than I was doing before. Will have to start there next time.
I'm a little sore today actually! Mainly in my back, which is from the wall slides and YTWLs. My legs feel less sore, just getting accustomed, I guess. My left arm was feeling REALLY tight all night and this morning. It's not a muscle, at least not one I can activate. It hurts between my shoulder and elbow, on the back, when I lift my arm over my head (the Y motion or the top of a wall slide). It's not painful, it just feels really tight, so I've been trying to stretch it out a little during the day. I'm wondering if its a tendon or something that just got pulled a little too hard yesterday.
I'm going to be up bright and early tomorrow morning to go to the gym with a coworker. He's been on Weight Watchers and lost 15lbs but got interested when I had my NROLW book at work and bought NROL so good for him
I'm trying to start going in the morning before work instead of after; it feels so good after a workout I'm hoping it will make me more alert and feel better at my desk all day. I don't mind going after work, as long as I don't go home first, but I have time in the a.m. so I'm gonna try that! Will report back tomorrow