Glad you feel good about the PT apt. Weak quads can brood some pretty serious lower problems. We’ve all been beat in the head with ‘sit back, widen your stance, break at the hips’ etc etc. All that does is blunt the quads and abuse the hips.
You being tall also means you’re likely predispositioned to be more glute and back / posterior dominant. That means you have to work even harder on the quads.
Try spanish squats. Start with shallow depth and no weight and work your way down on depth and up on weight. This move may just be the best quad centric exercise that keeps the shin angle upright (knee and hip friendly).
You’ll get back. But first you must break the pain cycle. Sounds like you may be moving in the right direction.
I had to break it up yesterday but it hurt (in a good way) and I only had to use the bar. I’m sore (and tired) today like I did a real leg workout!
Edit: I just looked at Spanish squats. That looks like it will be very painful right now. The worst thing I do is go up the stairs two at a time with an upright torso. If I lean forward and shift everything to my glutes then I’m good.
My current squat is also a bodybuilder’s squat - narrow stance and high bar. It smokes my quads.
I know about them, but never done them. Thanks for reminding me. Will be a good add to my variation arsenal.
Shouldnt be painful at all. Monitor depth and weight. There’s no shearing force on knee, and you have an open hip joint due to upright posture. It’s very easy to control every portion of the rep because you’re tethered to the rack with the band.
This is the quad DESTROYER. If you want to bring them up, add this as assistance to your bber squats, perhaps as your second squat motion on your other lower day.
I’ve done tabata air squats as part of a tabata-centric Crossfit WOD back in the day, and they’re miserable even without a bar! Of course, the coach made us rest in the down position, which added to the suck…
You shouldn’t qualify that as ‘just like a real leg workout’. It definitely was.
BENT OVER ROW
147 x 10 x 5 sets Stupid bar weighed 47 and the plates were 50.
LAT PULL DOWN
140 x 12
150 x 10
170 x 8
180 x 6
190 x 4
200 x 4 immediately drop to
100 x 20 unfortunately, I quit due to the burning in my forearms instead of my lats.
REVERSE CABLE FLY
20 x 10 x 3 sets
REVERSE CABLE FLY (REAR DELT EMPHASIS)
20 x 20 x 3 sets
CABLE ROW (LOW PULLEY)
130 x 15 x 3 sets
REVERSE CABLE CURL (350 SET)
80 x 25, 13, 12
I wasn’t really feeling much in my lats or anywhere I wanted to feel it. It finally occurred to me to hold the contraction. So on the cable rows I used light weight and squeezed the contraction like I was doing with the Wendler Rows the other day. Much better. I’m going to have to remember this and try it on lat pull downs too. Overall, this was an average session at best. I got more than my half hour, but I felt like I needed to do more. I’ll probably try to do this workout at the Y after work when I can, but I’m meeting my new tenants to finalize the lease tonight.
Whenever I have access to a pulldown machine, I can’t help but use the V-grip handle and knock out a few sets. Definitely the exercise that I get the best lat contraction with.
The Y got rid of their neutral grip pull down set up. It had two pulleys instead of one for pull downs and it was glorious. I have to stick with a pronated grip and a bench press width grip on my pulling right now. If I don’t then my biceps tendon pops out of the groove.
Hey, @jackolee, what degree or degrees do you have to be head of operations at your place of employment? Don’t tell my wife, but I’m kicking around ideas for my next career.
Last year I went as far as meeting with an advisor about going back to school to be a teacher. She talked me out of it. I’m always looking to do something different with work and it drives her nuts. She’s convinced that I just don’t like to work. She may be right.
Story of my liiifffeee. Then I read all those “if you like what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”, and I get angry due to how much I dislike my job. The people are great, and money pays the bills, but I’m living for the weekends.
My income is great, but that’s easy to say since it’s the most I’ve ever made. I currently make about $25/hr. My co-workers are alright but I don’t exactly hang out with them on the weekends (or weekdays, in my case). And my job is dealing with people who suck. It’s wearing out its welcome.
Well, I’d like to think I could find a way to make $50k while not changing my geography so there’s 2 out of 3 doing something else…
I’m planning long (ish) term. If I stay here for another five years then I’ll be able to retire with 25% of my income. I have a feeling that I may need to go back to school and I’d prefer to chip away at that with a class here and there. That would put me in a position to take a new job and be ready to go at the 10 year mark instead of looking for a job and then trying to get myself qualified.
I’m planning to meet with the director of the Y and see what we come up with. If they have a position that seems like it would make me happy then I’ll probably start preparing myself for it. I’m not expecting to be able to just show up and get a great job. A lot of people work their way up so I’ll do what I can between now and then (volunteering or working part time) to make myself a good candidate when the time comes.
I’m right there with you man. After a couple forays into the start-up world I found myself back in software sales and ugh. Pays well for sure, but it’s definitely not for me anymore.
I’m planning a trip to the local university to talk to them about grad programs.
I got a good response from my alma mater about changing careers. He said to find someone who has the job you want and figure out what they did to get there. You don’t have to copy their path but it will give you a good place to start.
I’m convinced that being happy at work is rare and a myth; however, you don’t have to be miserable. I’m just hoping to find a position with my department that I don’t mind doing or finding a new career altogether. I am jealous of people who get to dress normal for work instead of putting on 30 lbs worth of gear.
Well a degree really isn’t required, but… most positions like mine require around 50% of your job to be coaching. For us a firm understanding of USA gymnastics girls levels 1-7 and or Tumbling and Trampoline levels 1-8 is an essential piece of the puzzle. We like a candidate to have 3-5 years management experience as well.
If your looking at a more general sports center like a YMCA or health club with sports leagues a degree in kinease or recreation parks and tourism science should foot the bill. Surprisingly enough a lot of places don’t require a degree.
Mines not related at all. BA in graphic design and minor in tv radio broadcast.
I have a B.A. in Exercise Science which is my school’s general kinesiology degree. I’m considering a master’s in Sport Management if necessary. But, like I said above, I need to find the job I want and go from there.
If I have to go back to school then hopefully I can get a master’s degree. No sense in having two bachelor’s degrees in terms of generating income.
You can get in the door of almost any job you want with a bachelor’s degree - they can be general. If you get a master’s, they have to be more specific, so definitely pick what you want there. MBAs are becoming somewhat ubiquitous, though.
I’d imagine you’re more than Y-qualified now. My wife is doing relatively well with the Y, and all she needed was an ACE certification. Ironically, her background is also as a police officer.
Anyway, good luck! That retirement will be nice no matter what!
I could work at the Y now but I’d like to (and probably need to) start out above the entry level spots/pay. That’s why I think I might need a management type degree and to do some part time work between now and whenever I retire. I can’t leave $25+/hr for $13/hr.
