pr-plateau-squat-painToday at the gym I had a guy next to me in the other smith machine that seemed to be overly equipped.  Hanging on the bar in between sets he had his two knee wraps and weight belt.  You would think the guy was pushing some serious iron.  The funny thing was the bar had a 25 pound plate and two 10’s on each side.  Granted he was doing split legged lunge squats which are tougher but still nothing requiring this level of reinforcement.

61Udli4njyL._SL1000_[1]Even funnier was the long break and prep/tear down following each set where he would carefully wrap up each knee and latch up the belt before and reverse the process after.  It all just seemed overly dramatic.  Later I realized this is the same guy that brings in his own gravity boots and uses them to hang upside down for 2-3 minutes at a time.  He seemed to carry an attitude with him along with his extra equipment which made him even less likely to be a future gym conversationalist of mine.

I did legs today, returning to the Smith machine for deep squatting.  Last week I paid dearly for not doing weighted legs for a week or two with multiple days of pretty miserable lower body soreness.  I am hoping to avoid that by subjecting myself to my least favorite movements every week whether I like it or not. I used my feet less forward stance again this week and again felt more balanced under the bar.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Smith machine squats 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 7, 205lbs x 4, 225lbs x 2, 185lbs x 5

10 pull ups

Seated leg extension with 1 sec pause at top – 90lbs x 12

10 pull ups

Seated leg extension with 1 sec pause at top – 110lbs x 10

10 pull ups

Seated leg extension with 1 sec pause at top – 130lbs x 10

10 pull ups

Seated leg curl – 100lbs x 10

10 pull ups

Seated leg curl – 120lbs x 10

Seated leg curl – 140lbs x 8

10 pull ups

Rotary calf extension – 170lbs x 12, 250lbs x 8

10 pull ups