Sorry for how long this has taken me to put up, but here's the second workout I completed post-ankle surgery.
To begin with I focussed on my upper half and on this day I was working my shoulders
I loaded up my dumbbells with 9kg of weight...
...and did the following shoulder exercises:
* Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 3 x 10 reps
* Standing Dumbbell Upright Rows - 3 x 10 reps
* Standing Dumbbell Shrugs - 3 x 10 reps
As you'll see from my workout notes... I had to do the last two exercises with my right leg bent on a stool behind me:
Next I took the weight down to 4kg
and worked on my Rotator Cuff:
* Seated Dumbbell Scarecrow - 3 x 10 reps
* Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Scaption - 3 x 10 reps
I used to use 3kg for the previous two exercises as they're surprisingly hard. However, the way my weight dumbbell weight plates work I couldn't get exactly 3kg so thought I'd up the weight and see if I could manage, which I could, which is fab as it's really difficult to make strength gains in subtle exercises like this that specifically target small and more-obscure muscles.
Upper body worked, I strapped on my ankle weights (2 on one leg)
and had a play around with a couple of exercises I hoped would target my leg muscles.
Before I continue I'd like to say again that these are only experimental exercises which will probably be a) too tame for most, but also b) not suitable for everyone... i.e. if you've had a knee arthroscopy as opposed to an ankle arthroscopy!
However, I am on a mission to get glutes and hamstrings like this amazing specimen:
...so I need to train whichever way I am able to!!
Last time I exercised I wanted to try a seated leg extension, however I was worried that as my stool is so low (it's really my dressing table stool!), I would need to put weight (albeit slight) on my right foot while extending my left leg and I didn't want to risk that.
As you can see from this pic, the fella demonstrating the exercise has both legs hanging down which means there's no weight resting on either foot and also it enables him to get a better 'swing' when extending the leg - i.e. from slightly further back than 90 degrees:
I bought this Ironman Adjustable Aerobic Step for a very cheap price from the fabulous SS Healthfoods Ltd. If you've not visited their site before I'd recommend you do, they claim to be the "UK`s best price Bodybuilding supplements and sports nutrition store", not sure how true it is but they're certainly very competitively priced and they have a huuuuuge range of supplements, some of which I've only seen available from the US previously... well worth a look if you've not visited the store, it's where I buy my Scivation Xtend BCAAs, great store.
Anyway, onto the bench fix... here we go, not terribly scientific or attractive... but a decent workaround nonetheless:
:-D
So, was able to do ankle-weighted leg extensions.
Unfortunately... it wasn't terribly effective, even with both weights on one leg. I did 60 repetitions (3 x 20) each leg but didn't feel any effort in my quads :-(
You can see my frustration in my notes! See (2)
It's hardly surprising really given that I use 35kg on the leg extension in the gym!
I resolved then to buy some heavier ankle weights and ordered these 20lb adjustable ankle weights. More about that next workout update :-)
The exercise I devised that I *was* please with was the following.
I wanted to incorporate movements like reverse leg extensions, curls and kicks, into one effective exercise.
I couldn't find a video which had all the exercises in one move so have cobbled - Blue Peter style - together a series of screen prints from different exercises off http://www.physicalfitnet.com.
Hopefully it should be pretty self-explanatory from the pics but I've included some notes too:
(click image for bigger picture)
Notes:
Point (1) couldn't get an image of the bloke pulling his knee into his chest enough, and it's not absolutely essential... however it does help to get a good kick out for the extension at point (2).
Speaking of (2), and also (4) (spot the difference... ;-) ), *try* and straighten your leg better than this guy (sorry mate!) and keep it at hip height not allowing it to drop.
Point (6) is KILLER! Haha, this is the money move, yeah baby, this is where the work happens ;-) stick with it and try and kick up as high toward the ceiling as you can... okay it's a very small move, but it's very effective too and my butt knew about it the next day - oooooowww!! :-D
I'm trying to think of a name for this move, I'm sure it's been thought of before and already has something snazzy and catchy - if you've seen it before and know of its name do let me know! In the meantime I'm going to wrack my brains and think of something... maybe "Tara's glute and hams multi-move"? Hmmmm
Okay, that's enough for me, this was meant to be a short update and has taken me forever! Maybe I should start doing video blog updates?! Something for the future eh?
Back soon with recovery update (I'm now able to do that 'walking' thing - albeit crutch-assisted!!)
Take care and stay strong!
TJx
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