Hold Your Head Up

Yeah! Had a great legs and back workout tonight. I didn't go to the gym terribly late like I did last night; it was about 9:45 when I left the house. Did about an hour-and-a-half of free weights and machines, came home and had some eggs for protein and I feel pretty good right now.

The great thing is that my shoulders and back are finally starting to feel stronger. I've noticed that I really have a tendency to hunch over (too much time in front of a computer screen) so I am consciously trying to straighten up. Upper body workouts are SO IMPORTANT for women because a strong back may help counteract the effects of osteoporosis in old age.

This was my workout tonight:

Legs

3 sets of 15 on the leg press at 95 lbs.

I used 3 different foot positions. I do one set with both feet together and high up on the footrest. The second set I performed with my heels together and my toes pointed out (think of first position in ballet) and a bit higher than normal, but a little lower than the first set. In the third set I kept my feet about shoulder width and at the normal position on the footrest.
Yes, it does make a difference where you rest your feet. If you try this, you'll feel the heat in parts of your quads that you never hit before. Just make sure your knees feel okay. Keeping your feet higher on the footrest helps protect your knees a bit.

One set of calf raises on the leg press at 95 lbs.
That sounds like a lot, but the leverage makes it pretty easy.

One set on a riser with 15 lb. weights in each hand.
I went easy on my calves because I blasted them last week and I still have a little pain. Sheesh!)

3 sets of leg curls at 50 lbs.
I used 2 different foot positions (two sets with feet together, one with feet apart).

Back

3 sets of 10 front pulldowns at 40 lbs.
I used a pulley lat pulldown machine and pulled the bar down in front of my face. For me, this seems to hit my outer lats the best.

Three sets of 10 pulley rows at 40 lbs.

2 sets of 10 on the assisted pullup machine.
Even with the assist, that one was hard for me.

3 sets of 10 on the row machine at 50 lbs.
The machine at my gym has different grips and I use a different one for each set. Over, under and inner. Hits a range of muscle areas.

2 sets of 10 on the lat pulldown machine.
This was just to finish up with a machine that is pretty comfortable and safe.

Abs

I've talked about ab workouts before; I did 3 different ab workouts tonight. Abs are one muscle group that can be worked every day, so why not hit 'em?

I never use weights that are really heavy for me, and I always go very slow and stay in control of the weights. Control is vital. More on that next time.