Look, now I’m turning up in other places online!
Somehow dietsinreview.com gave me an opportunity to write a guest post. You can find it at How to Train Legs part 1.
I had originally written a 1500 word article for this, but ended up having to shorten it to 2, 500 word pieces. Now I know what it feels like when a Hollywood director is forced to cut 20 minutes off of his movie to be able to get his R rated movie down to a PG-13 rating.
Thanks to Diets in Review for giving me my first chance to write a unique guest post on a high profile website.
I also published a guest post from Heather Ashare of Diets in Review fame. You can find that post at Yoga for Men. Thanks Heather!
Tags: diets in review, Guest Post, legs
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i absolutly hate working my legs because my knees have taken such a beating. any advice on a good place to start?
First of all what’s wrong with the knee joint? An evaluation may be in order. If you get swelling, redness, the joint feels hot, or they make painful, popping sounds an examination by a doctor specializing in sports injuries is a great place to start.
Once serious instability of the joint is ruled out I would start with step-ups, lunges, or walking lunges for limited reps, and sets. All of the major muscles, and stabilizers, of the hip and thighs will be engaged. Your knees should never be allowed to drift past your toes. This technique places the stress on the muscles (quads, hamstrings and glutes). NOT straining the knees. Speaking of the glutes, many times knee pain is triggered by instability at the hip. So, extension of the hip wheather lying on the floor face down, and pressing your heels toward the ceiling. Or lying face up, with the knees bent to 80-90 degrees, and pressing the hips up by pushing the feet into the floor is great. Just work slowly and feel the muscles contracting. And, there’s minimal stress on the knees! When this becomes easy press just one foot and lift the other, to isolate the exercise on just that side, which will increase the intensity nicely.
Furthermore, severely limit any exercise that pounds the joints – namely jumping or running, until you’ve built up the muscles that stabilize the joints. Then, still limit impact activities to running sprints, or skipping rope. High intensity cardio with limited balistics, a.k.a. “pounding.”
Finally, after your workout ice the knees. Whether they hurt or not. By the time they hurt the swelling has already taken place. So, as Hans and Franz from SNL used to say, “Listen to me now and believe me lay-da.” Put ice cubes, or an ice pack, into a damp towel. Put this pack on the knees for 20-30 minutes. Allow them to naturally re-warm for 40 minutes. After this 40 minute break – put the ice back on for 20 minutes. This will naturally reduce swelling and pain. Do NOT become alarmed if this treatment causes temporary numbness while the ice is applied… this is supposed to happen. Do NOT use heat. It may feel good temporarily, but will enhance swelling and prolong the pain in the long run. (No pun intended).
Good luck!