Trained Legs with Randy Howard at Strength Beyond in Kalamazoo

Standing Calf Raises:
4 sets 20 reps

Seated Calf Raises:
3 sets 15 reps

lying leg curls.
5 sets, 10 to 15 reps.

leg extensions.
3 sets of 20 reps.

horizontal leg press.
3 sets of 20 reps.
This exercise we're just trying to get some blood in the quads. The leg press was occupied, so nothing too heavy, just trying to keep our legs warm.

leg press with green mini bands.
6 sets, 12 reps, followed by one last set of a triple drop set for 40 total reps starting with, I think, 14 plates a side, dropping 2 plates aside all the way down to 8 plates a side.

stiff leg dead lifts on the hack squat.
3 sets, 15 reps.
We worked up to 315 pounds on this, so decently heavy. We've been keeping it lighter on the stiff leg dead lift movements because our legs are getting kind of beat up, but for whatever reason today felt like going a little heavier.

leg extensions supersetted with hack squats.
3 sets, 15 reps each.
We went heavy on the leg extensions, used the whole stack, but the hack squat, kept it pretty light. Only a couple plates a side, but I put my feet pretty low on the platform and I was really trying to bring my knees out over my toes to really work on the lower quads.

seated leg curls.
3 sets of 10 reps.
By this point my legs were really pretty beat up. They were already beat up from ... This is my seventh workout in 13 days, so they're really pretty sore and beat up. I just was trying to get a good contraction and keep the reps kind of low on this.

leg presses with feet really low on the platform.
3 sets of 20 reps.
I did this movement the other day and it felt really good pump in my tear drop. Which is like I said last time, something I'm trying to bring out, so I thought I'd go back to this movement. Didn't go very heavy, just 4 or 5 plates a side, but I put my feet really low--all the way down where there's a little round portion for actually doing calf raises on the leg press and that's where I put my feet.

That was it. It was a long workout. The leg press took quite a while, and that last drop set on the leg press really, really beat me up for a while. I was kind of dragging ass for the rest of the workout after that. Workout took about an hour and 45 minutes. I'm 2 weeks into the legs every other day for 6 weeks experiment, and it's starting to get to me. I'm definitely not recovering between workouts. Towards the second half of the workout today I didn't even have a pump in legs. They're just so depleted of glycogen.

I'm working on eating better and bringing more carbs in, but the problem is when you're ... It's hard to eat after training legs. When you're training legs for an hour and half to 2 hours, every other day, that's every other day you're having those days where you're not able to at very good after the workout because you're so drained. I'm struggling to get enough carbs in to replenish myself in between workouts. It doesn't help that I'm trying to get my upper body in on two other days during the week, so those workouts end up being pretty long too.

I'm hoping I'm over the hump as far as that depletion and beat up feeling. I kind of hoping it's like for 2 days in football camp where you get really, really sore and beat up for a couple days, maybe a week or 2, and then you start recovering. By the end you're able to tolerate the workload without any soreness, and you're starting to reach a recover state. We'll see if that happens because I don't imagine that getting much worse than it is.

I'm past the soreness phase. My soreness levels are tolerable in between workouts. I'm sore constantly, but it's really pretty minor. I'm recovering well between workouts as far as soreness is concerned, but as far as everything else is concerned, the total workload and drain on my body is really getting pretty tough. We'll see how things go here from here on out. Hopefully with the holidays I get a break from work, I'll be able to eat better, and rest a little more, get a little more sleep. I'm hoping to get a little peak in recovery and finish strong on this legs every other day for 6 weeks experiment.