Hi all! Long time since I have written (oops!) I want to share some workouts from this week as well as discuss new protein powders and share my delicious protein waffle recipe!!
Last week was the 2017 Maccabi Games (yearly Olympic-style games for Jewish teens from all over the world; this year hosted in Birmingham, AL!!) and I was the dance commissioner. So in other words, I was in charge of organizing and overseeing the dance competition! As most of you should know I am a former ballet dancer (age 5-college) and I was super serious and trained extensively year-round in ballet. I suffered a metatarsal injury in college though and during my time off decided I no longer wanted to put my body through dance and I was a little burned out on it…so I stopped! But, I taught for a couple of years at various dance studios on the side and it will remain a little passion of mine forever (once a dancer always a dancer). Anyway, so last week I was busy doing all of that so hopefully now I can try and get back to a once-weekly blog post! I’ve also been super busy with moving to a new apartment and all and just haven’t made the time to blog but will get better about that hopefully!
SO…Here are some workouts from this week and I will then discuss a few things I discovered about squatting and my lower back:
Sunday – shoulders/cardio mix:
Giant set:
- 5×5-7 fairly heavy power cleans
- 5×15-25 Lat raises (varying weight)
- 3×400 meter row
then:
- More lat raises – 3 x 12-15
- Overhead BB press 5×8-12
- Upright row 3×15
- Rear Delt fly 3×15
- Single arm DB press 3×8-10 e
- 3×12 Arnold press
- then finish with 5×45 second hill sprints
Monday – quads/glutes:
- Back squat 3×6 135, 3×10 115, 120
- Front squat 2×8 100, 2×6,8 105
- DB Bulgarian split squats 3×12 (40#), 3×10 (50#)
- Hip thrust 1×15 135; 5×10-12 185
- Butt blaster 4×12,10,8,10 varying weight
- Leg extensions 5x failure (15 ish)
- Sumo band walks 2×20
- Fire hydrants
Tuesday – back/cardio + RPM class:
- Row 1 k warmup
- 4×10-15 close grip pulldowns
- 5x heavy landmine bar row, 3×10,15,20 burpees, 3×15 bicep curls
- 5×10-15 back extensions w 35 and 25#; superset 15 tricep pushups
- Back extensions on floor w hands in O and including isometric holds
- 1K meter row
- 4 rounds of: 250 row sprints + 12 pushups
- Core work
wednesday – rest
Thursday – Chest/core
- Bench press 5×8-10 (I used 75 and 80# since I haven’t benched in forever)
- Incline DB press 4x 8-10 heavy (35# DBs for me..) superset 5xfailure chin-ups with light band (I aimed for 10 reps each)
- 6 rounds of: 400 meter run (1.0 incline, 8.5 speed), 20 KBS (40 and 45# KB), 50 foot farmer carry (2 45# plates)
- Bench dips w feet on a bench 4 x 15
- Core work
Tomorrow I will train hamstrings and glutes and likely take Saturday off/just go on a long walk Saturday! I will post my hams/glutes workout later this week.
Now I want to talk about lower back pain and squatting…..
One thing I have noticed about back squatting is it’s very important to focus on lower back strength and erector spinae strength in order to not have issues while squatting. If you are having low back pain the day after back squats or front squats I recommend cutting the weight back some and incorporate more back strengthening – back extensions (include high rep light/no weight as well as weighted and lower rep), Romanian Deadlifts, and glute strengthening exercises. Also make sure your form is good while squatting. I happened to notice I was squatting with a slightly off stance – my right leg was about 1/2 inch behind my left and that was putting my hips out of alignment! When I made that adjustment I noticed my back pain went away after squats!!! YAY! Because I LOVE squats…and I love going heavy…but I also don’t want to have pain while doing so especially with scoliosis. SO I am taking a few lbs off and going to focus on perfect form while strengthening my erectors more and hopefully my squat weight will increase because my leg strength is there I think my back strength needs to catch up some.
Now I will share my protein waffle recipe which I have been eating about 5x a week now!!
PROTEIN WAFFLE RECIPE. Serves 2.
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 banana
- 3 whole eggs (I use pasture raised organic 100% now)
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- 1-2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/4 cup water
Method:
blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. Cook in waffle maker according to waffle maker instructions.
You can also do pancakes – would likely make 4-6 medium sized to small pancakes!
I have been eating this for breakfast during the week post-workout and it’s my absolute favorite right now! I put almond butter and raw pecans or blueberries on mine! YUM!
OK…I think I am done with this blog now. I will talk more about my protein powder research and what I have been taking in my next blog soon!!!!
XOXO,
Kelly
Kelly Hayman Fitness 