05/12/2024 Training Log

Summer Shred Day 3. PPL Day 24, Legs 

Warmup: single leg glute bridges 

Ex 1: Bulgarian split squats-12/12, 12/12 (add weight next time)

Ex 2: single leg curls-9/9; (dropped weight) 15/15

Ex 3: single leg extensions-20/20, 20/20 (add weight)

Ex 4: offset calf raises-20/20

Total time = 31 minutes 

Great session after a productive morning getting some online work done, lots of yard work done, got the sprinklers fixed up and running properly – which is usually a bit of a headache, but all sprinklers worked properly this year. Hallelujah.

Then the wife and I were  off for a bit of a post workout walk (always a great idea, especially when in a fat loss phase) to and from lunch.

I'm really emphasizing unilateral work this summer for  aesthetic and corrective movement purposes. While unilateral work is slightly more time consuming, it also seems to be slightly more effective for muscle building, which I've gathered from personal experience and some research seems to support it: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19230754/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4314602/

The differences in those studies linked aren't massive, but they are notable for those that like seeing research before conducting their own experiments. As always, I recommend coming to you're own conclusions by testing things for yourself.

If nothing else, slight changes to our training is often mentally and physically beneficial. I'm not here to debate unilateral training versus bilateral training, though.

With my hips being the way that they are, I've found for years now that single leg squat and hinge patterns are superior for my situation. Now I'm experimenting with single leg isolation exercises, as well. It's been a very long time since I've done unilateral leg curls and extensions, so it may take a few sessions to figure out what my starting weights will be.

Today was a little light for my quad extensions, but the single leg curls seemed to be an appropriate weight.

Have a stellar week.