Published On: June 26th, 2013/Categories: Carl's Transformation/5.7 min read/

Day 46 – The Battle

Leg Day of the brutal MicroCycle 5. It looked like an impossible feat but conquered it was.

Day: 46 of 77
Date: 26/06/2013
Workout Day: 31
Weight (lb): 159.6 (12.2 lb loss)
Body Fat %: 13.4 (3.2% loss)
Health: Fine 10/10

I started today’s session with a long warm-up and a thorough practice of all the movements. I went through each exercise to check I’d got it all covered, and as I proceeded, my frustration levels grew. I’m of the opinion that this day (31) is in part an awkward and fiddly routine, which I do not think would work well for some people.

Let’s start with the weighted glute bridges. I get that they isolate the glutes well, but the movement is difficult to get into and out of, and thus doesn’t flow well within a short rest interval superset. I discarded the glute bridges and replaced them with deadlifts. You can’t go wrong with deadlifts, and I half consider a leg day without deadlifts to be wrong. In a different set structure, or if training with a partner I think the glute bridges would work great, but for me they didn’t “fit” well in this superset.

Also, the front squats were very problematic for me. If you’ve no experience with front squats and/or don’t have the right flexibility to do them (e.g. wrists and hamstrings), then to go at them for the first time without a training partner is just dangerous and unproductive, so again I discarded them and replaced them with heavy leg extensions to similarly work the quads. I don’t believe that front-squats should be in the book as they are an advanced movement, much more than back-squats and the book is aimed at more amateur gym goers. Don’t get me wrong, I think front-squats are a great exercise, but I would argue they need to be taught by a professional who can assess any issues (such as form) that may be limiting the correct movements. For me, I think a lack of flexibility is stopping me from being able to do them. I’m sure they’re something I can work out one day, but for the moment I see no need for them to be in my regimen.

Otherwise the rest of the exercises were performed as described. I actually found the hardest section to be the first superset which focuses on the posterior chain. The lunges really worked my glutes, which is a very uncomfortable feeling. The 10 sets of quad exercises was long. Very long. But it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected at all. It’s just a very monotonous level of difficulty. Supposedly the 10 sets are meant to be completed in 25 minutes, but for me they took 35. I’m not sure how I could have done them much quicker.

The abdominal exercises were fine, apart from the crunches which gave me a friction burn on my arse. So I’m now sitting awkwardly and hoping it heals up quickly.

The whole session was a long and tiring slog. It was never “intense” so to speak, but it felt like a continuous fight against my brain, trying to tell me to stop and have a rest. “You’ve done enough”, it says. But you just have to keep following the programme, and if it says you do 10 sets, you do 10 sets, however wrong it feels. Lunges are a great example of this. Considering how easy they look to the casual observer, they are surprisingly brutal, which you realise within one stride of starting a set. After that first stride you consider the prospect of a 40 metre set to be enormous and completely impossible, but you continue nevertheless and somehow you get to the end. I won today’s battle, but there’s more to come. Many, many more……

My legs have felt a bit wobbly since the workout but nothing bad. I’ve had an extra 200 calories today and a good dose of protein, BCAA and Leucine which I’m hoping will protect me from the dreaded DOMS. But whatever my nutritional attempts, they’re be as futile as farting at a hurricane, and I know that in 24-36 hours the DOMS will be there in full force. I can’t wait.

Share This Post!

About the Author: Carl Gottlieb
I'm the trusted privacy advisor to leading tech companies, helping them gain maximum advantage through the right privacy strategy. My consultancy company Cognition provides a range of privacy and security services including Data Protection Officers, in-depth assessments and virtual security engineers. Get in touch if you'd like to learn more.

Related articles