Thursday: Strength and Power
I’m nearly there!. This is installment three of four in my “I kinda try to train along these lines” guide for anybody interested in how I train. If anybody out there is actually interested, I will eat my own hat. As a man who owns no hats, I’ll also have to go out and purchase a hat. This I fear more than the eating. Anyway, Thursday – or Þūnresdæg in Old English, meaining Thor’s Day. Thor being the Old Norse God of THUNDER, storms and strength (and farming).
Thursday is my second “leg day” of the week, during which I train for strength and power primarily in my quadriceps (on the front of the legs) and my glutes (to develop a Power Ass). Power Asses are essential for the noble arts of running and jumping, one of which I am much worse at than the other. Which, however, shall remain a mystery forever.
In the morning, I head to the gym and perform sets of squats for both strength and core stability. These I perform through a full range of motion, into a full squat – I don’t really see the point otherwise.
In fact, I apply this principle, (full range of motion) to as much of my training as possible. Nothing is sillier than seeing people whack a huge weight on a bar or machine, struggle to shift it a few inches, then sit back with a self-satisfied grin. I’m not sure what they think they’re doing, but it’s ridiculous.
“What? This is how I sit! What?!”
These place a greater emphasis on my quads, whilst developing specific strength for weight lifting techniques, like snatches or clean and jerks. Front squats are also easier on the back, which is always welcome after Monday’s deadlifting and Tuesday’s wrestling!
Free weights dropped, I then turn my attention to the machines. To start with, hack squats. There is much debate about the relative advantages/disadvantages of these. As with most debates about fitness training, I take little or no interest. Once the heavy duty work is done, I move on to longer sets of leg presses, hamstring curls and leg extensions, to ensure my legs are good for more than just squatting down and then back up again.
Weight training complete, I then feast upon the flesh of the innocent (or sandwiches, whichever comes to hand first) and head back out to the dojo where I perform a variety of explosive exercises, including standing jumps for height and distance, sprints and short bursts of heavy bag work.
This type of work is very important to my training, as I’ll explain in a different post soon enough. Thus ends a day of strength and power. Thor would be pleased.