The Leg Blaster Thread - are we having fun yet?

[dmcd]

I've been building up minis but the reminder to increase the tempo and hitting a full at high tempo last night has me walking a little funny this morning. High tempo definitely increases the burn substantially and feels a lot more like skiing.

[Harry]

stoked for ski season

Same. This thread is motivating me.

I’m making improvements. Did 5 minis today. (not consecutive, did 15 minutes cardio between each mini). Still struggling with the jump lunges, on minis 4&5 I substituted walking lunges.Got a long way to go but getting better each time.

[babybear]

This. You've got to get into some wacky shit to bring on rhabdo. But making yourself so sore that you struggle to walk down stairs not a smart way to get stronger. More sore ≠ better results.

When we are young we tend to think a training as doing lots of hard shit so we get stronger/faster. As we get older we realize that the real challenge in training is deciding how to allocate our finite capacity to recover from stress.

Leg blasters really taught me this lesson. Husband and I started working out at the Mountain Athlete gym (now Mountain Tactical)
We were ~30 yrs old at the time and in pretty damn good shape.
We did our first class on Thursday night and then left for a Moab trip the next day.
Neither of us could get out of the car right for the next few days [emoji23]
I am much better at pacing myself now.

I also worked with a coach for awhile that never cared if you took a day off from a workout but would get perturbed if you did additional activity. He was all about recovery.

[EWG]

Leg blasters really taught me this lesson. Husband and I started working out at the Mountain Athlete gym (now Mountain Tactical)
We were ~30 yrs old at the time and in pretty damn good shape.
We did our first class on Thursday night and then left for a Moab trip the next day.
Neither of us could get out of the car right for the next few days [emoji23]
I am much better at pacing myself now.

I also worked with a coach for awhile that never cared if you took a day off from a workout but would get perturbed if you did additional activity. He was all about recovery.

Good coach. We get stronger when we rest. Workouts are only there to break down the muscles so they rebuild. Gotta give ‘em time to do that.

For those struggling with DOMS, have faith. It goes away as your body gets used to the stressors. I do a fair bit of explosive movement with my hobbies, and even starting up LBs and going till my legs get wobbly I don’t get any delayed soreness. It’ll get better.

Fucking hurts in the moment though. I’m on half minis and half fulls and the squat jumps are definitely credit card height at the end. Ha.

Each time is a little stronger. And each time means the snow will be a little more fun. Which is the point right?

About 6 weeks till the first week of December. Get up on it. Let’s Fucking Go!!!

[bw_wp_hedonism]

Got on the bandwagon, but after squat 1 (getting off the couch), I decided to take a different tack and will instead spend my season loudly commenting that ski turns are for sissies.


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[californiagrown]

Woke up early yesterday to get my leg day in before work. Did my warmup, went into squat set #1 and just felt like dogshit with exactly zero motivation to toss a few hundred pounds on my back and struggle to hit a final PR set. So, i called my squat progression good for the season and switched to Bulgarian split squats, 3 sets of mini LBs, and RDLs. I felt nice and fresh coming out of that workout as opposed to usually feeling pretty crushed after my heavy squat and deadlift workout. Also nice to get some DOMS in my glutes again (mostly from BSSs). Tapering towards the start of the ski season has begun!

One of the hardest things to learn is your recovery year to year. I get older, work gets more stressful, kids, and other new stressors and time constraints pop up year to year that make last years workout plan no longer viable. Its hard to get it right, but listening to your body (but not too closely) helps.

[Phall]

3x Fulls, 4x mini's last night after 45 of other strength/core, followed by a 1:30 wall sit.

[tgapp]

3x Fulls, 4x mini's last night after 45 of other strength/core, followed by a 1:30 wall sit.

Heh, we must be on the same program. We've got 3x full, 4x mini, and then 450 weighted step ups to do today

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[rod9301]

You guys should try electro muscle stimulation.

Builds muscle mass and strength faster than anything else i tried. Been doing it 2 times a year for 13 years now.
Before ski season and before mountain bike season, 6 weeks each. Then once a week maintenance.

No stress on the knees.

Quads, butt and hamstrings.

Pretty intense contractions, certainly more than leg presses.

I use a compex, but there are many others.

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[singlesline]

I’m skipping the blasters this year and trying John Collinson‘s SkierFit program that someone on here posted about last season.

It is a much bigger time commitment than leg blasters, but I was hoping it would be a little more well rounded.

I’m late to start though…so haven’t seen much of it yet.

[banzai]

What are you lot doing for core? Looking to mix it up a bit. AB wheel and russian twists are my go-to.

[Stuntmonkey]

What are you lot doing for core? Looking to mix it up a bit. AB wheel and russian twists are my go-to.

Back squats, front squats, hack squats, lunges, clean and jerks, dead lifts. Basically anything that requires core bracing helps build and strengthen core.

And then hanging leg raises or toes-to-bar for targeted.

[californiagrown]

What are you lot doing for core? Looking to mix it up a bit. AB wheel and russian twists are my go-to.

Heavy deadlifts for my back. Just finished a heavy squat cycle so that also helped strengthen back. For abs I do banded crunches, a laying leg lift-dragon flag hybrid thingy, standing banded twists... and one of my new favorites that i think has a ton of carryover to skiing... overhead saxon bends.

[Toadman]

I’m skipping the blasters this year and trying John Collinson‘s SkierFit program that someone on here posted about last season.

It is a much bigger time commitment than leg blasters, but I was hoping it would be a little more well rounded.

I’m late to start though…so haven’t seen much of it yet.

That looks a bit too intense for me. Who wants to ski longer anyway. I did my first sets of lateral jumps today. Man, I have some work to do....

I did a hybrid workout today, with some barbell squats thrown in with the plyo jump squats and weighted side lunges and weighted bench step ups. Hoping to get some time hiking in the snow this weekend for my cardio.

[bodywhomper]

Sounds like youre not having fun yet.

How many of you folks are actually jumping as high as possible during the lunge jumps, and squat jumps vs. just getting your feet barely off the ground?

I pretend that I’m skiing breakthrough crust and/or thick Sierra cement on my xcd rig. If you haven’t done this IRL, y’all are missing out. Less blood when doing in LB sessions, in case you were wondering


I generally alternate LB sessions, rehab sessions for my poor right knee , and doing one of these exercises, which includes some core-focusing exercises: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...EPCicsJsu58HTi

My wife enjoys those ^^ sessions more than LB’s and doing them together with her seems good for both of us. There’s a lot of overlap.

From part of my knee rehab circuit, I alternate single leg RDL’s with 40#’s(?- can’t recall exactly) standing on flat ground and single leg RDL’s with 10#’s standing on an upside down buso. I also do several other single leg exercises on a buso (eg single leg chair squat). All should be helpful for knee stability, which I have seen a few comment about.

[2FUNKY]

I pretend that I’m skiing breakthrough crust and/or thick Sierra cement on my xcd rig. If you haven’t done this IRL, y’all are missing out. Less blood when doing in LB sessions, in case you were wondering


I generally alternate LB sessions, rehab sessions for my poor right knee , and doing one of these exercises, which includes some core-focusing exercises: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...EPCicsJsu58HTi

My wife enjoys those ^^ sessions more than LB’s and doing them together with her seems good for both of us. There’s a lot of overlap.

From part of my knee rehab circuit, I alternate single leg RDL’s with 40#’s(?- can’t recall exactly) standing on flat ground and single leg RDL’s with 10#’s standing on an upside down buso. I also do several other single leg exercises on a buso (eg single leg chair squat). All should be helpful for knee stability, which I have seen a few comment about.

The usd bosu srdl is the shit! Esp when you come all the way up with off leg coming parallel to hip with bent knee. Ankle/knee/hip strengthening! My GF hates them. I just tell her it’s just because your balance sucks….. . It goes over amazingly. Lol


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[EWG]

Up to 2 fulls and 4 minis. On schedule. Getting stronger. But it still hurts.

[bodywhomper]

The usd bosu srdl is the shit! Esp when you come all the way up with off leg coming parallel to hip with bent knee. Ankle/knee/hip strengthening! My GF hates them. I just tell her it’s just because your balance sucks….. . It goes over amazingly. Lol


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Yes!

My first two PT appts about single leg RDL’s was focused on my form, which sucked pretty bad.

I find the balance/stability thing interesting. Even as my stability has noticeably increased/improved since my injury, I still have on and off days, which sometimes, but not always, is related to how my day is going, other things I’ve done during the day, etc. if I’m struggling, I’ll do something different and come back to it, which usually “fixes” the issue. I also see it with my PT. He’s very fit and strong 30-something, who sometimes serves as a training consultant for me during my occasional check-in appointments. He has been sometimes super wobbly demonstrating some of the more challenging balance/strength/stability exercises, but lately he’s been rock solid because he now preps for our appts.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Fuck yeah ya'll! The experts will have more info, but things to think about...

Don't forget the hamstrings so you ain't quad dominant - physio ball hamstring curls, RDLs, Box Jumps

...and the fucking hips - clamshells, banded walks and so on

Watch your form and understand hip hinge - chin and eyes up, flat back, shoulders back

but yeah TtB tram laps, touring all day, snowmobile wrestling, rest when you are working...skiing is more fun when you are in shape. Don't be lazy.

[sf]

Fucking hurts in the moment though

NTTAWWT, but I’ve heard lube helps

[caderader]

Fuck yeah ya'll! The experts will have more info, but things to think about...

Don't forget the hamstrings so you ain't quad dominant - physio ball hamstring curls, RDLs, Box Jumps

...and the fucking hips - clamshells, banded walks and so on

Watch your form and understand hip hinge - chin and eyes up, flat back, shoulders back

but yeah TtB tram laps, touring all day, snowmobile wrestling, rest when you are working...skiing is more fun when you are in shape. Don't be lazy.

Yeah, I've overlooked hips before and weak hips to go with otherwise strong legs makes for a weird imbalance and some easy tweaks. I actually usually notice it in other places when my hips are weak because other musculature is called on to step-up.

I like Jay Johnsons SAM routine. It includes some things similar to what you're recommending and only takes a few minutes. I try to get at it post workout or before going to bed 2-3 times a week and it does wonders. More concise summary than the videos here. I usually just do one of the "Phase 1" or "Phase 2 Easy Days". Highly recommend trying it out, lot of bang for the small time commitment.

[cmsummit]

Started on 10/17 with 3 minis.....damn, kicked my ass. Now doing 5 minis 3x per week. Need to do either more sets or up the reps to Full now.

[2FUNKY]

My leg blaster day WO:
Plank shoulder taps to warm up x20
Push up single arm row with 30lb kettle bells x10
Squat single arm shoulder press 40lb kettle bell 10x each arm total 20 for squats.
Kettle swings 75lb bell x10
1 full LB
Rest
Repeat 3 times
Collapse.


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[tgapp]

Me and the GF try to make each other laugh as much as possible during our leg blaster sets. Today we did 5 fulls followed by 500 weighted step ups. She showed up in a hoody which she took off to reveal this shirt. I could not stop laughing.

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[Supermoon]

The pose says, “I may be pooping right now,” so it’s perfect