Tom Venuto's BodybuildingSecrets.com

“Oh SQUAT!!!”

Tom Venuto, CSCS, CPT

It’s a major challenge training as a bodybuilder after a ruptured lumbar disk injury. It can be immensely frustrating at times. I want to train harder and especially heavier, but sometimes I’m forced to find alternatives. It makes me want to scream, “OH SQUAT!” (actually, the “S word” I usually scream has 4 letters, not 5…along with an F word, D word, and S O and B words!). All I can do is get over it and move on to PLAN B. Such was the case in today’s lower body workout.

Let me log in my exercises, sets, reps and weights for you first, then check out the workout commentary below to get the whole low down:

QUADS

A1 Barbell back squat: 1 set X 135 X 15 reps (warm up); 1 set X 175 X 8, (warm up) then mission aborted…. Onward to “PLAN B”
B1 Leg Press: 1 set X 320 lbs (4 plates per side) X 33 reps nonstop with slow, continuous tension; 1 set X 540 lbs (6 plates per side) X 40 reps; 1 set X 630 lbs (7 plates per side) X 31 reps; 1 set X 720 lbs (8 plates per side) X 19 reps; 1 set X 810 lbs (9 plates per side) X 20 reps
C1 Leg Extension: 1 set X 200 lbs X 20 reps; 1 set X 200 lbs X 18 reps; 1 set X 250 lbs (stack) X 12 reps, drop to 160 lbs X 10 more reps
C2 Dumbbell static lunges (split squats) feet on step: 3 sets X 30 lbs X 9, 8, 7 reps per leg X 3030 tempo

HAMSTRINGS

A1 seated Leg Curl Machine: 3 sets regressive weight pattern (drop weight, add reps each set); 1 set X 170 lbs X 13 reps; 1 set X 150 lbs X 16 reps; 1 set X 130 lbs X 19 reps
B1 Hamflexor (“FLEX” single leg curl machine): 3 sets X 8, 8, 7 reps per leg X 60 lbs

Workout Commentary

Before every workout, I mentally rehearse the session right down to the last rep, and I was ready for this one! After getting back into squats last week for the first time in a few months, I was really fired up to hit squat workout number two with more reps and more weight. It wasn’t to be.

On the first warm up set with 135 lbs., everything felt fine, business as usual. Then half way through my second warm up set with the very light weight of 175 lbs, I felt a tightness in my lower back. My back didn’t “go out”, but the “warning alarm” in my brain went off big time and I stopped and racked the weight immediately.

“What warning alarm?” Glad you asked.

When you train as hard as I do, it’s important not only to know the difference between good pain and bad pain, but to become so tuned into your body that you can even “sense” an injury before it happens. During my “mental training” sessions, I not only visualize my workouts and my body as I want it to look, I also instruct my subconscious mind to “alert” me if I am in danger of getting injured.

After racking the weight, I looked at Mike and said, “sorry dude,” I know we were scheduled to squat today, but my back feels a little tight, so I think we should nix the squats and do leg presses instead. So that’s what we did. We picked up right where we left off two weeks ago with leg presses, followed by a leg extension/static lunge superset which is easy on the low back.

Instead of super heavy, I went with high reps - about 20-40 reps per set. The first set was intense, even though it was only with 4 plates per side, because we used the slow, continuous tension principle. It’s easy to knock out high reps even with heavy weight if you lock out or take a pause between each rep. But if you maintain tension by moving slowly, nonstop without locking out at the top, then even fairly light weights become incredibly challenging.

After that, it was up to 6 plates, 7 plates, 8 plates, and 9 plates per side, and that’s as far as we could go because the machine at Empire Fitness didn’t hold any more weight. I banged out 20 reps with 18 plates on the machine. After I “recovered,” Mike and I looked at each other and said almost in unison, “We gotta go to Strong And Shapely Gym!” (S & S is a hard core gym - you could say it’s like the “GOLD’S GYM of Venice for the East Coast.”) S & S has over 40 leg machines, (can you say, “Kid in a candy store?”), including leg presses with two racks for weight, which can hold the equivalent of a small Mack truck!

Next was the pre-exhaustion superset of Leg extensions into Dumbbell static lunges off a 4” Step, also known as “Dumbbell Split Squats.” “Pre-exhaustion” is a type of superset where you perform an isolation exercise first (leg extension), followed by a compound exercise (static lunge), with no rest between the exercises. This is a killer combination that really torches the quads/front of the thighs. That was it for quads… onward to hams…

Stiff legged deadlifts were also nixed today, because they put so much stress on the lower back. Instead we chose two leg curl machines, the seated leg curl (same as last week, except moving up in weight), and the Flex “hamflexor” machine, which is a single legged leg curl. Three sets of each exercise and that was a wrap!

The legs were shot, so cardio was later in the day in separate session: Stairmaster 4400 PT, 30 minutes, 437 calories. Felt better… easier… conditioning is coming back quickly.

By the way, our first attempt at a “photo shoot” was a complete bomb. Hey, we never said we were ACE physique photographers like Mits Okabe or Per Bernal! Mike forgot to bring his digital camera. I had one of those $12 throwaways with me, so I figured I might as well use it. Problem was, Mike forgot to aim! Of course, there were some really good shots of Mike’s finger, and you could almost see me in the corner! Actually, it’s pretty hard to get pictures without interrupting our workouts… we may need to find a 3rd party volunteer photographer soon!

We got a few pics, but due to the nature of the cheap camera, the shots are poor, but I thought what the heck, I’ll post em anyway. The one with my mouth open, where I look like I just got punched in the face by Mike Tyson, is just seconds after 20 reps with 18 plates. It may not be pretty, but this is real training, not a primped up modeling shoot. The good news is, Mike does have a digital camera, and I just ordered a Nikon Cool pix and we’re going to get some good shots soon, I promise.

Oh by the way, I know someone is thinking, “Hey Venuto, what’s with the sweatshirt and long pants? … come on, show us some muscle!… let’s see what you got under there!”

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t worry, we’ll be taking plenty of progress pics, posing shots and also, shorts and tank top training pics. For now, I’m “building suspense”… think of it as a “strip tease” (but only if you’re female)…and sheesh… at least let me get a tan first will ya? Besides, I rolled up my sleeves and gave you a gratuitous forearm shot. Spectacular brachioradialis development eh? Pretty good extensor carpi radialis too huh? Maybe next time, if you’re lucky and you don’t leave mean comments on my blog, I’ll even show you my fibularis longus!

Until next time, train hard, have a plan B and don’t let anything get in the way of your goals!

Posted 27 June, 2005 in Workouts

Comments

Rich said:

Tom, how far do you go on those leg presses? Do you have your quads touch your chest or do you go parallel? Also, do you always position your feet squarely at shoulder width or do you change it up every time?

Posted on Jun 29, 2005 05:21 PM

Tom Venuto said:

I figured someone would ask that because in the picture I posted, I have only lowered the weight about a quarter of the way down. When I squat it is always below parallel, never partials. When I hack squat, its ROCK BOTTOM, hams to back of calves. When I leg press, it's full range to a 90 degree knee joint angle or until my thighs hit my chest. What I don't ever do on leg presses is go so far down that my butt lifts up off the seat. When that happens, your pelvis is tilting posteriorly and that puts your back in a very vulnerable position. (REALLY bad in my situation). My standard foot position is as you see in the picture - middle of platform (or slightly higher), shoulder width apart or just slightly wider. However, I most certainly change up foot positions for variety (watch future leg workouts in this journal)

Posted on Jun 29, 2005 06:37 PM

Kev said:

heheh, your workout commentaries are great Tom ;)
Bad news on the plan A but still didnt look as though you were slacking!

Posted on Jun 29, 2005 06:47 PM

FP said:

Wow, that's some workout Tom....

I didn't notice any post-workout stretching or flexibility work. Do you normally do any?

How about corrective work for your core?

It may help take stress off the back.

Just a thought my man...it has worked wonders for me personally and for many of my clients.

Posted on Jun 29, 2005 06:48 PM

Tom Venuto said:

OH YEAH! Lots of stretching... a solid 20 minutes of static stretching (solo) after those leg workouts. Plus before the workout, I warm up on a piece of cardio, about 10 minutes, then do about 10 minutes of static stretching and then move into some dynamic stretching. I know some strength coaches tell their athletes not to do static stretching before lifting because it "puts your nervous system to sleep," etc., but I feel 1000% better being warm and stretched out before the workout... and maximal strength is not my gig anyway... for me, it's all about hypertrophy (without getting injured!). I Do some "core" strengthening work and some work on the stability ball, although my abdominal training is fairly traditional bodybuilding-style stuff. I've had many long chats with my buddy David Grisaffi about core strengthening - He was trained by Paul Chek, among others - and it was David who encouraged me a few years ago to start integrating some of the "core stuff" into my program. It has helped, but I haven't found it to have been a total remedy... low back strains and spasms still seem to sneak up on me from time to time, but I think I'm doing pretty well considering a neurosurgeon told me I'd need an operation (never did), that I should forget about bodybuilding, and that I should never lift more than 40 lbs.

Posted on Jun 29, 2005 07:07 PM

Sean said:

Gday Tom,

These blogs are great. I just got back from my leg day, so I feel your pain :D.

Hopefully I can continue to learn off you, Ive already dropped from 25% BF to around 14%.
Thanks Tom,
Sean

Posted on Jun 29, 2005 08:54 PM

FP said:

Hey Tom,

Glad to hear you include stretching and core work as part of your program. I wish more bodybuilders would do so!

Structural work is SO important....especially if you have pre-existing problems or lift hard and heavy.

Looks like your buddy David is very qualified to offer you advice in this area.

And it seems like you are already beating the odds, based on what the neurosurgeon told you!

Good job my man...keep proving the naysayers wrong.

Posted on Jun 30, 2005 05:36 PM

Michelle Lowe said:

Just wondering any word for us women who want to jump up the leg routine? I had carpal tunnel surgery back in Dec. 2004 (both hands 12 days apart) and only work my lowerbody until they heal. Lowerbody in good shape but I want more!!!!

Posted on Jun 30, 2005 08:16 PM

Tom Venuto said:

I'll be penning some lower body training articles soon for Fitness Renaissance (www.fitren.com) and the Burn The Fat weekly e-zine (www.burnthefat.com). I also plan to make this the year I finally come out with some training courses - for men, and also especially for women. "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle" is the "bible" on fat burning nutrition, but I know it's high time for some detailed TRAINING info. Keep your eyes peeled on all my websites for details.

Posted on Jul 01, 2005 11:13 AM

Shawn said:

I'm glad I came across your site, signed up, and read this entry. Today was my leg day and this past week I've been feeling the lower back strains and muscle spasms. I took a few days off and treated myself to a massage, and hit the squat rack today ready to go--but had to quit in the middle of my second set. If I hadn't read your particular phrase, "tightness in my lower back," I probably wouldn't have thought TOO much of it and kept trucking through.

I have to admit, reading your entries sometimes does make me laugh out loud, as embarassing as it is... lol. Thanks for being so informative and candid!

Posted on Jul 01, 2005 11:27 AM

Tom Venuto said:

Smart move. Take care of that back. Train hard, but train smart! We all want to keep doing this for many years to come and still be healthy (and "hot") when we're 70 years old, right? :-) (it can be done! check out www.FitOver40.com

Posted on Jul 01, 2005 11:34 AM

Gregory Zinkl said:

Hi Tom,

Love your blog. I wish I had such great writing style when I'm in "stream-of-conciousness" mode.

Hey, I was wondering how long your workouts usually last? Do you have any guidelines on that? I know some trainers recommend "no more than an hour," etc. If that's true, how do you fit in the cardio, or do you only do cardio on alternate, non-lifting days?

Cheers!

Posted on Jul 01, 2005 11:55 AM

Tom Venuto said:

Most of my workouts (lifting) are about an hour. I can get two bodyparts done in 40-45 minutes if I want/need to, although time efficiency is not as important to me as workout effectiveness. If the workouts go a little over an hour, no problem. If they're a lot over an hour, there was probably more rest between sets or socializing than necessary. Many trainers have a "rule" that workouts should "NEVER" be more than 45-60 minutes, and that's a very good guideline, backed by scientific reasons. However, I say "damn the science" if it ever makes you too dogmatic. I think of working a muscle as being like cooking. The recipe may say "place in oven for 45 minutes," but if you pull out the dish and it's still uncooked in the center, you put it back in until the thing is cooked! My workouts are done when my muscles are FULLY BAKED! :-)

PS. Given a choice, I will do cardio in a separate session, either very early in the morning on an empty stomch, or later in the day. If I must do cardio and weights in the same session, the cardio is AFTER the weights.

Posted on Jul 01, 2005 12:01 PM

mr martin said:

Nice workout man!
One thing though I don't know if it's just me but I can't see your fibularis longus.

Posted on May 04, 2006 09:47 PM