Hamstrings are the single most horrible muscle group to train. Ever.
I had an inkling of this early on, when J first had me doing these babies. We did these within the first few weeks of training, when it was all new and shiny and I still wanted to impress him with my physical prowess (har har), and it was the first exercise that made me feel like a piece of my body was trying to pop out and run away.
Every time we do legs, this is what I fear. It's not the lunges or the step-ups. It's the hamstrings.
So when I explain to you that we spent the bulk of our time on hamstrings last week, you have some idea of how I felt about it.
And when I share with you that, two days later, the very act of standing from my desk evoked the sensation of my hamstrings tearing in half, and every step was accompanied by shallow breathing more likely found in a labor ward than in an office, you understand.
At the same time that I can't overstate just how much it hurt in the following days, I also can't possibly overstate how beneficial and important the workout was. The hamstrings are a notoriously weak and neglected part of the body. They're vital for, well, everything. We just don't tend to isolate them in our exercises. Those exercises are no fun at all.
We started the night in the hack squat machine, a machine we've used once before. Those sets were alternated with lunges and stiff-leg deadlifts. This particular type of deadlift looks like this.
The squat machine focused on the quads, while lunges focus on the whole leg and deadlifts hone in on the hamstrings. Stiff-leg deadlifts may, in fact, be one of my favorite exercises ever. (I will never again say that about a hamstring exercise. Not unless bribed.)
Next up was a hamstring curl machine, like this one:
*Disclaimer: Totally not me. You know, in case you were confused.
One knee is planted on the knee pad while the other foot is tucked in front of the round pad. Bend the knee, lifting the foot back and bringing the round pad as close to your caboose as possible.
When I said that the hamstrings are notoriously weak, I wasn't kidding. I was curling only 20lbs, the same weight I usually curl with my biceps.
Those hamstring curls were alternated with narrow-stance squats, no weight. Three sets of each.
Last up for legs, we headed to the mats for some stability ball hamstring curls. J asked me to try it with only one leg planted on the ball, the other in the air. I tried it and couldn't even hoist my hiney off the ground. Two legs, then!
Sets of these were alternated with lateral step-ups onto a box, pulling my knee up to my chest. Surprisingly enough, these still felt relatively easy, even at the end of the workout.
I can only assume it's because they had absolutely nothing to do with my quivering, gelatinous hammies.
We wrapped with a few sets of abs, which I bravely soldiered through, and then called it good.
In retrospect, I probably set myself up for the pain. I was in a hurry after the session, a few minutes late for my son's band concert, so I rushed out the door and straight for the auditorium. I didn't walk around, I didn't stretch and I didn't fuel up. My body desperately needed something to replenish my muscles and I gave it nothing.
Small wonder that I was nearly incapacitated all week.
Until this session, I didn't realize just how weak my hamstrings were, and I realized quickly that they need all the help I can give them. So the following Saturday, the first day I was able to lean over and tie my own shoes, I made two trips to the gym. One in the morning, for another slow run, and one in the afternoon for a set of legs lifting. More squats, lunges, and deadlifts.
On Sunday, as I hobbled around my family's kitchen, my mother only shook her head at me. "Why do you do this to yourself?"
And I asked, "Why not?"
It's not a good enough answer for her, but it's good enough for me.
As a footnote - no pun intended - the plantar fasciitis definitely seems to have abated. The sole of my foot is a little stiff from time to time, but there's no pain. I've been running slowly for a little over a week now and I'm happy with how it's felt. So far, so good!
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