Strongest muscle???
Ok so I had a leg day today…
Was struggling a bit - slightly out of breath and unstable, maybe because of stress, lack of energy or was just tired. or (most likely) its all in my mind.
One thing i noticed, ever since i started this new program inspired after reading this article http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi13.htm my muscles keep getting stronger almost every day. it sounds incredible and maybe im a bit overwhelmed with it, but following this program (altered a bit to my liking) i have to increase weight im using almost every second time im in the gym, well at least enough to notice it. im quite sure that muscles arent growing though - only getting denser probably. also noticed that as far as legs go - my speed and stamina (spinning or running) has improved quite dramatically. which is a great thing i suppose. the only thing that concearns me now is - does that actually help me to lose that layer of fat at all? hmmmm cant tell
also one weird thing i noticed today - my calves seem to be the strongest muscle in the body… is that normal at all??? i was doing the calf extensions and i had to increase the weigth to 80kg to actually feel anything and so its just enough for 6 reps (5 sets). no other body part or muscle can even get close to that now - i think closest one is leg press 60kg. others are far behind 45kg mark (even less for arms). why calves are so much stronger then other parts? i never actually trained those separately before now, so they are definetely not overpumped. go figure o_O
Also i wonder if i need to alter my upper body workout plan soon. i want to make my shoulders, chest and back a bit wider to make body more proportionate. i guess to do that ill need to make those muscle grow?! still need to research into that. my lower back is generally quite strong but my upper back, together with shoulders , chest and arms are weak as hell. do i make them grow by increasing reps to 8-12 from my 6?
Decisions, decisions…
But on the bright side - i have a bit of cheat day today (didnt have one for 3 weeks now). im not sure if its ok to do on a workout day, but ill do it anyways 
and im going to have pizza, lower cal version of course 
YAY
April 15, 2008 at 3:50 pm
John Berardi is a super knowledgeable guy. that workout seems great.
The squat is the king of all excercises. don’t forget to include it (I only stress this cause you said your workout was inspired by the J. berardi article, not that you were following his workout).
The calfs shouldn’t nesc be the strongest muscle BUT everytime you do any walking or running or carrying of something heavy, your calves are involved. Every time I go on my tippy toes I’m using my calfs to lift 240 LBS that’s a ton of weight for such seemingly small muscles. I surely can’t do hamstring curls or leg extensions with that kind of weight (yet).
Getting stronger will help you lose fat especially if it’s building new muscle, there are 2 methods for reducing your body fat%, burn the fat or increase the muscle. Increased muscle has the added benefit of burning more calories at rest.
April 15, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Oh yes, i definately use squat and im learning to love it
By saying that workout was inspired by Berardis article, in reality meant that im using his sample workout plan and adding couple of excercises to it, like specificaly for legs or abs. Although i just found very similar plan and it strictly sais "no altering"…Might try it later.
But youre right, getting stronger is great way of reducing BF%, and now that i know that- it also eliminates girly fears of getting over bulky while using weights.
And about calfs - i think we can take our weight on tippy toes because it works not only calfs but also rest of legs and back. I had this hint that calf might be stronger also because i wear quite alot of high heels - might as well be true.