Strength progression from February to now

After having an Achilles niggles at the end of January, I started strengthening my calves.

Progressively.

I started with static holds and moved on to single-leg calf raises, seated and standing.

I started with 4x8 at 14kg for single-leg standing calf raises on 11 February and now (start of May) can do 32kg for the same sets and reps.

I'm making similar progress with the seated single-leg raise (now up to 28kg), although I started a bit later with this one and haven't gone as far (apparently it should be stronger than standing).

I've also seen a big improvement in the Bulgarian or split squat over the same period.

I started doing 16kg 4x8 times and now can do 26kg 4x6 times.

But the weight is not the whole story with the Bulgarian squat. I had a real weakness on my left side. It felt like my adductor had rolled up my leg after each set the first couple of times.

I persevered, though, doing the exercise very slowly, and now I can do it no problem. Although my left side is still shakier than my right.

I've also been progressing my squats and hex deadlift, but this is more covering old ground. I've trained these exercises with intent before.

The real new ground has come with progressing calf and single-leg exercise strength exercises. I've made good gains, and hopefully am a more resilient running because of it.

And now I've reached the last stage of calf rehab and strengthening, having just added in skipping as a warm-up. I'll soon plateau off with the raises. I think my calves are now close to strong enough for running and injury prevention.

In the coming weeks, I'll also turn down the pure-strength exercises a notch as I get back into muscular endurance training and more running.

Are calf raises too specific?

And are they necessary? I mean as a strengthening exercise for running.

Having strong and healthy calves is a good and necessary thing for running.

But I feel calf raises may be too specific an exercise. I've tried doing them at different times but have always given them up as they cause twinges and tweaks other leg exercise never seem to.

Can you train your calves enough doing more functional strengthening exercises like squats, dead lifts, and step ups? And why do calf raises bother me?

Maybe I just haven't done enough of them.

Strength training to aid recovery

Not just to get you stronger so you don't get injured, but doing it a few hours or a day after a run to enhance recovery.

As suggested in this podcast with Pete Dickinson.

This would be strength training of the lower rep variety. Heavy, but not pushing any limits.

Possible exercises for the workout:

• a single-leg exercise (e.g. single-leg deadlift)
• a bipedal exercise (e.g. squat or deadlift)
• a pulling exercise (e.g. pullup)
• a pushing exercise (e.g. dip)

That makes things simple!

You could do one of these workouts a week plus a higher-rep, muscular endurance workout.

Progress with 5 x 5 stronglifts: 1 month, 3 weeks, thereabouts

Just under two months ago, I started a strength programme called Stronglifts 5x5.

It's a weightlifting programme you do 3 times a week. You alternate between two different workouts:

• Workout A: squat, bench press and barbell row.
• Workout B: squat, overhead press and deadlift.

 You do five sets of five and add 2.5 kg each workout (5 kg, for the deadlift).

That's it. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes per workout, and is dead easy to follow.

But is it effective? So far, yes.

My squat is much better

Squating three times a week has improved my squat out of sight. I did squat in the gym before, but nothing like this. I had also gone through phases of doing lots of bodyweight squats. But I've never felt so comfortable and strong with squating as I do now.

I also don't get sore muscles from squating anymore. When I used to squat once or twice a week, I was just about always had sore muscles for at least two days. Maybe I was doing too much not often enough.

What ever it was, the frequency and dose are just right now. I can now even run every other day without fried and stiff muscles.

And I'm definitely getting stronger. My legs are bigger, which is not something I actually wanted. But I do feel good on days I squats. The exercise does seem to trigger hormonal systems or something in your body, as you do hear people claim.

I can still run 3 or 4 days week, so far at least

I was worried an intensive leg program like 5 x 5 would affect my running. But this hasn't happened. As I mentioned above, I'm not getting sore legs from squatting,  so I'm finding it easy to combine the programme with my running.

I am planning to ramp up my running over the next couple of months. And, as the weight and demands build on the 5 x 5 programme, I'm sure something will give. Either my runs will be affected, or I my 5 x 5 progress will be hindered. Both will probably happen.

No matter. By that time, in a couple of months I imagine, I'll have built a good base with the 5 x 5, and I'll probably just want to maintain strength. I might even change programmes or scale the 5 x 5 back to two workouts a week.

I've put on weight!

And I'm sure it's because of the programme. I'm quite lean and have weighed the same for a long time now, between 70 and 72 kg, which is where I want it. I wasn't looking to put on weight, even if it were only muscle. But without trying (or, rather, trying not to), I've put on around a kilo (I'm now always somewhere between 72 and 74 kg).

That doesn't seem like much, but as I said, my weight's been stable for a long time, so I've noticed the difference.

Why don't I want to put on weight, even if it were muscle? Because I think it'll make running harder and me slower, especially if I want to do a trail marathon or an ultra. Although it hasn't seemed to have had an effect up until now. In fact I've felt quite strong running of late.

Either way, I'm sure I can get rid of any excess weight if I need when I crank up the running later on. Especially if I lay of the weights.

Of course, I can't expect to do a strength programme, expect to get stronger and not put on weight. The world just doesn't work that way. But, in all truth, I'd be happy just getting a little bit stronger and not putting on any weight.

The numbers

I started with just the barbell or a minimal amount of weight. This is, of course, very easy, but it helps you build good form, particular on the squat. This is how the StrongLifts page suggest you start out.

The idea is to start easy and continuously add weight for as long as you can keep doing five sets of five. When you fail to do five sets of five, you stay on that weight until you can. Then, depending on how you progress or don't progress, you might do a download or something else. I haven't got that far yet, so I'm not sure.

I'm currently at the following weights:

• Squat: 61.5 kg. It's now starting to get difficult. I don't think I'm too far off dropping reps on the latter sets.
• Bench press: 46.5 kg. This is still fairly easy. I think I've got a fair bit of margin for improvement here.
• Barbell row: 46.5 kg. Getting tougher, but still room for improvement.
• Overhead press: 36.5 kg. Dropped my first rep at this weight on my last workout. I did 5/5/5/5/4. So this one already got tough!
• Deadlift: 69 kg. Easy. Heaps of margin for improvement here.

Give me one more month and I reckon I will have maxed out on just about all the exercises. Except may be the deadlift.

The StrongLifts app is great

There is StrongLifts app you can download onto your phone. It tells you what you have to do each day, and makes logging workouts simple. I'm using the paid version now, which gives you a few extras like telling you what to lift for warmup sets, but even the free app is useful.