Leg Press Sled Blues…
It’s been a week and two days since I ventured into the YMCA weight room–excited to hit the machines and free weights. I had not worked out in a “real gym” in a while and was just looking forward to something different. In my college and post-college days, I did a lot of work on the leg press sled and was anxious to give it a test after all the Feed the Warrior Gym workouts I’d been doing over the last year.
My legs felt good on the first few sets. I sat there realizing how small a range of motion you really get out of that machine and how it was unlike most of the movements I use in sports and life–must have been a premonition. As I pushed the amount of weight up, I still felt good. But, on one particular set, as I lowered the weights toward my chest, I felt and heard a “POP!” It really felt like something (muscle, cartilage?) had slipped over bone.
I think I cursed under my breath and got off the machine–disgusted. Disgusted, not just because of the injury, but because it was the exact same injury that I got on the exact same machine nearly two years ago–the last time I used that machine. Guess who won’t be using that machine again?
So, for me (and many other people I found online), the leg press sled (for all the tons of weight I moved on it when I was younger) no longer works. I’ll stick with the movements I’ve been doing to strengthen my legs–lunges, squats, cleans and the variations that I’ve embraced in the Feed the Warrior Gym.
Oh…the blues? Rib (and/or “rib cage”) injuries suck. But, on a positive note, they do act to remind you just how much you depend on that mid-body link–your core–in everyday life–even the acts of getting out of bed, or taking a deep breath, or turning the steering wheel requires the connection between your upper and lower bodies.
So, the warrior is easing back into working out (other than the long paddle I did on Sunday for the sake of all you Swamp Stomp racers), but getting antsy to step it up a notch. The only plus is that it gives me a bit more time to focus on my novel, on the Swamp Stomp and to re-examine my workout routines.
Kip Koelsch Author 