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* donkey calf raises took on a new kind of ‘cool’ today when the teenagers discovered Arnold Schwarzenegger used to do them
Training on Mondays is ‘Luscious Legs’ and, ohhhh, do I. LOVE. IT!!
Three exercises make up Luscious Leg Mondays: deadlift, squats and calf raises; to be more precise: Romanian deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats and donkey calf raises.
I’m still engaged in my love affair with deadlifts; I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of doing them, will never cease to be amazed that I’m lifting more than I weigh and will always enjoy adding ‘just another kilo’ to the bar week after week.
Bulgarian split squats – I love these too – and are my squat of choice when I’m away from the gym at home in South Africa.
I don’t have a squat rack here in the UK, you see, and trying to haul 45kg over my head and onto my shoulders across my back is somewhat tricky, so I enlist the services of the Bulgarian split squat – or rear foot elevated split squat – along with a fairly hefty dumbbell in each hand; it doesn’t take many of them to get my quads yelling at me.
Elise (my sixteen-year-old daughter, just in case this is your first visit here and you’re not up to speed with who’s who yet) is currently training for selection to join the British Army.
Lower and upper body strength, mental strength, stamina, grit and determination are all, as you can imagine, serious requirements for the fitness element of selection; Bulgarian split squats are rapidly whipping her quads into shape too and it’s an exercise she can do on her own without running the risk of easy injury. [2014 update – Elise is 19 now and a fully-fledged member of the Royal Artillery!]
So on to donkey calf raises – I know the mental image conjured up is an interesting one and invariably accompanied by sniggering and the urge to say, “Donkey calf raises?! But I haven’t got a donkey!”
I was introduced to donkey calf raises back in February 2010. No weight to begin with, just me standing on the balls of my feet on a bottom step, heels extending off it whilst bent over at the waist with hands resting a couple of steps higher. Then I just had to go straight up and down, up and down, up and down with a full range of motion through the ankle; nothing else moves or bends.
I remember thinking ‘Pah! Easy peasy!’ along with wondering why I was ‘just’ doing those when there was a calf raise machine I could use – I mean, just because I was a girl didn’t mean I had to do girly exercises!
Well was that ever a case where I very quickly ate my (mental) words! Even without added weight my calves were burning like crazy; awesome, I was hooked.
But why not use the calf machine? Well, I asked and a practical demonstration provided the multiple answer.
The trainer who showed me donkey calf raises wasn’t a small guy – a former Mr Great Britain, in fact – sat on my lower back for a set of reps; oooh they were tough – do-able, but tough – and the burn in my calves was incredible!
The calf machine stack was then pinned at the same weight and despite all the shoulder padding, it made my shoulders hurt and I was left with rather impressive bruises on each one; there wasn’t even any point demonstrating further with a couple of dumbbells, my grip strength just wouldn’t have allowed me to hold them for long enough; I got the message.
So today I put my 17-year-old son, Jack, to very good use – he might as well start earning his keep one way or the other! – I used all 75kg of him as weight for donkey calf raises; imagine me trying to hold 37kg in each hand for three sets of calf raises! [2014 update – Jack is now 20! Time certainly flies!]
Luscious Legs was followed by a four-mile walk across the fields with the dogs; I can reliably inform you that, by the time I got back home, my legs were finished and it felt GOOD!
I LOVE TRAINING LEGS 😀
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