Angry Hamstring is slowly getting less angry but staying fairly inflexible– which is a good thing, I suppose, to protect itself. Hamstring says, "You no bend that way!"
Bench is slowly coming back to a good baseline too; today I was up to (5,5,5,4)@125lb and then 5@115lb after failure. Once I get to 5×5@125 it’s time to put some more weight on that bar!
I also took an experimental stab at squats today; I’d been avoiding any heavy leg work due to Angry Hamstring (deadlifts are still Right Out unfortunately). 3×5@115lb was easy and painless. I missed squats. They’ve always given me grief, but there’s something so magical about the way everything fires to push that bar up.
And tons of accessory work today, lots of it aimed around that hamstring and hip: lightly weighted back extensions, quad and hamstring curls on the machines, crunches, fire hydrants and bird dog-style leg extensions and curls. It definitely brought some warmth to that area.
And finally, a little stretching. My favorite twisty door stretch reminded me that not only do I have an angry hamstring, I have an angry QL on the same side. I get the feeling that this is the kind of thing that would benefit from a few sessions of massage, especially the QL since it’s both hard to get at and chronically cranky after my injury 2 years ago. Maybe I should join one of those subscription massage places.
Running While Fat 