Legs!
I hate training my legs I really do, don’t get me wrong I give them equal attention but it’s always been the one body part I never look forward to. Anyway I thought “this is going to be interesting and I’m going to learn something” so leading up to Saturday I was excited and ready for anything. I wake up Saturday morning around 7am to sort out my gym gear and make sure I have everything for the trip then all of a sudden I became really nervous about training, maybe due to the fact I was going to be in the presence of a pro, maybe the thought of training legs? Whatever it was it put me on edge!
After the drive to Gloucester I turn up at Joe’s and we catch up and put the gear in the car and then head to Severnside gym. We park up and start walking towards the gym, I have to admit the gym is in a beautiful location and the gym alone is a thing of beauty! It’s a church which has been converted to a gym and after speaking to some of the locals who train there it’s been called the Church of Pain!
How can something so beautiful cause so much pain? I was about to find out...............................
We get inside and I take a look around and the only way I can best describe it is that it’s a “man’s gym” no coloured weights, no fancy machines just the basic tools needed to pack on muscle. Lee then walks over and introduces himself we have a quick chat but that’s not what we were there for! He then explains that we are going to do warm up sets on the leg extension, so I hop on and ask “how many reps?” To which I get the response “I’ll tell you when to stop!” ok, fair enough your bigger than me, whatever you say!
I start the exercise strong and I’m on the 15th rep and he I hear “OK” I don’t even remember if the next set was heavier or lighter, I was just pushing and pushing until Lee said otherwise! Now the third set begins and as I’m at the top of the movement he tells me to squeeze and lower with control. At this point my quads were on fire and it was only the warm up! The weight changes again and after the last rep he shouts “give me 15 partial reps” the lactic acid was once again knocking on Mr Shaw’s door! We did another 3 sets and after I got off the machine after my final rep I could barely stand, I felt horrible, dizzy, fatigued, in a word “knackered”. This was only the beginning; this was only meant to be the warm up! I then realised I might of bit off more than I can chew but I was there and going to push on!
Next up was the hack squat, a machine which I haven’t used in years but was quickly reacquainted with. We started with no weight just to get used to the movement and speed of the reps, even with no weight I was finding it difficult! The key to this exercise is to get as low as you can while keeping the momentum slow enough so you can feel the muscles working and believe me I did! Lee was there to correct my footing and give me support but the legs were shaking already and I was feeling pretty grim! We did a few sets and added weight gradually but in all fairness, lifting my own body weight was hard enough and I felt every single rep!
After the hack squat we moved onto the leg press, I thought I would be ok with this one but my legs were on fire and the sweat was running down my face and I couldn’t stop drinking water as passing out was just moments away! I started off with a light weight which again was difficult at this point due to the shock that my legs had gone through. I think I managed to add two plates a side but in all fairness I wasn’t paying attention, I was more concerned about pushing the weight up and banging out the reps just so I could rest again! After this exercise I was really feeling it and I think the picture below tells you exactly how I felt!
We then moved on to squats with the Olympic bar, I’m not a fan of squats, never have been so I wasn’t looking forward to this. I started off squatting the bar just to get my technique right but frankly the bar was enough, my legs were starting to get tight and I had nothing left. I felt my manhood drift further and further away each time I attempted to squat! It’s my own fault though as I should squat more often.
Finally we come to dumbbell lunges; again my pride is ripped from me as Lee tells me to do them without weight to get my balance right as I was a bit wobbly. After the first set I’m handed weights and was told to do ten per leg. It was the longest ten reps of my life followed by another ten painful reps. Lee was telling me to get down further to get a good stretch but I physically couldn’t, I was thinking “if I get down further, I ain’t getting back up” I finally finish the last rep and drop the weights with a sigh of relief then stumble across to the nearest chair and collapse. I was done!
It was one of the most painful workouts I’ve ever had in my life, during the workout I was wishing it would end but I did enjoy it in a sadistic way, it was a great experience even though I was holding back the tears!
I asked my friend Joe to write a small segment about the session but from his point of view, this is all his own words and I haven’t edited anything just 100% truth!
“I grew up with Dave and we have known each other a long time. I enjoy training and I live in Gloucester. Gloucester just happens to be home to Lee Powell. Lee is an IFBB PRO and owns his own gym, Severnside, also known as - 'the church of pain'. Lee offers personal training sessions for a very reasonable price and I have been having these for a few months now. If you enjoy training, if you think you train hard, then try a session with Lee. This is what Dave did and this is how he took the session from my eyes.
We started with the leg extension and well, if I'm honest, I think Dave could have ended it here as well. Lee is all about the form, you don't need to pick up massive weights you need to have good form and control the negative. Once you can do that, then you start adding weight. By the end of these high rep drop sets I could see Dave was already in pain and it was only gonna get worse, much worse.
Onto the hack squat.
Lee makes you go ass to the floor, slow up, slow down. You can't lock out at the top either so the movement is constant, no rest for a set of 15. If done properly this hurts and Dave looked hurt. He was sweating pretty hard after the 3rd set and had only had to squat the frame. Like I said, good form over big weight. So now he was looking a bit pale, onto the leg press. First set was light, 100kgs for 12 reps. I had to laugh a bit when he couldn't lift it. He sat in the press legs shaking and we stripped it off to 50kg a side. Now if you’re reading this thinking - 'What, I could do that easy!' then you do not understand the intensity of this workout. IT IS HARD. So by the 3rd set, Dave managed that 100kg and it was onto some squats.
When you think of squatting you probably see the bar bending under all the plates. Not this time, Dave had to squat an empty bar and when he first tried to pick it up he couldn't. His legs just wouldn't do it. I laughed and said 'how’s it gonna look telling everyone on the blog you can’t squat the bar?!' This gave him a bit of motivation and he managed his sets.
It was the same story with the next exercise, dumb bell lunges. Just body weight reps, Now it might sound like I'm slating Dave but I'm not. I've done this workout with big Lee a few times now and I was the same as Dave first time round. Properly exhausted, I wouldn't say the workout gets any easier either, your body just gets better at coping with the pain. So now you know Dave isn't making all this stuff up. Now do what he did and get yourself to church!”
Joe
I get home around 5:30pm and I just crash on the sofa, I knew I was going to be feeling it but I had no idea of the pain waiting for me around the corner! Sunday I wake up feeling the pain in my quads, it was bad but bearable. I phone Joe and we joke about the pain and he then tells me “it’s only going to get worse” I take the comment with a pinch of salt and carry on with my day. So I wake up Monday and the pain is worse, walking was an effort and all I could think of was “I totally agree with this guy, I don’t like Monday”.
I struggle through the day and try to forget the pain, sleeping was also a nightmare as every time I moved the pain would resurface. Then I wake up today and yes the pain is still there and feeling somewhat worse than before, it felt like I was beaten in my sleep. I get up and sort myself out but every time I seen a step they stared back at me and I could almost hear them laughing, smug little bastards!
Even though the experience was painful I did leave satisfied, Lee knows his stuff and pushes people to get the best out of them and for that I’m grateful! If you’re ever in Gloucester I urge you to visit the Church of pain;
Severnside Gym (The Church of Pain)
Church Lane
Gloucester
I’m planning on going back and training other body parts in the future so when I do I’ll write about it.
I’d like to thank Lee for his time and Joe for sorting out the experience, it was a pleasure!
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