As the ankle improves, so will the program change.

Based upon Paul Carter’s LRB-365 and Base Building – dealing with ankle injury

• Squat
  • BW x 10
  • BW x 10
  • 45 x 10
  • 45 x 10
  • 95 x 10
  • 115 x 10
  • 135 x 10
• Stiff-Legged Deadlift
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
  • 135 x 8
• One-Legged Bulgarian Split Squats
  • BW x 10 (each leg)
  • BW x 5e
  • BW x 5e
• Leg Press
  • Empty Sled x 20
  • Empty Sled x 20
  • Empty Sled x 20
  • Empty Sled x 20
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 20 x 15 (straight)
  • 20 x 15 (out)
  • 20 x 12 (in)
• Elliptical
  • 20 minutes

My ankle is getting better, no question. It’s not out of the woods yet, but I can see progress.

So, I opted to try modifying the session to be closer to the LRB template I’m ultimately wanting to follow.

Squat was fine. It feels better at the bottom, the dorsiflexion is improving.

I switched to stiff-legged deadlifts. Again, this is from the proper template. No idea what weight to use, and I’m not going heavy on things yet. But there was 135 on the bar from squats, so I just put the bar on the floor and did that. Certainly could go up, but this was good.

Then…. the one-legged split squats. GEEZ! I wanted to do some one-leg work because I think that will be a help for the ankle. While the template says lunges, that’s going to be a little too impactful on my ankle yet. But these? Holy crap! First set I held onto something for balance, but found I was using it too much to help me go up and down. So the other sets were me just sticking my arms out for balance and dealing with it. I like that better, because it’s my legs that must do the work. I also think the balance work is going to help with the ankle. Make the ankle area work and get stronger. I’ll increase the reps and sets over time. These really suck, but they should be good for me. The goal being 100 reps (I think 50 per leg).

The leg press is again from the template proper. I left the sled empty (it’s still somewhat heavy) just to see how it would fare on the ankle. Not bad. There was a little more issue at the bottom, the dorsiflexion, but I think if I keep this light for a bit, it should help in that area.

Finally… no KB swings. My body said “no”. All the other stuff I did did take enough out of me, and something about the positioning on the leg press left my hips feeling funny. The swings wouldn’t have helped my situation. But I’m going to do something every session, so 20 minutes of slow steady on the elliptical. Not proud to have done it but I’m going to do something, durn-it!