Jake’s Excellent Leg Workout:

Squats
2x8 @ 135 lbs
2x8 @ 155 lbs
2x8 @ 135 lbs

Lunges
4x8 @ 80 lbs

Quad extensions
4x8 @ 180 lbs

Hamstring curls
4x8 @ 113 lbs

Calf raises
4x20 @ 250 lbs

Tap class
90 minutes of shuffling and flapping and ball-changing and general hopping around on the balls of your feet @ 190 lbs bodyweight


So I finally took a tap class tonight—a couple hours after a pretty productive leg workout—at a new studio I stumbled on last December. The studio could not be more inconvenient as far as the CTA goes, but the teacher is awesome and the class is nice and fast-paced. I couldn’t make it to the Tap III class I wanted to take, so I went to Tap II, which focused more on fundamentals than on cool combinations, but that was probably for the best since I hadn’t had my tap shoes on in … well, in at least a couple very visible millimeters of tap-shoe dust. So I was glad for the refresher course.

The class was filled with a lot of frustrated beginners who just couldn’t seem to relax their ankles or trust their weight shifts. But they were quick learners with a lot of focus and even more smiles. Especially the cute gay couple in the tight T-shirts and bleached teeth who kept flirting with talking to me. Happy Valentine’s Day indeed.

Now my legs are sore and wobbly all the way up to my shoulders. But not in an I-just-got-shot-in-the-face-by-the-vice-president kind of way. I think you have to pay, like, $2,000 extra for that.