Day 9 brings back the first lower body circuit with one rep added everywhere: 11 calf raises, 11 squats and an 11-count squat hold, 2 minutes rest, 3, 4 or 5 sets by level. Every Tuesday in this program will run this exact sequence with the number nudged up by one, so that by the final week the card reads 17.
One rep does not sound like progression, and that is precisely why it works. A single extra calf raise, squat and count per set, multiplied by your sets and by eight weeks, adds up to a lot of accumulated leg strength with no week ever feeling like a jump. This is the strength backbone running on in the background while the running itself makes the headlines. The exercises have not changed: calves for push-off and landing, squats for the hip and knee, the hold for sustained tension.
Calf raises: full height, slow descent, hands clasped behind the back. Squats: hips back, arms forward, thighs to parallel, heels down. The hold: settle into the bottom of the last squat and count 11 steadily - if you find yourself rushing the count, you have found the hard part. Rest the full 2 minutes and go again.
Eleven is one more than ten, which is exactly how far this circuit moves each week.
Make it Harder: Make the 11-count hold a pulsing hold - rise and sink an inch on every count without standing up.
Make it Easier: Do the squat hold at a half-depth position and keep the rep counts as written.
